Term 2 - The Illiad Flashcards
What kind of story is the Iliad?
epic poem (24 books)
What part of the Trojan War does it cover?
short time during the final year of the 10 year war
What is the Iliad about?
- Crisis of Achilles’ wrath, withdrawal, and return
- Tragedy of Hector
Where else is this story pattern (wrath, withdrawal, return) seen? What’s the difference when this happens with the divine?
- Demeter
- Homeric Hymn to Apollo where Hera withdraws
- Hephaestus when Hera offends him and he goes under the sea
with divine, nothing bad happens to anyone
What is the difference between the Greeks and Trojans in terms of what they’re fighting for?
- Greeks = offense, fighting for their honour
- Trojans = defense, fighting for their homes/wives/households, their entire world is at stake (why Hector feels responsible to fight)
How does the Iliad end?
with the funeral of Hector after being delayed so long
What is the Iliad a narrative of?
Narrative of DISRUPTION AND RESTORATION OF RITUAL
What are rituals seen in the Iliad?
What does the disruption of these rituals mean
- supplication (i.e. warriors supplicating victor to give the killed a proper burial - Khryses, Priam)
- funeral ritual (Patroclus, Hector)
- Hector’s burial gets delayed = sign of crisis and disorder (both in the world of men and their relations to gods)
What are the 2 forms of reciprocity seen in the Iliad?
- violent (war, abduction)
- peaceful (distribution of spoils, granting prizes, ransom)
How was the Iliad presented?
- by an oral epic bard
- single singer + his lyre
Who was Calchas?
prophet for Greek army (sacred to Apollo)
Who was Ajax?
strong defensive Greek warrior
Nestor
elderly Greek warrior, his function is to recall a heroic past
Diomedes
Greek warrior
Patroclus
- Achille’s bff/companion
Phoenix
older member of Achille’s household –> like a father figure
Hector
Trojan prince, leader, warrior, Paris’ brother
Helen
- daughter of Zeus
- from Sparta
- married to Menelaus, taken by Troy
Chryseis
- daughter of Kryses
- taken by Greek in a raid on island of Khryse
Who was Kryses?
- priest of Apollo
Briseis
war captive belonging to Achilles
Hecuba
Trojan queen, married to Priam (mom of Paris and Hector)
Andromache
married to hector
Thetis
divine mother of Achilles
What are other names for the Greeks?
Achaeans
Danaans
Argives
What are other names for the Trojans?
Daranians
Ilium
Pergamum
What are the 6 themes/concepts involves with the Iliad?
- KLEOS (after death) - TIMÉ (what a hero gets while he's alive) - FATE - NOSTOS - RECIPROCITY (positive or negative) - SUPPLICATION
Gods on the side of the Greeks
Hera
Aphrodite
Gods on the side of the Trojans
Aphrodite
Apollo
Ares (after Apollo gets him to fight for Trojans after Diomedes)
Who says this: “A man may come by cattle and sheep in raids; tripods he buys, and tawny-headed horses; but his life’s breath cannot be hunted back or be recaptured once it passes his lips”?
Achilles
Who are Trojan allies that Achilles also kills?
- Mnemnon (Ethiopian, son of Dawn goddess)
- Penethesilea (Amazon queen)
What are the 3 conditions for the Fall of Troy?
- Achilles’ son Neoptolemus must come fight against Trojans
- Bow of Heracles (from Philoktetes) must be at Troy
- Capture the status of Pallas Athena in Troy (symbolic of winning her over)
