Study Questions for The Iliad

Time of Action: About 3,200 years ago in recorded history's infancy, when humankind's imagination peopled the known world with great heroes and villains and nature reflected the mood of the gods inhabiting the mountaintops, the seas, the forests, and the unseen worlds above and below. Homer fashioned The Iliad, the story of the Trojan War, about 600 years after the war ended. The story is a mixture of fact, legend, and myth. 

Place of Action: The walled city of Troy and the surrounding plains in northwestern Anatolia, a region that is part of modern-day Turkey. Anatolia is west of Greece (across the Aegean Sea) and north of Egypt (across the Mediterranean Sea).

Names and Places

• Gods
  Zeus (Roman names, Jupiter and Jove): King of the gods, who prefers to remain neutral in the war but intervenes after a plea for help.
  Hera (Roman name, Juno): Queen of the gods, who favors the Greeks.
  Athena (Roman name, Minerva): Goddess of wisdom and war, who favors the Greeks.
  Hephaestus (Roman name, Vulcan): God of the forge, who favors the Greeks.
  Aphrodite (Roman name, Venus): Goddess of love and beauty, who sides with the Trojans.
  Apollo (or Phoebus Apollo): Highly revered and feared sun god, who sides with the Trojans.
  Ares (Roman name, Mars): God of war, who sides with the Trojans.
  Artemis (Roman name, Diana): Goddess of archery and hunting, who sides with the Trojans.
  Hermes (Roman Name, Mercury): Messenger god. He guides Priam to Achilles' tent to ransom the body of Hector.
  Thetis: Sea nymph who is the mother of Achilles. 
  
  
  Trojans
  Priam: King of Troy.
  Hecuba: Wife of Priam and queen of Troy.
  Hector: Bravest and most accomplished of the Trojan warriors; son of Priam. Achilles slays him. 
  Andromache: Hector's noble and dedicated wife.
  Astyanax: Son of Hector and Andromache.
  Paris: Trojan who took Helen From Menelaus. 
  
  
  Greeks
  Achilles: Temperamental Greek warrior and king of the Myrmidons, who were soldiers from Thessaly in Greece. Achilles, the protagonist, leads the Myrmidons against the Trojans. He is revered as the greatest warrior in the world; no man can stand against him. Achilles is the son of Peleus, the former king of the Myrmidons, and a sea nymph named Thetis. 
  Agamemnon: Commander-in-chief of the Greek armies and son of Atreus, the king of Mycenae. He incurs the wrath of his greatest warrior, Achilles, by taking the latter's prize of war, the beautiful Briseis. 
  Menelaus: King of Sparta and brother of Agamemnon. After his wife, Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, was taken by a Trojan named Paris, the Greeks declared war on Troy. 
  Helen: Wife of Menelaus, paramour of Paris, and the most beautiful woman in the world.
  Odysseus (Roman Name, Ulysses): King of Ithaca and brilliant strategist. He is unsurpassed in cunning.
  Patroclus: Greek warrior and beloved companion of Achilles.
  Diomedes: Greek warrior of extraordinary valor and ability.
  Calchas: Greek soothsayer who advises Agamemnon.
  Nestor: Wise old king who advises Agamemnon. 

Books 1-10

(1) Why are the Greeks and Trojans fighting?

(2) Why does Chryses come to Agamemnon?

(3) What is the cause of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles?

(4) What does Achilles ask Thetis, his mother, to do for him? Why?

(5) How does Priam (Alexandros) behave in the following situations:

____1. When the Greeks and Trojans met in battle?

____2. When Menalaos accepts his offer?

____3. When he sees Helen?

____4. When Hector shames him?

(6) What kind of person is Paris?

(7) Which gods fight for the Greeks? Which fight for Troy? Why?

(8) During the first battle Hector visits home. Why?

(9) Briefly describe Hector�s visit with his wife and child. Why is it hard for him to return to battle? Why does he go?

(10) How do the Greeks try to protect their ships? What is their fear?

(11) Why do the three envoys visit Achilles? What arguments do they present? How does Achilles respond to them?

Books 11-24

(1) Briefly describe how Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus become wounded. Who is winning at the end of this day's battle?

(2) How do the day's events affect Patroclus?

(3) Why does Patroclus want to enter the war? What is Achilles' reaction?

(4) What is Achilles' reaction after Patroclus' death?

(5) Why is it important for Achilles and Agamemnon to reconcile publicly?

(6) What hardships have resulted from Achilles' anger?

(7) How does the tide of war change after Achilles enters the war?

(8) What is to be Achilles' own future?

(9) How does Achilles honor Patroclus and dishonor Hector?

(10) Why do the gods interfere with Achilles' plans for Hector's body?

(11) What are the results of Priam's meeting with Achilles? Why?

(12) The Iliad ends without total victory for the Greeks. Why?

(13) Suppose the Greeks had come to regain Helen, but Achilles and Agamemnon had not quarreled. How would the story have changed?

(14) In what ways do the Greek gods behave differently from our own divinity?

(15) Contrast Hector and Achilles. Which do you like better? Why?

(16) In your opinion, is Achilles any different at the end of the story than he was at the beginning? Explain.

Detailed questions for chapter 1-6