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The Iliad. Background and Study Tools. Homer. Lived in the eighth century B.C. Nothing certain is known of his life. His name means “hostage”. He is commonly referred to as the Ionian Bard or poet.
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The Iliad Background and Study Tools
Homer • Lived in the eighth century B.C. • Nothing certain is known of his life. • His name means “hostage”. • He is commonly referred to as the Ionian Bard or poet. • He likely came from Ionia in the eastern Mediterranean, where Eastern and Western cultures met and new intellectual currents were born.
Homer (continued) • The Iliad contains several accurate descriptions of Ionian landscapes, whereas his grasp of mainland Greece seems less authoritative. • Legend holds that Homer was blind. • This may have been true, but it may have arisen because of its symbolic implications. • The Greeks contrasted inner vision with physical vision. • The image of the blind bard singing the myths of his people is a powerful image for the beginning of Western Literature.
Homer (continued) • Homer is the ultimate spokesman for a long and rich tradition of oral poetry. • Homer did not create the plot or characters of The Iliad or The Odyssey. • Generations of Greeks preserved these stories, Homer gave them shape and connection.
Homer (continued) • Both epics take place during the Late Bronze age, five hundred years prior to Homer’s life. • Homer’s audience, the landed warrior aristocracy, claimed descent from the heroes of legend and the Gods, therefore these stories formed a type of tribal and national family history.
Homer (continued) • The Iliad was considered history. • Children in the fifth century memorized portions of the poem and practiced its ethical teachings. • Homer’s influence was, and is, vast. • His epics have become a common text for the Western world.
The Epic • Over time bards had developed standard expressions, phrases and descriptions that fit the rhythms of the epic genre. • Homer’s characters frequently reveal their thoughts in lengthy speeches addressed to other characters. • Homer’s characters do not analyze their thought processes or emotions.
Homer begins the epic by stating the themes and invoking one of the Muses. • He begins the story in medias res, Latin for “in the middle of things.” • Many of the significant events have already happened.
Historical Background • The Iliad recounts only part of a long series of events in the Trojan War. • The Trojan War was fought, according to legend, because of a quarrel among gods and the resulting incidents of betrayal among mortals.
How Did The Trojan War Begin? • King Peleus and the sea-goddess Thetis wer the parents of Achilles, the epic’s hero. • When Peleus and Thetis were married all the gods were invited except Eris, the goddess of discord. • Angry at being excluded, she tossed a golden apple among the guests; on it was inscribed, “for the fairest one”.
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each claimed the prize. • They chose Paris, a Trojan prince, to decide who was the fairest. • Each goddess offered him a bribe and he chose to accept Aphrodite’s bribe. • Aphrodite promised Paris him Helen, the most beautiful woman alive, who was already married to Menelaus, the king of Sparta.
Paris violated the sacred bond of hospitality by going to Menelaus’ court as a guest and abducting Helen. • Menelaus sought the help of his brother, Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and the most powerful ruler of the time. • Together with other kings they mounted an expedition against Troy, to reclaim Helen and to sack the city famed for its opulence. • The war lasted for ten years.
Homer chose to focus on a period of less than two months in the tenth year of the war. • Homer chose to focus not on the war as such, but on the Greek warrior Achilles and the consequences of his rage.
The Greeks(also called Achaeans, Danaans and Argives) • Achilles – Son of Peleus and Thetis, the Achaeans best warrior; leader of the Myrmidons. Also called Pelides, Aeacides. • Agamemnon – King of Mycenae, husband to Clytemnestra, brother of Menelaus, leader of the Greek expeditionary force. Also called Atrides. • Ajax – The strongest warrior on the Achaen side other than Achilles.
Helen – Wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, prize of Paris. • Clytemnestra – Wife of Agamemnon, sister of Helen. • Menelaus – King of Sparta, son of Atreus, brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen. • Nestor- King of Pylos, serves as a wise old counselor. • Odysseus- King of Ithica. The smoothest talker and the wiliest thinker among the Greeks. A favorite of the goddess Athena.
Patroclus – Son of Menoetius, a companion and henchman of Achilles. Achilles’ best friend. • Peleus – Father of Achilles, husband of Thetis.
Andromache – Wife of Hector • Astyanax – Infant son of Hector and Andromache. Other name: Scamandrius • Briseis – A Trojan captive girl, named after her father Briseus, given as a prize to Achilles. • Chryseis – The daughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo. A captive girl given to Agamemnon as his prize.
Hector – Son of Priam; leader of the Trojans and their greatest fighter. • Paris – Son of Priam; the cause of the war. • Priam – King of Troy; husband of Hecuba, father of Hector and Paris
Aphrodite – Goddess of love, beauty; protects Helen and Paris and favors the Trojans. Other name; Lady of Cyprus. • Apollo – The archer god; a god of light and of healing. He not only heals, he visits pestilence on men. He favors and protects the Trojans. Other names: Phoebus, Smintheus. • Ares – A god of war; favors the Trojans
Athena – Daughter of Zeus only (she has no mother) She emerged from her father’s head fully armed and is associated with victory in war and clever thinking and speaking. She protects the Greeks. Other names: Pallas and Tritogenia. • Hades – Ruler of the dead and the underworld, brother of Zeus • Hera – Sister and wife of Zeus; favors the Greeks
Hermes – Messenger god, son of Zeus • Thetis – Sea goddess; wife of the mortal Peleus and the mother of Achilles. • Zeus – The most powerful of the gods, known as the “father of men and gods.”
