...Primary Texts: Homer. The Iliad. trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1990. Walcott, Derek. Omeros. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1990. Supplementary Texts and Resources: Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin, eds.. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-colonial Litaratures. New York: Routledge, 1989. Baer, William, ed. Conversations with Derek Walcott. Oxford: U of Mississippi P, 1996. Bhabha, Homi K., ed. Nation and Narration. London: Routledge, 1990. Bloom, Harold. The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry. Oxford UP, 1973. ------ed., Homer: Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. Brown, Stewart, ed. The Art of Derek Walcott. Chester Springs, PA.: Dufour P, 1991. Davies, Gregson, ed. The Poetics of Derek Walcott: Intertextual Perspectives. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1997. “Derek Walcott.” Contemporary Literary Criticism. Volume 42 (1987). Dove, Rita. “Either I’m nobody, or I’m a nation.” Parnassus: Poetry in Review 14, 1 (1987): 49-76. Finley, M.I. The World of Odysseus. New York: Signet, 1974. Fox, Robert Elliot. “Derek Walcott: History as Dis-Ease.” Callalloo 9, 2 (1986): 331-40. Fuller, Mary. “Forgetting the Aeneid.” American Literary History 4,3 (1992): 517-38. Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literature. Oxford UP, 1989. Griffin, Jasper. Homer on Life and Death. New York: Oxford UP, 1980. Hamner, Robert D. ed. Critical Perspectives...
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...Week 3 Iliad paper The Iliad’s use of similarities between characters and animals is found throughout the books. My focus will be on book twenty two “The Death of Hector.” No more words-he dashed toward the city, heart racing for some great exploit, rushing on like a champion stallion drawing a chariot full tilt, sweeping across the plain in easy, tearing strides-so Achilles hurtled on, driving legs and knees. (Page 542 line 26) Here we see Achilles on his way to Troy in order to take on his arch nemesis Hector. His strides that he is taking are very similar to the gliding of a thorough bread horse. His power is shown in the way in which he races without tiring. Hector is seen awaiting Achilles with his fate already determined. The next passage from the book in my eyes is a very powerful message in that it positions Achilles and Hector into categories. There are no binding oaths between men and lions-wolves and lambs can enjoy no meeting of the minds. (Page 550 line 309) Here with this statement, Achilles is affirming that Hector is a mere mortal while Achilles should be considered a god because of his abilities. In the same passage he is considering his abilities to that of the wolf and Hector being the prey that is the lamb. He is showing that these two particular species will never co-exist without fighting to the death. And on that resolve he drew the whetted sword that hung at his side, tempered, massive, and gathering all his force he swooped like...
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...Rahat Hasan War, Love, and Glory “And his loving father laughed, his mother laughed as well, and glorious Hector, quickly lifting the helmet from his head, set it down on the ground, fiery in the sunlight, and raising his son he kissed him, tossed him in his arms, lifting a prayer to Zeus, all you immortals! Grant this boy, my son, may be like me, first in glory among the Trojans, strong and brave like me, and rule all Troy in power” (6.562-69) In Book 6 of The Iliad, Homer describes the highly acclaimed Trojan warrior, Hector, returning from the battlefield to the city of Troy, where he meets his wife Andromache, and his infant son Astyanax. The excerpt displayed above describes the meeting of Hector with his family and serves an important purpose in The Iliad because it humanizes and reveals the positive traits of the great warrior; the audience can relate to Hector as he returns from war and suddenly embraces Astyanax upon seeing him. Homer is able to achieve a great level of emotional depth in this excerpt because he employs imagery that vividly conveys Hector’s return to his family. When Hector hastily removes his helmet upon seeing how it frightens Astyanax, Homer writes a series of clauses containing thoughts, feelings, and emotions which make the audience realize that Hector, who previously affirmed his devotion to the war, has a tender and loving side as well. Hector’s sudden display of emotion may seem questionable to the audience at first, because in...
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...Gods in the Iliad In the era of Homer, divine intervention was thought to be typical, and one of his foremost works, The Iliad, reflects this. Nearly all of the Greek gods are involved in the outcome of the Trojan War, which happens to be the background story of this epic poem. The gods are used by Homer to add twists on an otherwise standard plot of war. Evidently, the gods will be a powerful source of divine intervention and their actions certainly have significant outcomes on the Trojan War, and more importantly, the story of The Iliad. Zeus, very untypical of a Greek god in his lack of involvement in the Trojan War for selfish reasons, was portrayed as the father figure, being impartial and fair to both sides of the war. He remains this way to serve as a check for the other god's involvement in the war. Without the presence of fate controlling the inner circle of Olympus, it is likely that the activity of the Trojan War would have become chaotic, possibly even becoming a playground of war for the gods. The power of fate, above all of the other gods combined, is a power that not even divine intervention can prevent. This theme of fate and how it controls the god’s actions is quite befitting to the storyline of The Iliad. The Iliad, in essence, recounts the story of part of the tenth year of the Trojan War. It recounts of the anger of Achilles, the greatest warrior present at Troy, and of the background battle that is ensuing. The reoccurring theme in the Iliad is that no matter...
