Iliad

Question 1

Book 1 Summary

Answer 1

• Invocation of the Muse, Menis, Apollo intervention changing fortune of men.
• Calchas tells of Apollo’s anger - interaction with Gods. Calchas pleas for Life show Agamemnon attitude and foreshadows Achilles and Agamemnon
• Agamemnon demands Briseis as to not be dishonoured, Tîme
• Dispute is that of Honour, Agamemnon is the most powerful king so demands all the spoils but Achilles is the best fighter
• Athena stops Achilles - calls into question Achilles free will
• Thetis asks Zeus for a favour - Sets Achilles fate into motion but allows him great glory
• Zeus though Angered accepts the promise, warns of Hera showing passion of the God

Question 2

Book 3 Summary

Answer 2

• Trojans and Acheans face each other however Trojans shown doing war cries, Barbarism vs Civilisation
• Paris asks for the Duel with Menelaus,
• Menelaus agrees, Sacrifices to be made to seal the duels oath, “limited Vengance”
• Helen is told of the Duel and longs for Menelaus and her homeland
• Teichoscopia, Elders recognise that Helen should return, trojans speak of the greeks with respect
• “Zeus would not fufill their prayers”, Fated nature
• Duel measures each mans worthiness despite Menelaus winning but stopped by Gods
• Aphrodite takes Paris back to Helen’s bed, Act of intervention to save life
• Helen and Aphrodite argue, Helen berates Paris showing futility of war

Question 3

Book 4 Summary

Answer 3

• Hera angered by the outcome of the duel and still wants to destroy troy, Zeus criticises her saying that in turn he should be able to destroy a city he loves, she agrees - Shows how Gods belittle mortals and view their cities as playgrounds, Mortals are expendable
• Zeus orders Athena to fly down to Troy in order for Pandarus to shoot his bow
• Athena Deflects the arrow so it only grazes him but the Oath is broken and both armies ready themselves again
• Agamemnon rouses the troops and compliments both ajax’, Idomeneus and Nestor but goads Odysseus
• Agamemnon goads Diomedes as well comparing him to his father Tydeus and his feats of strength, Men were most likely to be remembered for their military endeavours and sons measure their feats against their forefathers
• The armies clash (Greeks described as a wave pounding the shore compared to the clamour of different languages of the trojans, once again Barb vs Civ)
• Antilochus and Great Ajax kill in grisly fashion
• see the beginning of reprisal killings in Odysseus killing a bastard son of Priam after his mate is killed, compassion for a fallen friend is a huge spur of strength across the poem.
• Trojans are forced back, Apollo cries for the trojans, Athena spurs the Acheans forward
• Homer finishes the book with two deaths, Pirous and Diores, Many Bodies lie in the dust

Question 4

Book 6 Summary

Answer 4

• Battle Continues, Ajax and Diomedes kill more trojans, Menelaus almost spares a supplicating enemy but Agamemnon convinces Menelaus to kill him, shows Agamemnon’s cruelty.
• Helenus tells Hector to rally the troops but to also organise a sacrifice to Athena to show mercy, shows that Mortals understood that sometimes the Gods were against them and that sacrifices to the Gods were necessary to get them back on side
• Diomedes and Glaucus meet on the battlefield, they exchange armour and decide to not fight each other after finding out that their grandfathers were friends, Xenia
• Hector reaches the Sceaen Gate and says to the people to pray to the Gods, goes to Hecuba and asks her to prepare a sacrifice to Athena, Hecuba gathers the trojan women and does the sacrifice but Athena ignores their prayers,
• Hector comes across Paris in his chambers polishing his armour, Helen and Hector berate him, He agrees to join Hector, Shows the immediate and vast contrast in the two Hector deeply cares about troy and the Trojans wheras Paris seems indifferent and is the reason for this war.
• Hector meets Andromache on the walls, she shows respect to Achilles after he gave her brothers a proper burial, fears for Hectors death and recites a funeralesce rite to his face, shows Hector as a family man yet the dicotomy of war forcing fathers away to keep families but to save peoples from being slaughtered
• Cradles Astyanax but he is frightened of his fathers helmet

