The IliadHOMER’S

HOMER•the greatest of ancient Greek epic poets

•Lived in 850 BC, 12th century BC, or 7th century BC

•Teacher of Greece

•"the date of Homer" refers not to an individual, but to the period when the epics were created

•Melesigenes

•The poet's name is homophonous with ὅμηρος (hómēros), "hostage" (or "surety")

•Iliad was composed by "Homer" in his maturity, while the Odyssey was a work of his old age

•Homeric poems are dependent on an oral tradition

The Iliad “The Song of Ilion” or “The Song of Ilium”

Ancient Greek epic poem written in dactylic hexameters

tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemmnon and the warrior Achilles

the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war (Medias Res)

the epic narrative takes up events prophesied for the future, such as Achilles' looming death

usually dated to around the eighth century BC contains 15,693 lines written in Homeric Greek

Characters: The Greeks Agamemmnon — King of Mycenae, leader of the Greeks. Achilles — Leader of the Myrmidons, half-divine hero. Odysseus — King of Ithaca, the wiliest Greek commander and

hero of the Odyssey. Ajax the Greater — son of Telamon, with Diomedes, he is

second to Achilles in martial prowess. Menelaus — King of Sparta, husband of Helen and brother of

Agamemnon. Diomedes — son of Tydeus, King of Argos Ajax the Lesser — son of Oileus, often partner of Ajax the

Greater. Patroclus — Achilles’ closest companion. Nestor — King of Pylos, and trusted advisor to Agamemnon.

Characters: The Trojan Men Hector — son of King Priam and the foremost Trojan warrior. Aeneas — son of Anchises and Aphrodite. Paris — Helen’s lover-abductor Deiphobus — brother of Hector and Paris. Priam — the aged King of Troy. Polydamas — a prudent commander whose advice is ignored; he is Hector’s

foil. Agenor — a Trojan warrior, son of Antenor, who attempts to fight Achilles (Book

XXI). Sarpedon, son of Zeus — killed by Patroclus. Was friend of Glaucus and co-

leader of the Lycians (fought for the Trojans). Glaucus, son of Hippolochus— friend of Sarpedon and co-leader of the

Lycians (fought for the Trojans). Euphorbus — first Trojan warrior to wound Patroclus. Dolon — a spy upon the Greek camp (Book X). Antenor — King Priam’s advisor, who argues for returning Helen to end the war. Polydorus — son of Priam and Laothoe Pandarus — famous archer and son of Lycaon.

Characters: The Trojan Women

Hecuba— Priam’s wife, mother of Hector, Cassandra, Paris, and others.

Helen— abducted by ParisAndromache — Hector’s wife, mother

of AstyanaxCassandra — Priam’s daughter; courted by

Apollo, who bestows the gift of prophecy to her

Briseis— a Trojan woman captured by the Greeks; she was Achilles' prize of the Trojan war.

Characters: Gods and Goddesses

Zeus (Neutral)Hera (Achaeans)Artemis (Trojans)Apollo (Trojans)Hades (Neutral)Aphrodite (Trojans)Ares (Trojans)Athena (Achaeans)Hermes (Neutral)Poseidon (Achaeans)Hephaestus (Neutral)Iris (Achaeans)

Setting

takes place in the tenth year of the Trojan War

Greece and Troy

Prologue: The Judgment of Paris

Paris was called to judge to whom the golden apple would be given among Pallas Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera

“For the Fairest”

Hera: I promise to make you the Lord of Europe and Asia!

Athena: You will lead the Trojans to victory against the Greeks and lay Greece in ruins!

Aphrodite: The fairest woman in the world should be yours!

Paris chose Aphrodite. This was how the Trojan War began.

Trojan War

Aphrodite led Paris to Sparta and he left Oenone for Helen.

Menelaus and Helen welcomed him as their guest. Paris broke his trust and completely left to Paris his home and went off to Crete.

BUT…

“Paris who comingEntered a friend’s kind

dwelling,Shamed the hand there that

gave him food,Stealing away a woman.”

Menelaus got back to find Helen gone, and he called upon all Greece to help him.

Wanted: Odysseus and Achilles (later go to the Greek camp)

Aulis- a place of dangerous winds and strong tides

Calchas declared that the Gods had spoken to him:

Artemis was angry. Iphigenia must be sacrificed

for them to have a safe voyage to Troy.

