The Iliad

Homer First known poet of western literature A poor, blind, old poet of great wisdom who wandered from city to city singing his tales in verse He could neither read nor write so he composed his poetry orally and sang it as he played his lyre Credited with writing The Iliad in the Odyssey

The Iliad and The Odyssey Tell stories about the heroes and events of the Trojan War. According to oral tradition, the war began not with a battle but with a beauty contest. As we learned before, the Greek gods enjoyed meddling in human affairs.

Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera decided to compete for a golden apple inscribed, “To the Fairest."

The gods of Olympus, not wanting to be involved selected Paris, a young, handsome native prince of Troy to judge the contest. Each goddess tried to bribe Paris

Aphrodite offered Paris the most appealing gift, marriage to the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen.

Helen, however, was married to King Menelaus of Greece. This did not stop Paris. He took Helen from Menelaus and the two sailed off together in the sunset to the beautiful city of Troy.

Happy Ending?

Outraged by this “abduction” the Greek chieftains banded together under the leadership of Menelaus’s brother, Agamemnon, and attacked Troy.

The war party laid siege to Troy and began a battle that would last for ten years before the Greeks would finally succeed in conquering Troy and recapturing Helen, thanks to the clever hero Odysseus.

Background to The Iliad Opens as the Trojan War enters its tenth year. Revolves around two main characters:

Achilles Bravest and most handsome warrior in the Greek army

Hector Honorable warrior prince of the Trojans. Also the older brother of Paris and sworn enemy of Achilles.

In media res Prior to the story we learn that Hector has killed Achilles' dearest friend Patroclus, and strips his body of his armor, leaving the body exposed and unburied. What do we know about the Greek belief of burying the dead?

A dead Greek or Trojan warrior was dressed in all white and laid out so his troops could pay their respects by circling the bier and lamenting. The body was then burned on a massive funeral pyre along with sacrificial offerings of bulls, sheep, goats, and jars of honey and oil.

Achilles seeks revenge and we begin the story. Apollo assists Hector and Athena, still sour about the beauty contest assists Achilles.

Epic A long narrative poem that recounts, in grave and stately language, the exploits of a larger-than-life hero who usually embodies the ideals of the culture that produced him.

 Hero of high status  Courageous deeds  Fateful actions  Supernatural complications  Large-scale setting, long journey  Formal speeches  Timeless values  Universal Themes

Epithet  A characterizing nickname or adjective phrase used to identify a person  Examples from the text:  “tamer of horses” Hector  “Archer son” Apollo

Miss Ulrich... Teacher of English!