Question 5

Book 9 Summary

Answer 5

• Agamemnon summons the armies and declares the war a defeat, ‘entangled me in madness’ Zeus, Says Achaeans should sail home, Diomedes says he will stay and fight and Nestor agrees - Agamemnon blames Gods and loses honour
• Nestor proposes to make up with Achilles and Agamemnon agrees once again blaming Zeus for his quarrel, Offering of Briseis and many goods- Unable to accept responsibility
• Send emissaries to Achilles, He’s playing a lyre singing of Heroes, Patroclus is with him, Achilles rejects it saying death is the same for everyone and there is no point in the war - Portrayed as good man and cultured and rejects the idea of Kleos
• Achilles says that he can either win everlasting glory at Troy and die or live a long unremarkable life at home, ‘no wealth is worth my life’, tells captains to sail home - Achilles fate is unusual as he is both aware of it and able to change it, challenges typical view of fate, Agamemnon’s treasure is no use if he’s dead
• Phoenix attempts to convince Achilles, recalls a story of himself and his father falling out and him being forced to flee to Pythia where he became Achilles Guardian, He also tells the story of Meleager in which Meleager sits at home in anger while the city is under siege and joins only once it has reached his house, they repel them but he doesn’t get any of the gifts promised of him - Phoenix tries to exploit Achilles emotions and appeal through a moralistic tale and respect of ancestors.
• Ajax finally speaks and he appeals on the basis of his fellow soldiers and that he has gotten too proud, Achilles choses not to leave tomorrow but he won’t fight till it reaches his own ships - Glory is the closest issue to Achilles heart, a trait only to be granted by others
• The embassy returns, Soldiers are dispirited, Diomedes is convinced he will fight when his time comes and that the Achaeans can fight on without him.

Question 6

Book 10 Summary

Answer 6

• Agamemnon and Menelaus can’t sleep, They seek out Nestor to create a plan, - Both Aga and Men are deeply concerned for the fate of the expedition as it will ruin Agamemnon’s reputation
• Nestor Rouses Odysseus and Diomedes, Diomedes volunteers to be on the night raid then choses Odysseus to go with him - Shows new aspect of Warfare not seen before, Possibly added afterwards
• Diomedes and Odysseus arm themselves, Odysseus wears an ancient Boar teeth helmet, Athena sends out a lucky bird omen and they pray to her
• They are planning the same night raid at troy, Dolon volunteers in return for Achilles horses, Diomedes and Odysseus see Dolon and plan to ambush him
  -They ambush and kill Dolon, example of Greek superiority and cunning, they gain valuable info on Trojan positions
• They get to the camp and kill the Thracians soldiers and take their horses

Question 7

Book 16 Summary

Answer 7

• Patroclus mourns the dying Acheans and urges Achilles to stop being stubborn, Achilles doesn’t seem to care and believes that it is just for the disrespect he got, Achilles preservation of Honour is far greater than other lives and it will only grow greater the more that are killed
• Patroclus offers to fight in Achilles armour, Achilles agrees but only to the extent of driving them from the ships, he does this as he doesn’t want to diminish his own glory but also that he is worried that he may be killed by the Gods
• Trojans start setting ships on fire, Achilles stirs the Mrymidons, He prays to Zeus for Patroclus to gain Time and Kleos and bring him back to safety but Zeus only honours half of the prayer, Ships represent the Acheans escape, everything is reliant on the ships
• ‘like wasps that a boy has angered’, Mrymidons are eager to fight, Trojans fear that its Achilles, mere presence of Achilles starts to turn the tide
• Trojans start to rout, Trojans get stuck in the trench, Patroclus kills Sarpedon (A Son of Zeus), Zeus considers saving him but Hera tells him not to as they shouldn’t intefere, Zeus rains blood and sends his body back intact - Illustrates importance of father son relations and also respect for the dead and fate.
• Glaucus is filled with grief, Apollo fills Glaucus with strength, He urges hector to remember his allies and a battle for Sarpedon’s body ensues - Foreshadow of Patroclus death and the fighting after that
• Zeus allows patroclus more glory before killing him, Patroclus pushed too far and reaches the gates, Apollo tells him its not his fate to seize troy - he doesn’t listen
• Apollo knocks Patroclus armour and weapons off him, Euphorbus kills him, Hector gets the final blow and with Patroclus last breath he predicts Achilles will kill him - Patroclus has great glory but his demise is embarrasing and tragic, Patroclus had overstepped his mark and zeus must return the world back to its natural order.

