Term 2 - Lecture 5

Question 1

Which two Trojan allies are killed by Achilles before the fall of Troy?

Answer 1

1. Memnon, of Ethiopia - son of the Dawn Goddess 2. Penthesilea - Amazon warrior queen

Question 2

Which heroes face amazons?

Answer 2

Achilles (Penthesilea), Herakles (Hippolyta - girdle), Theseus (Hippolyta - marries her)

Question 3

Who eventually kills Achilles? How is he killed? Which god is present?

Answer 3

Paris kills him with a bow and arrow. Hits him in the heel. Apollo is present.

Question 4

Why is Achilles’ heel vulnerable?

Answer 4

When Thetis had Achilles as a baby, she dipped him in the water to try to make him immortal, she did this while holding him by his heel. His heel was the only part of him that was not submerged in the water, and for this reason he died.

Question 5

What happened to Achilles’ body after he died?

Answer 5

The Trojans (who were still angry with him for killing Penthesilea and Memnon) fought the Greeks for it. Eventually Ajax was able to rescue the body.

Question 6

Who rescued the body of Achilles?

Answer 6

Ajax

Question 7

Who contends in Thetis’ contest for Achilles’ armour, who will go to “the best of the Acheans”? Who wins?

Answer 7

Odysseus and Ajax. Odysseus wins.

Question 8

How does Ajax die?

Answer 8

After Odysseus wins in the contest for Achilles’ armour, Ajax is so angry that he plans to kill the Greek chiefs (Agamemnon and Odysseus). He thinks he is killing them, but instead he slaughters their cattle and sheep and flocks. Athena intervened, making him delusional. Ajax is so embarrassed that he commits suicide using the sword from Hector. None of the Greeks blame him for this

Question 9

Which god prevented Ajax from killing the Greek chiefs?

Answer 9

Athena - she favours Odysseus and doesn’t want him dead

Question 10

What is atimos? When does Ajax experience it?

Answer 10

Atimos is shame. He is doubly-shamed after losing Thetis’ contest for Achilles’ armour and then killing the flock of sheep after Athena made him delusional. He kills himself because of it.

Question 11

Who is Helenus?

Answer 11

A Trojan prophet

Question 12

Who captures Helenus?

Answer 12

Odysseus - captures him by sneaking into a Trojan camp in the middle of the night

Question 13

What three conditions does Helenus reveal must occur for the fall of Troy?

Answer 13

1. Achilles’ son Neoptelemus (living on Skyros) must fight for the Greeks 2. The Greeks need the bow of Herakles (Philoktetes on Lemnos) 3. Greeks need the statue of Pallas Athena (Palladium) in Troy

Question 14

What is the statue of Pallas Athena called?

Answer 14

Palladium (in Troy)

Question 15

Where can Neoptolemus be found?

Answer 15

In Skyros

Question 16

What is the role of Neoptolemus? What occurs when he comes to Troy?

Answer 16

Odysseus gives him the armour of Achilles that he won from Thetis, it belongs to him as the son of Achilles. Neoptolemus establishes him on the battlefield, but commits a bunch of sacrilegious acts including slaughtering Priam on an alter.

Question 17

Who kills Priam? How?

Answer 17

Neoptolemus kills him. Priam is holding his grandson Astyonax and taking refuge on an alter. It is completely sacrilegious, and the opposite of what his father Achilles did at the end of the Iliad.

Question 18

Who is Philoktetes and where does he live? What does he have possession of?

Answer 18

Lives on Lemnos, and has lived there alone for more than ten years. He planned to join the expedition to Troy but could not. Tragically, he was bitten by a snake which gave him a festering wound that made him scream and stink. The Greeks abandoned him on the island. He has the bow of Herakles. Philoktetes absolutely despises the Greeks. for abandoning him.

Question 19

How did Philoktetes get the bow of Herakles? What does he use it for?

Answer 19

It’s the poisoned bow that was dipped into the blood of the Hydra. He got it from Herakles by agreeing to put Herakles out of his misery by burning him on the funeral pyre before he underwent Apotheosis. He uses the bow to hunt food, keeping him alive.

Question 20

How is Philoktetes recruited to Troy after the past 10 years?

Answer 20

Odysseus and Neoptolemus recruit him. They heal his wound and allow him to help sack the city.

Question 21

Whose idea is the Trojan horse?

Answer 21

Odysseus’

Question 22

Who helps to obtain the Palladium?

Answer 22

Diomedes and Odysseus obtain it from Troy

Question 23

How is the battle of Troy finally won by the Greeks?

Answer 23

The Greeks pretend to give up. As a peace offering, they leave a giant wooden horse structure in Troy. The best Greek warriors were concealed inside of the horse structure. The rest of the Greeks sail away to a nearby island to seek protection. The Trojans bring the horse into the city. While they are sleeping, the Greeks exit the horse and take the city.

Question 24

What eventually happens with Helen and Menelaus?

Answer 24

Menelaus is livid with Helen. He wants to kill her. She seeks refuge at an alter, and holds out her breast, like Hecuba did. He forgives her and takes her as his wife. They live happily ever after in Sparta.

Question 25

Holding out breast gesture

Answer 25

Hecuba - appeal of a mother Helen - appeal of the most beautiful woman in the world

Question 26

What eventually happens with Aeneas and Anchises?

Answer 26

Both are Trojans - once Troy is sacked, Aeneas carries his old father Anchises out of Troy. Aeneas (who was fated to live in his battle with Diomedes) founds a new nation in Italy (Rome), which Aphrodite cares for.

Question 27

Who takes Hecuba as captive (time)?

Answer 27

Odysseus

Question 28

Who takes Cassandra as captive? Who is Cassandra and what is special about her?

Answer 28

Agamemnon takes her (and brings her back to Clytemnestra where she is killed). She is a daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She is a prophet of Apollo - but no one believes her - this is her downfall. She is a prophet of doom. A lesser Ajax tries to rape her.

Question 29

Who tries to rape Cassandra?

Answer 29

A lesser Ajax - sacrilegious act.

Question 30

Who took Andromache as captive?

Answer 30

Neoptolemus

Question 31

Who took Polyxena as captive? Who was Polyxena?

Answer 31

The ghost of Achilles took Polyxena captive. She was the youngest daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She is sacrificed and is considered a bride of death.

Question 32

What concepts are introduced in the first paragraph of the Iliad?

Answer 32

Anger - the wrath of Achilles. The vast amount of men who died. Fate (the will of Zeus).