iliad
1. King Priam and his
Grief.
Answer: Priam, in Greek mythology, the last king of Troy. He
succeeded his father, Laomedon, as king and extended Trojan control over the
Hellespont. He married first Arisbe (a daughter of Merops the seer) and then Hecuba,
and he had other wives and concubines. He had 50 sons, according to Homer’s
Iliad, and many daughters. Hecuba bore 19 of the sons, including Priam’s favorites,
Hector and Paris.
Homer described Priam at
the time of the Trojan War as an old man, powerless but kindly, not even
blaming Helen, the wife of Paris, for all his personal losses resulting from
the war. In the final year of the conflict, Priam saw 13 sons die: the Greek
warrior Achilles killed Polydorus, Lycaon, and Hector within one day. The death
of Hector, which signified the end of Troy’s hopes, also broke the spirit of
the king. Priam’s paternal love impelled him to brave the savage anger of
Achilles and to ransom the corpse of Hector; Achilles, respecting the old man’s
feelings and foreseeing his own father’s sorrows, returned the corpse. When
Troy fell, Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, butchered the old king on an
altar. Both Priam’s death and his ransoming of Hector were favorite themes of
ancient art.
2. Paris and Helen. And
Love story.
Answer: Paris
(Also Known As “Alexander”) - A son of Priam and Hecuba and brother of
Hector. Paris’s abduction of the beautiful Helen, wife of Menelaus, sparked the
Trojan War. Paris is self-centered and often unmanly. He fights effectively
with a bow and arrow (never with the more manly sword or spear) but often lacks
the spirit for battle and prefers to sit in his room making love to Helen while
others fight for him, thus earning both Hector’s and Helen’s scorn.
Helen - Reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the ancient
world, Helen was stolen from her husband, Menelaus, and taken to Troy by Paris.
She loathes herself now for the misery that she has caused so many Trojan and
Achaean men. Although her contempt extends to Paris as well, she continues to
stay with him.
Love story: According to mythology, there was a wedding between
Thetis and Peleus. However, the goddess Eris was not invited. She was so
incensed at this fact that she caused there to be strife among three goddesses.
She brought a golden apple, which three goddess claimed - Athena, Hera and
Aphrodite. To decide the matter of who would get the apple, they decided to go
to Paris, a mortal, to decide a contest, since he was known for fairness. Paris
was to decide who was the most beautiful. The goddesses promised certain things
to gain the upper-hand. Hera promised rule over Asia and Europe, Athena
promised victory in battle and wisdom, and Aphrodite promised the most
beautiful woman in the world. Of course, she failed to mention that this woman
was married! Paris picked Aphrodite. From this perspective, Helen fell in love
with Paris, because the gods made it so.
3. Role of Gods and
Goddesses.
Answer: The Iliad is an
epic poem ascribed to the ancient Greek storyteller Homer, which tells the story
of the Trojan War and the Greek siege of the city of Troy. Here I mentioned the
major gods and personifications described in the poem, including some rivers
and winds.
Aidoneus = Hades: god,
king of the dead.
Aphrodite: love goddess,
Supports the Trojans.
Apollo: god, sends
plague, son of Zeus and Leto. Supports the Trojans.
Ares: god of war.
Supports the Trojans.
Artemis: goddess,
daughter of Zeus and Hera, sister of Apollo. Supports the Trojans.
Athena: goddess active
in battle, daughter of Zeus. Supports the Greeks.
Axius: river in Paeonia
(in north-eastern Greece), also the river god.
Charis: goddess, wife of
Hephaestus.
Dawn: goddess.
Death: brother of Sleep.
Demeter: goddess of
grain and food.
Dione: goddess, mother
of Aphrodite.
Dionysus: divine son of
Zeus and Semele.
Eileithyia: goddess of
birth pains and labor pangs.
Fear: goddess:
accompanies Ares and Athena into battle.
Flight: god.
Folly: daughter of Zeus.
Furies: goddesses of
revenge within the family.
Glauce: a Nereid (daughter
of Nereus).
Gygaea: a water nymph:
mother of Mesthles and Ascanius (allies of the Trojans).
Hades: brother of Zeus
and Poseidon, god of the dead.
Halië: a Nereid
(daughter of Nereus).
Hebe: goddess who acts
as cupbearer to the gods.
Helios: god of the sun.
Hephaestus: god, son of
Zeus and Hera, artisan god, crippled in his legs.
Hera: divine wife and
sister of Zeus, daughter of Cronos. Supports the Greeks.
Hermes: divine son of
Zeus, called "killer of Argus".
Hyperion: god of the
sun.