Agamemmnon wrote to his wife that he had arranged marriage to Iphigenia and

Achilles. When she came to her wedding, she was carried to the altar to be killed.

“And all her prayers---cries of Father, Father,

Her maiden life,These they held as nothing,

The savage warriors, battle-mad.”

Protesilaus died upon leaping ashore to the mouth of Simois

and Hermes brought him up from the dead to see once again his

deeply, mourning wife, Laodamia.

Laodamia killed herself and went to the underworld with

Protesilaus.

“Very brief is your lot. Would that you could be free now from tears and

troubles, for you shall not long endure, my child, short-lived beyond all men and to be pitied.”

~Thetis to Achilles

“I know well in my heart and in my soul, the day shall

come when holy Troy will be laid low and Priam and

Priam’s people.”

~Hector to Andromache

Achilles vs. Agamemmnon Chryses, a Trojan priest of Apollo,

offers the Greeks wealth for the return of his daughter Chryseis.

He prayed to Apollo and he set up a plague against the Greek Army.

Agamemnon agrees to return Chryseis to her father, but also decides to take Achilles's captive, Briseis, as compensation.

Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to ask Zeus that the Greeks be

brought to the breaking point by the Trojans, so Agamemnon will

realize how much the Greeks need him.

Zeus sent a dream to Agamemmnon, urging him to

attack Troy.

Paris vs. Menelaus

Paris offers to end the war by fighting a duel with Menelaus

Helen promised Priam to abide by the outcome of the duel.

Aphrodite rescues him and leads him to bed with Helen before Menelaus could kill him.

Hera was determined that the war should not end until Troy

was ruined. Athena persuaded Pandaros to

break the truce and shoot an arrow to Menelaus.

War started again for the Greeks was in rage to the treachery of

the Trojans.

Greeks: Ajax and Diomedes Trojans: Prince Aeneas (Aphrodite’s

son) Diomedes wounded her hand and

she let Aeneas fall. Diomedes (with the help of Hera)

vs. Hector (with the help of Ares) Ares was terribly wounded and

went back to Olympus.

“Lady Athena, spare the city and the wives of the

Trojans and the little children.”

~Hector

Andromache: My dear lord, you are the father and mother and brother unto me as well as husband, stay here with us. Do not make me a widow and your child an orphan.”

Hector: I could not be a coward. It was for me to fight always in the forefront of the battle.

Hector to Astyanax: Far greater is he than his father was.

Zeus helped the Trojans as a promise to Thetis.

Nestor told Agamemmnon that if he had not angered Achilles, they would not have been defeated.

Agamemmnon brought Briseis back to Achilles and give them all the riches.

Achilles angrily refuses Agamemnon's offer, and declares that he would only return to battle if the Trojans reach his ships and threaten them with fire.

Because of Hera, the battled turned in favor of the Greeks.

Poseidon was begged by Hera to help the Greeks and Zeus sent Iris to withdraw from the field.

Apollo revived Hector.

“You can keep your wrath while your countrymen go down in ruin. I cannot. Give me your armor. If they think I am you, the Trojans

may pause and the worn-out Greeks have a breathing space.

You and I are fresh. We might yet drive back the enemy. But if you

will sit nursing your anger, at least let me have the armor.”

~Patroclus

“That way, they can cut off the Army’s retreat. Go. Take my

armor, my men too, and defend the ships. I cannot go. I am a man dishonored. For my own

ships, if the battle comes near them, I will fight. I will not fight

for men who have disgraced me.”

~Achilles

The Death of Patroclus

“Bitter tidings. Patroclus is fallen and Hector

has his armor.”

~Antilochus

The Wrath of Achilles

Achilles: I will no longer live among men, if I do not make Hector pay his death for he himself for Patroclus dead.

Thetis: You yourself is fated to die straightway after Hector.

Achilles: So may I do. I who did not help my comrade in his sore need. I will kill the destroyer of him I loved; then I will accept death when it comes.

Achilles vs. Hector

Hector: If I kill you, I will give back your body to your friends and do you do the same to me.

