Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad, Part A

Notes for Homer's The Iliad

The walls of the acropolis belong to Troy VII, which is identified as the site of the Trojan War by CherryX (source: Wikimedia).

• Men of Greece vowed to recover Helen should she be stolen away from the husband she chose 
• Apollo defends his priest from Troy, whose daughter was taken by Agamemnon
• Athena prevents Achilles from killing Agamemnon
• Achilles's mother (Thetis) asks Zeus to help the Trojans prevail 
• Hera says Zeus favors the Trojans too much already 
• Zeus makes Agamemnon falsely believe that he will be victorious if he tries to take Troy
• Helen tells King Priam who the major players of Agamemnon's army are
• Ulysses is the wisest
• People chosen by putting stones into a helmet
• First stone to leave helmet indicates who is chosen 
• Paris and Menelaus fight
• Gods help both fighters
• Pandarus shoots Menelaus 
• Trojans broke their oath 
• Diomede
• Greek hero 
• Wounded Aphrodite 
• Gods choose sides
• Hera and Athena support the Greeks 
• Ares fights for Troy
• Hector
• War-hungry 
• "I must always be in front"
• All the Greeks are afraid to fight him 
• Ajax is chosen to fight 
• Has a complicated shield 
• Neither die in the fight 
• Paris
• Coward 
• Flees from Menelaus 
• Lots of animal sacrifice 
• Men exchange armor to "show that they are friends"
• One set was made of gold and worth far more than the other 
• Andromache
• Hector's wife 
• Most of her family is killed 
• She begs Hector and the rest of the monarchy to stay behind the walls
• The battle at the ships 
• Poseidon supported the Greeks against Zeus's will 
• Told Ajax where to go 
• Many Trojans are killed or wounded 
• Ajax strikes Hector down with a rock but does not die 
• Zeus sends Apollo to help Hector 
• Many Greeks are killed 
• Apollo breaks bows 
• Patroclus 
• Achilles's cousin 
• Fights in Achilles's place and dies 
• Achilles's men follow him into battle