By Homer (9th or 8th Century BC) A Study Guide | |||
. Study Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...© 2003 Revised in 2010 © . .......The Iliad is an epic poem, a long narrative work about heroic exploits that is elevated in tone and highly formal in its language. It was composed in ancient Greek and transmitted orally before it was written down. Many modern translators present the Iliad in prose, making it read like a novel. .......The Iliad derives the first two syllables of its name from Ilios or Ilion (Greek for Troy) or, alternately, from Ilium (Latin for Troy). The suffix -ad means related to, concerning, having to do with, or associated with. Thus, Iliad means a story concerning Troy. Setting
.......In archeological digs between 1870 and 1890, German-born American archeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) appeared to prove that the ancient city of Troy was a fact, not a myth, as many had thought. However, the story of the Trojan War—as passed down to Homer—was a mixture of fact, legend, and myth. .......The Iliad ranks as one of the most important and most influential works in world literature in that it established literary standards and conventions that writers have imitated over the centuries, down to the present day. It also created archetypes that hundreds of great writers—including Vergil, Dante, Shakespeare, Stephen Crane, and James Joyce—alluded to when in need of an apt metaphor or simile. In addition, the Iliad provided a mother lode of information about Greek customs and ideals and about Greek mythology. The Iliad was a truly remarkable accomplishment. Even though its author had no similar literary model on which to base his work, he wrote a masterpiece that ranks with the greatest works of all time. No student of literature can ignore Homer. No writer's education is complete unless he has read Homer. .......The meter (rhythmic pattern of syllables) of Homer’s epic poems is dactylic hexameter. A dactyl is a metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables, as in the words technical (TEK nik l), allocate (AL oh kate), and harbinger (HAR bin jer). Hexameter is a line containing six metrical feet. Thus, dactylic hexameter is a scheme containing six dactyls, as in the following line: MAKE me a BEAU ti ful GOWN and a HAT fringed with TASS les of DOWN, good sir. For a full detailed discussion and explanation of meter and its forms, click here. .......One of the hallmarks of the Homeric style is the epithet, a combination of a descriptive phrase and a noun. An epithet presents a miniature portrait that identifies a person or thing by highlighting a prominent characteristic of that person or thing. In English, the Homeric epithet usually consists of a noun modified by a compound adjective, such as the following: fleet-footed Achilles, rosy-fingered dawn, wine-dark sea, earth-shaking Poseidon, and gray-eyed Athena. The Homeric epithet is an ancient relative of such later epithets as Richard the Lion-Hearted, Ivan the Terrible, and America the Beautiful. Homer repeated his epithets often, presumably so the listeners of his recited tales could easily remember and picture the person or thing each time it was mentioned. In this respect, the Homeric epithet resembles the leitmotiv of opera composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883). The leitmotiv was a repeated musical theme associated with a character, a group of characters, an emotion, or an idea. .......Homer established literary practices, rules, or devices that became commonplace in epic poetry written later. These rules or devices are now known as epic conventions. They include the following:
.......The here and now concerns the Greeks at Troy more than the afterlife, for they generally believe that the abode of the dead is dark and dismal. Consequently, their main purpose in life is to achieve immediate rewards and to live for the moment. The idea of a heaven that will requite them for good deeds, whether on or off the battlefield, is of less importance to them. However, they generally do revere the gods of Olympus, who take sides in the war. Offending the gods could incur their wrath and affect the outcome of the war. Achilles:
Temperamental Greek warrior and king of the Myrmidons, who were soldiers
from Thessaly in Greece. Achilles, the protagonist, leads the Myrmidons
against the Trojans. He is revered as the greatest warrior in the world;
no man can stand against him. Achilles is the son of Peleus, the former
king of the Myrmidons, and a sea nymph named Thetis.
Trojans Priam:
King of Troy.
Gods Zeus
(Roman names, Jupiter and Jove): King of the gods, who prefers to remain
neutral in the war but intervenes after a plea for help.
Theme
1:.The
wrath of Achilles. The main focus of the
Iliad is the anger
of the Greek warrior Achilles and the revenge he seeks against those who
wrong him, including the general of the Greek armies, Agamemnon, and the
Trojan warriors.
