Iliad & Odyssey
Honors 2101
Unit 2: Greece
1
Rough Outline
•
•
•
•
•
Homer in Ancient Greece
Themes and Persons
Illiad
Odyssey
Closing Thoughts
2
Homer in Ancient Greece
• Earliest Greek Literature
– Written c. 750 BCE from oral trad. (c. 1200 BCE)
– Recited by Rhapsodes
– Epic = dactylic hexameter or long poem on
war/myth
• Cultural Importance for Greeks
– Taken as History
– Hellenic Unity
– Educational Texts
3
Greece and Trojan War
4
Some Themes
• Glories of War/Adventure
– Reasons for War
– Realistic Descriptions
• Ideals of Heroism
– Areté, timé, and kleos
– Fate & Courage
– “shame culture”
• Others
– Gods & Humans
– Individual vs. Society
– Word vs. Deed
5
Areté
Excellence, virtue, or what makes and individual
the best or among the best; usually some
combination of physical prowess & persuasive
speech or command.
Timé
Honor, material symbol of status among others,
usually capable of being taken away (prize, booty,
trophies).
Kleos
Glory or Fame, understood as public opinion, or
what others say or remember.
6
Persons in the Iliad
• Acheans
– Achilles & Patrocles
– Agamemnon &
Menalaos
– Odysseus, Ajax,
Phoenix
• Trojans
– Hector & Alexandros
– Priam, Helen,
Andromache
• Gods
– Zeus, Apollo,
Aphrodite
– Athena, Hera, Thetis
7
Iliad (Book I)
• Wrath of Achilles, Part I
– In medias res: Trojan War & Plague
of Apollo
– Menis: Quarrel with Agamemnon
• Consequences
– Thetis’ Supplication of Zeus
– Glimpse of Olympus
• Is Achilles’ anger his own fault?
8
Thetis supplicant to Zeus
9
Iliad (Book VI)
• Behind the Walls of
Troy
– Hector as Tragic Hero
– Women and Family Life
– Fate
• Troy & Hector
• Trojan Women
• Is Hector a sympathetic
hero? Why or why not?
10
Iliad (Book IX)
• Embassy to Achilles
– Discourse among
equals?
– Odysseus’ plea
– Phoenix’s plea
– Ajax’s parting words
• Is Achilles being
unreasonable? Why or
why not?
11
Death and Heroism
• The prospect of death drives the heroes to
pursue timé (honor).
• The hero is defined by his(her) action in the
face of mortality, especially in combat or
contests.
• And resulting kleos (glory) is the hero’s only
immortality.
12
Sarpedon declares to Glaukos
(Book XII.322-28)
“Man, supposing you and I, escaping this
battle, would be able to live on forever,
ageless, immortal, so neither would I myself
go on fighting in the foremost nor would I
urge you into the fighting where men win
glory. But now, seeing that the spirits of death
stand close about us in their thousands, no
man can turn aside nor escape them, let us
go on and win glory for ourselves, or yield it
to others.”
13
Iliad (Book XXI)
• Wrath of Achilles, Part II
– Death of Patrocles and Achilles’ Armor
– Death of Lycaon: a ruthless death
– Death of Hector: revenge
• Is Achilles’ anger inhuman?
14
Hector at the Gates of Troy
…Achilles was coming closer, like Enyalius, the warrior god of
battle with the shining helmet. On his right shoulder he waved
his dreadful spear made of Pelian ash. The bronze around him
glittered like a blazing fire or rising sun. At that moment, as he
watched, Hector began to shake in fear. His courage gone, he
could no longer stand there. Terrified, he started running,
leaving the gate. Peleus' son went after him, sure of his speed
on foot. Just as a mountain falcon, the fastest creature of all the
ones which fly, swoops down easily on a trembling pigeon as it
darts off in fear, the hawk speeding after it with piercing
cries, heart driving it to seize the prey in just that way Achilles
in his fury raced ahead
15
Hector faces Achilles
When they'd approached each other, at
close quarters, great Hector of the
shining helmet spoke out first:"I'll no
longer try to run away from you, son of
Peleus, as I did before, going three
times in flight around Priam's great
city. I lacked the courage then to fight
with you, as you attacked. But my heart
prompts me now to stand against you
face to face once more, whether I kill
you, or you kill me. So come here. Let's
call on gods to witness, for they're the
best ones to observe our pact, to
supervise what we two agree on. If
Zeus grants me the strength to take
your life, I'll not abuse your corpse in
any way. I'll strip your celebrated armour
off, Achilles, then give the body back
again to the Achaeans. And you'll do the
same."
Swift-footed Achilles, with a scowl,
replied: "Hector, don't talk to me of our
agreements. That's idiotic, like a faithful
promise between men and lions. Wolves
and lambs don't share a common heart
they always sense a mutual hatred for
each other. In just that way, it's not
possible for us, for you and me, to be
friends, or, indeed, for there to be sworn
oaths between us, till one or other of us
falls, glutting Ares, warrior with the bull's
hide shield, on blood. You'd best
remember all your fighting skills. Now
you must declare yourself a spearman, a
fearless warrior. You've got no escape.
Soon Pallas Athena will destroy you on
my spear. Right now you'll pay me
back, the full price of those sorrows I
went through when you slaughtered my
companions.” With these words, he
hefted his long-shadowed spear, then
hurled it.
16
Achilles abuses Hector’s body
Then on noble Hector's corpse he carried out a monstrous act.
