Class notes, The Iliad of Homer 200 pages ISBN:9780226470498
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Course
HUMA
Institution
York University (Ebor
)
Book
The Iliad of Homer
These 196 pages of notes on the Iliad provide a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the text, highlighting its major themes, characters, and key elements. They offer a clear and concise summary of the story, including the background and context of the Trojan War, as well as a deep examination of...
Table of Content
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 6
PRELUDE TO THE TROJAN WAR ........................................................................................................ 6
Prelude Story ............................................................................................................................................. 7
What does it mean to sack a city? What did the Greek mission involve? What did the
Greeks intend to do in Troy? ................................................................................................................ 7
ILIAD ............................................................................................................................................................. 8
THE EPIC: DEFINITION...................................................................................................................... 8
THE EPIC: KEY FEATURES .................................................................................................................... 9
INTERPRETATION V ANALYSIS V DESCRIPTION ............................................................... 10
THE EPIC CYCLE ...................................................................................................................................... 14
ILIAD: TIMELINE & BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PLOT ..................................................... 15
ILIAD IN 1 PAGE ................................................................................................................................... 19
BOOK 1 ............................................................................................................................................................. 20
BOOK 1: BREAKS INTO 3 MAIN PARTS AFTER THE PROEM ........................................... 20
BOOK 1: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE (divided into a Proem & 3 main parts).................. 21
1) Quarrel between Agamemnon & Achilleus (1.1-429 pp. 75-86L)....................................22
2) Odysseus returns Chryseis to Chryses in Chryse (1.430-92 pp.86-88L) ................. 26
3) Meanwhile on Olympos (1.493 – 611 pp. 88-91L) .............................................................. 26
BOOK 1: CHARACTERS (in order of appearance) ......................................................................... 28
BOOK 2 ............................................................................................................................................................ 30
BOOK 2 BREAKS INTO 2 MAIN PARTS:..................................................................................... 30
BOOK 2: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE (divided into 2 main parts): .................................... 30
1) Agamemnon makes trial of the army (2.1 – 483 pp.92 – 105 L) ................................. 30
2) Epic Catalogue of The Ships (2.484-877 pp.105-16L) *Skim quickly ........................ 33
BOOK 2 CHARACTERS .......................................................................................................................... 35
BOOK 3 ............................................................................................................................................................ 36
BOOK 3 THE TROJANS & THE CONTEST BETWEEN PARIS & MENELAOS FOR THE
POSSESSION OF HELEN ..................................................................................................................... 36
BOOK 3 BREAKS INTO 3 MAIN PARTS:..................................................................................... 36
BOOK 3: DETAILED PLOT ONLINE (DIVIDED INTO 3 MAIN PARTS):.................... 37
1) Battlefield: Hector Rebukes Paris ............................................................................................. 37
2) Teichoskopia: Helen among the Trojans & “the View from the Wall” ............................ 39
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3) Aphrodite, Helen & Paris ............................................................................................................... 41
BOOK 3: CHARACTERS ........................................................................................................................ 42
BOOK 4 ........................................................................................................................................................... 43
BOOK 4 BREAKS INTO 5 MAIN PARTS: .................................................................................... 43
BOOK 4: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE: ......................................................................................... 43
1)* Olympos: the gods in council 4.1-72 pp.130-32L ............................................................... 43
2) Pandaros, a Trojan archer, breaks the truce by shooting Menelaos with an arrow
4.73-219 ................................................................................................................................................ 45
3) Agamemnon reviews the troops: 4.220-432 p.136L....................................................... 46
4) The Achaians marching 4.422- pp.141-42L vs. the Trojans wait “as sheep […] to
be drained of their white milk” 4.433-445 p.142L ............................................................... 46
5) The Battle begins 4.446-544 pp.142-45L (skim quickly)............................................. 46
BOOK 6............................................................................................................................................................. 47
*BOOK 6: OVERVIEW*............................................................................................................................ 47
SOME INTERESTING & IMPORTANT MOMENTS IN BOOK 6:....................................... 47
*BOOK 6: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE:......................................................................................... 49
1) The Battle Goes Back & Forth Between the Achaians & the Trojans, one gaining
the upper hand but then the other (6.1-4 p.171L) ................................................................. 49
2) The gods having left the battle, “the grim encounter of Achaians and Trojans was
left / to itself, and the battle veered greatly now one way, now in another” (6.1-2
p.171) ........................................................................................................................................................ 49
3) Greek heroes & who they kill 6.5ff pp.171-73 ..................................................................... 49
4) Helenos, “best by far of the [Trojan] augurs”, and Hektor’s brother, advises, Hektor
& Aineias to:............................................................................................................................................ 49
5)* Diomedes & Glaukos: Xenia-Friends (6.119-36 pp.174-77L) ........................................... 49
6)*Hektor in Troy *6.237-68 pp.177-81L ................................................................................... 51
7)* Hektor & Andromache 6.369-502 pp.181-84L.................................................................. 53
BOOK 9 ............................................................................................................................................................. 57
BOOK 9: BASIC PLOT............................................................................................................................ 57
BOOK 9: SOME HIGHLIGHTS & PASSAGES OF INTEREST .............................................. 58
BOOK 9: DETAILED PLOT SUMMARY PP.216.35L ................................................................... 59
1)*** The Embassy To Achilleus (9.185-659 p.221-34L) ***................................................ 62
