The Iliad

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The Iliad

• Song of Troy
• Adapted freely from
• room222.net/source/EngII_Unit3_Illiad.ppt

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Prologue THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS
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How it began

• Eris, goddess of Discord, was not invited to the
  marriage of King Peleus and Thetis (a sea nymph).
  
• Eris decided to make trouble at the banquet by
  throwing a golden apple marked For the Fairest
  among the guests

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The Apple of Discord

• Three goddesses vied for the golden apple
  Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera.
• Zeus (very wisely) refused to judge them and gave
  the job to Paris, a young prince of Troy who was
  tending his fathers sheep.
• Priam, Pariss father, had sent his son away
  because he (like all other men in mythology) had
  been told that his son would cause his downfall.

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How can you judge a goddess?

• When the goddesses approached Paris, each offered
  a bribe.
• Hera promised him Europe and Asia
• Athena promised that he would lead the Trojans to
  victory against the Greeks
• Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman
  in all the world

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And the winner is

• Of course, Paris chose the last bribe and awarded
  the apple to Aphrodite.
• The most beautiful woman was Helen, wife of
  Menelaus.
• A sacred oath had been taken by all Helens
  suitors to protect her marriage to Menelaus.
• Paris broke the oath by visiting Menelaus as a
  friend and then eloping with Helen.

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The Start of the Trojan War

• Menelaus, his brother Agamemnon, and the other
  suitors of Helen (Odysseus and Achilles among
  them) began a war against Paris, Priam, and the
  city of Troy.
• But, the gods and their disputes were just as
  responsible for the war.
• Victory wavered for 9 years. This is where
  Homers epic poem begins

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What is an epic poem?

• A long poem describing events which may be true
  or only divinely inspired.

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The most important element of an epic poem is

• The Hero
• Has characteristics admired by his culture
• Often male, strong, attractive, follows a code of
  honor, a trained soldier, fights for noble
  causes, etc.
• An ordinary man in some regards (esp. in his
  desires and hopes)
• Becomes tragic when some error or fault brings
  about his own death or destruction of others
• Examples of heroes Perseus, Theseus, Luke
  Skywalker, etc.

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Who was Homer?

• Traditional author of the Iliad

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Why do you say traditional author?

• No one really knows who wrote the poem.
• Written down in the 8th century BCE (700s), but
  the events supposedly took place in the 13th
  century (1200s).
• Most believe the story was passed down by oral
  tradition before being written down.
• Story we know today was probably gathered from
  several sources.

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Terms to Know and Love

• Greek Culture

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Guest-friendship

• Greece had no central government or police force
  which made traveling dangerous.
• It was considered right for a leader to protect
  and entertain travelers while in his territory.
• Often, this would develop into a relationship of
  guest-friendship whereby the traveler (and his
  descendants) would be obligated to his hosts, and
  vice versa.

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Areté

• Virtue, excellence, goodness
• Being the best you can be or reaching you
  highest human potential
• Term applied to the person with the highest
  effectiveness, someone who uses all their
  faculties to achieve results

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Aristeia

• Excellence (great deeds done in battle) and the
  rewards for such

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Kleos

• Fame, especially undying fame
• This is the main goal of the heroic epic.

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Argives, Akhaians, Danaans, etc.

• Various names used by Homer to mean Greeks
• Reflects the disunity of Greek civilization at
  the time of the poems composition

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Terms to Know and Love

• Literary Terms

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In media res

• Latin for in the middle of things
• Could be done because the general story and
  characters were well-known to everyone

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Epithets

• Noun-adjective combinations that allowed the
  reciter to describe an object or a character
  quickly and economically, in terms his audience
  would recognize
• Ex Thetis of the silver feet, resourceful
  Odysseus, swift-footed Achilles

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Simile and Metaphor

• Poetic devices in which two unlike things are
  compared
• Simile uses the words like or as
• Ex Life is like a box of chocolates.
• Metaphor does not use those words
• Ex Youre a good egg.

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Poetic Repetition

• Many sections of the poem are repeated word for
  word.
• May have been a device to help the reciter
  remember.
• May have been a device to help listeners follow
  the story.

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Archetypes

• Universal symbols, motifs, or themes that may be
  found among many different cultures
• Include natural forms like water, sky, sun,
  seasons
• Colors
• Animals (snakes, fish)
• Types of characters (hero, villain, savior, etc.)

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Source

• room222.net/source/EngII_Unit3_Illiad.ppt