In the tenth year of the trojan war, achilles, the greatest fighter for the achaeans the greeks and their allies, is enraged. While seven greek cities claim the honorof being his birthplace, ancient. The iliad sparknotes literature guides by sparknotes. The iliad sparknotes literature guide volume 35 sparknotes literature guide series paperback february 4, 2014. We all know of the horse, but how did it come together. Book 9 of the iliad old phoenix calls for a man of words and a man of to. The war had raged for ten years, with the invading greeks fighting against troy. The presence of these catalogues in the iliad is a good example of the way homer composed his poems on a foundation of historical and literary tradition.
The iliad sparknotes literature guide sparknotes literature guide series homer. The tales of odysseuss struggle with a maneating cyclops and circe, the beautiful enchantress who turns men into swine. Agamemnon admits his error, and sends an embassy composed of odysseus, ajax, phoenix, and two heralds to offer briseis and extensive gifts to achilles, who has been camped next to his ships throughout, if only he will. The dream then left him, and he thought of things that were, surely not to be accomplished.
Start your 48hour free trial to unlock this iliad study guide and. In book 9, for example, peleus describes ruin as a woman, strong and swift, coursing over the earth wreaking havoc 9. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Zeus will does come to pass, but in the exact opposite way that agamemnon expects. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to hades, and many a hero did it. See the conflicts in book 1, first between mortals and then between the gods. Homers the iliad starts after the achaians have been at war with the trojans for nine years, trying to retrieve helen of troy, the wife of menelaos who was kidnapped by paris. King agamemnon, who leads the achaeans, has brought an illness upon the army by refusing to give up a woman, chryseis, whom he seized as a prize in a recent battle. The story told in the iliad figured prominently in greek culture long before the epic was ever written down.
The iliad sparknotes literature guide by homer making the reading experience fun. The scene opens on the last year of the trojan war. Iliad study guide contains a biography of homer, literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. What makes them distinctive is that they come from achilleus. To repay the indignity chryses has suffered, apollo, the mouse god, rains arrows of plague on the greek forces for 9 days. Compare his remarks here with those of hektor in book 6, lines 488489, quoted in the section on fate and free will. The iliad sparknotes literature guide sparknotes literature guide series by homer. Iliad by homer book i classical wisdom weekly part 2.
He came down furious from the summits of olympus, with his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled on his back with the rage that trembled within him. When a paper is due, and dreaded exams loom, heres the litcrit help students need to succeed. The written version of the iliad presupposes a basic familiarity with the characters and mythological causes and effects of the. Do you think that this attitude is consistent with his character elsewhere in the iliad. Their spirits restored, the achaeans again stand up to the trojans, and the two aeantes the plural of ajax prove successful in driving hector back. The two heroes meet on the battlefield and exchange insults.
Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the iliad and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. The iliad summary in the tenth year of the trojan war, tensions are running high among the achaians a superancient name for the ancient greeks. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your. The iliad begins with the poet calling on the muse to sing of the wrath of achilleus and its consequences. In this dream, agamemnon is led to believe that all the gods favor him. It is an epic poem, written in ancient greek but assumed to be derived from earlier oral sources, and tells much of the story of the legendary trojan war between mainland greece and the city of troy in asia minor. See all 2 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Iliad by homer book i thus did he pray, and apollo heard his prayer.
Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position. The iliad, together with the odyssey, is one of two ancient greek epic poems traditionally attributed to homer. Achilleuss attitude here is not unique in the iliad. Zeus wakes up and sends a dream to agamemnon instructing him to attack troy full force. The iliad the greeks believed that the iliadand the odyssey were composed by a single poet whom they named homer. Hector goes back to the city to arrange a sacrificial offering to what god in book 6 of homers the iliad. To convey the message, zeus sends dream in the form of nestor. Information on the first book of the iliad of homer.
Agamemnon rises newly inspired and dons his battle gear, even though it is not yet day. The poem is commonly dated to the 8th or 7th century bc, and many scholars believe it is the oldest extant work of literature in the greek language, making it the first work of european literature. Iliad questions and answers the question and answer sections of our study guides are a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss literature. Book i sing, o goddess, the anger of achilles son of peleus, that brought countless ills upon the achaeans. Murray 1 now when they were marshalled, the several companies with their captains, the trojans came on with clamour and with a cry like birds, even as the clamour of cranes ariseth before the face of heaven, when they flee from wintry storms and measureless rain, and with clamour fly toward the streams of ocean, bearing slaughter and death to pigmy men. Rodents do spread plague, so the association between a divine mouse function and delivering plague makes sense, even if the greeks werent completely aware of the connection. Written by harvard students for students, since its. Homer builds parallels throughout the iliad in which an event in one group is mirrored in a scene of another group. In the tenth year of the trojan war, tensions are running high among the achaians a superancient name for the ancient greeks. Now the great array of gods and chariotdriving men slept all night long, but the peaceful grip of sleep could not hold zeus, turning it over in his mind.
From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes, the sparknotes the iliad study guide has everything you need to ace quizzes, tests, and essays. Read an overview of the entire poem or a line by line summary and analysis. The poem has already established the characters of agamemnon, proud and headstrong, and achilles, mighty but temperamental, whose quarrel dominates the epic. Book 10 is thought a possible later addition on stylistic grounds, but it could also be a deliberate attempt at an intermission in the narrative. Achaeans sack any rich city of the trojans do i receive so good a.
By the end of book 2, homer has introduced all of the iliad s major characters on the greek sidehis catalog of the trojan troops at the end of book 2 leads naturally into an introduction of the trojan leadership in book 3. The iliad, a major founding work of european literature, is usually dated to around the 8th century bc, and attributed to homer. Choose from 500 different sets of the 2 iliad books flashcards on quizlet. Homers iliad books 12 provided by the internet classics archive.
In book 7, the desires and actions of achaeans and trojans mirror each other in many ways. Iliad, book viii, lines 24553, greek manuscript, late 5th, early 6th centuries ad. Chryseis is the daughter of a priest of the god apollo. Jupiter, in pursuance of the request of thetis, sends a deceitful vision to agamemnon, persuading him to lead the army to battle, in order to make the greeks sensible of their want of achilles. Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods. First, the priest chryses comes to ask their leader, king agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom agamemnon was holding captive. Apollos priest chryses comes to the achaian camp and asks to ransom back his daughter chryseis, who has been captured. Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods, including achilles, hector, odysseus, athena, ares, paris.
The first part of book ii involves the false dream that zeus sends to agamemnon. Sparknotes and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Book two opens with zeus plan to aid achilleus in his revenge. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of the iliad. The dream that zeus sends to agamemnon is a false omen, one that agamemnon takes as a sign of fate. Theyre todays most popular study guideswith everything you need to succeed in school. The iliad, written sometime in the 8th century bce, is a tragic epic poem of more than 15,000 lines organised by scholars in alexandria into 24 books.