A Funny Thing Happened to Achilles on the Way to the Forum-3
1. Compare this simile to the earlier one comparing Hector to a river. What has changed?
2. How does Homer break the tension amid all of the carnage of battle?
3. When Agamemnon proposes leaving how do Odysseus and Diomedes react? Ironic?
4. What do you make of Zeus' flattery to his wife?
5. Zeus asleep, Ajax knocks out Hector. What does this tell you about Hector?
6. Zeus wakes up and is not happy, and thus cleans up the mess. Apollo helps Hector recover. Following the forecast of Patroclus' death in Book 8, Zeus now augments his prophecy to include, for the first time, Hector. Why does this happen here? What does this say about the nature of divine prophecies?
7. Patroclus convinces Achilles to let him enter battle wearing his armor. Why doesn't he go himself? If he is so insistent on not participating, why send Patroclus?
8. This is the fourth time someone has begged him (Book 9), and, as usual, the fourth time is the charm. Think about the potential symbolism of the armor. What part of Achilles' armor does Patroclus leave behind? Note the description of his armor compared to those of Diomedes, Agamemnon and Hector before their aristae. Pay careful attention to Achilles' instructions to Patroclus, and the similes describing the Myrmidon warriors.
9. Patroclus kills Sarpedon, Zeus' son, whom Zeus considers saving. Why doesn't he? What happens to Sarpedon? This is the first important death in the epic, beginning the sequence that leads to Hector's death. Look for changes in the narrative tone and level of elaboration.
10. What happens to Patroclus after killing Sarpedon? Look at the descriptions of his mind and emotions.
11. Is Patroclus diminished in the end or exalted? Is Hector's conquest of him glorious? Note that, despite the intention of tricking the Trojans that Achilles has returned, they never think that. Why do you think this is so? What effect would it have had on the story if Hector had bent over the dead Patroclus and said, "It's only Patroclus."
12. Hector says he will give Patroclus' corpse to the vultures; consider the ramifications. And does Hector have a realistic idea of his role in the death of Patroclus?
13. The battle over the hero's corpse. Do you see any significance in Menelaus being the first defender of Patroclus' corpse body, “braced like a mother cow lowing over a calf”? Menelaus himself talks about this.
14. Is Zeus' attitude to Hector changing? Why or why not?
15. How does Homer evoke not just Patroclus' death, but Achilles' as well? Note that his mother begins to lament him while he is still alive (as the Trojan women did for Hector).
16. The need for armor serves the function of preventing Achilles from merely charging out, saving Patroclus and killing Hector immediately. How would the story be different to you if this had happened?
17. Does Achilles accept responsibility for his friend's death? Should he?
18. Compare Hector's attitude after killing Patroclus like Patroclus' after killing Sarpedon.
19. Thetis' visit to Hephaestus is a welcome interlude. She gives the full story of her marriage (finally!) and says Apollo, not Hector, killed Patroclus; is this the way you see it?
20. Think about the shield and what is represented. What image of life does Homer provide? What does the shield evoke? Can you draw the shield based on Homer's description?
21. Thetis brings new armor to Achilles, which terrifies everyone else. Achilles announces the end of his anger, and Agamemnon attributes his error to Ate, "folly;" is he being serious, or making excuses? (Dodds has a fine chapter on this psychology in his book, The Greeks and the Irrational) Does Achilles really care about the gifts?
22. What does his refusal to eat signify? Note that the gods put ambrosia in him; where else has ambrosia appeared?
23. Briseis has essentially been exchanged for Patroclus; does Achilles seem to realize this? Note her lamentation for Patroclus. Achilles has re-entered battle, but has he re-entered the society of warriors?
24. Having fulfilled his promise to Thetis, Zeus unleashes all the gods. Why?
25. Athena and Ares fight; does Homer's description of this fight sound familiar? What is the function of this scene?
26. Pay close attention to the descriptions of Achilles and Hector in Book 22. How and why Homer does generally presents Achilles here through the eyes of others.
27. How do Hecuba and Priam attempt to persuade Hector to withdraw? Why does he refuse? What does Hector realize about himself?
28. How do you feel about Hector, Achilles, and the other Achaeans during Hector's death and shortly after?
29. Achilles' vengeance is now complete, but the book has shown us little of his thought and much of Hector's. The plot is now complete, and thus Achilles' continuing rage is stressed even more. Why is Achilles still angry?
30. How does Homer suggest Achilles' separation from humanity here, his symbolic death? The funeral games for Patroclus attempt to re-integrate Achilles into society. Is this successful? They also foreshadow events after the war. Has Achilles grown? Has he learned?
