Ninth Grade Language Arts
Summer Writing Assignment
Your assignment is to read carefully the first three books of Robert Fitzgerald’s translation of
Homer’s epic poem Iliad, and to complete three types of assignments. In Book Two, you may
stop reading at line 579 if you wish, and continue your reading at the start of Book Three.
Following are the assignments you must complete and bring on the first day of class.
I. MEMORIZATION. Please memorize the first fifteen lines of Iliad (“Anger be now your
song” through “despising a man of prayer”). The proem to Iliad is the first eight lines of the
poem; it introduces the central conflict of the poem. The rest of the lines add detail. Please
memorize these lines so that you are able to recite them smoothly, orally.
II. CLOSE READING RESPONSES. Please write short, well-composed responses to each of
the following writing prompts; cite specific lines to provide detail and evidence to your
responses, where applicable. Please type if possible. The responses will vary in length.
Book One:
A. Why are Achilles and Agamemnon arguing? What is the basis of their argument, and
how does it develop?
B. Achilles calls an assembly. What events lead to Achilles’ action? What does he hope
to accomplish as a result of this assembly?
C. Who is Briseis, and why is she important in the story?
D. With whom do you side, and why: Agamemnon or Achilles? Give details from their
conflict – cite specific lines – in order to make your argument.
E. Who is Nestor, and toward what end does he try to persuade his audience? Do the
men listen to him?
Book Two:
A. Describe Agamemnon’s dream in your own words. Who sent him the dream, and
why? What does Agamemnon do in response to the dream?
B. The character Thersites appears. Who is Thersites, and how is he significantly
different from other characters in the poem? What do you think his function is to the
story as it is unfolding?
C. What do we learn about Odysseus; what particular gift or talent is revealed in Book
Two? How is this gift or talent developed by Homer?
Book Three:
A. Why does Paris want to fight Menelaos? What are the stakes; with whom are you
siding, and why?
B. What is Aphrodite’s action at the end of Book Three; and what do you believe is the
significance of her action? Do you like what she’s done; why, or why not?
C. What does Agamemnon make of Paris’ disappearance from the scene of the war?
D. By the end of Book Three, what is the general relationship between gods and human
Homer established? To you, what seem to be the rules for interaction between gods
and humans?
III. INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION. Translate the speech of Odysseus (lines 281-302) into
your own words. Don’t change the meaning of the original text; rather, try to wholly convey its
meaning in your own words. You may use a dictionary and thesaurus as aids.
Humanities-Literature 9 Summer Assignment
Iliad’s Cast of Characters:
PRINCIPAL GODS AND GODDESSES (with some variations in spelling)
APHRODITE: goddess of love and daughter of Zeus, although in later legends she was said to have been born from
the foam of the sea. She protected Helen, to whom she gave great beauty, and, in book three, she rescues Paris from
Menelaus, and brings him to Helen.
PHOIBOS APOLLO: the archer god, cause of plagues, god of prophecy and a divine singer; the son of Zeus and
Leto; a partisan of the Trojans. In the opening scene of the Iliad, he sends a plague upon the Akhaians because
Agamemnon has dishonored his priest, Chrysies. Later, he helps Hektor in the killing of Patroklos, and, in the final
book, his complaint about the treatment of Hektor’s corpse leads the gods to arrange the ransom of the body by
Priam.
ARES: god of war, son of Zeus, and lover of Aphrodite. He supports the Trojans, and Zeus describes him as “the
most hateful of all gods who hold Olympos” (5.890). The comic story of his affair with Aphrodite is told in book
eight of the Odyssey.
ARTEMIS: sister of Apollo, goddess of the hunt. It is said that Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter, Iphigeneia, to
appease her anger on the Greeks’ expedition to Troy. In book twenty-one, Hera beats her in the battle of the gods,
and she is a protagonist in two stories told by warriors: Phoenix’ story of Meleagros (bk. 9), and Achilles’ story of
Niobe (bk. 24).
PALLAS ATHENA: Zeus' daughter, a warrior goddess, goddess of wisdom, patroness of the women's craft of
weaving, a powerful ally of the Greeks and protector of Odysseus; she hated the Trojans because of the judgment of
Paris. She restrains Achilles from killing Agamemnon in book one; inspires Odysseus to rally the Greek troops in
book two; tricks the Trojan warrior, Pandaros, into breaking the truce in book four; and intervenes in support of the
Greeks - and particularly on behalf of Odysseus - throughout the poem.
