(RE)READING HOMER'S ILIAD
ACADEMY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND SCHEDULE
As I indicated in my brief description in the A.L.L. Course Catalogue, this course will
offer participants the opportunity of acquainting (or re-acquainting) themselves with the earliest
literary masterpiece of the western tradition, Homer's Iliad. In view of the great length of the
work, however, we will be reading and discussing only fourteen of its twenty-four "books" or
chapters, chosen in such a way as to follow the main narrative thread of the poem, the "wrath of
Achilles." As a way of helping to guide and focus both reading and discussion, handouts on
"things to think about" will be provided for each of the various sessions; the first of these is
included in this mailing. The handouts will also include very brief summaries of the books that
we will be skipping over.
The specific translation of the Iliad that I will be using (and that the handouts will be
keyed to) is by Robert Fagles (Viking Penguin, ISBN 0-14-044592-7), which should be
obtainable in many bookstores or can be ordered online (e.g. from Amazon or Barnes & Noble).
Session #1 (Jan. 8):
Books 1 and 2 (though the so-called "Catalogue of Ships" in Book 2,
which begins on p. 115 in Fagles' translation, may be skimmed over
very lightly, or indeed simply skipped)
Session #2 (Jan. 15):
Books 3 and 6
Session #3 (Jan. 22):
Books 9 and 16
Session #4 (Jan. 29):
Books 17-19
Session #5 (Feb. 5):
Books 20-22
Session #6 (Feb. 12):
Books 23-24
(RE)READING HOMER'S ILIAD
ACADEMY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT WHILE READING BOOKS 1 AND 2 OF THE ILIAD
(page references are to the translation by Robert Fagles)
BOOK 1: Pay careful attention to Homer's statement of his theme in the opening paragraph of the
work (the proem).
What is the issue between Achilles and Agamemnon? What traits of character do the two men
manifest in what they say and do in the quarrel? Who is in the right, or is neither? Notice what
Nestor says on p. 86: "Strong as you are—a goddess was your mother—he has more power
because he rules more men."
"And I tell you this—and I know it is the truth—
one day glittering gifts will lie before you,
three times over to pay for all his outrage.
Hold back now. Obey us both." (84)
Why do you suppose Achilles feels Agamemnon's insult so acutely? What light does his
interchange with his mother Thetis (pp. 89-92) shed on this question? Consider in particular the
following remarks:
You gave me life, short as that life will be,
so at least Olympian Zeus, thundering up on high,
should give me honor—but now he gives me nothing." (89)
"O my son, my sorrow, why did I ever bear you?
All I bore was doom...
Doomed to a short life, you have so little time.
And not only short, now, but filled with heartbreak too." (91)
What does Achilles want Zeus to do for him, and why?
What effect does Homer created by having Book 1 end the way it does, with a scene of feasting on
Mount Olympus? What is the overall tone of the scene?
BOOK 2: How does Zeus set his plan to help Achilles in motion?
What does Agamemnon's curious "testing" of the Greek soldiers tell us about morale at Troy?
About Agamemnon himself? About Odysseus? What does Homer want us to think of Thersites?
How does Odysseus restore the Greek army's enthusiasm for the war?
What effect is created by all the similes (formal comparisons) on pp. 114-115?
You are likely to find the so-called "Catalogue of Ships" (pp. 115-24) quite tedious (and may
certainly be excused for skipping it), but give some thought at least to the way that it begins (with
the invocation to the Muses) and ends (with the question "who were the bravest of them all?" and
the answer that is given).
(RE)READING HOMER'S ILIAD
ACADEMY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT WHILE READING BOOKS 3, 6, 9, AND 16 OF THE ILIAD
(page references are to the translation by Robert Fagles)
BOOK 3: What kind of man is Paris portrayed as being? How does Homer indicate what Hector's
attitude toward Paris is? Helen's? Priam's? That of the Trojans generally?
Priam says to Helen, "I don't blame you. I hold the gods to blame. They are the one who brought
this war upon me" (p. 134). Does Homer himself endorse this view of who is to blame for the war,
or does he suggest other candidates for the responsibility?