31. This consists of three type scenes: the divine visitation of Thetis to Achilles; the suppliant scene of Priam to Achilles; and the burial of Hector. Compare gods and humans in terms of emotions and morality in this book.
32. Some scholars have seen Priam's trip to Achilles' tent as a symbolic journey to Hades; how so?
33. Why does Achilles surrender Hector? How do Priam and Achilles console one another and bring each other back to humanity? Do you think that Achilles has grown as an individual and learned wisdom about himself and the world, or is he the same Achilles as before?
34. Think about Book 24 on your own. It is one of the most profound and moving episodes in all of literature. In what ways is it cathartic?
Friday, October 20, 2006
A funny thing happened to Achillies-2
A Funny Thing Happened to Achilles on the Way to the Forum-2
1. What makes Hektor's challenge at the beginning of Book 7 possible?
2. To what extent is the duel which occupies much of Book 7 another manifestation of one or more "patterns" or "repeated episodes" whose other manifestations you have seen earlier in the poem?
3. What event late in Book 7 reminds you that yes, even though it has not been obvious, Zeus is in fact fulfilling his promise to Thetis? (Or, what is the significance of the fact that the Greeks here do a certain thing which in ten years they have not felt it necessary to do?)
4. The "long view" of things is fairly rare in the Iliad (Glaukos in Book 6 speaks of "the generation of leaves" with respect to human life; Helen in Book 6 refers to herself as figuring in the songs of people yet unborn) and almost always poignant. In these terms, what do you make of the discussion between Zeus and Poseidon near the end of Book 7?
5. Why does Zeus forbid the gods to intervene in the fighting at the beginning of Book 8?
6. With the end of Book 8 ends the third day of fighting (counting the day-long truce in Book 7). What event late in Book 8 reminds you that yes, even though it has not been obvious, Zeus is in fact fulfilling his promise to Thetis? (Or, what is the significance of the fact that the Trojans here do a certain thing which in ten years they have not felt it possible to do?)
7. For ten long years (we are to presume) an army camped on a beach has been laying siege to a walled city. In these terms, what is the situation at the beginning of Book 9? How would this detail alone make Book 9 "pivotal" in a poem about the Rage of Achilles?
8. How would Agamemnon's change of heart near the beginning of Book 9 alone make this book "pivotal" in a poem about the Rage of Achilles?
9. In Book 1, Athene promises Achilles that he will eventually get back "three times" as much stuff as is at that point being taken away from him. Evaluate Agamemnon's offer (in Book 9) in these terms.
10. What elements in Agamemnon's offer to Akhilles in Book 9 smack of folk-tales? (Think of "fairy tales" and so on: what is the usual inducement offered by Joe King to some incipient hero to make him, e.g., go out and kill some dragon?) Can we presume that Achilles has heard any of this before? If so, how would we expect him to react?
11. The Rage of Achilles in Book 1 is in some ways the rage of a thwarted child. What exactly in Achilles' speech to Odysseus (in Book 9) makes it clear that his "rage" has undergone a fundamental change? In what ways would this detail alone make Book 9 "pivotal?"
12. Discuss Achilles' unique position re "Fate" (as revealed by his speech to Odysseus in Book 9). To what extent is he in a "no-win situation?" What would you do, if you were him? To what extent would this consideration alone indicate that his Rage is fundamentally different from what it was in Book 1?
13. Discuss the ironies implicit in the following lines (9.338ff., Achilles to Odysseus):
“And why was it the son of Atreus assembled and led here these people? Was it not for the sake of lovely-haired Helen? Are the sons of Atreus alone among mortal men the ones who love their wives?.... Now that he has deceived me and taken from my hands my prize... let him try me no more. I know him well....”
14. To what extent would his consideration of these ironies indicate that his Rage has changed completely from what it was in Book 1?
15. What is the a point of Pheonix' long, long mythical digression in his speech to Achilles in Book 9 [you may or may not want to know that scholars have long been intrigued by the fact that "Kle/o/patr/a" ("famously fathered") is the inverse of "Patr/o/klos" ("famously fathered")]?
16. The three ambassadors to Achilles in Book 9 each appeal to a different aspect of his personality. Identify these. To what extent are any of these appeals successful?
17. That there are three ambassadors in Book 9 indicates a triad, but the third speech is very short compared to the other two. Nevertheless, in what way can this whole episode be considered "triadic" in structure? (I.e., which is the most important speech in terms of effect, if not in terms of length?)
