1. What do you know about the Iliad?
Discuss the following questions with a partner:
How would you define the Iliad?
Who composed the Iliad? What do you know about them?
When was the Iliad composed?
How many books are there in the Iliad? Do you need to know all of them in detail for the exam?
What is the principal theme of the Iliad ?
What other themes occur throughout the Iliad?

2. Did you know all this?
The Iliad is an epic poem and one of the oldest extant pieces of Western Literature.
Homer is believed to have composed the Iliad, although the work owes a debt to a long tradition of oral poetry, and he may not have been the only poet to have composed it.
The Iliad was composed during the 8th Century BC (circa 760 – 710 BC)
There are 24 books in the Iliad. You will need to know books 6, 18, 22 and 24 for your exam.
The principal theme of the Iliad is the wrath (anger) of Achilles.

3. Some Themes in the Iliad
‘kleos’ – glory / fame
‘time’ – respect / honour
Heroism
Family
Fate

4. What Are We Learning Today?
Today we are consolidating and extending our knowledge on:
The background, characters and plot of the Iliad.
By the end of the lesson:
All of you will be able to name and describe more characters in the Iliad.
Most of you will be able to explain why Chryseis is such a crucial character for book 1.
Some of you will be able to evaluate whether Achilles acts heroically in book 1.

5. Who’s Who?
Write down as many characters that you think / know appear in the Iliad. Split them into three groups:
Greeks
Trojans
Gods / Goddesses
You must do this on your own without the book or help from anyone else!

6. Who’s Who? Now work in groups of three
Sort the characters into Trojans, Greeks and gods
Match the character from the Iliad to their description.
These groups will be your SBTs (Study Buddy Trios) for some presentations next lesson. Think of a Classical name for your SBT. Nothing inappropriate!

7. Book 1 Read the summary of book 1
When you have finished, think of three questions to test your partner
Use these question starters:
AO1 (knowledge and understanding) = What? Who? Where? Describe ... Why? Explain why ... Give reasons for ...
AO2 a) (evaluation / analysis) = Do you think ... ? To what extent... ? How far?

8. Presentations Hannah, Massimo and Seb –Summary of Book 2

9. Plenary Return to your character list. Can you add to it?
Who is Chryseis? Why is she such an important character for book 1?
Do you think Achilles has acted heroically so far? Why / Why not?