Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods. Teachers may find this book useful as a discussion guide for the epic poem. Books 910 although the episodes in books 9 and 10 take place during the same night, providing a break from the fighting, little continuity exists between them. An analysis of the iliad sample example graduateway. Homeric scholarship is the study of any homeric topic, especially the two large surviving epics, the iliad and odyssey. Unlike the conventional definition of an omnipotent. In these books the reader is presented with the main conflicts, the main characters, and how the gods are involved in the war. In book 9 of the iliad, achilles rejects the offers made by three of agamemnons ambassadors in an attempt to get him to end his feud with agamemnon and rejoin the war against troy, because achilles feels that agamemnon has dishonored him. Analysis as night falls, the achaeans sleep soundly, except for agamemnon, who watches the trojan fires. At the end of the epic, agamemnon is a much greater leader than in the early books, even though he never reaches the same stature as several of the other warriors. This points to the fact that troy was an extremely wealthy city and, therefore, would be able to pay a ransom to get back its prisoners of war. The suggestion of the night raid displays a new aspect of the war. The gods, meanwhile, were gathered with zeus on the golden councilfloor, drinking toasts of nectar from gleaming cups that lovely hebe filled while they gazed down on troy.
In the iliad, occasional syntactic inconsistency may be an oral tradition effectfor example, aphrodite is laughterloving, despite being painfully wounded by diomedes book v, 375. Dolon sets off and is immediately spotted by odysseus and diomedes. The iliad, homers legendary account of this nineyear ordeal, is considered the greatest war story of all time and one of the most important works of western literature. With the trojans poised to drive the achaeans back to their ships, the achaean troops sit brokenhearted in their camp. Critical analysis of the iliad 1714 words bartleby. Athena is the only one described as glaucopis greyeyed.
Patroclus returns to achilles and tries to persuade him to relent. Thanks for exploring this supersummary study guide of the iliad by homer, transl. The episode with odysseus, diomedes, and the trojan, dolon, contrasts with the straightforward. Book 10 the greek commanders sleep well that night, with the exception of agamemnon and menelaus. It is currently part of the academic discipline of classical studies. King of the thracians, killed on a spy mission by diomedes.
Poseidon transformed into calchas and persuaded the greeks to force through with the war. Oct 09, 2012 both men showed distinct opposite characteristics in the book. The history of the world is the history of violence and war, and the iliad remains the original benchmark for our understanding of wars human dimensions. The assortment of the olympic gods in greek mythology offers a figure of different personalities.
The toandfro nature of the tides of war episodes look forward to the battles that swing back and forth in favour of the opposing armies. Book 10 summary and analysis book 11 summary and analysis. Chronicling the deed s of great heroes from the past who helped form a society, the iliad is an epic poem. When diomedes and odysseus capture dolon, the trembling. The iliad book 10 during the night agamemnon is restless.
While the epics thematic concerns are defined by the pride and rage of achilles. The gods, meanwhile, were gathered with zeus on the golden councilfloor, drinking toasts of nectar from gleaming cups that lovely hebe filled while they gazed down on troy cronos son was swift to taunt hera with mocking words, and said slyly. Honor and glory one of the central ideas of the iliad is the honor that soldiers earn in combat. First, a version attributed to pindar arna and bt at 435 in which rhesos comes to troy, performs heroic deeds that so alarm here that she sends athene to despatch diomedes and odysseus by night to kill. The iliad of homer translated by alexander pope, with notes by the rev.
Slater poem vs film the iliad vs troy achilles and hector fighting with athena and apollo on both sides of the warriors introduction written by the ancient greek poet, homer, the iliad was an epic documented on the nearly 10. The iliad is an ancient greek epic poem by homer that was first published in 762 bc. Similarly, success in athletic competitions also leads to honor and glory. Teach your students to analyze literature like litcharts does. Follow this link for a detailed summary of the iliad includes a capsule summary. Finally, hektor comes bearing down upon odysseus and diomedes. The story covered by the iliad begins nearly ten years into the seige. For the characters of the poem, war is something that is connected with the other parts of life, something that every man must undergo as he defends his city. In this book we see another example of a trojan warrior pleading for his life. A modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, supersummary offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Both odysseus and old nestor two of his commanders attempt to maintain agamemnons authority because they recognize that supporting agamemnon is the only way to ensure an effective and meaningful policy of order. Hector as the true hero of homers iliad essay 2389.