18. Examine carefully the three different answers which Achilles gives to the three ambassadors in Book 9. What do you make of the differences? Which one is closest to what actually is going to happen? Which one is for "public consumption?"
19. Book 10 is so bizarre compared to the rest of the Iliad and the Odyssey (among many other details, "heroes" do not usually sneak around in the middle of the night cutting people's throats while they sleep) that many scholars think it doesn't belong to the poem. How would you argue that, on the contrary, it is entirely appropriate to the situation at the end of Book 9? [Hint: the cunning of Odysseus represents one aspect of "heroic excellence," the physical power of Achilles represents another.]
20. Homer presumably presumes that we the audience know our mythology, and so he does not mention the famous mythical prophecy associated with King Rhesus of Thrace (the major throat-slitee in Book 10): if the horses of Rhesus eat the grass outside Troy and drink the water of the rivers near it, then the city will never ever fall. How does knowing this affect your reading of the Rhesus episode (make for the sake of argument the ridiculous assumption that the Thracians were so exhausted from riding in that day that they forgot to feed and water their horses that night)? [EXTREMELY ADVANCED/OPTIONAL QUESTION: Drive yourself mad trying to figure out exactly how this bizarre prophecy relates to the fact that Troy is finally done in by a horse (rather than say, a cow or a platypus or....{Gary Larson needs to know about this question}). You may or may not here want to look at the prototype of Mr. Ed who shows up near the end of Book 19.]
21. How many large heroes (don't count cannon fodder) get taken out of the action in Book 11? By what methods? What is Homer doing here? (Or, how is "the will of Zeus" being "fulfilled?")
22. Near the end of Book 11, Achilles sends Patroklos with a message to Nestor. Why does Homer say that "this was the beginning of his [Patroklos'] evil?" What important message does Nestor give Patroklos to take back to Achilles? Why doesn't he immediately deliver it? What do you make of Patroklos so far?
23. What is the significance of the simile early in Book 12 in which Hektor is likened to "a wild boar or a lion?" Can you think of any other instances of "foreshadowing" so far in the poem?
24. Assess the "tactical situation" (how the war is going) at the end of Book 12. Who is at least momentarily winning? What does this have to do with the declared subject of the poem? What would you expect to happen next?
25. By the end of Book 12 Patroklos has still not returned to Achilles. What is the poet doing here?
1. What makes Hektor's challenge at the beginning of Book 7 possible?
2. To what extent is the duel which occupies much of Book 7 another manifestation of one or more "patterns" or "repeated episodes" whose other manifestations you have seen earlier in the poem?
3. What event late in Book 7 reminds you that yes, even though it has not been obvious, Zeus is in fact fulfilling his promise to Thetis? (Or, what is the significance of the fact that the Greeks here do a certain thing which in ten years they have not felt it necessary to do?)
4. The "long view" of things is fairly rare in the Iliad (Glaukos in Book 6 speaks of "the generation of leaves" with respect to human life; Helen in Book 6 refers to herself as figuring in the songs of people yet unborn) and almost always poignant. In these terms, what do you make of the discussion between Zeus and Poseidon near the end of Book 7?
5. Why does Zeus forbid the gods to intervene in the fighting at the beginning of Book 8?
6. With the end of Book 8 ends the third day of fighting (counting the day-long truce in Book 7). What event late in Book 8 reminds you that yes, even though it has not been obvious, Zeus is in fact fulfilling his promise to Thetis? (Or, what is the significance of the fact that the Trojans here do a certain thing which in ten years they have not felt it possible to do?)
7. For ten long years (we are to presume) an army camped on a beach has been laying siege to a walled city. In these terms, what is the situation at the beginning of Book 9? How would this detail alone make Book 9 "pivotal" in a poem about the Rage of Achilles?
8. How would Agamemnon's change of heart near the beginning of Book 9 alone make this book "pivotal" in a poem about the Rage of Achilles?
9. In Book 1, Athene promises Achilles that he will eventually get back "three times" as much stuff as is at that point being taken away from him. Evaluate Agamemnon's offer (in Book 9) in these terms.
10. What elements in Agamemnon's offer to Akhilles in Book 9 smack of folk-tales? (Think of "fairy tales" and so on: what is the usual inducement offered by Joe King to some incipient hero to make him, e.g., go out and kill some dragon?) Can we presume that Achilles has heard any of this before? If so, how would we expect him to react?
11. The Rage of Achilles in Book 1 is in some ways the rage of a thwarted child. What exactly in Achilles' speech to Odysseus (in Book 9) makes it clear that his "rage" has undergone a fundamental change? In what ways would this detail alone make Book 9 "pivotal?"
