Oct, 2017 the iliad book summary in under five minutes. This contains a book by book summary and analysis of homers epic poem. On us two zeus has set a doom of misery, so that in time to. Find a summary of this and each chapter of the iliad. The poet prays to the muse, the goddess of poetic inspiration. It is here priam, the king of troy, begs for the return of his sons body book xxiv. See a complete list of the characters in the iliad and in depth analyses of achilles, agamemnon, and hector. 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. It is here he mourns the death of his close friend patroclus book xvi. Shortly afterward, we learn that his daughter is being held captive by agamemnon, who wants to keep her as his personal possession. Athena notices the trojan surge and prepares to help the achaeans, but apollo sees her coming and intercepts her, asking her to help him end combat for the rest of the day. Achilles himself embodies this theme, for his anger at agamemnon has made him.
When agamemnon refuses and threatens to ransom the girl to her father, the offended apollo plagues them with a. One can make a strong argument that the iliad seems to celebrate war. He asks her to begin with the fight between achilleus and agamemnon. The iliad is an ancient greek epic poem by homer that was first published in 762 bc.
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. There are three main plots present in the synopsis, or summary, of the iliad. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. By the end of the poem, the only change in the situation the deat. Heres where youll find analysis about the poem as a whole. It is a portrait of the warrior at home, war forgotten as he watches his son play and talks with his wife. Project gutenberg has several editions of this ebook. He leads the assault that finally penetrates the achaean ramparts, he is the first and only trojan to set fire to an achaean ship, and he kills patroclus. Odysseus and diomedes in the process, and threatens to set the greek ships on fire. The end of book vi is the famous scene between hector and andromache and their infant son, astyanax. A plague has overcome the greek armies because agamemnon has refused to return the daughter of a priest of apollo.
Achilles embodies one of the main themes of the iliad. A basic level guide to some of the best known and loved works of. Odysseus and diomedes plan to ambush dolon in order to prevent his spying. Homer builds parallels throughout the iliad in which an event in one group is mirrored in a scene of another group. Hectors decision to send out a scout creates a parallel to the achaean mission, but with key differences. In the tenth year of the trojan war, tensions are running high among the achaians a superancient name for the ancient greeks. Rodents do spread plague, so the association between a divine mouse function and delivering plague makes sense, even if the greeks werent completely aware of the connection. Homer, author of the iliad, while living in the bc era was able to capture, illustrate, and use all five elements. The story covered by the iliad begins nearly ten years into the seige of troy by the greek forces, led by agamemnon, king of mycenae. The iliad begins nine years after the start of the trojan war setting place troy a city in what is now northwestern turkey and its immediate environs. Achilles, the epics central character, exposes this fact and confronts the king. Seventeen, angry and at war with the world, as her name suggests. It is here that he sits when he refuses to fight book ix.
See a complete list of the characters in the iliad and indepth analyses of achilles, agamemnon, and hector. The iliad begins with the poet calling on the muse to sing of the wrath of achilleus and its consequences. Most commentators consider this scene to be the most moving in the iliad. 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 weeks of a quarrel between king agamemnon and the warrior achilles. Commander of the myrmidons, achilles is the most powerful hero in the iliad and was said to be invulnerable in all of his body but his heel, where his mother held him when she dipped him in. Chryses, priest of apollo, comes to the greek camp to ransom his daughter, chryseis, held captive by agamemnon. He is insulted and sent away, and apollo sends a plague on the greeks. The iliad recounts a brief but crucial period of the trojan war, a conflict between the city of troy and its allies against a confederation of greek cities, collectively known as the achaeans. Homer begins his iliad by bidding his muse to sing of the wrath of achilles and how his anger has done much more harm to the greeks than the war with the trojans over the abducted helen. First, the priest chryses comes to ask their leader, king agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom agamemnon was holding captive. Listed below are the names of the major characters of the epic poem.
Greeks who crossed the sea to lay siege to troy, a city in modern turkey. Although he meets his match in achilles, he wreaks havoc on the achaean army during achilles period of absence. With this first line, homer establishes one of the main themes in the iliad. A central idea in the iliad a poetic work focused on the war for troy is. Read an overview of the entire poem or a line by line summary and analysis. In the guise of helenus, apollo tells hector to challenge the achaeans to fight him in single combat. To repay the indignity chryses has suffered, apollo, the mouse god, rains arrows of plague on the greek forces for 9 days. In the very first line of the iliad, the poet addresses the muse, who inspires him with song, and asks her to sing through him the story of the wrath of the son of peleus, aka achilles. Characters emerge as worthy or despicable based on their degree of.
The trojan war, as youll know from the backstory section of our summary of book 1, involved a massive army of achaians a. The most general of these names are achaians, danaans, and argives. The iliad book 1 summary the poet prays to the muse, the goddess of poetic inspiration. The only thin remaining to indicate that a great war was fought at all is the story itselfthe iliad. Major characters of the iliad one of the challenges of reading epic poetry is keeping track of all the names. Iliad setting crossword clue answer crossword heaven. In 1956, new yorks golden press makers of the fantastic little golden books series commissioned the provensens to illustrate an adaptation of homer for young readers, and the iliad and the odyssey. Many people have noted connections between the last book and the first because both involve a father seeking the return of a child. Agamemnon and menelaus cant sleep with the trojans camped so near, so they rouse the other commanders for a council. 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.
