Friday, March 6, 2009

Iliad Review Books 7-12

Book 7
1. Athena & Apollo 7.17-42
2. Hektor challenges the Achaians 7.67
3. Casting Lots (like drawing straws) 7.181
4.Flyting - exchange of words/boasting before hand-to-hand combat. 7.225-243 (Ajax & Hektor)
5. Hektor & Ajax fight until dusk (7.244-282)
6. Poseidon is offended that the Achaians did not sacrifice to him (why?) 7.441-480

Book 8
1. Auguries - bird omens. The eagle represents Zeus (8.245-252)
2. Hera & Athena join the fight 8.350-396
3 Zeus reacts... 8.397-408)
N.B. the following quote from Zeus
"Yet with Hera I am not so angry, neither indignant
since it is ever her way to cross the commands I give her" (8.407-408)

Hektor burns down the Achaian walls 8.495


Book 9: Embassy to Achilles
Who is involved?
Why are they going to see Achilles?
What does each say to him?
What is his response? Why?

Odysseus (9.225-306)
First appeal: 9.252-258
Second appeal: 9.260-298

Phoinix (9.434-605)
First main appeal: 9.477-501
Story of Meleagros: 9.529-599
How is the story of Meleagros parallel to Achilles?

Ajax (Aias) (9.624-642)
Main appeal: 9.632-636
How does Achilles react? (9.645)

Book 10
Remember how I said Homer can be really graphic?
See 10.91-121
--------------------

*Who are the Greeks? Who are the Trojans?
After Persian war (think 300 the movie), we get this idea of a unified "Greek" identity. Those who are not Greek are considered barbaric. BUT that's not how it is in the Iliad. Homer never really tells us who IS and IS NOT Greek in the Iliad. If you recall the map that Solomon gave you, Troy is in Asia Minor, just North of Greek Ionia

*How does Homer characterize the heroes? Especially Achilles, Agamemnon, Menelaos, Hektor, and Paris...

*Race in Homer
a. Genos
b. Ethnos
Not the same as the American idea of "race" as the binary of Black v. White. Ethnos and Genos relate more to tribes, clans, family ties. 

*Status structure in Archaic Greece
Demes - small cities, ruled by kings
Every hero in the Iliad is a King, or Basileus (King in Greek)

*Poseidon as Earth Shaker
 Greeks believed the Earth was a flat disc, with water surrounding all sides. So, when the earth moved (earthquake), it was assumed that the water must be moving the earth. Thus, Poseidon as the god of the Sea is also the "Earth Shaker"

*Greek Words to know:
Τιμη (Timē) - Honor
Μοιρα (Moira) - Fate
a. There are 3 fates (like muses but crazier) who determine each person's destiny (i.e. how and when you die, whether you become famous, etc.)
b. Achilles is lucky because he gets a choice between 2 fates
c. Zeus tries to interfere with the fate of his son, Sarpedon.

*Friends v. Enemies in Ancient Greece:
"Help your friends and harm your enemies"


Need a book for Spring Break?

Hi again,
still no Iliad review. I don't want to publish that until after my 1pm discussion section.

BUT I have some suggested reading material to share... maybe for spring break?

1. Zanker, Graham (1994). The Heart of Achilles: Characterization and personal ethics in the Iliad

2. Wilson, Donna F. (2002). Ransom, revenge, and heroic identity in the Iliad

3. Hammer, Dean (2002). The Iliad as politics: the performance of political thought

4. Tsagalis, Christos (2004). Epic Gief: Personal laments in Homer's Iliad

My Response to Your Response #6

Hi Guys,
I'll update the Iliad review for books 6-12 over the weekend. For now I just wanted to correct a few misconceptions from your reading responses...

1. Briseis is NOT Achilles' wife. I know that she briefly references herself as his wife, but she does not have that status officially. She is his war prize and slave. It would be very unusual for a Greek to marry a slave even in the Archaic period. Although I suppose he could choose to free her...

2. Achilles does not agree to return to battle. There were several people who state that Achilles agreed with Odysseus and chose to return to battle because Odysseus' argument was "too perfect". I don't know where this statement came from, but it didn't come from Homer's Iliad.

3. Agamemnon DOES promise to return Briseis to Achilles along with the 7 women from Lesbos, gold talents, etc. He claims to not have touched Briseis in any way.

Anyway, overall they were fine and no one needs to worry about grades, I just wanted to make sure I addressed these before I forgot. I hope today's discussion was better than last weeks :)

Be safe today!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Pomegranate

Just in case you forgot what it looks like :)


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Need Some Help??

HI GUYS!!

So, if you guys are a bit confused by all the characters & action going on in the Iliad, you're luck. Professor Solomon put several charts in your discussion (red) workbook on pages 49-51.

And if you want another way to look at which Gods are on what side, here you go:

Trojan
Apollo
Artemis
Aphrodite
Ares
Scamander (River God of Troy)

Greek
Hera
Athena
Thetis

Neutral
Zeus 
Hermes