Iliad and Odyssey establish norms for the presentation o

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Homers Iliad

• AN INTRODUCTION

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Homer
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epics

• Greek epos, epe words
• Iliad and Odyssey establish norms for the
  presentation of the heroes and their relation
  with the gods, and for the omniscience of the
  inspired epic narrator.

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Epics

• opens in media res
• The setting is vast, covering many nations, the
  world, or the universe.
• begins with an invocation to a muse
• starts with a statement of the theme
• the use of epithets.
• includes long lists.
• features long and formal speeches.
• shows divine intervention on human affairs.

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Summary of Book One

• A quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon ensues
  over the return of Chryseis to her father. Athena
  dissuades Achilles from rash action, but he
  swears he will not fight again. He calls his
  mother Thetis from the depths of the sea and asks
  her to obtain from Zeus some gratification of his
  resentment. Thetis agrees to do so when the gods
  shall have returned from their twelve day banquet
  among the Ethiopians. Meanwhile Odysseus has
  returned Chryseis to her father, who placates the
  god towards the Greeks. Thetis lays her request
  before Zeus, who nods assent. His intentions are
  kept secret from all, including Hera, despite her
  bitter complaints.

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background

• Homer's tale begins nine years after the Greek
  arrival at Troy. Nine years previous, the Greek
  fleet had gathered at Aulis from the area's
  various city states to depart together in order
  to reclaim Helen from Paris for her husband
  Menelaus. Paris was given the love of Helen by
  Aphrodite in return for presenting her with the
  golden apple. Paris, having taken Helen from the
  house of her husband, returned to his father's
  city, Troy.

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Important gods in book I

• Apollo son of Zeus and Leto, brother of Artemis.
  He is the champion of the Trojans. An archer and
  patron of the arts of music and poetry. He brings
  the plague on the Greeks when Agamemnon would not
  return Chryseis to the Trojans.
• Athena daughter of Zeus, patron of the Greeks
  (Achaeans), especially of Odysseus. She tries to
  make peace between Achilles and Agamemnon in Book
  1.
• Thetis a sea-goddess, who is the mother of
  Achilles after sex with the mortal Peleus. She
  wants Zeus to aid the Trojans as a way to get
  even with Agamemnon for hurting her son,
  Achilles.
• Zeus the king of the gods. Brother and husband
  of Hera. See fuller note on page 683.
• Hera goddess, wife and sister of Zeus. Defender
  of the Achaeans/Greeks.
• Hephaestus god of fire, the blacksmith, son of
  Hera. He will make armor for Achilles later in
  The Iliad.

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Theme Achilles' wrath

• (P.1 R1-R8)
• The Text begins with an invocation to the muse
  opening with the broad spectacle of war and
  narrowing to a specific conflict

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The Rage of Achilles, by Giovanni Battista
Tiepolo
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The Iliad begins with these lines

• The first word of Homer's Iliad is the ancient
  Greek word menis, fury, rage, or wrath. This word
  announces the major theme of the Iliad the wrath
  of Achilles.

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An invocation to the Muse or Muses

• P.1 R9-R16
• Calliope (Beautiful Voice) epic poetry.
  Euterpe (Delight) music.Erato (eros (love)
  Lovely One) love poetry. Thalia (thallein (to
  bloom), Festivity) comedy. Clio (kleos(glory)
  history. Urania (ouranos (sky) Heavenly One)
  astronomy Terpsichore (Delight of
  dancing/choruses) dance. Melpomene (melpein
  (to sing)) tragedyPolyhymnia (poly (many) and
  hymnos (hymn) sacred poetry. (considered also
  as inventor of the lyre)

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Nine Muses
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Apollo and Muses
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HOMER INVOKING THE MUSE
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Muses

• a sisterhood of goddesses or spirits,
• their number set at nine by Classical times,
• ho embody the arts and inspire the creation
  process with their graces through remembered and
  improvised song and stage, writing, traditional
  music, and dance.
• They were water nymphs

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Whos daughters?

