Joseph campbell condensed his understanding of story into a theory he called monomyth, also known as the heros journey or the. Zeus calls him strong and gentle, recognizing the two traits, harmoniously balanced, that distinguished patroclus. Choose from 500 different sets of the iliad book 16 flashcards on quizlet. Gill is a freelance classics and ancient history writer. She promises to look after patrocluss body and keep it from rotting while achilles goes to battle. Course heros video study guide provides indepth summary and analysis of homers epic poem the iliad. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
He seems to be irritated that so many other gods have played a role in the battle between the greeks. Achilles walks along the shore, calling his men to an assembly. Upon hearing the news, achilles tears his hair in sorrow and curses anger that drives the sanest men to flare in outrage. This imagery recalls his portrayal in book 1 as blazing achilles 1. Achilles, sitting by ships, realizes the achaeans are routed and fears the worst. Agamemnon, splendidly armed, cuts down man after man and beats the trojans back to the citys gates. This study guide consists of approximately 114 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the iliad. Homer, iliad book 17 theoi classical texts library. First, the priest chryses comes to ask their leader, king agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom agamemnon was holding captive. About the iliad cliffsnotes study guides book summaries.
In the modern vulgate the standard accepted version, the iliad contains 15,693 lines. Menelaus intends to strip him of his armor but apollo inspires hector in the shape of a trojan to stop. Book 17 menelaos gets in a fight with euphorbosthe first man to spear patroklos in book 16 over patrokloss body. The iliad summary in the tenth year of the trojan war, tensions are running high among the achaians a superancient name for the ancient greeks.
Euphorbus, the trojan who first speared him, tries to strip him of achilles armor but is killed by menelaus. Book 17 there is nothing alive more agonized than man of all that breathe and crawl across the earth. Download the free study guide and infographic for homers epic. This is one of the few times when this happens, and it is interesting that hektor says it out of excitement wanting the moment to last forever instead of despair at a moment passing. The description of the shield is a digression justified by the fact that hektor now has achilles armor. See important quotations explained a fight breaks out over patrocluss body.
Grendel sparknotes literature guide by john gardner making the reading experience fun. Chryseis is the daughter of a priest of the god apollo. Little ajax knows then that some god has spoken to them, and the aeantes spirits rise. Book 17 reveals that patroclus was a man greatly beloved by his comrades.
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. Books 1516 book 15 marks the beginning of the end for hector and the trojans, who have reached the height of their power and now face a downhill slope. Chryses, priest of apollo, comes to the greek camp to ransom his daughter, chryseis, held captive by agamemnon. There is little reason to believe that achilles would have made up his mind without such a powerful catalyst for his decision. Menelaus, fighting nearby, watches the death of patroclus. It is a curious fact about the iliad that, for all its focus on the theme of death, it rarely shows characters longing for immortality. This study guide and infographic for homers the iliad offer summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. The iliad wordsworth classics paperback september 1, 2003. Along with the odyssey, the iliad is among the oldest extant works of western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the 8th century bc. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 14 summary. Poseidon comes down to the battlefield and takes the form of calchas the seer.
Oct, 2017 the iliad book summary in under five minutes. Antilochus races to achilles camp to tell him of patroclus death. The iliad is narrated from a thirdperson omniscient point of view. King agamemnon, who leads the achaeans, has brought an illness upon the army by refusing to give up a woman, chryseis, whom he seized as a prize in a recent battle. The iliad begins with the poet calling on the muse to sing of the wrath of achilleus and its consequences. Book xvii brave menelaus son of atreus now came to know that patroclus had fallen, and made his way through the front ranks clad in full armour to bestride him. Achilles has a bad feeling that patroclus is dead even before menelauss messenger arrives. She has a masters degree in linguistics and is a former latin teacher. The iliad sparknotes literature guide series by sparknotes. Murray 1 the wrath sing, goddess, of peleus son, achilles, that destructive wrath which brought countless woes upon the achaeans, and sent forth to hades many valiant souls of heroes, and made them themselves spoil for dogs and every bird. Book 17 of the iliad describes the fight over patroclus body that breaks out after his death in book 16, highlighting the importance of funeral rites in ancient greek culture.
Book 8 of homers the iliad opens with zeus having a bit of a tantrum. As a cow stands lowing over her first calf, even so did yellowhaired menelaus bestride patroclus. The ancient greek audience, however, would have been familiar with all the events leading up to this tenth year, and during the course of the iliad, homer makes many references to various past events. Books one, two and three all quotations from the iliad are from the translation of richmond lattimore, university of chicago press, 1951 how the plot develops. 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. Home english literature classic books the iliad book xviii navigate here note book i book ii book iii book iv book v book vi book vii book viii book ix book x book xi book xii book xiii book xiv book xv book xvi book xvii book xviii book xix book xx book xxi book xxii book xxiii book xxiv. This contains a book by book summary and analysis of homers epic poem. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. See a complete list of the characters in the iliad and indepth analyses of achilles, agamemnon, and hector. Book 17, line 5 the trojan euphorbus comes to take the body but king menelaus will not yield. Priam powerfully invokes the memory of peleus when he convinces achilles to return hectors corpse to the trojans in book 24. Homer calls upon the goddess of poetry and inspiration the muse to sing of achilleus anger. Menelaus observes the death of patroclus and runs to guard his body like a mother cow lowing over a calf.
