Books I-XXIII Flashcards
battle among the gods; the Greek title for the events of Book 21
Theomacy
“Would I were as sure of being immortal and never growing old, and of being worshipped to Athene and Apollo, as I am that this day will bring evil to the Argives.”
Hector to the Trojan army
son of Achilles who is in Scyros; will join the war after his father’s death
Neoptolemus
“Dog, talk not to me of knees …”
Achilles to Hector
“It was I, Achilles, who had the making of you; I loved you with all my heart: for you would eat neither at home nor when you had gone out elsewhere, till I had first set you upon my knees, cut up the dainty morsel that you were to eat, and held the wine cup to your lips. Many a time have you slobbered your wine in baby helplessness over my shirt. I had infinite trouble with you, but I knew that heaven vouchsafed me no offspring of my own, and i made of son of you, Achilles, that in my hour of need you might protect me.
Phoenix to Achilles
“There is one omen, and only-that a man should fight for his country”
Hector to Polydamas
brother of Death and son of Night
Sleep
king of the Myrmidons; father of Achilles
Peleus
son of Priam whom Achilles had captured and sold into slavery on Lemnos
Lycaon
“Farewell … even in the house of Hades …”
Achilles
main gates of Troy from which non-combatants observe the battles
Scaean gates
wise centaur who lived on mt. Pelion and tutored Achilles
Chiron
grandson of Bellerophon; cousin and squire of Sarpedon
Glaucus
the chief river god who flows through the plain below Troy
Scamander
son of Panthous; brother of Polydamas and Hyperenor, wounded Patroclus
Euphorbus
another name for the river Scamander
Xanthus
“Hector, there is no persuading you to take advice. Because heaven has so richly endowed you with the arts of war, you think that you must therefore excel all others in counsel; but you cannot thus claim pre-eminence in all things….”
Polydamas to Hector
surrogate father to Achilles; cursed to have no children
Phoenix
“I did ill to take my bow down from its peg on the day I led my band of Trojans to Ilium in Hector’s service, and if ever I get home again to set my eyes on my native place, my wife, and the greatness of my house, may someone cut my head off then and there if I do not break the bow and set it on a hot fire-such pranks as it plays me.”
Pandarus to Aeneas
“And now let there be no more …”
Aeneas to Achilles
“I say further, and lay my saying to your heart …”
dying words of Patroclus
“Alas! poor wretch …”
-Zeus muttering about Hecotr
“[Zeus] is now on our side and is going against the Argives. Therefore swarm round the ships and fight…”
Hector to the Trojan army
one of the rivers of Hades by which the gods swore their most serious oaths
Styx
“Mighty son of Tydeus, why ask me of my lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon the trees. Those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when spring returns the forest buds forth with fresh ones. Even so it is with the generations of mankind, the new spring up as the old are passing away.”
Glaucus to Diomed
elderly counselor to Priam and the Trojans; a whirring “cicada”
Antenor
king of the Thracians
Rhesus
son of Eumedes; scout of the Trojans
Dolon
“My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may meet my end. If I stay here and fight, I shall not return alive but my name will live forever; whereas If I go home my name will die, but it will be long ere death shall take me. To the rest of you, then, I say, ‘Go home, for you will not take Ilium.’ Zeus has held his hand over her to protect her, and her people have taken heart.”
Achilles to the embassy
sisters and goddesses of beauty and creativity
Graces
phalanx
battle formation of tightly grouped warriors, long spears, and overlapping shields
tie between Ajax, son of Telamon and Odysseus - equal prizes
Wrestling
son of Priam
Deiphobus
“At daybreak we will arm …”
Hector to the Trojans
older friend and squire of Achilles; son of Menoetius
Patroculs
physician of the Greeks from Thessaly; son of Asclepius, a famous healer
machaon
father of Aeneas by Aphrodite
Anchises
Achilles’ prize; daughter of Briseus
Briseis
goddess of grain; mother of Persephone
Demeter
chief of the Cicones, Trojan allies from Thrace
Mentes
“Young men’s minds are light as air, but when an old man comes he looks before and after, deeming that which shall be fairest upon both sides.”
Menelaus to both armies
“My friends,” they criedd, “Argives one and all-good, bad, and indifferent, for there was never fight yet, in which all were of equal prowess - there is now work enough, as you very well known, for all of you….”
the Ajaxes
ugliest of the Greeks; an endless talker
Thersites
son of Lyacon; famous Trojan archer
Pandarus
son of Zeus and Electra; ancestor of the Dardanians and the Trojans
Dardanus
daughter of King Minos of Cnossus, Crete
Ariadne
goddess who, when not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, tossed a golden apple For the fairest; also called Strife
Discord
father of Patroclus
menoetius
“Think not, Dolon, for all the good information you have given us, that you shall escape now you are in our hands, for if we ransom you or let you go, you will come some second time to the ships of the Achaeans either as a spy or as an open enemy, but if I kill you and make an end of you, you will give no more trouble.”
Diomed to Dolon
“You know no pity ….”
Patroclus to Acchiles
“Odysseus has done many a good thing ere now in fight and council, but he never did the Argives a better turn than when he stopped this fellow’s mouth from prating further. he will give the kings no more of his insolence.”
the Greeks about Thersites
great inventor of Crete who built the labyrinth
Daedalus
priest of Apollo who asks Agamemnon to give his daughter back
Chryses
venerable leader of the Pylians and the oldest and wisest Greek chieftain
Nestor
Trojan warrior and advisor to Hector; born the same night as Hector
Polydamas
son of Nestor; leading fighter of the men of Pylos; friend of Achilles
Antilochus
son of Priam; augur of the Trojans
Helenus
daughter of Chryses; prize of Agamemnon
Chryseis
brother of Peleus; father of Ajax the Great; from Salamis
Telamon
“… in battle you are better than I …”
Odysseus to Achilles
epithet of Hermes for slaying Hera’s giant, Argus, who guarded Io
Slayer of Argus
first Greek to land at Troy; the first Greek to die in the war
Protesilaus
older friend and squire of Achilles; son of Menoetius
Patroclus
the sun god; a Titan
Hyperion
messenger of the gods, especially of Zeus
Iris
Achilles’ grandfather; his father Zeus made men of ants for him - Myrmidons
Aeacus
lowest abyss under the earth; a place of punishment/torment
Tartarus
nickname for Hector’s son, Scamandrius; means “king of the city”
Astyanax
Titan wife to Cronus; mother of the gods
Rhea
“Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Zeus fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles first fell out with one another.”
Homer’s appeal to the Muse
Ithacan and faithful servant of Odysseus; a herald of the Greeks
Eurybates