2) Return & Report to Agamemnon ................................................................................................70
3)End of the Day................................................................................................................................... 71
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BOOK 9 CHARACTERS............................................................................................................................ 71
BOOK 11 ........................................................................................................................................................... 72
BOOK 11: STRUCTURE:.......................................................................................................................... 72
BOOK 11: HIGHLIGHTS ...................................................................................................................... 72
BOOK 11: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE: ......................................................................................... 74
BOOK 14 .......................................................................................................................................................... 80
BOOK 14: STRUCTURE: ........................................................................................................................ 80
BOOK 14: HIGHLIGHTS: .................................................................................................................... 80
BOOK 14: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE: ....................................................................................... 82
BOOK 16.......................................................................................................................................................... 88
BOOK 16: STRUCTURE: ........................................................................................................................ 88
BOOK 16: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE: ....................................................................................... 88
BOOK 17........................................................................................................................................................... 97
BOOK 17: STRUCTURE: ......................................................................................................................... 97
BOOK 17 HIGHLIGHTS: ..................................................................................................................... 97
BOOK 17: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE ......................................................................................... 98
BOOK 18 ........................................................................................................................................................ 103
BOOK 18: STRUCTURE: ...................................................................................................................... 103
BOOK 18: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE: ...................................................................................... 103
BOOK 19 ......................................................................................................................................................... 110
BOOK 19: QUESTIONS: ....................................................................................................................... 110
BOOK 19: STRUCTURE: ........................................................................................................................ 110
BOOK 19: DETAILED PLOT OUTILNE: ....................................................................................... 110
BOOK 20........................................................................................................................................................122
BOOK 20: STRUCTURE: ......................................................................................................................122
BOOK 20: HIGHLIGHTS: .................................................................................................................122
BOOK 20: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE: .................................................................................... 124
BOOK 21 ........................................................................................................................................................ 129
BOOK 21: STRUCTURE: ...................................................................................................................... 129
BOOK 21: HIGHLIGHTS: .................................................................................................................. 129
BOOK 21: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE: ...................................................................................... 130
BOOK 22 ....................................................................................................................................................... 136
BOOK 22: STRUCTURE: ..................................................................................................................... 136
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BOOK 22: HIGHLIGHTS:................................................................................................................. 136
BOOK 22: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE...................................................................................... 137
1)Three speeches: Priam, Hekabe & Hector 22.25-130 pp 459-60 ................................ 137
2)The Chase 22.131-246 pp460-64....................................................................................... 138
3)*The Fight Between Hektor & Achilleus 22.247-404 pp.464-68 ............................ 139
4)Three Speeches: Priam, Hekabe & Andromache 22.405-515 pp.468-71 .................. 143
BOOK 24 ...................................................................................................................................................... 144
BOOK 24: STRUCTURE: .................................................................................................................... 144
BOOK 24: HIGHLIGHTS:................................................................................................................ 144
BOOK 24: DETAILED PLOT OUTLINE...................................................................................... 145
CRITICAL ACTION & VOCABULARY OF THE EMBASSY AGAMEMNON SENDS TO
ACHILLEUS IN BOOK 9 & BOOK 19 OF THE ILIAD ............................................................... 153
GLOSSARY OF KEY GREEK TERMS...................................................................................................... 155
KEY CONCEPTS............................................................................................................................................. 171
COMPENSATION ................................................................................................................................... 171
ANGER, WRATH, HATE, STRIFE, CONFLICT, DESTRUCTION & WAR...........................175
THE PROBLEMS OF COURAGE, COWARDICE & DISCRETION”* FALSTAFF
(&AGAMEMON?) VS. ODYSSEUS, SARPEDON & HECTOR ..................................................... 177
KIERKEGAARD VS. HOMER/ GLAUKOS/ APOLLO ON TIME & DEATH ........................ 183
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ARETE; TIME; KLEOS & GERAS........................................... 185
SWALLOWING PRIDE ......................................................................................................................... 186
GOD VS MEN............................................................................................................................................ 187
QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................................... 188
SOME KEY QUESTIONS FORM PARTICULAR BOOKS OF THE ILLIAD ..................... 190
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INTRODUCTION
PRELUDE TO THE TROJAN WAR
The Iliad = the poem about Ilion (Troy)
Troy = Ilion or Ilios. Located on the west coast of modern day Turkey. Modern – day Turkey
is part of a landmass that, in the ancient world, was known as Asia Minor [“small Asia”].