What role does Priam play in the duel between Paris and Menelaus?
What do you make of Aphrodite's intervention to rescue Paris at the end of Book 3? What light
does the episode put Helen in?
BOOKS 4-5: With the gods' consent, Athena induces Pandarus, a Trojan ally, to break the treaty
sworn by the Greeks and Trojans in Book 3 by attempting (unsuccessfully) to kill Menelaus with
an arrow. As a result of this violation the two armies once again prepare to attack, and the battle at
last begins. With Athena's support and encouragement the Greek warrior Diomedes performs
notable deeds of valor, which even include the wounding of two gods, Aphrodite and Ares.
BOOK 6: A couple more thumbnail biographies on p. 196.
"He is the strongest Argive now, I tell you.
Never once did we fear Achilles so,
captain of armies, born of a goddess too..." (198)
Why do you suppose Homer includes the extended encounter between Diomedes and Glaucus (pp.
199-203)? What does it tell us about Greek notions of hospitality?
What do we learn about Hector from his exchanges with Hecuba (pp. 204-5), Paris and Helen (pp.
206-7), and Andromache (pp. 209-12)? How does the picture of him that emerges contrast with
the picture of Achilles that has been given thus far?
BOOKS 7-8: The battle continues. Ajax and Hector fight an inconclusive duel that is ended by
the coming of night. The Greeks decide to build a rampart to protect their camp. Antenor, a
Trojan elder, urges his fellow Trojans to return Helen to Menelaus, but Paris flatly refuses to give
her up. The next day's fighting results in defeat for the Greeks, who are driven back to their ships.
The Trojan forces occupy the entire plain between the city and the shore.
BOOK 9: What do the speeches by Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Nestor at the beginning of the
book tell us about Agamemnon's style of leadership?
Pay careful attention to the different sorts of arguments that the three emissaries (Odysseus, Phoenix,
Ajax) use in speaking to Achilles. What effect (if any) does each of the speeches have on Achilles?
What does Achilles' reply to Odysseus reveal about his current state of mind? What do you make
of his logic in the following lines (p. 213)?
"One and the same lot for the man who hangs back
and the man who battles hard. The same honor waits
for the coward and the brave. They both go down to Death,
the fighter that shirks, the one who works to exhaustion." (262)
"Not if he gave me ten times as much, twenty times over, all
he possesses now, and all that could pour in from the world's end....
no, not if his gifts outnumbered all the grains of sand
and dust in the earth—no, not even then could Agamemnon
bring my fighting spirit around until he pays me back,
pays full measure for all his heartbreaking outrage." (264)
What are the "two fates" that Thetis has told Achilles he must choose between?
The names "Patroclus" and "Cleopatra" are composed of the same etymological elements. Does
this fact shed any light on Phoenix's intention in telling the story of Meleager (pp. 269-71)?
"Ajax, royal son of Telamon, captain of armies,
all well said, after my own heart, or mostly so.
But my heart still heaves with rage
whenever I call to mind that arrogance of his—
how he mortified me, right in front of the Argives—
that son of Atreus treating me like some vagabond,
like some outcast stripped of all my rights!" (273)
BOOKS 10-15: Odysseus and Diomedes carry out a night-time spying expedition behind the
Trojan lines. The next day the fighting resumes, and one by one the chief Greek champions
(Agamemnon, Diomedes, Odysseus) are wounded and disabled. The Trojans storm the rampart
protecting the Greek camp and carry the fighting into the camp itself. Inspired by Poseidon and
aided by Hera (who distracts Zeus's attention by seducing him), the Greeks make a brief recovery
and drive the Trojans back. Soon, however, the tide of battle turns again and the Trojans fight their
way into the camp for the second time and press forward to destroy the Greek ships. Meanwhile,
Nestor has urged Patroclus to do all he can to persuade Achilles to relent and return to battle.
BOOK 16:
"So he pleaded,
lost in his own great innocence...
condemned to beg for his own death and brutal doom." (414)
Note how on p. 413 Homer addresses Patroclus directly ("With a wrenching groan you answered
your friend, Patroclus O my rider"); this happens again on pp. 431, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440).
