Classical Mythology Handout: Iliad Books 18-24 Book 18 grief of Achilles beauty/ugliness short speeches Thetis—beauty/ugliness mortality/immortality irony of Achilles’ wishes sympathetic death: from now till Book 24 Achilles in Vietnam—Soldier’s Love shift to the Trojan camp—Polydamas/Hector metis / bie Olympus and Achilles’ shield Troy and the Trojan War Book 19 Achilles’ immortal armor to mortals Patroclus Hector Achilles’ kills self but first, nomen fully realized = heroic because now against enemy social importance of compensation—Odysseus psychological realism of Briseis and other captive women Achilles shrouded by doom arming for battle horses prophesy Book 20 assembly > involvement of the gods humorous counterpoint to human condition Aeneas enmity toward Creon greater warrior than Hector ultimate Trojan survival postponement of final duel Book 21 further postponement of final duel Achilles’ aristeia dolphin simile—omophagy/cannibalism Lycaon Achilles vs. Scamander River disruption of the kosmos itself parallel with Zeus Dr. Fredricksmeyer psychological realism: Achilles in Vietnam—Berserk Battle of the Gods humorous counterpoint Book 22 Hector’s death kleos and time Troy’s death cowardice psychological realism pathetic recall of simile 3 funeral procession location—Scaean Gates Athena’s dual role Achilles’ impiety/Achilles’ greatness psychological realism: Achilles in Vietnam—Abuse Andromache’s lamentation Book 23 parallel scenes of mourning Achilles the living dead Achilles’ dream funeral Achilles’ inhumanity/impiety Funeral Games foreshadowing Achilles’ reintegration into humanity Book 24 gods vs. Achilles’ desecration economics of honor subverted/restored revenge unsatisfactory Priam’s katabasis Hermes Achilles’ tent Achilles’ remembers Peleus Achilles’ old-self return of Hector/Achilles ending emotional resolution structural symmetry pathos narrative refuses to close—open door to a tragic future