3. • Very little is known about Homer
• Homer may actually be a name for a group of
writers who composed these two epics
• The Iliad is attributed to him
• Some scholars believe he was blind
• The Iliad was composed in the eighth century
B.C.
• Wrote The Odyssey, an epic about Odysseus’s
ten-year journey home at the end of the Trojan
War
Homer
4. • The Setting of The Iliad is during the
time of the Trojan War
• The Trojan War is a conflict between
the Greeks and the Trojans (of the city
of Troy, in modern day Turkey)
• Scholars are unsure if there even was a
Trojan War. If it did occur, it happened
around 1200 B.C.
Setting
8. • Paris—Prince of
Troy—kidnapped
Helen from her
Greek home
• She was considered
to be the most
beautiful woman in
the world
The Trojan War—
Beginnings
9. • Helen’s husband
Menelaus
gathered an army
(Greek) to invade
Troy and bring
her home, thus
the face that
launched a
thousand ships
The Face that Launched a
Thousand Ships
10. • Menelaus’s
brother
Agamemnon
helped lead
the Greeks in
their siege.
The war rages on …
11. • The war lasted for ten
years with neither side
gaining an advantage
• The Greeks tricked the
Trojans
• They offered a wooden
horse as a peace
offering. Instead Greek
soldiers were hidden
inside
• The horse was led inside
the gates of Troy
The war draws to a close
12. Trojan Horse* interlude
Beware of Greeks bearing
gifts or gifts bearing Greeks
*The Trojan horse episode is actually found in
The Aeneid by Virgil. The events in that story take
place between The Iliad and The Odyssey .
15. • Hero of The Iliad
• Flawed hero
• The Wrath of
Achilles
• Swift runner
• Mother is a goddess
Achilles
16. • Achilles mother is Thetis,
a sea goddess (immortal)
• Achilles’s mother bathed
him in the river Styx thus
making him
invulnerable; however,
she held him by the
ankle, so the waters did
not touch him there. As a
result, his only weakness
was his ankle
Legends of Achilles
18. • King of Troy
• Wife: Hecuba
• Father of Hector
and Paris
• Was too old to
fight in the
Trojan War
Priam
19. • Son of Priam
• Brother of Hector
• An archer
• Killed Achilles in
The Iliad with an
arrow
Paris
20. • Oldest son of Priam
and Hecuba
• Although a prince,
Hector held the real
power in Troy
• Directed the war
efforts
• Was killed by
Achilles
Hector
22. • Achilles slays one of
Hector’s brothers
• Hector tries to avenge
his brother’s death
but flees from Achilles
• The goddess Athena
persuades Hector to
fight
• Hector was fated to
die at the hands of
Achilles
Hector v. Achilles
23. • While Achilles is off
the battlefield,
Hector kills
Achilles’s best
friend, Patroclus
• During his grief,
Achilles swears that
he will kill Hector
Hector v. Achilles, 2d ed.
24. • Hector asks Achilles
to turn his body over
to Priam at his death
• Achilles refuses
• Achilles drags
Hector’s body
behind a chariot for
all the Trojans to
see, including his
father, Priam
Achilles slays Hector
25. • Thetis tries to consol her son Achilles after his best
friend is killed by Hector
• Achilles distraught, suicidal; his wrath evident, wants
to kill Hector
• Thetis’s prediction to her son
• Achilles shows he can keep his anger under control
(even though he blames Agamemnon)
• In Zeus’s hands
• Achilles—widow maker!
The Immortal Shield—
ll. 1-71, pp. 67-69
26. • Hector’s request of Achilles
• Achilles refuses (his anger blinds him!)
• Their fight begins; Achilles strikes first
• Hector realizes his fate by the gods has been sealed
• Achilles strikes a mortal blow; Hector again asks him to
return his body for a proper burial but Achilles refuses
• Before he dies, Hector understands the wrath of Achilles
• Achilles desecrates the body of Hector
• Priam to speak to Achilles
Desolation before Troy—
ll. 72-282, pp. 70-75
27. • Priam meets Achilles to ask for Hector’s body
• Achilles is able to control his wrath
• Achilles agrees to hand over the body for a proper
burial
• Priam and Achilles agree to an eleven-day truce of the
fighting
A Grace Given in
Sorrow—
ll. 284-458, pp. 76-80
