- Poem begins with a statement of the theme ("Arms and the man I sing")
- Invocation to the muse or other deity ("Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles")
- Story begins in medias res (in the middle of things)
- Catalogs (of participants on each side, ships, sacrifices)
- Histories and descriptions of significant items (who made a sword or shield, how it was decorated, who owned it from generation to generation)
- Epic simile (a long simile where the image becomes an object of art in its own right as well as serving to clarify the subject).
- Frequent use of epithets ("Aeneas the true"; "rosy-fingered Dawn"; "tall-masted ship")
- Use of patronymics (calling son by father's name): "Anchises' son"
- Long, formal speeches by important characters
- Journey to the underworld
- Use of the number three (attempts are made three times, etc.)
- Previous episodes in the story are later recounted
- Homer, Iliad
- Homer, Odyssey
- Virgil, Aeneid
- Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered
- Milton, Paradise Lost
The Iliad by Homer
Background information: Pages 100 – 1221. When did the Olympics begin? What was their original purpose?
2. When did Homer write the Iliad?
3. Describe the Peloponnesian War.
4. What were the dates of Mycenean Civilization? What is the Heroic Age? How were the
characters in the Iliad viewed?
5. What are the two earliest surviving works of Greek poetry?
6. When did the Greeks develop an alphabet?
7. Describe Greek city-states.
8. What can you infer regarding Greek religion by Walter Burkert’s quote on p. 109?
9. What is lyric poetry?
10. How were Athens and Sparta different?
11. What led to the rise of the Athenian Empire?
12. According to Edith Hamilton, how is our view of “things” different from the Greeks?
13. According to Socrates, what does “Wisdom” begin with? What does “philosopher”
mean?
14. What led to the start of the Peloponnesian War?
15. Look at the map on page 113.
15.1. Locate Athens. Why would Athens be a strong naval force?
15.2 Locate Sparta. Why would the Spartans be a formidable land force?
16. Who preserved and spread Greek knowledge to the West?
17. How might Frank C. Bourne’s statement about Rome apply to our civilization?
18. Name three Western European values derived from Roman values.
19. Where did the founding fathers of the U.S. look for a model of government?
20. Who was Hannibal?
21. Look at the painting on p. 115. Based on their architecture, what qualities do you think
the Romans admired?
22. Who and what caused the “breakdown” of the Roman Republic?
23. How does Virgil’s Aeneid connect Greece and Rome?
24. What does “arete” mean? Why is it important for Greeks?
25. Contrast the causes of the Trojan War (probable history vs. Homer).
26. Name the 5 conventions of the Homeric epic.
27. What is foreshadowing? What is a flashback?
28. What are the “three key beliefs” of Homer’s ancient warriors?