After Iliad

Question 1

State the 2 key trojan allies slain by Achilles

Answer 1

1. Memnon of Ethiopia, son of the Dawn goddess
2. Penthesilea, an Amazon warrior queen
   
   • When her helmet comes off, Achilles falls in love with her

Question 2

How does Achilles die?

Answer 2

• Paris kills him with an arrow (most heroes die in ionic and dishonoured ways)
  
  • Paris is seen as an unheroic figure as he is more involved in the bedroom than the battlefield
  • Mortal archers are also considered cowardly as they fight from afar
• The arrow hits his heel, his one weakness
  
  • Thetis dipped him in the River Styx as a baby to try and make him immortal, but his heel wasn’t exposed
• Apollo observes, as he is on the side of the Trojans
  
  • Ajax and Athena protect Achilles’ body
  • Odysseus fights off the Trojans

Question 3

How does Ajax die?

Answer 3

• Funeral games for Achilles
• Thetis awards Achilles’ armor to “the best of the Achaeans”
  
  • Like the beauty contest, the loser will be very angry
• Ajax and Odysseus contend and Ajax loses
  
  • In anger, he sets out at night to slaughter the Greek chiefs (Agamemnon, Odysseus)
• Athena stops him and deludes him into killing the army’s sheep instead
  
  • Shamed (atimos), he commits suicide by falling onto the sword Hector gave him

Question 4

Who does Odysseus capture?

Answer 4

• Odysseus captures Helenus, a Trojan prophet
• Helenus’ prophecy: three conditions for Troy’s fall
  
  1. Recruitment of Achilles’ son Neoptolemus (on Skyros) to the Greeks
  2. The bow of Heracles must be acquired
     
     • It is with Philoctetes on the island of Lemnos
  3. They must capture the statue of Pallas Athena (Palladium) in Troy
     
     • Odysseus and Diomedes do this

Question 5

Who is Neotolemus and what does he do?

Answer 5

• Neoptolemus arrives at Troy and Odysseus gives him Achilles’ armor
  
  • He slays Priam at his household alter while he seeks refuge
  • This is one of several sacrileges committed by the Greeks

Question 6

Who is Philoctetes?

Answer 6

• A Greek member of the expedition to Troy
• On the way he is bitten by a snake, and the wound festers
• The Greeks abandon him on Lemnos where he lives alone for 10 years
  
  • He hates the Greeks for abandoning him
• He possesses the lethal bow of Heracles (dipped in Hydra blood)

Question 7

How is Philoctetes recruited?

Answer 7

• Odysseus and Neoptolemus come to Lemnos to bring him to Troy to help sack it and heal him
  
  • Problem: should Odysseus and Neoptolemus use force, deception, or persuasion?
  • Neoptolemus doesn’t want to deceive him, he wants to be honourable
• Neoptolemus pretends to be Philoctetes’ friend and manages to get the bow but Philoctetes threatens suicide before he will help the Greeks
  
  • Heracles comes down from Olympus and says he must go with them to Troy
• Doctors heal him

Question 8

What is the ‘Trojan horse’?

Answer 8

• Odysseus is inspired by Athena for the idea of the Trojan horse
  
  • Greeks pretend to give up and leave Troy; they sail behind an island and hide their ships
  • They leave a wooden horse as a peace offering which Trojans bring into the city to celebrate
  • Once they fall asleep the Greek warriors surface from inside the horse and set the city on fire
    
    • The ships see the fire and come to assist in taking Troy

Question 9

What does Menelaus do when he encounters Helen while taking Troy?

Answer 9

• He intends to kill her for her betrayal
• Helen reveals herself to him, drawing attention to their bond
• Menelaus throws his sword away and they live together happily
  
  • “The female body starts and ends wars”

Question 10

How does Aphrodite’s son Aeneas fulfill his destiny?

Answer 10

Aeneas seen carrying his father on his back, fleeing Troy

He fulfills his destiny and ultimately finds the city of Rome

Question 11

What happens to these 4 Trojan women?

1. Hecuba
2. Cassandra
3. Andromache
4. Polyxena

Answer 11

1. Hecuba - given to Odysseus
   
   • She is old but a prestigious prize due to her power
2. Cassandra - given to Agamemnon
   
   • While holding onto the statue of Athena she is almost raped by the lesser Ajax
3. Andromache - given to Neoptolemus
   
   • Achilles killed her family and now she will be a slave in his son’s household
4. Polyxena - sacrificed to Achilles
   
   • The Greeks want to go home but the winds are against them; a prophet says the ghost of Achilles wants a prize
   • Diomedes slits Polyxena’s throat and pours the blood onto Achilles’ tomb
     
     • She never “leaves” Troy