The following is an analysis of the opposition of achilles and hectors characters throughout the iliad. The goal of the book is, then, to advance the discussion of compensation and heroic identity in homers iliad. In this stunning graphic novel adaptation a thoroughly researched and artfully rendered masterwork renowned illustrator gareth hinds captures all the grim glory of. He is insulted and sent away, and apollo sends a plague on the greeks. They agree that they need a plan to save the achaians. The climax of analysis came with wilamowitz, who published homerische untersuchungen homeric studies in. When agamemnon refuses and threatens to ransom the girl to her father, the offended apollo plagues them with a. As caroline alexander put it in her talk at the carnegie council a couple of years ago, the epic of the iliad is much more than a slugging story. Summary read an overview of the entire poem or a line by line summary and analysis. Book x, often called the doloneia, provides a bridge between the speeches of book ix and the extended battle scenes in books xixviii. Character analysis agamemnon he is also commanderinchief of the armies. Menelaus sees the death of patroclus, and he goes to defend the body.
The iliad is one of the most prized pieces of western literature because of the illustriousness of the narrative. Restless, he seeks out nestor to create a new plan for the achaeans. For an ancient greek man, the ability to perform in battle is the single greatest source of worthiness. Some of lords fundamental insights about how meaning is achieved and therefore. Instead, it examines the murkier realm of spying and psychological warfare. For the purpose of the present article, homeric scholarship is divided into three main phases. Chryses, priest of apollo, comes to the greek camp to ransom his daughter, chryseis, held captive by agamemnon. E epic poem, and is thought to have been the beginning of greek literature, along with its companion, the odyssey. Hector was the social hero and achilles, the individual hero. Iliad virginia tech scholarly communication university. Menelaus is also unable to sleep and comes across his brother arming himself.
Summary in the scholia to book 10 two other versions of the rhesos story are reported. Two very distinct heroes were portrayed in the iliad. Secondly, book 10 is the only surviving example of an extended. The greeks are quarrelling about whether or not to return chryseis, a trojan captive of king agamemnon, to her father, chryses, a priest of apollo. Odysseus and diomedes lead a counterattack and kill various trojan warriors. Seeing this, odysseus shouts out to diomedes, his new partner in crime see the summary of book 10 and asks him, why arent we stopping this guy. The iliad is an ancient greek poem that tells the story of the trojan war. Hector bore his round shield in the forefront, blazing out like the dog star through the clouds, all withering fire then plunging back into the cloud rack massed and dark book 11, lines 6971. The iliad is not studied by middle or high school students as commonly as homers odyssey, perhaps because the war portrayed in the iliad includes so many individual battles and characters that its 500plus pages become a lot to digest. The iliad by homer is an epic poem that was set at the time of the trojan war. He gets up and looks with horror at the fires of the trojan camps. Instead, it examines the murkier realm of spying and. King agamemnon, who leads the achaeans, has brought an illness upon the army by refusing to give up a woman, chryseis, whom he seized as a prize in a recent battle.
While the episodes in books 9 and 10 occur within the same night and therefore. In his latest graphic novel adaptation of a classic text, hinds the odyssey condenses homers epic poem of gods and mortals at war, covering most of the major events and adding supplemental material that expands the story slightly beyond the original. He goes to nestor and runs into menelaus who is also unable to sleep. Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods, including achilles. The mission to achilles tent occurs early in the evening, while the mission across the trojan line occurs quite lateduring the third watch, according to odysseus, or around 3 a. The glory earned by soldiers on the battlefield enabled them to live on in legend, becoming heroes who would be remembered long after death.
Hector as the true hero of homers iliad essay 2389 words. For example, apollo sends a plague on the achaean army because paris has taken his sister captive. His brother paris, on the other hand, the instigator of the war, must be dragged out of the city to fight, causing other trojans to say shameful things homer, iliad 6. Achilles will not, but does agree to what nestor had suggested to patroclus towards the end of book 11. Find out what happens in our book 10 summary for the iliad by homer. Similarly, success in athletic competitions also leads to. With what meaning doth thy word thus charge and command me. The book also weaves in and out of the present of the book, as character often reflect on past events. The iliad book summary, by homer, robert fagles, bernard knox.
Oral poetics and the homeric doloneia the center for. The iliad cliffsnotes study guides book summaries, test. For example, a widely known story holds that achilles was immortal, except. For it seem that brighthelmeted hector has something to say iliad 3. In the tenth year of the trojan war, achilles, the greatest fighter for the achaeans the greeks and their allies, is enraged. The iliad is a powerful statement of what it means to be human in the middle of vast and senseless bloodshed.