12. Discuss Achilles' unique position re "Fate" (as revealed by his speech to Odysseus in Book 9). To what extent is he in a "no-win situation?" What would you do, if you were him? To what extent would this consideration alone indicate that his Rage is fundamentally different from what it was in Book 1?
13. Discuss the ironies implicit in the following lines (9.338ff., Achilles to Odysseus):
“And why was it the son of Atreus assembled and led here these people? Was it not for the sake of lovely-haired Helen? Are the sons of Atreus alone among mortal men the ones who love their wives?.... Now that he has deceived me and taken from my hands my prize... let him try me no more. I know him well....”
14. To what extent would his consideration of these ironies indicate that his Rage has changed completely from what it was in Book 1?
15. What is the a point of Pheonix' long, long mythical digression in his speech to Achilles in Book 9 [you may or may not want to know that scholars have long been intrigued by the fact that "Kle/o/patr/a" ("famously fathered") is the inverse of "Patr/o/klos" ("famously fathered")]?
16. The three ambassadors to Achilles in Book 9 each appeal to a different aspect of his personality. Identify these. To what extent are any of these appeals successful?
17. That there are three ambassadors in Book 9 indicates a triad, but the third speech is very short compared to the other two. Nevertheless, in what way can this whole episode be considered "triadic" in structure? (I.e., which is the most important speech in terms of effect, if not in terms of length?)
18. Examine carefully the three different answers which Achilles gives to the three ambassadors in Book 9. What do you make of the differences? Which one is closest to what actually is going to happen? Which one is for "public consumption?"
19. Book 10 is so bizarre compared to the rest of the Iliad and the Odyssey (among many other details, "heroes" do not usually sneak around in the middle of the night cutting people's throats while they sleep) that many scholars think it doesn't belong to the poem. How would you argue that, on the contrary, it is entirely appropriate to the situation at the end of Book 9? [Hint: the cunning of Odysseus represents one aspect of "heroic excellence," the physical power of Achilles represents another.]
20. Homer presumably presumes that we the audience know our mythology, and so he does not mention the famous mythical prophecy associated with King Rhesus of Thrace (the major throat-slitee in Book 10): if the horses of Rhesus eat the grass outside Troy and drink the water of the rivers near it, then the city will never ever fall. How does knowing this affect your reading of the Rhesus episode (make for the sake of argument the ridiculous assumption that the Thracians were so exhausted from riding in that day that they forgot to feed and water their horses that night)? [EXTREMELY ADVANCED/OPTIONAL QUESTION: Drive yourself mad trying to figure out exactly how this bizarre prophecy relates to the fact that Troy is finally done in by a horse (rather than say, a cow or a platypus or....{Gary Larson needs to know about this question}). You may or may not here want to look at the prototype of Mr. Ed who shows up near the end of Book 19.]
21. How many large heroes (don't count cannon fodder) get taken out of the action in Book 11? By what methods? What is Homer doing here? (Or, how is "the will of Zeus" being "fulfilled?")
22. Near the end of Book 11, Achilles sends Patroklos with a message to Nestor. Why does Homer say that "this was the beginning of his [Patroklos'] evil?" What important message does Nestor give Patroklos to take back to Achilles? Why doesn't he immediately deliver it? What do you make of Patroklos so far?
23. What is the significance of the simile early in Book 12 in which Hektor is likened to "a wild boar or a lion?" Can you think of any other instances of "foreshadowing" so far in the poem?
24. Assess the "tactical situation" (how the war is going) at the end of Book 12. Who is at least momentarily winning? What does this have to do with the declared subject of the poem? What would you expect to happen next?
25. By the end of Book 12 Patroklos has still not returned to Achilles. What is the poet doing here?
A funny thing happened to Achilles-1
A Funny Thing Happened to Achilles on the Way to the Forum
1. Study Agamemnon in Book 1. In what ways is he perhaps being excessive? Is he hubristic? Is he a good king? Specifically, how does he show this? For example, Chryseis makes him a reasonable request; but is his response reasonable?
2. Study Achilles in Book 1. In what ways is he perhaps being inappropriate? Is he excessive? Hubristic? Specifically, how does he show this? Also, does he tell his mother a "fair" version of what has happened?
3. How exactly, in other words, does the quarrel which results in the "rage" develop? Are any peaceable overtures made (and ignored) on either side during it? Are these guys "in control?"
