Iliad:  Reading Questions

 

Book I:  (all)

 

1. What details are we given to suggest differences between the characters of Achilles and Agamemnon?

 

2. In the debates over which hero has more right on his side, who seems to come off better, Achilles or Agamemnon?  Who seems to be the “Best of the Achaeans?” Make a list of their grievances and demands.

 

3. What seems to be the role of women in Iliadic society?  Consider how the events of Book I may parallel the causes of the Trojan War in the first place.

 

4. What things seems to determine how much “honor” a given hero has?

 

5. Who is the god Apollo more like:  Achilles or Agamemnon?  In what ways?

 

6. Why does Thetis have power over Zeus?

 

Book II: (lines 325-395)

 

1. Consider closely the omen that Odysseus describes to Agamemnon:  what do you make of Odysseus’ interpretation?  What does it say about the Iliadic culture’s valuation of honor?

 

 

Book III (all)

 

1. What is Helen’s attitude toward the Achaeans?  How does she feel now about her two husbands—Menelaos and Paris?

 

2. What kind of a man is Paris shown to be?  How is he contrasted with his brother, Hektor?

 

Book V (93-528)

 

1. What is Diomedes’ motivation for “going on the rampage” in this book?  What are the boundaries separating heroism from madness?

 

2. How dangerous is it for a hero to attack one of the gods?

 

Book VI (lines 84-631)

 

1. Study the exchange of Glaucus and Diomedes, who agree not to kill each other. Why? What is the ethic here? Note Homer's comment on their armor trade.

 

2. What is Hektor’s mission in this Book, and how successfully does he carry it out?

 

3. What is Hektor’s attitude toward the gods, and how does it differ from other heroes’?

 

4. What is Hektor’s greatest fear?  His greatest motivating factor?

 

5. What is Hektor’s attitude toward his responsibilities to his family?  How does he balance these responsibilities with his duties to the Trojan people and the gods?

 

Book IX (all)

 

 

1. What do you make of Agamemnon’s supposed advice to his men to take off in the ships and abandon the fight at Troy?

 

2. What has happened to change Agamemnon’s mind about Achilles?

 

3. What types of compensation does Agamemnon say he is willing to give Achilles if he is willing to return to fighting?

 

4. What does Agamemnon demand in return for his largesse?

 

5. Compare the logic behind Odysseus’ and Phoenix’s appeals to Achilles; what are their main points?  How valid are Achilles’ responses to their pleas?

 

6. Phoenix tells a rather complicated story about Meleager to Achilles in order to persuade him; his story is one of the Homeric “paradeigma” or exempla (examples) intended to show how Phoenix thinks Achilles should behave.  What is the message of Phoenix’s story? What finally convinces Meleager to return to fighting?  Note the parallels with Achilles.  (Hint:  look closely at Meleager’s wife’s name.)