Iris: goddess, messenger
of the gods.
Leto: goddess, mother of
Apollo and Artemis.
Limnoreia: a Nereid
(daughter of Nereus).
Muses: goddesses,
daughters of Zeus.
Nemertes: a Nereid
(daughter of Nereus).
Nereus: sea god, father
of the Nereids.
Nesaea: a Nereid
(daughter of Nereus).
Night: goddess.
North Wind.
Oceanus (Ocean): god of
the river surrounding the earth.
Orithyia: a Nereid
(daughter of Nereus).
Paeëon: god of healing.
Poseidon: major Olympian
god.
Prayers: daughters of
Zeus.
Proto: a Nereid
(daughter of Nereus).
Rhea: goddess, wife of
Cronos.
Rumour: messenger from
Zeus.
Seasons: goddesses who
look after the gates of Olympus.
Sleep: god, brother of
death.
Strife: goddess active
in war.
Terror: god, son of
Ares.
Tethys: goddess; wife of
Oceanus.
Themis: goddess.
Thetis: divine sea
nymph, mother of Achilles, daughter of the old man of the sea.
Thoë: a Nereid (daughter
of Nereus).
Titans: gods imprisoned
by Zeus in Tartarus.
Typhoeus: monster held
captive underground by Zeus.
Xanthus: god of the
Scamander River.
Zephyrus: the west wind.
Zeus: King of the gods.
4. King Agamemnon in
Iliad.
Answer: Agamemnon
(Also Called “Atrides”) - King of Mycenae and leader of the Achaean army;
brother of King Menelaus of Sparta. Arrogant and often selfish, Agamemnon
provides the Achaeans with strong but sometimes reckless and self-serving
leadership.
Iliad begins with the kidnapping
of Helen, the beautiful wife of Menelaus. Loyalty to his brother forces
Agamemnon to commit to help his brother in his fight to return Helen to her
rightful home. Unfortunately for everyone, Agamemnon’s position outweighs
his ability to rule. However, by the end of the Iliad Agamemnon does become a
better leader, though as a hero he does not always follow through.
One of Agamemnon's faults lies in his
poor decision-making. Agamemnon’s refusal to return a slave girl Chryseis
brings a plague on his people. To save his men he returns the girl, but there
is a caveat: he will return his girl, but he wants Briseis, Achilles’ girl.
This is poorly received by Achilles; consequently, Achilles refuses to fight in
the war. Agamemnon knows that his side of the fight cannot win without
the participation of Achilles.
However, He is a great warrior,
but as a king he often misuses his authority. His love for his brother and
concern for his well-being involve him in a battle for which he fights to the
bitter end.
5. Fight between
menelaus and paris.
Answer: We will begin in
Troy in book three of The Iliad. The combined might of the Achaeans stands
ready in front of the Trojan walls. Paris walks in front of the Trojan army,
ready to battle an Achaean hero. But when Paris sees Menelaus step forward, the
Trojan prince balks and tries to hide. His older brother, Prince Hector, shames
him into fighting.
Paris proposes to fight Menelaus as a
champion for Helen and her accompanying wealth, thereby preventing the armies
from fighting. The fierce warrior-king Menelaus quickly agrees to these terms.
Then, the combat begins. Menelaus
immediately takes the upper hand - he is the stronger fighter. He begins
dragging Paris towards the Achaean army by the Trojan's helmet. This would have
been the end of Paris, but then a goddess intervenes.
Just before Paris gets beyond the point
of help, the goddess of love, Aphrodite, who helped Paris abscond with Helen,
steps in to help him. First, she breaks his helmet strap, allowing him to
escape. Then, when Menelaus moves in for the kill, she hides Paris in a mist
before transporting him out of harm's way. Thus ends the one-on-one combat.
6. Fight between hector
and Achilles.
Answer: Most of the Greek Mythology is
based on the grace of Gods. These Gods would do anything for power and glory.
Homer's Illiad is no different. Gods made their favorites fight in the battles
to win over the favor of Zeus.
Achilles,
initially refused to fight this war as he was dishonored and his gifts (which
included a girl) were taken away from him. This made him throw a tantrum and he
withdrew his support from the Battle for Troy. Until the point he realized that
His close friend and cousin Patroclus was killed by Hector in the battle
because he was wearing Achilles armor. Achilles blamed himself for sending him
into battle alone and not being with in at his time of death or to protect him
from Hector. The death of Patroclus, Achilles wanted to take revenge and so he
challenged Hector to fight One-on-one.
To my
personal belief in this fight Achilles took out all his anger that he had
suppressed, it was more than just a revenge or to show that he was the greatest
warrior in his clan. It was doing justice to all the wrongs that was done to
him (not the right way to went out but still).
