Illiad Questions for Consideration 1.

) The volatile, doom-eager Achilles, powerful Agamemnon, loyal Patroclus, and dutybound Hector collectively possess in extreme degree all the virtues and faults of the classical epic hero. Identify and develop the code of honor of each and determine whether one emerges as more heroicbetterthan the others in the end.Better is defined in terms of the worldview of the Illiad. If you think that none emerges as more honorable than the others, or that Homer has left us with an irresolvable problem, defend that thesis as well. 2.) At the outset of the Illiad, the poet asks the muse to sing the rage of Achilles. At one time or another, each of us has likely been emotionally affected or even outraged by the loss of a friend or loved one, so part of us probably identifies with his rage. However, at some point, he withdraws his forces, calls for Gods to side with Troyhis rage seems out of proportion, out of control. At the end of the Illiad, with Achilles aware that he will die before the fall of Troy, does he regain the readers sympathy? Is his anger appeased? Does his innate stature improve or evolve? Does he seem, in some way, an exemplary human being? 3.) Plato, in reference to Homer, accurately argued: The gods are selfish, nasty spectators all too happy to see us suffering in their theatre of cruelty. To credit or blame someone, to hold him responsible for his actions, requires the assurance that he has control over his actions (for instance, in criminal law total insanity exonerates someone of a crime). To what extent do you think any one (or more) of the following characters in the Illiad, has that control and to what extent do you think he or she is merely a puppet pulled by the strings of the gods? Agamemnon, Helen, Achilles, Paris, or Hector. 4.) How do Hector and Achilles each come to terms with his own mortality (if indeed each does?). Does this knowledge of probable or impending death make life more meaningful, or less? 5.) Weve discussed thymos as an essential element of the human soul. In Achilles, it seems to occupy too large a part of his soul, in Paris, too little. Is there a character that the Illiad suggests has it just right? 6.) Compare, contrast, and evaluate Nestor, Antenor, and Polydamas, as advisors. 7.) The Illiad seems to presume that humans have a sense of morality and what it is that makes for a good life, but just what accounts for this good sense is far from clear. Its

hard to see it coming from the gods whose frivolity and pettiness contrasts with the gravity and pathos of the humans. So what, in the Illiad, if anything, accounts for this sense? 8.) Achilles is the son of a mortal man and an immortal goddess, and consequently he occupies a strange social space between the human and the divine. Though hardly more than an adolescent in age, by virtue of his mother Thetis, he is Achaeas greatest warrior. But by virtue of his father Peleus, he is also a mortal. To what extent are Achilles superhuman characteristics a problem for him? What challenges, as a demi-god, does he face in functioning as part of the Greek warrior society? Toward the end of the Illiad when Achilles returns to battle, has he accepted anything more about his humanity, or does he continue to remain apart? 9.) In The War that Killed Achilles, author Caroline Alexander posits that what interests Homer are issues of authority and leadership on the one hand, and duty and individual destiny on the other. In a great gauntlet-throwing speech at the outset of the epic, Achilles challenges the bedrock assumption of military servicethat the individual warrior submit his freedom, his destiny, his very life to a cause in which he may have no personal stake. Few warriors, in life or literature, have challenged their commanding officer and the rationale of the war they fought as fiercely as Homers Achilles. The Illiad determinedly addresses the central questions defining the war experience of every age: Is a warrior ever justified in challenging his commander? Must he sacrifice his life for someone elses cause? Giving his life for his country, does a man betray his family? Can death ever be compensated by glory? How is a catastrophic war ever allowed to startand why, if all parties wish it over, can it not be ended.