Achilles: Madman. There are no covenants between sheep and wolves, nor between you and me. (hurling his spear)

The Death of Hector

Before Hector could approach, he who knew well that armor taken by Hector from the dead Patroclus aimed at an

opening in it near the throat, and drove the spearpoint in.

HECTOR FELL, DYING AT LAST!

The Death of Hector

Hector (dying): Give back my body to my father and my mother.

Achilles: No prayers from you to me, you dog. I would that I could make myself devour raw your flesh for the evil you have brought upon me.

Achilles pierced the feet of Hector and fastened them with thongs to the back of his chariot, letting

the head trail. He lashed his horses and round and round the walls of Troy he dragged all that

was left for Hector.

Achilles to the dead Patroclus

“Hear me even in the house of Hades. I have dragged Hector behind

my chariot and I will give him to the dogs to devour

beside your funeral pyre.”

King Priam: Remember, Achilles, your own father, of like years with me and like me wretched for want of a son. Yet, I am by far more to be pitied who have braved what no man on earth ever did before, to stretch out my hand, to the slayer of my son.

Achilles: Sit me by here, and let our sorrow lie quiet in our hearts. Evil is all men’s lot, but yet, we must keep courage.

“The other Trojans upbraid me. But always I had

comfort from you through the gentleness of your spirit and your gentle

words. You only were my friend.”

~Helen of Troy to King Priam

The Funeral of Hector

The Trojans lamented Hector for 9 days. When all was burned, they quenched

the flame with wine and gathered the bones into a golden urn, shrouding them in soft purple.

And with it, the Iliad ends.

The Fall of Troy

Achilles killed Prince Memnon of Ethiopia

Paris shot an arrow at Achilles and Apollo struck his foot in the one spot where he could be wounded…

HIS HEEL.

Marvelous arms Thetis had brought Achilles caused the death of Ajax.

Odysseus got the arms and Ajax who was defeated was held to be dishonored.

Ajax was determined to kill Agamemmnon and Menelaus.

Because of his anger, he killed the flocks and herds of the Greeks.

“The poor cattle killed to no purpose by my hand. And I stand here alone, hateful to men and to

gods. In such a state only a coward clings to life. A

man, if he cannot live nobly,

can die nobly.”

~Ajax

There was a man from the Trojans who knew the future, the prophet Helenus.

Troy would not fall until some one fought against the Trojans with the bow and arrows of Hercules.

Greeks stopped at an island to offer a sacrifice, and Philocletes was bitten by a serpent, and left him at Lemnos.

Philoctetes wounded Paris with his arrows.

Paris begged to carry him to Mount Ida where Oenone and he once lived to be healed. But Oenone only watched him died.

As long as the Trojans had the Palladium, the Greeks could not defeat them.

Diomedes stole the Palladium with the help of Odysseus.

The Greeks thought of a way to defeat the Trojans.

The Stratagem of the Wooden Horse

Created by Odysseus The wooden horse could hold

a number of men. Only Neoptolemus was not

terror-stricken Men inside the Trojan horse

would surely die.

The Plan To leave a single Greek behind in the

deserted camp for the Trojans to bring the horse in their city

At night, the Greeks would come out of the horse and open the city gates to the Army

In front of the Scaean gates stood an enormous figure of a horse

Sinon told Priam that the horse was a votive offering to Pallas Athena.

Priest Laocoon warned the Trojans to destroy the wooden horse immediately.

Cassandra had echoed his warning, but no one believed her.

Two serpents crushed the life out of Laocoon and his two sons.

Trojans dragged the horse through the gate and up to the temple of Athena.

In the middle of the night, the door in the horse opened.

Troy was burning. Achilles’ son struck Priam down

before the eyes of Hecuba and their daughters.

Aeneas fought the Greeks alone. Even with Aphrodite’s wife, he

couldn’t really save his wife and children.

Aphrodite helped Helen got out of the city and took her to Menelaus.

Only Hecuba, Andromache, and other Trojan women survived.

Death of Astyanax

Andromache: Not that he does not go with me?

Herald: The boy must die—be thrownDown from the towering wall of

Troy.Now—now—let it be done. EndureLike a brave woman. Think. You

are alone.One woman and a slave and no

help anywhere.