What effect does this second-person address create?
Why does Achilles decide to let Patroclus go into battle in his place? What light is shed on his
decision by his repeated statement (cf. p. 273) that Agamemnon treated him "like some vagabond,
some outcast stripped of all my rights" (p. 414)?
What do the following lines suggest about Achilles' current state of mind?
"Oh would to god—Father Zeus, Athena and lord Apollo—
not one of all these Trojans could flee his death, not one,
no Argive either, but we could stride from the slaughter
so we could bring Troy's hallowed crown of towers
toppling down around us—you and I alone!"
Why does Homer make a special point about the fact that Patroclus doesn't take Achilles' spear
into battle (p. 417; cf. p. 501)?
What effect does Homer achieve by having Zeus deliberate on Sarpedon's fate (p. 427)?
How many agents are involved in Patroclus's death (pp. 438-40)? What happens to the helmet of
Achilles that Patroclus is wearing?
(RE)READING HOMER'S ILIAD
ACADEMY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT WHILE READING BOOKS 17-24 OF THE ILIAD
BOOK 17:
"Hector,
you're chasing the wild wind, fiery Achilles' team!
They're hard for mortal men to curb and drive,
for all but Achilles—his mother is immortal." (444-45)
How are you as a reader affected by Zeus's speeches addressed to Hector (p. 449) and to Achilles'
horses (pp. 456-57)?
BOOK 18: What are the various emotions that Achilles manifests on hearing the news of
Patroclus's death? Pay particular attention to his speeches on pp. 470-71.
"Let bygones be bygones. Done is done.
Despite my anguish I will beat it down,
the fury mounting inside me, down by force.
But now I'll go and meet that murderer head-on.
that Hector who destroyed the dearest life I know." (471)
Polydamas offers more advice; note Hector's reaction (pp. 475-77).
"I for one, I'll never run from his grim assault,
I'll stand up to the man—see if he bears off glory
or I bear it off myself! The god of war is impartial:
he hands out death to the man who hands out death." (477)
To judge from her speech to Hephaestus (pp. 481-82), what seems to be Thetis's attitude toward
her marriage with Peleus?
What symbolic significance can you see in the pictures that Hephaestus puts on Achilles' new
shield? What (if anything) makes it appropriate that such pictures should be chosen for Achilles in
particular?
BOOK 19: What seems to be Achilles' attitude toward all the ceremonies of reconciliation with
Agamemnon?
An eminent Homeric scholar (G. S. Kirk) regards the "futile argument about whether or not
Achilles will take food" (pp. 493-96) as an artistic defect in the poem ("not really successful," to
quote him exactly). Why do you suppose Homer develops the issue at such length? What action
does Athena take in response to Achilles' refusal to eat?
Compare what Achilles says to his horse Xanthus at the end of the book (p. 502) with what Hector
says in response to Patroclus's "prophecy" of his coming death back in Book 16 (p. 440).
BOOK 20: "These mortals do concern me, dying as they are.
Still, here I stay on Olympus throned aloft,
here in my steep mountain cleft, to feast my eyes
and delight my heart." (504)
Note Homer's description of the death of Polydorus (p. 516) and of Tros (p. 518) and the final
picture of Achilles at the end of the book.
BOOK 21: Achilles' encounter with Lycaon (pp. 521-24) is an extremely important incident for
the light it sheds on his current state of mind. Pay particular attention to the line of argument that
Achilles uses in rejecting Lycaon's plea for mercy.
What effect does Homer achieve by having Achilles do battle with the river Scamander? By
having the gods "fight" with one another as they do on pp. 532-36?
Ponder Apollo's words to Poseidon on p. 535:
"God of the earthquake—you'd think me hardly sane
if I fought with you for the sake of wretched mortals…
like leaves, no sooner flourishing, full of the sun's fire,
feeding on earth's gifts, than they waste away and die.
Stop. Call off this skirmish of ours at once—
let these mortals fight themselves to death."
