Exploring Key Themes and Characters in Homer's "The Iliad"

1. Notes on “The Iliad”

2. Important Names • Acheans • Achilles • Myrmidon • Patroclous • Helen of Troy • Menelaus • Agamemnon • Priam • Briseus • Chryseis • Nestor • Hades • Dionysus/Apollo • Zeus • Hephaestus • Odysseus

3. Notes • Ilium • 15,693 lines • Epic Poem • Homer • Influence • War… or love?

4. Myths NOT in story: • Achilles heel & river styx • Trojan Horse Attack • Helen’s suitors • Agamemnon Sacrifice

5. Truths • City of Troy • Homer reports history • Part myth, part history • Heroes were REAL to the Greeks • Achilles/Patroclous burial site • Ancestry

6. Epic Poem • Extraordinary hero charged with quest • Quest has obstacles • Supernatural element • Hero resurrects himself at low point • Epic: Long, narrative poem detailing the adventure or journey of a hero.

7. Epic Hero • Male • Unusual birth • Event leads to quest • Supernatural help • Proves himself • Rewarded upon death

8. Epic Conventions • Invocation • Question • Simile • Epithet • Confrontation • In media res • Combat

9. Epic Journey • Journey is key element in epic cycle • 1. questor • 2. place to go • 3. reason to go • 4. challenges/trials • 5. real reason

10. Overall “Themes” • Fate vs free will • Love & hate • Pride • Pursuit of glory • Glory vs. horror • Grief & revenge • Male-male bonds

11. Homosexuality • Paiderastia • “boy love” • Erastes/Eromenos • Masculinity • Culture of Ancient Greece

12. Women in Ancient Greece • Patriarchy • Married young to older men • There to bear children • Lived with husband’s mother • Confined to home • Sparta: women were more equal • Athens: women were locked away

13. Sex in Ancient Greece • Sexual orientation & Gender vs. Social Status • Active vs. Passive • Masculine vs. Feminine • Training of young men included homosexual bonding • Pederastic roles in “Iliad”

14. Marriage • Ceremony • Age • Outlawing of homosexuality • Mutual Consent • Changes in laws and trends • Differs between cultures still today

15. Military Training in Ancient Greece • Athens: Goal to produce citizens trained in arts and to prepare for both peace and war. • Homeschooled until age 6 • 6-14 attend school; read aloud and memorize • Used tablets and rulers • Learned Homer & the Lyre • Other subjects discretion of teacher (always male) • High school for 4 years • Went to military school for 2 years (18-20); then graduated • Girls didn’t attend school but could study at home

16. Contd. • Sparta: Purpose of education was to produce a disciplined marching army! • Discipline, self-denial, simplicity • Required to have “perfect” bodies. Babies that didn’t pass the test were killed are sent to be a slave (helot). • Boys sent off to military school at age 6 or 7. Slept in barracks with other boys. • Taught to read and write, but warfare was most important. • Training was brutal; they marched without shoes, went without food, etc.

17. Sparta, contd. • At age 18-20, boys had to pass a test (fitness, leadership, skill); if they didn’t pass, they’d became perioikas (middle class with no citizenship). • If pass, they became a full citizen and Spartan soldier. • Not allowed to touch money. • Lived in barracks with their “brotherhood” (even if married). • Could “retire” at age 60 and go to live with their families. • Girls were also educated and sent to live with their “sisterhood”. If she passed a physical fitness test at 18, she’d be assigned a husband. If not, she’d become perioikas. • Spartan women had freedom to leave the home.

18. War, contd. • While the varying city-states of Greece were often fighting each other, they’d often form LEAGUES– alliances. • There were many wars, but the 4 main ones were: • Trojan War, Persian, Peloponnesian, and Alexander’s Campaigns.

19. Text Discussion • We will discuss the text in class. These notes will only be in lecture/discussion form and will not appear online.