7. Fight between Azax
and Hector.
Answer: In the seventh
book of Homer's Iliad , the Trojan Helenus proposes that Hector fight a single
combat with one of the Greeks to determine the outcome of the war. Initially,
all of the Greeks are too frightened to accept the challenge, so they draw lots
to determine who will be Hector's opponent. Ajax “wins" this lottery. A
description of Ajax arming himself for battle and a description of his shield
follows. After some initial trash-talking between the two warriors, Hector
throws his spear, which penetrates six layers of Ajax's shield, But it stopped
at the seventh. Ajax's spear-cast also strikes Hector's shield, but Hector
avoids being hit. Ajax then knocks Hector down with a massive stone, but Apollo
raises Hector up. At this point, two heralds intervene between the two men and
stop the fighting since it is determined that Cloud-gatherer Zeus cares for you
both (Ian Johnston translation) and that night is approaching. The two warriors
agree and exchange gifts to indicate that they fought but became reconciled and
parted friends.
8. Odysseus and
Patroclus.
Answer: Atroclus is Achilles's
only close friend in the story of The Iliad. Achilles shares his deepest
thoughts and concerns with Patroclus, and Patroclus gives Achilles the
emotional support that Achilles needs to be a strong leader for the Greek
forces.
Patroclus wants to help the Greeks turn the tide of the war against the
Trojans, and Achilles reluctantly lets Patroclus go to war. Achilles asks
Patroclus to hold back the Greeks, but not to pursue them if they retreat.
Though Achilles is arrogant and
dismissive of other people, he is extremely close with Patroclus. The men share
an intimate friendship, and Achilles is reluctant to let Patroclus go to battle
because it is such a dangerous, life-risking mission.
Patroclus's
death drives Achilles into an emotional rage that leads to a series of events
and many deaths, the most iconic of which is Achilles's killing of Hector,
after which Achilles drags Hector's corpse behind his chariot in revenge for
Patroclus's death.
Patroclus exists in the story because he is a disposable
character in the sense that his primary role as a character is to be a catalyst
for the actions of other characters or as a symbol for an important idea.
9. Hera Athena,
Aphrodite
Answer: Athena, goddess
of wisdom, most clearly questions patriarchal notions; for example, just after
she joins the company on Mount Olympus, she is puzzled to hear Zeus speak of
Athens as ""the foremost city of men" Aphrodite, goddess of
love, delivers the least involving narrative; she seems more vain than erotic.
By contrast, the section on the goddess of marriage, Hera, offers the most provocative
spin. This Hera admits that ""quite often"" she is
""jealous, angry, vengeful."" But her account of her
marriage to the faithless Zeus makes readers understand her bad behavior and
appreciate her marital fidelity. Orgel pays close attention to the judgment of
Paris (Paris's choice of Aphrodite as the fairest goddess led to the Trojan
War, as Orgel shows). In an epilogue, the goddesses have resolved their
differences and none wants to repeat the contest--perhaps an overly optimistic
ending, but indicative of the volume's idealism. Heyer's (The Weaving of a
Dream) illustrations are oddly conventional; their pretty representations,
paradoxically, undercut the vigor of Orgel's bold interpretations.
10. Andromache.
Answer: Andromache is a
foil to the other three major characters of the play and underlines the
immature and selfish nature of their passions. Her own love is for her husband
and son.Andromache has quite a small part in the plot but is a main figure in
Hectors life.
The
name Andromache means "man battler" or "fighter of men“;.
She was the wife of Hector and prince of Troy. Also she was daughter of Eetion
who was king of the Cilician Thebae. She was one of the Noblest and most
amiable female characters in the Iliad. She was the mother of Scamandrius
(Astyanax) and sister to Podes.
The
Aristocratic was the Ancient Greek Woman. Though She is a Trojan woman, there
is not much source material on the ideals held by Trojans. This character who
only appears in less than 200 lines of Homer's 24-book epic; but it is one of
the less famous character of Iliad. In the Homeric Iliad, Andromache is shown
in the act of singing three songs of lamentation;
One of the most
tragic character of the saga, for she endures the murder of her parents and
Brothers, the indignity of her husband's death, and her son's senseless murder
and then she is taken into slavery by the son of her husband’s. She is logical
and smart, and love's very deeply, even to the point of sacrifice. Only
Andromache’s final speech in book 24 of the Iliad is a ritualistic lament,
performed in public.
