Iliad Introduction

Homer

•Regarded as one of the greatest poets of all (especially of the “ancient world”).

•Might have been blind

•His texts seem to have been written over 100 years apart (The Iliad and The Odyssey)

Further tidbit: “ Both The Iliad and The Odyssey conform to the diction of a purely oral and unwritten poetic speech that was used before the end of that century. Indeed, some scholars believe the name “Homer” was actually a commonly used term for blind men who wandered the countryside reciting epic poetry.”

Homer as stand in

•Because the stories were passed down orally, it makes sense that it wasn’t until 100 years after the Iliad, that The Odyssey was written.

Homer in Context

•“The poem cannot have been composed much before 700 BCE” (Verity vii).

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​When was this Epic Poem Composed?

•Amongst other things, Verity mentions:

The poem is concerned with the ideas of authority and how authority is “established, questioned, and maintained.”

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​What is this Poem about?

​•In the poem the Greeks are referred to as the Achaean

•Overall, the plot deals with the consequences of Agememnon and Achilles’ actions

The Acheans and Achilles

​•Touches upon the imperfections of leaders, people, and gods.

Further thematic topics

​•The poem begins in-medias-res

Definition: in the midst of things

Background Needed

•“one of the most influential poems of all time”

•“neither easy nor pleasant”

​​Why do generations continue to read?

​1.The failures of leadership

2.The destructive power of beauty

3.The brutalizing impact of war

4.Above all, our ultimate fate of death

"This poem confronts, with unflinching clarity, many issues that we had rather forget altogether..”

•“…the accursed anger which brought the Achaeans countless agonies and hurled mighty shades of heroes into Hades” (3).

•Agamemnon and Achilles

•Chryses and his daughter

•The wrath of Apollo

•Calchas, son ofThestor speaks. (what is his prophecy?)

•What does Agamemnon do?

•How does Athena Intervene?

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​The Anger of Achilles

Make note of while you are reading book 1.