Epic, Community, and Identity

"I must be needed now" - The Iliad Book 9

The embassy to Achilles is in many ways the most interesting book of the Iliad in its examination of human motivation within the community of the Achaeans. Agamemnon takes a public step toward reconciliation in his admission of his own "madness" - and (as in Book 2) says it's time to pack up and go home. He resolves to return Briseis and many other gifts to Achilles, on one condition "Let him submit to me!" (256). But others undertake an embassy to Achilles. The ambassadors use a well-rehearsed sequence of rhetorical methods to persuade him to rejoin the battle, and end his self imposed exile. Certainly, his anger is still there, and until it is redirected against Hector, the Greeks have nowhere to go.
How do you read Achilles reactions to their entreaties? Is he undergoing a process of maturation, evolution, or does he know exactly what he is doing? Is either Agamemnon or Achilles more culpable than the other for the Greek's current predicament?

Homer and Greek Epic

These are suggestions of things you might find interesting as you consider research topics. If you have others to add, please do so. . .

Martin Bernal. Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization

This book has been controversial since day 1, and it has sparked lively debate not only about the classical world, but about the very ideological foundations of historical study.

Barry Powell. Homer: Blackwell Introductions to the Classical World.

Albert Lord. The Singer of Tales.

The seminal work on oral-formulaic theory.

Aeschylus, The Oresteia.

What happened to Agamemnon after Troy?

Euripedes wrote a series of tragic plays about Trojan themes, especially about the women.
Andromache
Helen
The Trojan Women
Hecuba
Iphigeneia in Tauris
Orestes
Iphigeneia at Aulis
The Bacchae (not a Trojan theme, but about what happens when a ruler goes too far in opposing the gods, and in opposing his people).

A quiz to start your day

This is a link to a short quiz on the Iliad. It is not for credit, it merely to establish a baseline of group knowledge. I will not be able to tell who answered what, only how many got the right answers. These questions will be easy for anyone who did even some of the reading. . .

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=626173167623

Homer on 21 January

For the sake of preparing for Sunday's discussion, we will emphasize Books 1, 6, 9, 16-18, 21-24.
(I'm aware that I did not originally assign 21, so I can't fault you if you didn't read it. But do give it a look if you have time).