3. The Iliad
• The Iliad Sometimes referred o as the song of Illion
or (song of ilium) is an Ancient Greek Epic poem
In dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to
Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten year
siege of the city Troy (illium) by a coalition of
Greek States, it tells of d battles and events during
the weeks of a quarrel between king Agamemnon
and the warrior Achilles.
5. • Although the story covers only a few weeks in the
final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes
to many of the Greek legends about the siege, the
earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for
the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns
tend to appear near the beginning. Then the epic
narrative takes up events prophesied for the future,
such as Achilles looming death and the sack of troy ,
although the narrative ends before these events take
place.
6.
7. • The story begins nearly 10 years into the siege of
troy by the Greek Forces, lead by Agamemnon king
of Mycenae . The Greeks are quarrelling about
whether or not to return Chrysies, a Trojan captive
of King Agamemnon, to her father, Chrysies, a priest
of Apollo. When Agamemnon refuses and threatens
to ransom the girl to her father, The offended Apollo
plagues then with a pestilence.
9. • The Greeks , at the behest of the warrior-hero
Achilles, force Agamemnon to return Chrysies in
order to appease Apollo and end the pestilence. But,
when Agamemnon eventually reluctantly agrees to
give her back, he takes in her stead Briseis, Achilles
own war price concubine. Felling Dishourned ,
Achilles wrathfully withdraws both himself and his
Myrmidon warriors from the Trojan war.
11. • Testing the resolve of the Greek Agamemnon feigns a
homeward order, but Odysseus encourages the Greek to
pursue the fight. During a brief truce in the hostilities,
Paris and Menelaus meet in single combat over Helen,
while she and old king Priam of Troy watched from the
city walls and despite the goodness Aphrodite’s
intervention on behalf of the over-matched Paris,
Menelaus is the victor The goddess Athena, however
who favours the Greeks, soon provokes a Trojan truce
breaking and battle begins anew.
13. • The Greek Hero Diomedes, strengthened By Athena,
drives the Trojans before him but, in his arrogance and
blood lust, strikes and injuries Aphrodite. Despite the
misgivings of his wife, Andromache, The Trojan hero,
Hector, son of King Priam, challenges the Greek
Warriors-hero Ajax to single combat, and is almost
overcome in battle. Throughout all, in the background,
the various gods and goddesses continue to argue among
themselves to manipulate and intervene in the struggle,
despite Zeus specific orders to the Contrary.
15. • Achilles steadfastly refuses to give in to pleas for help
from Agamemnon, Odysseus, Ajax, Phoenix and Nestor
spurning the offered honours and riches and even
Agamemnon’s belated offer to return Briseis to him.
Diomedes and Odysseus sneak into the Trojan camp and
wreak havoc . But, with Achilles and his warriors out of
battle, the tide appears to begin to turn in favor of the
Trojans. Agamemnon is wounded in the battleand, despite
the heroics of Ajax, Hector successfully breaches the
fortified Greek camp, wounding Odysseus and Diomedes
in the process, and threatens to set the Greek ships on fire.
16. • Torn between his allegiances, Achilles orders his
friend and lover, Patroclus, to dress in Achilles’
own armour and to lead the Myrmidons in repelling
the Trojans. Intoxicated by his success, Patroclus
forgets Achilles’ warning, and pursues the fleeing
Trojans to the walls of Troy and would have taken
the city were it not for the actions of Apollo. In the
heat of the battle, though, Hector finds the disguised
Patroclus and, thinking him to be Achilles, fights
and (again with Apollo’s help) kills
him. Menelaus and the Greeks manage to recover
Patroclus’s corpse before Hector can inflict more
damage.
17. • Distraught at the death of his companion, Achilles then
reconciles with Agamemnon and rejoins the fray, despite
knowing his deadly fate, and drives all the Trojans before him
in his fury. As the ten year war reaches its climax, even the
gods join in the battle and the earth shakes with the clamour
of the combat.
• Clad in new armour fashioned specially for him by
Hephaestus, Achilles takes revenge for his friend Patroclus by
slaying Hector in single combat, but then defiles and
desecrates his corpse for several days. Now, at last, Patroclus’
funeral can be celebrated in what Achilles sees as a fitting
manner. Hector’s father, King Priam, emboldened by his grief
and aided by Hermes, recovers Hector’s corpse from Achilles,
and “The Iliad” ends with Hector’s funeral during a twelve
day truce granted by Achilles.
18. • Clad in new armour fashioned specially for him by
Hephaestus, Achilles takes revenge for his friend
Patroclus by slaying Hector in single combat, but then
defiles and desecrates his corpse for several days. Now, at
last, Patroclus’ funeral can be celebrated in
what Achilles sees as a fitting manner. Hector’s
father, King Priam, emboldened by his grief and aided by
Hermes, recovers Hector’s corpse from Achilles,
and “The Iliad” ends with Hector’s funeral during a
twelve day truce granted by Achilles.
19. Question: How the Trojan War Began?
• The Iliad recounts only part of a long series of
events in the Trojan War.
– The war was fought, according to legend, because
of a quarrel among gods and the resulting
incidents of betrayal among mortals.
How did the War start?
* King Peleus and the sea-goddess Thetis were
the parents of Achilles, hero of the Iliad.
20. • When Peleus and Thetis were married,
all the gods were invited except Eris, the
goddess of discord.
• Angry at being excluded, Eris tossed a
golden apple among the guests.
–On it was inscribed “for the fairest one.”
• Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each claimed the
prize.
• They chose the Trojan prince Paris, a handsome
and unworldly man, to decide which goddess
was the fairest.
21. • Each goddess offered Paris a bribe, and
Paris chose Aphrodite’s bribe.
• Aphrodite promised to give Paris the
most beautiful woman alive (Helen) who
was already married to Menelaus, King of
Sparta.
• Paris violated the sacred bond of
hospitality when he went to Menelaus’
court as a guest and abducted the host’s
wife.
22. • Menelaus sought the help of his brother,
Agamemnon, King of Mycenae and the
most powerful ruler of his time.
• Together with other kings, they mounted
an expedition against Troy to reclaim
Helen and to sack a city for its opulence.
• The war lasted ten years until Troy was
finally taken.
23. • Out of a vast body of material that his
audience already knew, Homer chose to
focus on a period of less than two
months in the tenth year of the war.
• Homer did not concentrate on the war as
such, but on the Greek warrior Achilles
and the consequences of his rage
(wrath).
