Summary

1. This presentation will probably involve audience discussion, which will create action items. Use PowerPoint to keep track of these action items during your presentation • In Slide Show, click on the right mouse button • Select “Meeting Minder” • Select the “Action Items” tab • Type in action items as they come up • Click OK to dismiss this box • This will automatically create an Action Item slide at the end of your presentation with your points entered. Summary Why read Homer?

2. What the Iliad teaches us about the world • “Gods perceive future events, mortals present ones, whereas the wise sense those that are imminent” -Philostratus • Iliad is the story of how the Trojans and Greeks must come together and fight • But it is a complex story, full of human suffering and glory

3. Rage • Quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon • Agamemnon takes Achilles’ concubine because his own is taken away • Agamemnon loses his concubine when her father asks the gods to intervene

4. The Plague • Greeks realize the plague they are all falling sick from is due to Agamemnon’s concubine being the priest’s daughter • Agamemnon is forced to give up his war prize, so he takes Achilles’ war prize • Achilles withdraws from the war • Unlike Brad Pitt’s version of Achilles in Troy, the REAL Achilles spends most of the epic out of the action, sulking in his tent

5. Human Actions and Divine Motives • Learn how the ancients viewed the world • Preordained because fate decreed Achilles must fight in order for Greeks to win war • What makes the story beautiful and complex is that it is his decision alone to make

6. What makes Homer so engaging to read? • Trojans are a human enemy • Greeks and Trojans show courage in combat • Readers still ask the question: What is a hero?

7. Hero: What is our modern perception of what it means to be one?