HADES: god of the underworld, the realm assigned to him when the sky, sea and underworld were divided among
the three sons of Kronos. As a figure of unyielding death, he is described as “most hateful to mortals among all the
gods” (9.159).
HEPHAISTOS: the divine smith and god of fire, son of Zeus and Hera. In book one, he urges Hera not to provoke
Zeus’ anger. In book eighteen, he makes marvelous armor for Akhilleus at Thetis’ request, and, in book twenty-one,
he uses his fire to help rescue Akhilleus in his battle with the river.
HERA: jealous wife - and sister - of Zeus; she is a vigorous patron of the Greeks because of her anger at the
Trojans over the judgment of Paris, and she repeatedly bickers with her husband, Zeus, over his sympathy for the
Trojans. In book one, she inspires Akhilleus to call an assembly to deal with the plague, and, in book fourteen, she
seduces her husband Zeus to distract him while the god of the sea, Poseidon, aids the Greeks on the battlefield.
HERMES: son of Zeus who guides souls to the Underworld; he is sent to guide Priam on his risky trip to the tent of
Akhilleus for the ransom of the body of his son, Hektor (bk. 24).
KRONOS: father of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades and Hera; he was overthrown by Zeus.
POSEIDON: son of Kronos, brother of Zeus and lord of the sea. Though a supporter of the Greeks, he intervenes
in book twenty (20.288-339) to save the Trojan hero, Aineias, lest he be killed by Akhilleus against destiny.
THETIS: a sea goddess, wife of the warrior, Peleus, and divine mother of Akhilleus. She foretold Akhilleus' fate,
intervened with Zeus on his behalf (bk. 1), mourned the death of Patroklos (bk. 18), and brought her son divine
armor made by the god, Hephaistos (bk. 18).
ZEUS: the son of Kronos and most powerful of the gods; brother of Poseidon, Hades and the goddess, Hera, his
wife; as lord of the sky, the thunderbolt is his most potent weapon. He responds to Thetis’ appeal by turning the
battle against the Greeks, so that they will honor Akhilleus. Throughout the Iliad, he acts as an overseer: he ensures
that fated events, like the deaths of Patroklos and Hektor, take place, and he prevents Troy from falling at the hands
of Akhilleus against fate (bk. 20). At Hera’s insistence, he even allows his own mortal son, Sarpedon, to die, so that
fate will not be overturned (bk. 16).
MORTALS
Greeks (called Argives, Danaans and Akhaians by Homer)
ACHILLES: leader of the Myrmidons and central character of the Iliad; son of the goddess, Thetis, and the
warrior, Peleus.
AGAMEMNON: son of Atreus, king of Mykenai, brother of Menelaos and most powerful Greek king. His quarrel
with Akhilleus (bk. 1) sparks Akhilleus’ anger and sets in motion the plot of the Iliad. Akhilleus spurns his offer of
compensation in book nine.
AIAS (Telamonian Aias): duels with Hektor (bk. 7), forms part of the embassy to Akhilleus (bk. 9), defends the ships
(bk 15), and leads the effort to recover Patroklos' body (bk. 17).
AIAS OILEUS: the lesser of the two men named Aias, leader of the Lokrians, warriors famed as archers. Later
authors tell the story of how he seized and raped Cassandra, a prophetess and daughter of Priam, during the sack of
Troy. As a result, Poseidon and Athena destroyed his ship and drowned him on his return from Troy (Odyssey, bk.
4)
DIOMEDES: son of Tydeus, great warrior whose exploits form the subject of book five; he also accompanies
Odysseus on a bloody spying mission to the Trojan camp (bk. 10)
HELEN: daughter of Zeus and Leda, step-daughter of Tyndareus; wife of Menelaos who eloped with Paris, causing
the Trojan war; through the gifts of the goddess, Aphrodite, she was said to be the most beautiful of all women. She
reflects on her actions in books three and six, and she concludes the lament for Hektor at the end of the Iliad.
KALKHAS: the seer or prophet of the Greeks; he identifies Agamemnon as the cause of the plague sent by Apollo in
book one, and, in book two, Odysseus describes how he had interpreted omens and predicted victory - after nine
years - when the Greeks set out for Troy.
