Homer's Iliad: Wrath of Achilles

Question 1

What is each character’s role?

• Calchas
• Ajax, Diomedes, Nester
• Patroclus
• Phoenix
• Hector
• Helen of Sparta
• Chryseis
• Briseis
• Hecuba
• Andromache
• Thetis

Answer 1

• Calchas: Apollo’s prophet for the Greek army
• Ajax, Diomedes, Nestor: Greek warriors
  
  • Nestor is an elder who represents heroic past
• Patroclus: Achilles’ companion
• Phoenix: elder of Achilles’ household
• Hector: Trojan prince and warrior
• Helen of Sparta: daughter of Zeus, married to Menelaus, taken to Troy by Paris
• Chryseis: daughter of Apollo’s priest Chryses
  
  • Taken by Greeks in a raid
• Briseis: war captive belonging to Achilles
• Hecuba: Trojan Queen, married to Priam
• Andromache: Hector’s wife
• Thetis: divine mother of Achilles

Question 2

State 3 nicknames for Greeks and 3 nicknames for Trojans

Answer 2

Greeks: Achaeans, Danaans, Argives

Trojans: Dardanians, Ilium, Pergamum

Question 3

Who is taken by the Greeks and given to Agamemnon (timé) and what happens?

Answer 3

• Chryseis has been taken by the Greeks in war (violent exchange) and given to Agamemnon as a token of timé
• Her father, priest of Apollo, offers ransom as ritual suppliant (peaceful exchange)
• Agamemnon refuses and abuses him which leads to a crisis
  
  • He prays to Apollo; prays that, considering all he has done in the name of Apollo, Apollo must punish the Greeks and Agamemnon (ritual reciprocity)

Question 4

How does Apollo punish the Greeks?

Answer 4

• Apollo punishes the Greeks with a plague (leads to unburied bodies)
• This is a sign of disorder in the relations between gods and humans
  
  • Calchas (prophet) reveals the cause of the plague
  • Chryseis is returned without ransom (restoration of peaceful ritual reciprocity)
    
    • Apollo stops the plague

Question 5

Agamemnon has lost timé. What does he do?

Answer 5

• He takes Briseis, Achilles’ prize! (Achilles loses timé)
• Achilles is angry and withdraws from battle; Nestor fails to keep the peace between Agamemnon and Achilles
• Achilles prays to Thetis
  
  • Thetis reminds Zeus of the favours she has done for him (ritual reciprocity) and Zeus agrees to turn the war against the Greeks so that they will need to restore honour to Achilles
    
    • Hera challenges Zeus’ decision but Hephaestus urges peace between them; successful