Significant sections of the Iliad
Focusing primarily on
1. the story of Achilles with his massively juvenile selfishness and the rage which emerges from thinking that one is immortal; how to correct that? How to grow up? Massive pain? Loss? Why? Does he ever learn? Does the last chapter (24) offer any resolution to the problem of knowing ourselves (gnothi seauton)?
2. the tragedy of Hector; what is he fighting for? How do the gods double deal against him? How does his courage and nobility compare to the slavishness of Paris and the other Trojans? How is his failure in book 22 pathetic? Does he recover from that failure? What makes a hero?
Book 1 : The Rage of Achilles
- all
- focus primarily on the juvenile petulance of Achilles; his weeping to his mother over a girl; his sense of loss and fair play; in what way is he juvenile; and how is Agamemnon one of these “rough men” who so threaten the world of little boys.
Book 2
- skip
- lists of men
Book 3 : Helen Reviews the Champions
- all
- mostly to see here are the pathetic nature of Helen and the cruel nature of the gods. Also note the weak character of Paris and how character is habitual reaction to situations; it defines us and blinds us.
Book 4
- skip
- fighting and stuff
Book 5 : Diomedes Fights the Gods
Lines 330 – 494
Lines 911 – 1053
- most significant here is the nature of the weak gods (Aphrodite/Ares) and how they are basically like little children
Book 6 : Hector returns to Troy
- all
- focus on the nature of Hector’s nobility; his love of city; his sense of utter isolation and loneliness in the defense of this great city and his own family; compare to Paris and the exchange btwn Hector and Helen
Book 7 : Ajax duels with Hector
- all
- again, the nobility of Hector, the cruelty of the Greeks, the brutality of the war and the effeminate nature of Paris (the incontinent man)
Book 8 : the Tide of Battle Turns
- lines 382 – 654
- nota bene the gods and Hera’s statement at 490
Book 9 : The Embassy to Achilles
- all
- One of the great classical examples of rhetoric; Odysseus appeals to practicality, Phoenix to filial connections; Ajax to thumos
- Nota bene that Achilles has grown in maturity through brooding on his own hurt; his line 383 – 394 “like a mother bird” indicates what about him?
Book 10 : Marauding through the night
- Skip
- Excellent chapter and include if you can. Some great carnage and the character of Odysseus is wonderful (like Riddick or some Conradian mercenary). Cut due to time constraints, but it is a jewel of a chapter.
Book 11 : Agamemnon’s Day of Glory
Lines 189 – 431 ; significant b/c of Zeus’ promise to Hector
Lines 706 – 1015 ; vital to the continuing story of Achilles
- nota bene how Patroclus is a second Achilles; his doppelganger – or all that was good of his childhood. Patroclus is the noble, unselfish man Achilles should have been. I normally skip the homosexual reading of this relationship entirely and claim that Patroclus is the adopted brother of Achilles, a practice that was frequent in the ancient world – rich families adopting the sons of poorer nobles or shield brothers. Why go into all that homosexual rigmarole anyway?
Book 12 : The Trojans storm the ramparts
- all
- some of the best “killing scenes” in the book, but moreover is the mounting tension here right at the middle of the epic (12/24) which ends in the cliffhanger at the end of the book – only to open with Zeus taking a breather in the next book.
Book 13
- skip (except maybe the opening lines about Zeus leaving the battle)
Book 14 : Hera outflanks Zeus
Lines 187 – 610
- wonderful material. Really funny comedy section about the allure of women and the sexual gullibility of even the strongest of gods. This section is normally a favorite with the students and I play up the whole Benny Hill element of the innuendo; get it “outFLANKS Zeus”?
Book 15
- skip
- more killing and speeches
Book 16 : Patroclus fights and dies
Lines 1 – 302
Lines 809 – 1017
- particularly significant for the furthering of the Achilles story.
- Nota bene the manner of his death and the treachery of the gods.
Book 17
- Skip
- killing
Book 18 : The Shield of Achilles
- all
- how is armor representative of phantasmagoria (the world of images which we create to deal with the world itself)? How is the “shield” a representation of all human experience? Will this protect Thetis’ little boy; nota bene that she, being immortal, does not want him to skin his knee (the perfect soccer mom) – yet he must! Why? Part of being adult is experiencing pain, sorrow, loss, and coming to grips with mortality the lack of which leaves us children in adult bodies.
Book 19
- skip
- putting on armor and killing
Book 20
- skip
- Gods stomping about and some killing
Book 21 : Achilles fights the river
Lines 1 – 434
- how is rage like drowning? How is rage like burning? Why doesn’t the massive carnage which Achilles inflicts prove to be a salve to his sorrow and loss?
Book 22 : The Death of Hector
- all
- here the two stories finally come together; Hector & Achilles; and end in tragedy. Why is Achilles so hell bent on destroying this good man? Why is Hector’s death pathetic? Nota bene the betrayal by the gods and Hector’s utter abandonment; how is this image a representation of a “faith crisis”? Does Hector fail or triumph at the last?
Book 23
- skip
- ancient world filler
Book 24 : Achilles and Priam
- all
- the significance of Achilles going down into the dust with Priam and weeping for loss (i.e. shared suffering of humanity) indicates that he has changed. What is the nature of the change in Achilles? Has he matured? Why is Homer ambiguous about this maturity (that is, why not come out and show clearly that he has become a man caring for others around him and aware of sorrow and pain)? Note especially the warning in 656 not to “tempt my wrath”; what is the significance of that line?