Mythology Background and Plot Summary .By Michael J. Cummings...© 2003 . Mythology Background .......In
the ancient Mediterranean world, feminine beauty reaches its zenith in
Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Greece. Her wondrous face and body are
without flaw. She is perfect. Even the goddess of love, Aphrodite, admires
her. While Aphrodite competes with other goddesses in a beauty contest—in
which a golden apple is to be awarded as the prize—she bribes the judge,
a young Trojan named Paris. She promises him the most ravishing woman in
the world, Helen, if he will select her, Aphrodite, as the most beautiful
goddess. After winning the contest and receiving the coveted golden apple,
she tells Paris about Helen and her incomparable pulchritude. Forthwith,
Paris goes to Greece, woos Helen, and absconds with her to Troy, a walled
city in Asia Minor (in present-day Turkey).
Compare/Contrast Achilles and Hector .......Achilles and Hector are alike in some ways but different in many others. For example, each is the greatest warrior of his army—Achilles, the Greek champion, and Hector, the Trojan champion. In addition, both exhibit human flaws—Achilles, vengeful rage, and Hector, impetuosity, as when he persuades Trojan warriors to leave the safety of Troy's walls shortly before Achilles returns to battle. However, they are unlike in many ways. Whereas Hector is a loving family man, Achilles has no wife or children. He seeks only one thing: battlefield glory. Write an informative essay or hold a discussion that compares and contrasts Achilles and Hector. Consider their personalities, their motivations, their intelligence, their leadership qualities, their relationships and standing with those around them, their skills as soldiers, their physical characteristics, and their moral and ethical values. Conflict .......Is the central conflict of the Iliad an internal or external one—that is, does the epic concern itself more with a conflict inside a person (or persons) or more with a conflict outside of a person (or persons) him, such as the war? Character You Admire or Despise .......Which character do you most admire? Which character do you least admire? Is your selection based on qualities the character shares with you or on qualities of the character that you would like to have but lack? Overall, what does your choice say about your own personality and characteristics? The Role of Women Investigate and report on the role of women in ancient Mediterranean society. Does the treatment of women by Agamemnon, Achilles, Paris, Hector, or any other character reflect the prevailing values of ancient society in Greece and nearby lands? The Trojan War .......How much of the Trojan War, as presented by Homer, is fact and how much legend or myth? As a starting point, look up the name Heinrich Schliemann (or Henry Schliemann) on the Internet or in an encyclopedia. Schliemann (1822-1890), who changed his first name to Henry after moving from his native Germany to America, conducted archeological digs in Turkey (the country where the fabled city was said to be located) in an attempt to prove that Troy really existed. What he found startled the world. The
Gods of Olympus
The Abode of the Gods .......The
Olympian gods lived in palaces constructed by Hephaestus on the summit
of Mount Olympus, the highest peak (9,570 feet) in a mountain range between
Macedonia and Thessaly near the Aegean Sea. Mount Olympus is sometimes
called Upper Olympus because it lies just north of a lesser peak (5,210
feet) known as Lower Olympus.
Influence
of Greek Mythology and Characteristics of the Gods
[Apollo] came down furious from the summits of Olympus, with his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled on his back with the rage that trembled within him. He sat himself down away from the ships with a face as dark as night, and his silver bow rang death as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. First he smote their mules and their hounds, but presently he aimed his shafts at the people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead were burning. (English translation by.Samuel Butler)The gods could also be quick to laugh. In Book 8 of The Odyssey, the blacksmith god, Hephaestus (Vulcan)—a lame and ugly hunchback—fashions an invisible chain to ensnare his beautiful wife, Aphrodite (Venus), and her inamorato, Ares (Mars), after they rendezvous to make love. In bed, they become hopelessly entangled in the chain. Hephaestus then invites other gods to look upon his unfaithful wife and her paramour caught—like wasps in a spider’s web—in his trap. On this the gods gathered to the house of Vulcan. Earth-encircling Neptune came, and Mercury the bringer of luck, and King Apollo. . . . Then the givers of all good things stood in the doorway, and the blessed gods roared with inextinguishable laughter, as they saw how cunning Vulcan had been. . . . (English translation by Samuel Butler) . Classical Literature at Amazon.com .. Drama, Poetry, Mythology, Philosophy, History, Correspondence (Letters) Apuleis, Aristophanes, St. Augustine, Caesar, Cicero, Demosthenes, Dio Cassius, Euripides, Herodotus, Hippocrates, Homer, Josephus, Livy, Lucan, Martial, Menander, Ovid, Philo, Plato, Pliny, Plutarch, Seneca, Sophocles, Tacitus, Thucydides, Vergil, Xenophon
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