Achilless anger at agamemnon is the main conflict in the poem and provides the framework for the events to come. We get a timeout from the main story while homer explains the origins of the scepter. The conflict began when paris, the son of troys king priam, seized a willing helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, from the achaean king menelaus. The poem was divided according to what could be transcribed onto one. Set during the trojan war, the tenyear siege of the city of troy ilium by a. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of the iliad by homer. Homer shows that the gods demand to be respected at all times, in all things. The point is, now that you know what the things are, its high time we jumped into the middle of them. Grief overcomes achilles as he falls to the ground weeping. The iliad takes place in the tenth year of the trojan war. The iliad is a classic ancient greek poem usually attributed to homer. Its a common misconception that the iliads plot is the trojan war this is false.
Book 1 the iliad begins with the poet calling on the muse to sing of the wrath of achilleus and its consequences. He and euphorbus trade insults, and menelaus reminds him that he killed euphorbus brother hyperenor. The conflict began when paris, the son of troys king priam, seized a willing helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, from the achaean king. And just like it is today, location was important in ancient greece, particularly in homers epic poem the iliad. Iliad study guide contains a biography of homer, literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The noble achilles, most powerful of the greeks, has been serving in. Zues prediction is a statement of the decay of mortal works.
There are roughly names referenced in the chapters of the iliad, and it is very easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged by trying to keep up with them all. The greeks are quarrelling about whether or not to return chryseis, a trojan captive of king agamemnon, to her father, chryses, a priest of apollo. Well, the first place you could look is the enotes summary on homers iliad. Apollos priest chryses comes to the achaian camp and asks to ransom back his daughter chryseis, who has been captured. Living with her mother and grandmother hiding from her violent father iliad struggles with personal relationships and letting people in, until she meets jared, the principals son. The iliad is an ancient greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to homer. She has a masters degree in linguistics and is a former latin teacher. Son of the immortal sea nymph thetis and greek hero peleus, achilles is one of the most widely known heroes of myth. Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods. He lets out a terrible cry and all the sea nymphs gather. When nestor proposes someone use the remaining darkness to learn the trojanss plans, diomedes quickly volunteers and selects odysseus to go with him.
The iliad is primarily set in troy and the fields surrounding troy during the greek siege of troy, also known as the war of troy or the siege of troy. Achilless wounded pride is what keeps him in a rage, but it also makes him refuse to fight, leading to terrible consequences for the rest of the achaean army. Hector is the mightiest warrior in the trojan army. The first scene of the iliad finds chryses, the priest of apollo god of the sun and a whole lot of other stuff, approaching the achaian camp to ask for his daughter back. Homers iliad describes the final year of the trojan war, a legendary conflict. See the conflicts in book 1, first between mortals and then between the gods.
In books 1 to 17, achilles rampages against his ruler, while in books 18 to 24, he turns against his enemy. Homer calls upon the goddess of poetry and inspiration the muse to sing of achilleus anger. Please note that these chapter divisions did not exist in the original telling of the story. The wrath of achilles is finally assuaged in book xxiv. What follows is a very brief summary from each book of the iliad. In books 1 to 17, achilles rampages against his ruler, while in. Choose from 500 different sets of english iliad book questions flashcards on quizlet.
Menelaus sees the death of patroclus, and he goes to defend the body. The iliad is the first book in western literature, told c. A list of important facts about homers the iliad, including setting, climax. The iliad summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Way back in the bronze age, when the iliad takes place, people went by the names of dominant tribes or regions. Achilles watches the retreat from afar and worries about the fate of patroclus. The iliad begins nine years after the start of the trojan war. Although the epic iliad covers only a period of 52 days in the 10year struggle for troy, it provides a broad panoramic view of the trojan war by flashing back and forth in time.
Gill is a freelance classics and ancient history writer. Dolon heads toward the achaean ships, but odysseus sees him coming. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. He wants her to tell him about the rage of achilleus, and how it hurt the achaians. Their stated goal was to get back helen, the wife of the achaian king menelaos, but most of the warriors were in it for plunderwhich they would get when they captured troy. Why is the setting important in the odyssey answers. The tent of achilles is a major setting in the iliad because he is a main subject of the story. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 10 summary.
Information on the first book of the iliad of homer. A giant golden book public library was born a stunning largeformat volume. Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods, including achilles, hector, odysseus, athena, ares. Homers iliad begins nine years after the greek armies first arrived at troy. One of the challenges of reading epic poetry is keeping track of all the names. Learn english iliad book questions with free interactive flashcards. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The 1954 broadway musical the golden apple, by librettist john treville latouche and composer jerome moross, was freely adapted from the iliad and the odyssey, resetting the action to americas washington state in the years after the spanishamerican war, with events inspired by the iliad in act one and events inspired by the odyssey in act two. I think that the most important setting in the book is when.
358 556 445 597 1415 393 466 59 599 104 834 376 1484 1155 1123 334 232 1175 91 167 21 143 709 656 824 1300 785 812 164 1072 278 742 152