Achilles follows the trojans into the river, hacking them to pieces with his sword. The scene opens on the last year of the trojan war. The reader is then carried to the point where the trouble originally arose, which is where the story of the iliad actually begins. We are told from the beginning that the story is going to be about the rage or anger of achilles, the greatest warrior in achaia greece. The foray of diomedes and odysseus is a foray behind enemy lines by men without scruples. Aside from that, its vehicle invented image to which the trojan horses are compared is interesting. Get a detailed summary and analysis of every chapter in the book from. In book 21, achilles continues his killing spree and the. The narrative begins nine years after the start of the war, as the achaeans sack a trojanallied town and capture two beautiful maidens, chryseis and briseis.
The deaths of sarpedon and patroklos in this book introduce an elegiac tone into the last part of the iliad, as the characters that the reader sees. The iliad is an ancient greek epic poem by homer that was first published in 762 bc. Check your knowledge of the plot of book 16 of the iliad by completing this quiz and worksheet. Read an overview of the entire poem or a line by line summary and analysis. Achilles declines to fight but agrees to the exchange of armor, with the understanding that patroclus will fight only long enough to save the ships. Apollos priest chryses comes to the achaian camp and asks to ransom back his daughter chryseis, who has been captured. This style of fighting is unusual in the iliad and seems almost dishonorable compared to most of the fights. Phoenix asks achilles to forgive, telling a story of an angry prince who lost the honor of rich gifts because he waited too long to relent. In the tenth year of the trojan war, tensions are running high among the achaians a superancient name for the ancient greeks. In fact, one explanation of the apparent contradiction is that the iliad may be an expansion of an earlier and simpler tale that lacked agamemnons offer of gifts and achilleus refusal.
The following are comments that occurred to me while reading english translations of book i of the iliad. Patroclus returns to achilles camp, crying with pity for the achaean losses. Book xvi thus did they fight about the ship of protesilaus. Find a summary of this and each chapter of the iliad. Hera sends a mist to confuse and slow the retreat of the men going back towards the city. Book i opens with the words, rage goddess, sing the rage of peleus son achilles.
Eventually comes across a trojan soldier, sarpedon, who is the mortal son of zeus. Book 1 book 2 book 3 book 4 book 5 book 6 book 7 book 8 book 9 book 10 book 11 book 12 book book 14 book 15 book 16 book 17 book 18 book 19 book 20 book 21 book 22 book 23 book. Phoenix tells an old story of the warrior meleager, a man who out of anger refused. The iliad opens with the narrators appeal to the muse goddess to sing the wrath of achilles and its dire consequences for thousands of achaeans one of the homeric terms for the invading forces, which the poem never refers to as greeks. A summary of the iliad s telling of achilles killing hector. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 16 summary. Owen discusses what makes the iliad such an enduring work of art. Analysis as the story finally returns to achilles in book 16, his rage may be waning a bit, but his injured pride is still as fresh as ever.
Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 9 summary. This contains a book by book summary and analysis of homers epic poem. Heres where youll find analysis about the poem as a whole. The poem was divided according to what could be transcribed onto one scroll without the scroll becoming too long and thus breaking. Ilias is an epic poem by the ancient greek poet homer, which recounts some of the significant events of the final weeks of the trojan war and the greek siege of the city of troy which was also known as ilion, ilios or ilium in ancient times. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the iliad and what it means. Well, the first place you could look is the enotes summary on homers iliad. The trojan war, as youll know from the backstory section of our summary of book 1, involved a massive army of achaians a. He asks her to begin with the fight between achilleus and agamemnon. He discusses narrative technique, imagery, and characterization, and shows how each incident contributes to the overall emotional effect of the poem. The plea for ransom comes up approximately a dozen times in the iliad. The description of the shield is a digression justified by the fact that hektor now has achilles armor. The iliad is an epic poem and part of the ancient greek oral. Books 1 to 4 of the iliad trace the events from the breaking out of the quarrel between achilles and agamemnon to the first combat on the battlefield.
