Tuesday, 9/24 - Discuss Bks 11-12

• P&P

• Discuss Bks 11-12

HW: Begin reading Bk 13 and the next installment of Leithart. Finish Bk 13 for block day. Leithart journal will be due sometime next week.  

Friday, 9/20 - Bks 10-11

• P&P

• Discuss Bk 9 - The Embassy to Achilles

HW: Read Bks 10 "Marauding through the Night" (670 lines) and 11 "Agamemnon's Day of Glory" (1015 lines) over the weekend. Have a great Homecoming Weekend! Be wise and enjoy the battle in the stadium, as well as that on the Trojan plains . . .  

Thursday, 9/19 - Bk 9 for tonight!

• P&P

• Work day. Dig into Bk 9 and be ready to share a quote tomorrow.

 HW: Bk 9 quote and commentary (Q&C) 

Wednesday, 9/18 - Discuss J9

• P&P

• Discuss J9

HW: Take a break from war, just like the Trojans and Greeks do at the end of Book 8 (so no homework tonight). Just remember that the sun will usher in a new day of battle with Bk 9. Enjoy the sweet slumber this evening.

Iliad - Book 5 ("Diomedes Fights the Gods")

Diomedes Wounds Aphrodite, Arthur Fitger, 1905

Discussion points:

Iliad - Book 4 ("The Truce Erupts in War")

Aphrodite Saves Paris, Alan Lee, 2008

Discussion points:

Monday, 9/16 - The Ill-iad

The Achilles Tendon

• P&P

• Discuss Bks 4-6 and quotes  

• "Hweat!" No, wrong language and epic . . . that's Beowulf. "Rage!" That's more like it ; )

HW: Read the next two books of Homer's Iliad (Bks 7 & 8) and finish J9 for Wednesday. I'll give you class time on Tuesday to do some work. "Thank you, Mr. Reno!" "You're welcome, my little warriors and warring weavers."

J9 – Heroes (97-114) – “The Rage of Achilles, Books 1-8”

1. In what ways does Homer use Achilles to “trace out the consequences of extreme heroism”?
2. Although sideline characters in the Iliad, women’s role is crucial. How?
3. Explain how Achilles and Paris thematically occupy opposite end of the “heroic spectrum.”
4. Paris and Menelaus symbolize the clash of what opposites (there are several)?
5. The Greeks and Trojans almost establish a truce. Why does peace not prevail?
6. How do Paris and Achilles spatially occupy extreme positions in the Iliad (and where does Hector fall on that heroic continuum and why)?
7. What ancient practices does the scene between Diomedes and Glaucus highlight? What theme might it reinforce?
8. Comment on how the special division of the epic is also a gender division.
9. How, through Paris and Achilles, does Homer show that the two ends of the heroic spectrum curve around to meet?
10. How is Hector a true hero?
11. How is Hector more than a hero?
12. What does Homer achieve with his beautiful description of the “descent of darkness” (Heroes 112)?