As Hector’s wife, a
woman of virtuous and aristocratic standing, Andromache has the unique
opportunity to speak out against this vain quest for kleos. She is an example
of a cunning woman, one who pays attention to the world around her enough to
give sound military advice, and to use her own misfortune to garner the pity
necessary to gain sympathy. She is more than a weeping widow; However,
Andromache had the authority to seemingly step out of her role as a dutiful,
virtuous wife and blatantly comment on her husband’s war affairs.
11. Achilles wrath.
Answer:
The poet invokes a muse to aid him in telling the story
of the rage of Achilles, the greatest Greek hero to fight in the Trojan War.
Nine years after the start of the war, as the Achaeans sack a Trojan-allied
town and capture two beautiful maidens, Chryseis and Briseis. Agamemnon,
commander-in-chief of the Achaean army, takes Chryseis as his prize. Achilles,
one of the Achaeans’ most valuable warriors, claims Briseis. Chryseis’s father,
a man named Chryses who serves as a priest of the god Apollo, begs Agamemnon to
return his daughter and offers to pay an enormous ransom. When Agamemnon
refuses, Chryses prays to Apollo for help.
Apollo sends a plague
upon the Greek camp, causing the death of many soldiers. After ten days of
suffering, Achilles calls an assembly of the Achaean army and asks for a
soothsayer to reveal the cause of the plague. Calchas, a powerful seer, stands
up and offers his services. Though he fears retribution from Agamemnon, Calchas
reveals the plague as a vengeful and strategic move by Chryses and Apollo.
Agamemnon flies into a rage and says that he will return Chryseis only if Achilles
gives him Briseis as compensation.
Achilles' friend, Patroclus,
who was fighting at the head of the Greeks, Achilles' tent to beg him to
come and help them once more. Hector killed Patroclus in Battle field. The news
of his friend's death had quickly been carried to Achilles. He gave a mighty
shout, at the sound of which the Trojans fled, while Ajax and Ulysses brought
back the body of Patroclus.
12. Achille's new,
Armour.
Answer: Patroclus is the best friend and companion of
Achilles. Although Achilles is reluctant, he loans his armor to Patroclus with
a parting warning to be careful. Their plan is to have Achilles' helmet hide
the identity of Patroclus.
Fitted with the armor, Patroclus re-enters
the battle disguised as the great hero Achilles. Fighters on both the Trojan
and the Greek sides react to what they think is his return. The Greeks rally
and the Trojans fall back. Patroclus seems to gain power through the armor and
even move like Achilles while he wears it. More than just looking like
Achilles, Patroclus seems to have taken on some of his heroic skills in battle
by wearing this armor.However, the god Apollo is frustrated by the success of
the Greeks and so he intervenes. Apollo stuns Patroclus and removes his helmet.
Seeing this, the Trojan hero Hector then challenges and kills Patroclus,
taking the armor as a spoil of war. When Hector dons it, Zeus shifts the
armor's shape to fit the new owner..
The Grief of Achilles, and New
Armour Made Him by Vulcan. The news of the death of Patroclus is brought to
Achilles by Antilochus. He
gave a mighty shout, at the sound of which the Trojans fled, while Ajax and
Ulysses brought back the body of Patroclus. Thetis,
hearing his lamentations, comes with all her sea- nymphs to comfort him. The
speeches of the mother and son on this occasion. Homer describes this one as
using the metals copper, tin, silver, and gold. It is said to shine brighter
than a fire's blaze. With his new armor, Achilles goes on a
destructive push towards the Trojan Wall.
13. Art of War in iliad.
Answer: One of the
most famous epic narratives of classical mythology is that of the Trojan War, a
decade-long conflict over possession of the most beautiful woman in the world,
Helen. Pitting Greeks against Trojans, the story of the war featured countless
heroes, like Achilles and Odysseus, and was integral both to the psyche of the
ancient Greeks, and the mythical foundations of the ancient Romans.
Art
historian Renee Gondek recounts the story of the Trojan War, from the judgment
of Paris and the abduction of Helen to the construction of the Trojan Horse and
the sack of Troy. She explores and weaves together multiple (and sometimes
conflicting) strands of evidence from many periods of antiquity.
In addition to narrating passages from
ancient literary sources including Homer’s Iliad (ca. 750 BC) and Apollodorus’
Bibliotheca (ca. 100 AD), she illustrates the program with important artistic
works, such as the famous Sarpedon Krater by Euphronios and the Laocoön Group
in the Vatican Museums. Testifying to the importance of this legendary tale,
with its timeless themes of beauty, courage, and sacrifice, Gondek also surveys
later representations of the Trojan War, such as Peter Paul Rubens’ Judgment of
Paris and Nicolas Poussin’s Achilles Discovered on Skyros.
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