4. Why is Kalchas so worried? Is the poet subtly alluding to something here?
5. Trace the way deception affects events in the first part of Book Two. What ironic twists do you find? Is Zeus to be trusted? What is his agenda? Or, to put this another way, why exactly does he make a fool of Agamemnon?
6. Why is the Catalogue of Ships inserted? Is it relevant to this poem? Is it relevant to the whole story of the Trojan War?; if so, how appropriate is it's inclusion here, during the account of an incident in the tenth year of the war? What is our poet doing here?
7. Is the duel between Menelaus and Paris credible, coming in the tenth year of the war? Does any specific recent development suddenly make it any more credible?
8. Is the "View from the Wall," wherein Helen identifies Greek leaders to Priam, credible in the tenth year of the war? What might be going on here?
9. What do you make of Helen? Guilty? Innocent? What do other people think?
10. Examine Agamemnon's reaction to the first blood shed in the Iliad (Book 4). How could you argue that from this point he "regains" the status of "good king?"
11. Near the beginning of Book 6, a seer (his brother) tells Hektor to do something. Compare his reaction to the reaction of Ag. in Bk 1 when a seer tells him to do something; what is revealed, or rather, re-emphasized?
12. As of the end of Book 6, what do you think of Hektor and Priam, in contrast to Agamemnon and Achilles? Why? What exactly is each side fighting for? How would you evaluate each of these two things?
13. Compare Hektor's interview with Helen in Book 6 with the scene between Priam and Helen in Book 3. What is odd about both these scenes? What do you make of Helen, in light of them? Of Priam and Hektor?
14. Knowing, like Homer's audience did, what will happen to the characters involved (Hektor is killed in Book 22, Andromache is dragged off by the hair during the sack of Troy, to be the slave of some Greek [just another Briseis/Chryseis], but not before seeing baby Astyanax hurled off the wall of Troy, his brains spattering on the rocks below), can you read the family scene near the end of Book 6 without bursting into tears? What is Homer doing here? Does he like war much?
1. Study Agamemnon in Book 1. In what ways is he perhaps being excessive? Is he hubristic? Is he a good king? Specifically, how does he show this? For example, Chryseis makes him a reasonable request; but is his response reasonable?
2. Study Achilles in Book 1. In what ways is he perhaps being inappropriate? Is he excessive? Hubristic? Specifically, how does he show this? Also, does he tell his mother a "fair" version of what has happened?
3. How exactly, in other words, does the quarrel which results in the "rage" develop? Are any peaceable overtures made (and ignored) on either side during it? Are these guys "in control?"
4. Why is Kalchas so worried? Is the poet subtly alluding to something here?
5. Trace the way deception affects events in the first part of Book Two. What ironic twists do you find? Is Zeus to be trusted? What is his agenda? Or, to put this another way, why exactly does he make a fool of Agamemnon?
6. Why is the Catalogue of Ships inserted? Is it relevant to this poem? Is it relevant to the whole story of the Trojan War?; if so, how appropriate is it's inclusion here, during the account of an incident in the tenth year of the war? What is our poet doing here?
7. Is the duel between Menelaus and Paris credible, coming in the tenth year of the war? Does any specific recent development suddenly make it any more credible?
8. Is the "View from the Wall," wherein Helen identifies Greek leaders to Priam, credible in the tenth year of the war? What might be going on here?
9. What do you make of Helen? Guilty? Innocent? What do other people think?
10. Examine Agamemnon's reaction to the first blood shed in the Iliad (Book 4). How could you argue that from this point he "regains" the status of "good king?"
11. Near the beginning of Book 6, a seer (his brother) tells Hektor to do something. Compare his reaction to the reaction of Ag. in Bk 1 when a seer tells him to do something; what is revealed, or rather, re-emphasized?
12. As of the end of Book 6, what do you think of Hektor and Priam, in contrast to Agamemnon and Achilles? Why? What exactly is each side fighting for? How would you evaluate each of these two things?
13. Compare Hektor's interview with Helen in Book 6 with the scene between Priam and Helen in Book 3. What is odd about both these scenes? What do you make of Helen, in light of them? Of Priam and Hektor?
14. Knowing, like Homer's audience did, what will happen to the characters involved (Hektor is killed in Book 22, Andromache is dragged off by the hair during the sack of Troy, to be the slave of some Greek [just another Briseis/Chryseis], but not before seeing baby Astyanax hurled off the wall of Troy, his brains spattering on the rocks below), can you read the family scene near the end of Book 6 without bursting into tears? What is Homer doing here? Does he like war much?
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