Iliad, studyguide for books 1 24 western michigan university. He wants her to tell him about the rage of achilleus, and how it hurt the achaians. In the warrior society of the iliad, pride is what makes the world go round. This points to the fact that troy was an extremely wealthy city and, therefore, would be able to pay a ransom to get back its prisoners of war. Agamemnon, afraid that hector s forces will prevail. Poseidon comes down to the battlefield and takes the form of calchas the seer. Book 20 robert fagles translation analysis segue from previous book and to the next book in book 19, achilles is still grieving over the death of patroclus and still refuses to eat. Eventually he was convinced to fight, but received no treasure for his efforts. This description of ajaxs incredible defense makes for one of the iliads most memorable images.
Greek audiences would have been familiar with the background of the story, and here a brief summary of events is. This is a long and complex book but the key chapters for the action are 1, 6, 9, 16, 18, 22, and 24. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 18 summary. He meets the wounded captains agamemnon, odysseus, and diomedes.
The gods, meanwhile, were gathered with zeus on the golden councilfloor, drinking toasts of nectar from gleaming cups that lovely hebe filled while they gazed down on troy. The iliad begins with the poet calling on the muse to sing of the wrath of achilleus and its consequences. Homer, iliad, book 16, line 1 perseus digital library. Joseph campbell condensed his understanding of story into a theory he called monomyth, also known as the heros journey or. Willcocks, a companion to the iliad is the way to go. The iliad takes place in the tenth year of the trojan war. The battle rages on between the trojan and achaean forces, and patroclus devises a scheme to free the achaean ships from the trojans. Homer begins by asking the muse to help him sing the story of the rage of achilles. Good translations abound but robert fitzgeralds in the oxford world classics series is a good read with handy notes and maps. Homer structured the iliad so that at any point he could discuss any subject he chose. I hope they will be useful for people who are reading the iliad as their first introduction to ancient greek literature. Greeks who crossed the sea to lay siege to troy, a city in modern turkey. He has made a fatal decision, and the deaths of sarpedon, patroklos, hektor, achilles himself, and the fall of troy all inevitably follow. What follows is a very brief summary from each book of the iliad.
This lesson focuses on book 16 of the iliad by homer. He leaps between the decks of the beached ships, using a massive pike to hold back the trojan forces almost singlehandedly. Set during the trojan war, the tenyear siege of the city of troy ilium by a coalition of greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the. Homers iliad study guide homers iliad has been captivating audiences for thousands of years. Hector, his attention focused on the fleeing horses of achilles, is made to look at the scene by apollo. 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. In the tenth year of the trojan war, achilles, the greatest fighter for the achaeans the greeks and their allies, is enraged. The purpose of the iliad is not to relate the overall story of the. Phoenix tells an old story of the warrior meleager, a man who out of anger refused to fight for his city. Anvils has the same root as another greek word that pertains to zeus. It is a sweeping epic poem that seeks to find answers to some of mankinds most fascinating questions, questions which still intrigue and perplex us today. The muse, now implicitly the narrator, begins the song with a quarrel that erupts between.
Book 16 when telemachus reaches eumaeuss hut, he finds the swineherd talking with a stranger odysseus in disguise. Thus disguised, he encourages the two aeantes great ajax and little ajax, when they are named as a pair and gives them new strength before he flies away. Menelaus sees the death of patroclus, and he goes to defend the body. The story of lycaons return and death underscores uncertainty of death. The events in book x are still violent, but there is no honor or nobility to offset the brutality. First, a literary analysis from a moderately informed modern. Homers iliad begins during the tenth year of the trojan war and opens, like most epic poems, with a request for inspiration from the appropriate muse. Achilles singlehandedly splits the trojan forces, driving one half towards the city and one half into the river. Zeus contemplates whether to save his son from being killed or not.
Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. During one of the achaian greek armys many raids on the cities located near troy, the achaians captured two beautiful enemy maidens, chryseis and briseis. About the odyssey the odyssey summary character list glossary themes quotes and analysis books 14 books 58 books 912 books 16 books 1720 books 2124 symbols, allegory and motifs metaphors and similes irony imagery the fractal structure of epics literary elements related links essay questions quiz 1 quiz 2 quiz 3 quiz 4 citations. The story told in the iliad figured prominently in greek culture long before the epic was ever written down. Lycaons return from slavery was a product of great effort and good fortune, turned suddenly into bad. Course heros video study guide provides indepth summary and analysis of homers epic poem the iliad. He and euphorbus trade insults, and menelaus reminds him that he killed euphorbus brother hyperenor. Eumaeus recounts odysseuss story and suggests that the stranger stay with telemachus at the palace. He continues to act without humanity, showing no concern for the fate of the achaean armyin stark contrast to patroclus, who is in tears over their plight.
See a complete list of the characters in the iliad and indepth analyses of achilles, agamemnon, and hector. Nearly all of the book s male characters are motivated in some way by considerations of their social standing. Zeus is well known as the most powerful god in greek mythology. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 14 summary. Later in the middle ages, dante noted this aspect of the passage and placed diomedes and odysseus in the 8th circle of hell, bolgia, the evil counselors. In book viii, the achaian, teucer, hides behind the shield of aias and kills several trojans with his arrows. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. Achilles tells him he has no reason to grieve, saying that agamemnon s men are repaid for their offenses. Book 17 of the iliad describes the fight over patroclus body that breaks out after his death in book 16, highlighting the importance of funeral rites in ancient greek culture. The iliad book 1 summary the poet prays to the muse, the goddess of poetic inspiration. Who in future story will speak well of you unless you now save the argives. The odyssey books 16 summary and analysis gradesaver.
The iliad begins with the trojan war already in progress. The outcome of achilles anger is the will of zeus, but it also killed a huge number of achaean soldiers. The last section of book xviii describes the giant shield that hephaistos, god of the forge, made for achilles. The iliad is an epic poem by homer that tells the story of several weeks in the last year of the decadelong trojan war in the greek camp, agamemnon and achilles, the greeks.
Nestor leaves his tent and immediately sees the carnage surrounding the achaean camp. 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. He further introduces in the word rage one of the human qualities, along with pride and honor, that will make up a. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the iliad, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Book 1 book 2 book 3 book 4 book 5 book 6 book 7 book 8 book 9 book 10 book 11 book 12 book book 14 book 15 book 16 book 17 book 18 book 19 book 20 book 21 book 22 book 23 book 24. Homer invokes the muse goddess of epic poetry to aid him in telling the story of achilles anger and the great war for helen and troy. Download the free study guide and infographic for homers epic. This lesson will explore the different roles he took in homers, the iliad. Joseph campbell condensed his understanding of story into a. Book 16 meanwhile, patroclus goes to achilles tent and begs to be allowed to wear achilles armor if achilles still refuses to rejoin the battle himself. Little ajax knows then that some god has spoken to them, and the aeantes spirits rise. 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. First, the priest chryses comes to ask their leader, king agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom agamemnon was holding captive.
When zeus awakens to see the trojans fleeing he frightens hera, with what rouse translates as stones or anvils. Please note that these chapter divisions did not exist in the original telling of the story. Cruel son of peleus, surely it was on gall that thy mother reared thee, thou pitiless one, seeing that in their own despite thou holdest back thy comrades beside the ships. About iliad iliad summary character list themes books 14 books 58 books 912 books 16 books 1720 books 2124 related links quiz 1 quiz 2 citations. Such a story would have been a more commonplace conflict over honor and prizes, but book nine added a deeper dimension to achilleus struggle. This study guide consists of approximately 114 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the iliad. The war had raged for ten years, with the invading greeks fighting against troy. Literary analysis throughout the iliad, an epic poem written by homer, there were numerous warriors and other characters that could be looked upon as heroes. The iliad and odyssey are both divided into 24 books. Summary of iliad book xvi what happens in the sixteenth book of homers iliad. In his tent, nestor discusses the battle with the wounded machaon.
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