Note Agenor's inner debate at the approach of Achilles (p. 538).
BOOK 22: Ponder Apollo's taunt against Achilles:
"Why are you chasing me? Why waste your speed?—
son of Peleus, you a mortal and I a deathless god.
You still don't know that I am immortal, do you?" (541)
What arguments are presented, pro and con, on the question of whether Hector should retreat to the
safety of Troy? What does the monologue in which Hector arrives at his final decision (pp. 54445) tell us about his character and his current state of mind?
Past these they raced, one escaping, one in pursuit
and the one who fled was great but the one pursuing
greater, even greater—their pace mounting in speed
since both men strove, not for a sacrificial beast
or oxhide trophy, prizes runners fight for, no,
they raced for the life of Hector breaker of horses.
How does Zeus react to Hector's plight (p. 547)? Compare this brief scene on Olympus with that
presented back in Book 16 (p. 427), when Zeus's son Sarpedon is about to be killed.
The simile on p. 548 beginning "endless as in a dream…" is one of very few similes in the Iliad
that draw on psychological phenomena for their material rather than on the external world or
nature (storms, waves, wild animals, etc.). Ponder its effect in context.
How do you find yourself reacting to the intervention by Athena which begins on p. 549?
Pay special attention to the terms in which Achilles rejects Hector's plea for a pre-duel pact
between the two of them (p. 550) and for the return of his body to his family (p. 553).
Compare Achilles' lines beginning "No man alive could keep the dog-packs off you…" (p. 553)
with his rejection of Agamemnon's offer of compensation back in Book 9 on p. 264 ("I wouldn't
give you a splinter for that man! Not if he gave me ten times as much…").
Does Homer give clues as to how he wishes us to respond to the treatment that Hector's body
receives from (a) the other Greeks and (b) Achilles?
Observe the various means that Homer uses to bring home to us the terrible impact of Hector's
death on his family and city (pp. 555-58).
BOOK 23: What is Achilles' state of mind at the beginning of this book? What is his attitude
toward feasting at this point in the story?
Why does Patroclus's ghost appear, and how does Achilles react to the visitation (pp. 561-63)?
What are some noteworthy elements in the description of Patroclus's funeral rites (pp. 563-67)?
What general role does Achilles play in the funeral games held in honor of Patroclus? Why do you
suppose that the first of the events, the chariot race, is described at such length and in such detail?
What is its outcome (p. 575-78)? What is the outcome of the other contests such as wrestling (pp.
581-82), foot-race (pp. 583-84), fight-in-armor (pp. 584-85), and archery (pp. 585-87)?
BOOK 24: What is Achilles' state of mind at the beginning of this book?
What are the points at issue in the argument between Apollo and Hera about Achilles' treatment of
Hector's body, and how does Zeus resolve them?
What do you make of his reaction to the message which Thetis brings from Zeus (pp. 592-93)?
Compare Zeus's characterization of Achilles on p. 593 with those offered by Apollo (pp. 589-90)
and Hecuba (p. 595).
What measures does Zeus take to assist Priam on his mission to recover his son's body? What
persona or disguise does Hermes adopt in serving as Priam's escort?
Ponder the possible implications of the curious simile in which Priam, suddenly appearing in
Achilles' tent, is compared to an exiled murderer (p. 604).
In what terms does Priam appeal to Achilles (pp. 604-5)? How does Achilles respond? Study
Achilles' speech on pp. 605-607 with particular care. What is the main line of argument that he is
attempting to convey to Priam?
At one point Achilles becomes so angry that he threatens to kill Priam on the spot and, in so doing,
to "break the laws of Zeus" (pp. 606-7)? Can you figure out what Priam has said or done that
could provoke such a reaction? How does Achilles deal with his anger on this occasion?
What "moral" does Achilles intend by telling the story of Niobe (p. 608)? What seems to be
happening in the moment when Achilles and Priam, having finishing their meal, gaze at one
another in silence (p. 609)?
What do you make of the way in which the Iliad ends (pp. 611-14)?