He cut through the tendons behind both feet, from heel to
ankle, threaded them with ox-hide thongs, and then tied
these onto his chariot, leaving the head to drag behind. He
climbed up in his chariot, brought on the splendid armour, then
lashed his horses. They sped off eagerly, dragging Hector. A
dust cloud rose above him, his dark hair spread out round him,
and Hector's head, once so handsome, was covered by the
dust, for Zeus had given him to his enemies to dishonour in his
own native land. So all his head grew dirty.
From Book XXII, translated by Ian Johnston:
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/iliad_title.htm
17
Abuse of Hector’s Body
18
Iliad (Book XXIV)
• Priam’s Plea
• Achilles’ grief
• What moved
Achilles’ to release
Hector’s body?
• Has Achilles finally
come to his senses?
19
Questions about the Iliad
• What are the chief motivations for war or conflict in the Iliad?
• Compare/Contrast Achilles and Hector as representing heroic
ideals.
• Does the character of Achilles develop over the course of the
Iliad?
• If the Iliad is about the wrath of Achilles, what is the lesson to be
learned, if any?
• What relevance, if any, does the Iliad have for us now?
20
21
The Odyssey
•
•
•
•
•
•
Journeys
Disguise, Deception & Craftiness
Fantastic Voyages
Women in the Odyssey
Homecoming: Loyalty & Order
Concluding Remarks
22
Two Journeys in One Story
• Odysseus and Telemachus
– Fantastic and Worldly
– Narrative Thread: Time and Memory
• Theme: Heroic Struggles
– Gods/immortality (Bk. V)
– Monsters
– Finding home
• Theme: Xenia
– generosity and courtesy towards
strangers
23
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Mt. Olympus
Troy
Cicones
Lotus Eaters
Cyclops
6. Aeolia’s Island
7. Laestrygonians
8. Circe’s Kingdom
9. Land of the Dead
10. Sirens
11. Scylla & Charybdis
12. Calypso
13. Ithaca
24
Disguise, Deception and
Craftiness
• Odysseus is polutropan
– = of many twists (Bk. I,
Proem)
• Odysseus’ arete
– Cf. Achilles & Hector
• Examples:
–
–
–
–
Nausicaa (Bk. VI)
Polyphemus (Bk. IX)
Circe (Bk. X)
Homecoming (Bk. XXIII)
25
Fantastic Voyages
• Horrible and Seductive
–
–
–
–
Cyclops (Bk. IX)
Circe’s Island (Bk. X)
Land of the Dead (Bk. XI)
Sirens, Scylla and
Charybdis (Bk. XII)
26
Women in the Odyssey
• Seduction and Symbol
– Cf. Women in the Iliad
• The Women
– Calypso
– Nausicaa (& mother)
– Circe
– Penelope
27
Land of the Dead (Bk. XI)
• Rites of the Dead
• Vision of the
Underworld
• The Message
28
Homecoming (Bk. XXIII)
• Disguises at Ithaka
– Now Athena
• Killing the Suitors
– Xenia?
• Penelope &
Telemachus:
– Loyalty and Order
29
Concluding Remarks:
Iliad & Odyssey
•
•
•
•
Heroic Ideals: arete, time, kleos
Gods and Humans: mortality or fate
Moral and Social Order: xenia, arete, women
Place of Homer in Greece
30
Some Paper Topics
(See also slide 20)
•
•
•
•
•
Compare the areté of Odysseus with Achilles (or hector, Gilgamesh, Moses,
etc.). How does the quest for honor and glory account for their actions? How
important is the recognition of mortality?
Compare the women characters from the Iliad and Odyssey. Clearly the women
characters are more prominent in the Odyssey, but in what way are they similar
or different? What role do women play in each epic work?
What is the role of women in Homer? Clearly they represent domestic ideals, but
they also represent other important values and features in the narrative.
Explicate what you think of Homer’s us of women characters in the Iliad and
Odyssey. Are there any interesting modern parallels?
The Odyssey is best known for the fantastic series of adventures the Odysseus
undergoes. Pick one or two episodes and draw modern parallel. What is the
significance of this episode? Does it teach us a lesson or reveal something
important about the human condition (or just archaic Greek values)?
Odysseus is constantly trying to get home to Ithaka. He forsakes a goddess
(Calypso) and other alluring women (e.g., Circe), so why does he seek out home
and a reunion with Peneolpe? What does this tell us about the virtues of
Odysseus?
31
•
•
•
•
•
How does Homer portray the relationship between gods and humans in
the Iliad and Odyssey? What roles do the gods play in human life? How
does this make a difference in the storylines?
In what way does Odysseus’ character develop during the course of the
narrative? Does he develop at all? Compare other characters (e.g.,
Achilles, Gilgamesh, etc.).
An important cultural concept in the Odyssey is xenia – generosity and
courtesy to strangers, especially travelers form afar. What role does it
play in the narrative? How is it established as a key value? Why might
hospitality have held more significance in Homer’s time than it does
today?
Draw a comparison between the themes presented in any two of the
works we have read thus far (Epic of Gilgamesh, Genesis, Exodus,
Job, Iliad, Odyssey). Pick a theme that spans both works and discuss
how it is similar and/or different, but also tell us why this is interesting or
revealing. Use specific examples to illustrate the theme(s) and your
main point about its treatment in the stories.
In the Odyssey and the story of Gilgamesh have given us two visions of
the underworld. What is the picture of the underworld we are given in
these works? Does it resonate with modern versions of the
underworld? Why is water so important? Blood?
32