“Weeping, my little one? There, there.You cannot know what waits for you.

--How will it be? Falling down—down—down—all broken—And none to pity.

Kiss me. Never again. Come closer, closer.

Your mother who bore you—put your arms around my neck.

Now kiss me, lips to lips.”

~Andromache

Polyxena’s Death

“Troy has perished, the great city.Only the red flame now lives

there.

The dust is rising, spreading out like a great wing of smoke,

And all his hidden.We are gone, one here, one there.

And Troy is gone forever.”

THEME

Fate and Freewill

because everything is fated doesn't mean there isn't any freedom

the gods don't control fate

PRIDE The Iliad’s male characters are

motivated in some way by considerations of their social standingPriam and Patroclus

depicted as a destructive force shown as having some benefits

Competition

The way to get reputation and pride

Hector prays that his son will grow up to be a better warrior than him

He wants to be able to boast about having a better son than anyone else.

Compassion and Forgiveness

Achilles refuses the offerings of King Agamemmnon and did not show compassion to the Greeks

He refuses to make any deal with Hector

Friendship

Achilles strong comradeship with Patroclus

Helen and Hector

Love Hector and Andromache

Not only love as a spouse, but a parental love to Astyanax

Priam’s love for Hector Hera’s seduction of Zeus Forbidden love of Paris and Helen

Hate

Achilles’ anger to Agememmnon

and Hector

Warfare

Battle scenes are petrifying and brutal

War is an almost inevitable part of human life

Religion

Gods and Goddesses are a daily presence in people's lives

the mortals honor the gods with sacrifices, but they expect favors in return

Glory of War Paris Achilles To fight is to prove one’s honor and

integrity, while to avoid warfare is to demonstrate laziness, ignoble fear, or misaligned priorities

Homer portrays each side as having a justifiable reason to fight and depicts warfare as a respectable and even glorious manner of settling the dispute

Military Glory over Family Life

One wins in the eyes of others by performing great deeds

Hector knows that fighting among the front ranks represents the only means of “winning my father great glory.”

Achilles chose to avenge Patroclus and kill Hector rather than to stay with his aged father.

SYMBOLISMS

Achaean Ships future of the Greek race the heroes represented here

actually lived historically, as real kings who ruled the various city-states of Greece in their earliest years

The mass death of these leaders and role models would have meant the decimation of a civilization.

Shield of Achilles

The world beyond the battlefield

Life as a whole Human beings may serve not

only as warriors but also as artisans and laborers in the fields

Approaches

Historical Approach

reflected in the Homeric poems derives from a tradition of epic poetry founded on a war which actually took place

Others accept that there may be a foundation of historical events in the Homeric narrative, but say that in the absence of independent evidence it is not possible to separate fact from myth

Represent an historical campaign that took place at the eve of the decline of the Mycenaean civilization

The Achilles of the Linear B tablet is a shepherd, not a king or warrior

Some story elements from the tablets appear in the Iliad

Troy VIh and Troy VIIa, both appear to have been destroyed by fires

The helmets covered with wild boar teeth described in the Iliad can be found on Bronze Age archeological contexts

Their conclusion was that there is regularly a consistency between the location of Troy as Hisarlik (and other locations such as the Greek camp)

One may see Homer or his informants as eyewitnesses to Troy and the landscape of Troy at the close of the eighth century B.C., the period when scholars generally agree Homer composed his epic

there were several armed conflicts in and around Troy at the end of the Late Bronze Age

Mythologicalor Archetypal

Approach

Gilgamesh The Iliad (Achilles)

A warrior kingExpressed the

achievements of great warriors

Partly divine, partly mortal Mixed divine and human heritage

Expressed severe loneliness in Enkidu’s

death

Expressed severe loneliness in Patorclus’

death

Strives to achieve immortality for Enkidu

and himself

Could not surpass death

A bull was sent for him to battle

Apollo set a plague  that wipes out a large number

of soldiers in the Greek camp. 

Searching for immortality Searching for honor

Attempted to ressurect Enkidu’s body

Accepted Patroclus’ death and avenged him

Raped the daughters in each family

Women enjoyed Achilles’ “company”

Death was his destiny Death was his destiny

MARIE BUENA S. BUNSOY

BSE III-ENGLISH