• the daughters of Zeus, king of the gods, and
  Mnemosyne, goddess of memory.
• Or springing from Uranus and Gaia
• Another, rarer genealogy is that they are
  daughters of Harmonia

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Chryses attempting to ransom his daughter
Chryseis from Agamemnon

• P.1 R15- P.2 L8

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Agamenon refuses to return the daughter

• P.2 L9-24

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Chryses is turning to Apollo

• P.2 R1 -R4
• Smintheus an epithet taken from sminthos, the
  Phrygian name for a mouse, was applied to Apollo
  for having put an end to a plague of mice which
  had harassed that territory.
• Strabo, however, says, that when the Teucri were
  migrating from Crete, they were told by an oracle
  to settle in that place, where they should not be
  attacked by the original inhabitants of the land,
  and that, having halted for the night, a number
  of field-mice came and gnawed away the leathern
  straps of their baggage, and thongs of their
  armor. In fulfillment of the oracle, they settled
  on the spot, and raised a temple to Sminthean
  Apollo

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Apollo

• Zeus son and Letos
• Latona's son i.e. Apollo.
• Twins Apollo and Artemis
• Silverbrow
• Protector of Chryse
• Lord of Holy Cilla
• Master of Tenedos
• Sminthian
• God of Plague

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The Greeks

• The Danaans
• Achaeans
• Argives

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Cilla

• P.2 R8
• Cilla, a town of Troas near Thebe, so called from
  Cillus, a sister of Hippodamia, slain by OEnomaus.

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Bent was his bow (p.2 R17)

• "The Apollo of Homer, it must be borne in mind,
  is a different character from the deity of the
  same name in the later classical pantheon.
  Throughout both poems, all deaths from unforeseen
  or invisible causes, the ravages of pestilence,
  the fate of the young child or promising adult,
  cut off in the germ of infancy or flower of
  youth, of the old man dropping peacefully into
  the grave, or of the reckless sinner suddenly
  checked in his career of crime, are ascribed to
  the arrows of Apollo or Diana.

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Apollo sends a plague on the Greeks

• P.2 R15- P.3 L8
• It has frequently been observed, that most
  pestilences begin with animals, and that Homer
  had this fact in mind.

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Achilles calls for an assembly

• P.3 L9-L22
• Convened to council. The public assembly in the
  heroic times is well characterized by Grote, vol.
  ii. p 92. "It is an assembly for talk.
  Communication and discussion to a certain extent
  by the chiefs in person, of the people as
  listeners and sympathizersoften for eloquence,
  and sometimes for quarrelbut here its ostensible
  purposes end."

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The seer Chalcas dares not t to tell the truth

• P.3 L23-P.3 R14
• Chalcas the wise, the Grecian priest and guide,
  seer. Prophet
• Calchas
• son of Thestor, was a Argive seer, with a gift
  for interpreting the flight of birds that he
  received of Apollo "as an augur, Calchas had no
  rival in the camp"

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Achilles encourage Chalcas to tell the truth

• P.3 R15-P.3 R24
• Achilles Pelides
• Achilles was the son of the nymph Thetis and
  Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons.

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Chalcas points out Agamemnon . . .

• P.3 R25 P.4 L9

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Agamemnon's Defense

• P.4 L10 P.4 R13

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Achilles blames Agamemnon

• P.4 R14 P.4 R25

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Agamemnon's rejoinder

• P.5 L1-P.5 R2

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Achilles argues angrily

• P.5 R3-p.6 L11

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Agamemnon argues with Achilles

• P.6 L12-P.6R13

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Achilles anger is building up . . .

• P.6 R14-P.7L7

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Athena presenting the fury of Achilles

• P.7 L8-P.7 R10

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Achilles vow to withdraw from the war

• P. 7 R11 to P.8