Question 8

Book 17 Summary

Answer 8

Menelaus sees Patroclus’ death and a Battle ensues once again over his body - Patroclus’ body is the greatest symbol of honour the war has seen so far, he made the greatest effort but he is also a companion of Achilles and both sides know what the capture of his body would mean - Menelaus finds Great Ajax and rouses him to help defend the body, Hector strips the armour before they arrive, He offers half of his spoils to whoever retrieves Patroclus’ body - Hector fully realises the magnitude of this action yet still does it.
- The fight over the body last all day, Apollo spurs Aeneas to regroup the trojan forces, Despite efforts Acheans hold fast over the body
- Achilles’ horses begin to weep, Zeus pities them and fills them with strength, they take Automedon (driver) back into the battle, Automedon escapes from Hector and Aeneas - Sign of Achilles’ close relations with the Gods, preparation of Achilles entering into battle.
- Athena breathes strength into Menelaus, he kills a close friend of Hector, Apollo gives strength to Hector, Zeus lets forth a thunderbolt turning the tide in favour of the Trojans - Prefaces the events of Book 20 in which Gods fully intervene again
- Menelaus and Great Ajax devise a plan to pull Patroclus’ body clear of the fighting, Antilochus rushes to tell Achilles of Patroclus death, Menelaus and Meriones pick up Patroclus’ body while Aeantes defend them from Trojans - Testament to Ajax’ strength

Question 9

Book 18 Summary

Answer 9

• Antilochus races to Achilles’ camp to tell of Patroclus death, Achilles dissolves into grief, weeps uncontrolably, abasing in dirt, women are beating at chest - extremely passionate display of grief, indicates bond, regrets deeply allowing Patroclus to leave
• Achilles lets a cry out that Thetis hears, Thetis lamets Achilles’ approaching death saying she can do nothing to prevent it, Achilles tells thetis about the death of Patroclus and says he has no will to live other than to kill Hector - Achilles grief is forming into anger as he now needs to kill Hector
• Achilles mourns his inaction saying that he will now ready himself to accept his fate, Thetis tells him she will go to Hephaestus to make him new armour - The new armour will become a symbol of his Godliness and superiority, Achilles has found good enough reason to face his fate.
• Acheans continue the retreat Patroclus’ body, Hector is close to seizing his body, Iris tells Achilles that he must show himself to strike fear, Achilles lets out a war cry, Crowned by a golden cloud from Athena, fear strikes the trojans and the Aecheans manage to pull the body to safety - Achilles is so feared that hes mere presense instills terror, he is also empowered by Athena for a godlike presence, the fall of night acts like a chapter closer and a break before Achilles retuning to Battle
• Polydamas advises Trojans to withdraw back into Troy’s walls, Acheans were hard enough without Achilles, Zeus causes Hector to reject the advice calling it cowardice, says they will attack again in the morning - Zeus’ intervention turns the tide against the Trojans, with Trojans still on the field he can use his full force
• Acheans mourn P, Achilles prepartes body for burial but says he wont until he has slain Hector - Achilles constantly demonstrates his grief and his decision to not bury is one of respect, Achilles is facing certain death for revenge, his love for Patroclus are so great he goes out knowing he will die
• Hephaestus sets to work, forges Shield of Achilles and the armour,