Introduction:

 To some extent we can infer from a text the values, ethics, and code of honor of the culture from which the text emerged. In the case of the Iliad, the heroic ideals of two different cultures are set  in opposition to one another. Homer contrasts the Greek ideal of rugged masculinity and individualism against the comparatively gentler Orientalism of Troy. The Greek hero Achilles with his blustering rage and his wounded pride is matched with the Trojan prince Hector who displays ferocity on the battle field and domestic gentility at home with his family. As the epic begins, Achilles, a 7th century draft-dodger and cross-dresser, loses his favorite female slave to Agamemnon the Greek Commander in Chief. Achilles, his pride hurt, withdraws from battle and begs  his goddess mother’s help in bringing about the destruction of the Greek army. The Greek hero, fearing his own death, does not return to combat until his pride is again wounded when Hector kills Patroclus and takes Achilles’ armor from the dead body. Achilles’ primary emotive states in the Iliad are rage and indignation. In contrast, the excerpts in our anthology pertaining to Hector detail the return of the Trojan prince from the battlefield and his final battle with Achilles. In both scenes, Hector demonstrates reverence to the gods, bravery on the battlefield, and concern for his family. While Homer contrasts the Greek and Trojan heroic ideals (Achilles and Hector), the poet also supplies a domestic contrast for Trojans in the form of Hector’s interaction with his wife and child and the highly dysfunctional Olympian Family. In our anthology, the counsel of the Olympian gods and the return of Hector to Troy seem to follow immediately one upon the other. Although there is in reality five books intervening, we are nevertheless invited to analyze the two passages together. Feminist critics in particular may be surprised to find Hector listening to the counsel of his wife, responding tenderly to her fears, and taking a moment to play with his infant son. Zeus’ interaction with his wife and son may be more in line with what many of us expect from a 7th century BC patriarch: he interrupts his wife and threatens her with bodily harm while his son, crippled by a prior run-in with his father, watches.

Genre: Epic Poetry

• a long narrative poem

• broad in scope (The Iliad takes place in the 9th year of the Trojan War)

• focuses on the exploits of the epic hero (in this case, Achilles)

• usually features mythological creatures, gods, and goddesses

• a central theme which is closely related to the epic action (in this case, Achilles' rage)

Background (the causes of war)

The Rape of Leda

• Jove, in the guise of a swan, raped Leda, wife of Tyndareus, King of Sparta.
• Leda was simultaneously impregnated by both Jove the Swan and Tyndareus.
• Leda gave birth to two sets of twins: Helen (born from an egg, daughter of Jove) and Clytemnestra (born the usual way, daughter of Tyndareus) and Castor (born the usual way like Clytemnestra) and Pollux (hatched from an egg like Helen).
• Helen (endowed by her father with stunning beauty) married Menelaus who upon Tyndareus’ death ascended to the Spartan throne.
• Clytemnestra married Agamemnon, King of Mycenae and the brother of Menelaus.
   

The Judgment of Paris

• Discord's apple
  • The goddess of Discord threw a golden apple onto the Olympian banqueting table; the apple was inscribed, “To the most beautiful goddess.”
  • Three goddesses reached for the apple: Minerva, Juno, and Venus.
  • Jove refused to choose which of the three was the most beautiful and suggested the Trojan prince Paris do so instead.
• Paris is bribed by the 3 goddesses
  • Juno offered to make Paris King of the World.
  • Minerva offered him wisdom.
  • Venus offered him the world’s most beautiful woman.
• Paris gets Helen
  • Paris picked Venus and was rewarded with Helen, the wife of King Menelaus.
  • Paris travelled to Sparta and, pretending to be an honorable guest, was treated to Menelaus’ hospitality.
  • When Paris abducted Helen and took her to Troy, he violated the sacred bond of the guest/host relationship and earned the ire of Jove, god of hospitality and oaths.

Important Characters

The Greeks (aka Achaeans, Danaans, Argives, and Hellenes):

• Agamemnon

• Menelaus

• Achilles

• Odysseus/Ulysses

• Patroclus

• Ajax (the Great)

• Helen

Trojans (aka Dardanians):

• Hector

• Paris (also Alexandrus and Alexandria)

• Priam

• Hecuba

• Andromache

• Aeneas

• Sarpedon

• Glaucus

Gods:

• Zeus/Jove – NO SIDE

• Ares/Mars (God of War) -- NO SIDE

• Hera/Juno - Greeks

• Athena/Minerva - Greeks

• Aphrodite/Venus - Trojans

• Apollo - Trojans

• Thetis - Achilles

Discussion questions:

1. Given the sharp contrasts between Greek and Trojan and between human and god, where do you think the sympathies of the author lie? Is Homer privileging one code of conduct over the other?

2. Why does Achilles call the mission to Troy an “insane voyage”?

3. Compare and contrast Achilles and Hector. Consider their motivations for fighting, their willingness to fight, and their loyalty to others.

4. Consider epithets as an indication of character, values, and function: glistening-footed Thetis, man-killing Hector, brilliant Achilles, white-armed Hera, white-armed Andromache. How do the epithets aid in the development of character? Some characters have more than one epithet; what are they?

5. Discuss the shield of Achilles: what sort of world does it depict? How do the “two noble cities” differ and how do they fit into the epic? What other scenes does Hephaestus forge and to what effect?

6. Discuss Achilles' relationship with Briseis. What insights does the text offer in regard to their feelings for one another?

7. Compare and contrast human family and divine family. What parallels do you find between Book I. lines 636-723 and VI.158-308? (Note that both Andromache and Hera carry the epithet “white-armed.”)

Comparative points to consider:

1. Compare/contrast Homer’s Achilles and Hector with Vergil’s Aeneas and Turnus (Aenied).

2. Compare/contrast the heroes of Greek and Roman mythology (Achilles, Odysseus, and Aeneas). Does Vergil improve upon the Greek ideal?

3. Compare/contrast the shields of Aeneas and Achilles.