Here is the general map of the region:
The Iliad dates to around 750-600 B.C.E. (around the time of Hesiod). The meter of the
verse of this composition is the same as the meter used in Hesiod’s epic poetry: dactylic
hexameter.
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Prelude Story
∗ This is one version of the story. All versions are similar in their basic outline.
Zeus learns of a prophecy: from his affair with the nymph-goddess Thetis, Thetis would
give birth to a son who would be more powerful than him. Zeus does not want that to
happen, and is pleased when Peleus, a mortal man and son of Aiakos, wants to marry Thetis.
Zeus knows that if Thetis marries a mortal man, she will not give birth to a son who would
fulfill the prophecy that he fears.
At the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, Zeus wants to make sure that there is no discord at
the wedding. For this reason, he does not invite the goddess Eris (eris is the ancient Greek
word for “strife” or “discord”). However, because the nature of Strife is to cause strife
(discord, conflict), she shows up at the wedding anyway.
At the wedding, Eris throws a golden apple in the midst of the guests. Among the guests
are three goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Inscribed on the apple are the words:
“To the fairest among you.” Each of the three goddesses wants the apple for herself. But
who is to judge who is the most beautiful goddess? No one wants to be the judge.
One day, Zeus sends Hermes to Paris (also known as “Alexandros”), the extremely handsome
son of the Trojan King Priam. The god meets Paris at Mount Ida (in Troy) and commands
the prince to judge who among the three goddesses is the most beautiful. Each of the
three goddesses’ attempts to bribe Paris: Hera promises him Asia; Athena promises him
victory in war; and Aphrodite promises him the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen,
daughter of Zeus, Queen of Sparta and wife of King Menelaos. Paris selects Aphrodite as
the most beautiful goddess.
One day, Paris travels to Sparta and visits Menelaos. Menelaos takes him in as a guest and
provides him with the required hospitality and friendship given to guests (xenia). Menelaos,
however, must leave for Crete, a large island south of the Greek mainland. It is not clear
what exactly happened after Menelaos left for Crete. What is clear is that Paris and Helen
left together and went to Troy (whether Helen was kidnapped or left "willingly" depends
upon who tells the story). When Menelaos returned to his home in Sparta from Crete, he
learned that his wife had left with Paris. He and his brother Agamemnon, King of Argos,
assembled an army of men from the surrounding Greek cities and launched an armada of
more than a thousand ships across the Aegean Sea to sack Troy.
What does it mean to sack a city?
What did the Greek mission involve? What did the Greeks intend to do in Troy?
1. Massacre the men. Those who are spared would be ransomed.
2. Enslave the women and children. Many of the women would be raped. Some male
children would be killed.
3. Plunder the city of all of its treasures.
4. Burn the city to the ground so that the land is uninhabitable. The Iliad tells the
story of, at most, a few weeks in the tenth year of the Trojan War. The majority of
The Iliad spans only a few days.
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ILIAD
BACK-STORY TO ILIAD
• the background myths that the author or authors of the Iliad would presuppose
the audience/reader knew—see Richard P. Martin’s introduction to Lattimore’s
translation of the Iliad pp. 9-12; 13-15
o The back-story has been pieced together from Hesiod’s Theogony & Cyclic
Epics from the 7th & 6th C. BCE. These Cyclic Epics no longer exist except in
“random citations and a few plot summaries from later sources”.
o Parts of the backstory are also given in Greek tragedies such as Aeschylus’
Agamemnon & Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis. These tragic narratives contain
variants of the myth of the Trojan War; for e.g., why Artemis was angry &
demanded the sacrifice of Iphigenia & what actually happened at the time
of the sacrifice. The Trojan War is the single most important myth for
ancient Greece & Rome.
o See Martin p.9 & p.11
See Iliad 24.25-30 pp.497-98 re the allusion to the ‘judgment of Paris’
THE EPIC: DEFINITION
• An epic is a long narrative poem having an “elevated” style (language/rhetoric) &
content (themes) about the deeds of heroes & warriors.
o It will often have national significance in the sense that it narrates &
embodies the history, values, aspirations & (founding) myths of a nation & is,
in this sense, a story of origins.
• Hence the word epic in general usage means broad in scope, all inclusive, all-
encompassing, grand or majestic—an epic is the most inclusive of forms/genres,
including within itself, for instance, lyric poems & dramatic dialogue.
• It is also all-encompassing because it is encyclopedic: it contains society in all its
aspects & it catalogues, for instance, ships, heroes, sports & proper etiquette.
• It is grand or majestic because of its elevated form (style, language, rhetoric) &
elevated content (heroic themes, national history, etc.)
• It is narrative because it tells its story, usually in a third person objective form
o Vs. lyric, a short poem in the first person, narrating personal feelings and
thoughts
o Vs. dramatic, a play records direct dialogue, i.e. characters talking to each
other will no presence of a narrator.
o Yet note, since the epic is all-inclusive & contains many other forms/genres
within it, it also typically contains lyric & dramatic moments.
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