MENELAOS: son of Atreus, brother of Agamemnon, lord of Lakedaimon (Sparta), husband of Helen.
NESTOR: aged king of Pylos and a wise counselor who often uses stories from the past to advise and instruct the
Greek warriors. He tries unsuccessfully to make peace between Akhilleus and Agamemnon in book one, and he
helps persuade Agamemnon to offer compensation to Akhilleus in book nine. In book eleven, he urges Patroklos to
ask Akhilleus to let him lead his men into battle, the plan that leads to Patroklos’ death.
ODYSSEUS: son of Laertes, lord of Ithaka, famed for his wisdom and trickery; he rallies the troops in book two,
forms part of the embassy to Akhilleus in book nine, and urges Akhilleus to put aside his grief in book nineteen.
PATROKLOS: son of Menoitios and companion of Akhilleus. He was raised in Akhilleus’ household (23.84-90),
and accompanied Akhilleus to Troy (bk 11, lines 764ff). He enters the battle in Akhilleus’ place in book sixteen and
his death at the hands of Hektor provokes Akhilleus’ return to the battle. After his ghost visits Akhilleus, Akhilleus
holds splendid funeral games in his honor in book twenty-three.
PHOINIX: aged tutor of Akhilleus and one of the members of the embassy to Akhilleus in book nine. He speaks as
a surrogate for Akhilleus’ father, and uses the story of Meleagros to try to persuade Akhilleus to return to the battle.
Trojans and their allies
AINEIAS: leader of the Dardanians, a Trojan clan, and son of Anchises and the goddess, Aphrodite; he is rescued
from Akhilleus' onslaught by Poseidon (20.288-339) because he was destined to be a survivor who would continue
the Trojan line; his legendary foundation of a kingdom in Italy is the subject of the Roman epic, the Aeneid, by
Virgil.
ANDROMACHE: wife of Hektor; she describes how her father and brothers were killed by Akhilleus in a raid
(6.413-38), and tries to persuade Hektor to be more cautious.
BRISEIS: woman captured by the Greeks in a raid and given to Akhilleus as a slave; Agamemnon took her from
him by force (bk. 1), sparking their quarrel. She is returned to Akhilleus in book nineteen, but Akhilleus says then
that it would have been better if she had died.
KHRYSEIS: daughter of Khrysies, a priest of Apollo (at a place called Khryse!); she was captured by the Greeks in
a raid and given to Agamemnon as a slave; Agamemnon's refusal to return her to her father led Apollo to send a
plague on the Greeks (bk. 1)
GLAUKOS: an ally of the Trojans and Sarpedon's second-in-command; he exchanged armor with the Greek
warrior, Diomedes, after they discovered that they were bound by ties of guest-friendship (their ancestors had
entertained each other and exchanged gifts) (6.119-236)
HEKABE: queen of Troy, wife of king Priam and mother of Hektor. She leads the Trojan women in their (vain)
prayers to Athena (bk. 6), and, later (bk. 22), she begs her son, Hektor, not to confront Akhilleus.
HEKTOR: son of Priam and Hekabe and leading warrior of the Trojans. He duels with Aias in book seven, and
leads the Trojan onslaught against the Greek ships in book fifteen. With Apollo’s help, he kills Patroklos in book
sixteen. In book twenty-two, he is slain by Akhilleus outside the walls of Troy before his parents’ eyes, and his body
is brutally abused by Akhilleus.
PARIS (Alexandros): a son of Priam; according to later legend, he had been asked to judge which of the three
goddesses, Hera, Athena or Aphrodite, was the most beautiful; each goddess tried to bribe him and he accepted
Aphrodite's offer of Helen, the most beautiful mortal woman. In book three, he challenges Menelaos to a duel, but is
rescued from the fight by Aphrodite.
PRIAM: aged king of Troy, married to Hekabe, father of fifty sons; he ransoms the body of his son, Hektor, from
Akhilleus in book twenty-four.
SARPEDON: son of Zeus by a mortal woman, Laodameia; lord of the Lykians and the most important ally of the
Trojans; in book twelve (lines 310-28) he offers an eloquent summary of the values by which these warriors lived and died. Zeus permits him to be killed by Patroklos (bk. 16), as was fated.
Sources for character descriptions: Perseus Project; Farrar, Straus, Giroux/Macmillan Guide to accompany
Fitzgerald’s Iliad