Reading/Questions for Homer, The Iliad, Books 1-3

NOTE: Friday's class should do the posts below this one first. This will be for next week (the week of the 14th).

Answer two of the following:

Q1: From the first three books, what kind of relationship do humans have with the gods? What role do the gods serve for them, and likewise, what roles do humans serve for the gods?  What makes this relationship so different from the man/God relationship in most monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam)? 

Q2: Examine Achilles’ confrontation with Agamemnon in Book I: how do we respond to him as a hero in this passage?  Does he seem modern and sympathetic here, or is he petulant and childish?  Do you think Homer’s audience would have felt the same (or is it just how we see it)?

Q3: Though Achilles is often thought to be the embodiment of hubris (excessive pride, overconfidence, etc.), in what ways does Agamemnon also deserve this title?  How do we see the leader of the Greek armies display this quality, and how does it endanger the Greeks’ relationship with the gods?

Q4: In Book 3, Helen confronts Aphrodite and tells her, “It would be treason to share [Paris’] bed” (41). Why is she so disgusted by Paris and defiant toward Aphrodite? Do you think this is how Sappho would have envisioned or characterized Helen? Why or why not?