Thetis presents achilles with the armor that hephaestus has forged for him. Themes and colors key litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the iliad, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Indeed, the poem names its focus in its opening word. Below you will find a synopsis of some of the main events to which the iliad refers. Achilles has known throughout that his fate is either to live a short, glorious life at troy or a long, obscure life back in phthia. Read an overview of the entire poem or a line by line summary and analysis. Chapter 2 lesson 7 transcript additional activities. Iliad, homer the iliad is an ancient greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to homer. He is insulted and sent away, and apollo sends a plague on the greeks. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 16 summary. Iliad study guide contains a biography of homer, literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the iliad, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. From this vantage point, the end is in sight, and, correspondingly, zeus now outlines the rest of the iliad and beyond, predicting even the eventual fall of troy, which occurs after the end of the poem. Apollos priest chryses comes to the achaian camp and asks to ransom back his daughter chryseis, who has been captured. Euphorbus strikes at him and misses only to be killed by menelaus. Geared to what todays students need to know, sparknotes provides. Euphorbus attempts to strip patroclus armor, but menelaus kills him. So the son of menoetius was attending to the hurt of eurypyluswithin the tent but the argives and trojans still fought desperatelynor were the trench. Home english literature classic books the iliad book xvi navigate here note book i book ii book iii book iv book v book vi book vii book viii book ix book x book xi book xii book xiii book xiv book xv book xvi book xvii book xviii book xix book xx book xxi book xxii book xxiii book xxiv. But, by afternoon, they have begun to make progress. In book 18, night falls for the first time since book 10.
The poem is commonly dated to the 8th or 7th century bc, and many scholars believe it is the oldest extant work of literature in the greek language, making it the first work of european literature. The iliad quiz that tests what you know about important details and events in the book. Thus disguised, he encourages the two aeantes great ajax and little ajax, when they are named as a pair and gives them new strength before he flies away. Iliad is greek for poem about ilium, which is an alternate name for the city of troy, the setting of the trojan war. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 17 summary. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book summary.
Well, the first place you could look is the enotes summary on homers iliad. Created by harvard students for students everywhere, sparknotes is a new breed of study guide. 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. Some observations homer begins by calling upon the goddess the muse, the goddess of poetry to sing of the anger of achilleus and its devastating. The next morning, zeus rains blood upon the achaean lines, filling them with panic. The last section of book xviii describes the giant shield that hephaistos, god of the forge, made for achilles. Menelaos kills euphorbos and starts stripping off his gear, but then backs down in the face of stronger trojan numbers. Summary and analysis of book 17 of homers iliad, with a focus on the struggle for the body of patroclus and the importance of ancient greek. Menelaos gets in a fight with euphorbosthe first man to spear patroklos in book 16over patrokloss body. The iliad is an ancient greek epic poem by homer that was first published in 762 bc. The interactive nature of the quiz makes it a handy way to help you work. The iliad, together with the odyssey, is one of two ancient greek epic poems traditionally attributed to homer.
Review book 17 of the iliad with this quiz and worksheet combination. Homers the iliad starts after the achaians have been at war with the trojans for nine years, trying to retrieve helen of troy, the wife of menelaos who was kidnapped by paris. The iliad is paired with something of a sequel, the odyssey, also attributed to homer. Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods, including achilles, hector, odysseus, athena, ares. Murray 1 and the son of atreus, menelaus, dear to ares, failed not to mark that patroclus had been slain in battle by the trojans, but fared amid the foremost fighters, harnessed in flaming bronze, and bestrode the dead, as over a calf standeth lowing plaintively its mother, that hath brought forth her firstborn, ere then knowing naught of motherhood. Like other ancient epic poems, the iliad presents its subject clearly from the outset. Menelaus, upon the death of patroclus, defends his body from the enemy. Heres where youll find analysis about the poem as a whole. Zeus, happy with the wars progress, takes his leave of the battlefield. Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods. Iliad figured prominently in greek culture long before the epic was ever written down. In the tenth year of the trojan war, achilles, the greatest fighter for the achaeans the greeks and their allies, is enraged. Brave menelaus son of atreus now came to know that patroclus had fallen, and made his way through the front ranks clad in full armour to bestride him. Poseidon, eager to help the achaeans and realizing that zeus has.