For Monday: The Iliad, Book XII

For Monday:

The Iliad, Book XII (pp.145-158)

Answer TWO of the following…

1. Why does Hector refuse to listen to his parents—and perhaps, common sense—in fighting Achilles?  What arguments do both of his parents use to sway him, and would these arguments be persuasive to us (a modern audience)?  Does he offer a specific reason for refusing their counsel and insisting on meeting Achilles in a suicidal showdown?

2. When Zeus contemplates saving Hector from his fate, his daughter, Athena, exclaims: “You may be the Lord of Lightning and the Dark Cloud,/But what a thing to say, to save a mortal man,/With his fate already fixed, from rattling death!/Do it.  But don’t expect us all to approve” (149).  Why doesn’t she and the other gods approve?  Is it simply because they favor the Greeks?  Or does it suggest a deeper social taboo that even affects the gods of Olympus? 

3. How is Hector portrayed in this Book?  Since he is the other hero of the epic (in some ways, a “good” version of Achilles), what qualities/ideas does he portray?  Does he seem more ‘human’ than Achilles?  Can we sympathize with him more?  Or is he more or less the same—another man guided by fate, war, and honor? 

4. Why does Achilles refuse to honor Hector’s pleas for a decent burial if one of them dies?  Is this meant to be heroic—inspirational, even?  Or does it question the very nature of heroism in Achilles?  How do other people in the poem react to the treatment of Hector’s corpse?  Is this acceptable conduct in the ancient world…or has he broken a taboo of civilization? 

5. King Priam of Troy (Hector’s father) acts as a voice of wisdom throughout the poem.  What is his essential worldview or philosophy of life as expressed in this book?  What might this say about the poet’s own ideas about life and death, as well as heroism and honor?  In other words, how might Priam’s speeches help us see how some Greeks truly felt about the people and events that shaped their world?