Menelaus has two goddesses to aid him, hera of argos and alalcomenean athene. The epic poem retells the events and the battles between troy and greek states during the attack of troy. Combat between the two sides is not simply men dueling to the death in full armor. Most of the important people in the iliad have a special epithet that serves as an extra name. Although the iliad is largely the tale of a brutal war, it contains many reflections of the peacetime life of the ancient greek civilization. Clearly, a fullscale commentary on the iliad and odyssey that takes full. Agamemnon sends him rudely away, and chryses prays to apollo to punish the greeks. Who wrote the iliad a basic level guide to some of the best known and loved works of prose, poetry and drama from ancient greece the iliad by homer ancient greece homer the iliad the iliad homer poem. It may be a necessary part of war, but it contains little in the way of honor, casting diomedes and odysseus in a different light than the rest of the poem. Ethics and war in homers iliad carnegie council for ethics.
Like the odyssey, the iliad was composed primarily in. The story covered by the iliad begins nearly ten years into the seige of troy by the greek forces, led by agamemnon, king of mycenae. Set during the trojan war, the tenyear siege of the city of troy ilium by a coalition of mycenaean. Book 10 takes a break from the simple if chaotic headon battles described in the rest of the poem. How and to what purpose does virgil use ekphrasis in the aeneid 3194 words pages. Instant downloads of all 1427 litchart pdfs including the iliad.
It is usually attributed to the poet homer, about whom not much is known. While the achaeans are trying to destroy him with their arrows until agamemnon tells them, no more shooting,you men of achaea. Agamemnon tells menelaos to go call together the leading chieftains. Iliad books 14 analysis the summit the iliad books 14 set the stage for the rest of the book. Usually considered to have been written down circa the 8th century bc, the iliad is among the oldest extant works of western literature, along with the. Iliad, hidden beneath many layers of poetic embellishment. Information and translations of iliad in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. The most striking scenes are the battles, presented in intimate detail and in aweinspiring, sweeping overviews. This free study guide is stuffed with the juicy details and important facts you need to know. In homers iliad, courage is valued over honesty and even faithfulness to ones wife.
Apollos priest chryses comes to the achaian camp and asks to ransom back his daughter chryseis, who has been captured. I recommend that you read the relevant section of the iliad, then read my comments, then go back and reread the relevant section of the iliad. Hector bore his round shield in the forefront, blazing out like the dog star through the clouds, all withering fire then plunging back into the cloud rack massed and dark book. Homer calls upon the goddess of poetry and inspiration the muse to sing of achilleus anger. As was the tradition in epic poetry, the iliad opens in medias res, meaning in the middle of things, although the action is always preceded by the poets invocation to the muse the goddess of poetry. Chronicling the deeds of great heroes from the past who helped form a society, the iliad is an epic poem. The epic focuses on the quarrels between achilles and agamemnon and hera and zeus. The iliad begins with the poet calling on the muse to sing of the wrath of achilleus and its consequences. The iliad is an ancient greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to homer. First, a version attributed to pindar arna and bt at 435 in which rhesos comes to troy, performs heroic deeds that so alarm here that she sends athene to despatch diomedes and odysseus by night to kill rhesos as he sleeps. This free study guide is stuffed with the juicy details and important facts you need to. The plea for ransom comes up approximately a dozen times in the iliad. Book x deals with a totally different aspect of war espionage. Find helpful summaries and analyses for every chapter in homers the iliad.
Iliad study guide contains a biography of homer, literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. They convene on open ground, on the trojan side of their fortifications, to plan their next move. He and euphorbus trade insults, and menelaus reminds him that he killed euphorbus brother hyperenor. Summary and analysis of book 10 of homers iliad, with a focus on the iliad as a sacred text. Homer shows this in book 3, when hector steps out between the two armies while they are fighting and holding his warriors back.
Kirchhoffs 1859 edition of the odyssey argued that the urodyssey had comprised just books 1, 59, and parts of 10 12, that a later phase had added most of books 23, and a third phase had added the bits about telemachos, and book 24. If a hero is the most courageous man in the bunch, then hector is more heroic than achilles and king of the myrmidons. Ethics and war in homers iliad carnegie council for. It is clear that he is fated to fail and not a match for the two greek spies.
Book 10 of the iliad follows the nighttime spying exploits of the greeks and the. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on litcharts. She is called thea glaukopis athene goddess greyeyed athena and also pallas athene pallas athena. Diomedes and odysseus are chosen by the achaeans to go on a spying expedition at night. As the reader carefully studies agamemnons character, some growth in understanding can be seen in him particularly in book ix when he sends the embassy to achilles. The two warriors get ready and run outside, where they run into each other. As such the epic stands as a bridge between history and literature.
1186 272 1307 1140 1576 197 575 68 1320 885 169 914 102 679 525 566 74 1321 1049 415 993 182