Intro to the Iliad

Introductory Materials to the Iliad

Based on the Introductory readings vii-xxvi from the The Iliad by Homer- Translated by Anthony Verity

About the Author

Homer

•Regarded as one of the greatest poets of all (especially of the “ancient world”).

•Might have been blind

•His texts seem to have been written over 100 years apart (The Iliad and The Odyssey)

Homer Continued....

Further tidbit: “ Both The Iliad and The Odyssey conform to the diction of a purely oral and unwritten poetic speech that was used before the end of that century. Indeed, some scholars believe the name “Homer” was actually a commonly used term for blind men who wandered the countryside reciting epic poetry.”

Homer as stand in

•Because the stories were passed down orally, it makes sense that it wasn’t until 100 years after the Iliad, that The Odyssey was written.

Homer in Context

•“The poem cannot have been composed much before 700 BCE” (Verity vii).

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​When was this Epic Poem Composed?

•Amongst other things, Verity mentions:

The poem is concerned with the ideas of authority and how authority is “established, questioned, and maintained.”

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​What is this Poem about?

Multiple Choice

How long would the 15,000 lines-long poem take to perform?

• approximately 3 full days (or nights)

• 1 hour

• 2 horus

• 3 full hours

Multiple Choice

The Iliad tells the story of

• universal appeal.

• only for a rich audience.

• only for a poor audience.

• only for the gods.

​•In the poem the Greeks are referred to as the Achaean

•Overall, the plot deals with the consequences of Agememnon and Achilles’ actions

The Acheans and Achilles

​•Touches upon the imperfections of leaders, people, and gods.

Further thematic topics

​•The poem begins in-medias-res

Definition: in the midst of things

Background Needed

Open Ended

What background information (myth or myths) does one need to know to understand what is happening in The Iliad?

Multiple Choice

The narrative is set sometime

• towards the end of the Trojan War

• towards the start of the Trojan war

Multiple Select

Further studies and developments in comparative literature study tell us that the Iliad is more likely to be the result of

• an extremely complicated processes involving both orality and writing, which we can no longer reconstruct

• also the context of the Iliad is set in a time when writing did not even exist (choose this and the other answer option as the correct answers).

•“one of the most influential poems of all time”

•“neither easy nor pleasant”

​​Why do generations continue to read?

​1.The failures of leadership

2.The destructive power of beauty

3.The brutalizing impact of war

4.Above all, our ultimate fate of death

"This poem confronts, with unflinching clarity, many issues that we had rather forget altogether..”

•“…the accursed anger which brought the Achaeans countless agonies and hurled mighty shades of heroes into Hades” (3).

•Agamemnon and Achilles

•Chryses and his daughter

•The wrath of Apollo

•Calchas, son ofThestor speaks. (what is his prophecy?)

•What does Agamemnon do?

•How does Athena Intervene?

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​The Anger of Achilles

Make note of while you are reading book 1.

Open Ended

Read the Trojan War xxiv-xxvi. What is Verity's overall explanation of the type of violence the poem exudes?