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...intervention was thought to be typical, and one of his foremost works, The Iliad, reflects this. Nearly all of the Greek gods are involved in the outcome of the Trojan War, which happens to be the background story of this epic poem. The gods are used by Homer to add twists on an otherwise standard plot of war. Evidently, the gods will be a powerful source of divine intervention and their actions certainly have significant outcomes on the Trojan War, and more importantly, the story of The Iliad. Zeus, very untypical of a Greek god in his lack of involvement in the Trojan War for selfish reasons, was portrayed as the father figure, being impartial and fair to both sides of the war. He remains this way to serve as a check for the other god's involvement in the war. Without the presence of fate controlling the inner circle of Olympus, it is likely that the activity of the Trojan War would have become chaotic, possibly even becoming a playground of war for the gods. The power of fate, above all of the other gods combined, is a power that not even divine intervention can prevent. This theme of fate and how it controls the god’s actions is quite befitting to the storyline of The Iliad. The Iliad, in essence, recounts the story of part of the tenth year of the Trojan War. It recounts of the anger of Achilles, the greatest warrior present at Troy, and of the background battle that is ensuing. The reoccurring theme in the Iliad is that no matter whom the character is, god or human, they are bound...
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...In the book the Iliad I believe the archetypal hero is Achilles i believe he is the hero for three reasons; he has a unusual birth ,his call to adventure, and finial victory. The first reason is because of his unusual birth in the book it does not say a lot about his birth only that his mother,Thesis,was a god and his father, Peleus. The unusual circumstances surrounding his birth are not mentioned a whole lot but what is mentioned is that when he was a child his mother dipped him in the river of styx and held him by his Achilles heel thus it weakness. The second reason is because of his call to adventure. When Achilles was called to fight in the was Agamemnon called upon him to fight, not because he liked Achilles, which he did not, but because he was an amazing fighter. THroughout the Epic Agamemnon is always complaining about Achilles and Achilles is always threatening to kill or hut Agamemnon.Rage is the very first word of the whole poem, setting the theme that will control the actions of the entire poem, the rage of Achilles. We are in the ninth year of the war of the war—another word being fought in Troy, a city in what is now Turkey. Achilles is a young man his enemy commanding general is Agamemnon, but Achilles is the greatest warrior the Greeks have. The third reason is because of the finial victory. In the book in the end. This battle takes place because of the anger inside of Achilles after his cousin is killed. THis anger helps him defeat hector but...
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...The Olympians Zeus - Roman name: Jupiter or Jove. The sky-god Zeus rules Mount Olympus. His weapon is the thunderbolt, and his bird is the eagle. The central figure of the myths, Zeus epitomizes their complexity. At times he is divine and represents a pure, eternal sense of justice; at other times, he is capricious and cruel. Hera - Roman name: Juno. Zeus’s wife and sister, Hera is a very powerful goddess known mostly for her jealousy. She is often vicious and spiteful, and it is usually Zeus’s infidelity that incites her. Many unfortunate mortals endure hardships by provoking Hera’s wrath. Poseidon - Roman name: Neptune. The god of the sea, Poseidon is Zeus’s brother and second only to him in power. Poseidon holds a decade-long grudge against Odysseus. The often cruel and unpredictable violence of the seas is assumed to be a result of his anger. Hades - Roman name: Pluto. The brother of Zeus and Poseidon, Hades rules the underworld, the realm of the dead, with his wife, Persephone. Pallas Athena - Roman name: Minerva. Usually just called Athena, this goddess emerges from Zeus’s head fully-grown and armed. Associated with war, cleverness, and wit, it is no surprise that she favors Odysseus. Athena is the goddess of Wisdom, Reason, and Purity and is chaste, like Artemis and Hestia. Phoebus Apollo - Usually just called Apollo. A son of Zeus and Leto and Artemis’s twin, he is the god of Light and Truth, the master of Poetry and Music, and the god of Archery. His Oracle...
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...Troy the film and myth The myth referenced in the film Troy is about how the Greeks, led by the Greek king, Agamemnon, defeated the kingdom of Troy, whose king was Priam. The story has it that Helen, the queen of Sparta, was seduced by Paris, Prince of Troy, to go to Troy and leave Menalaus, king of Sparta and her husband. Because of this betrayal Agamemnon, brother of Menalaus and king of the Greek city-states assembled a great army to sail across the Aegean to conquer Troy and take Helen back to Menalaus. The legend says, the city of Troy had a thick impenetrable wall that could not be breached by conventional means. Every army that stood to fight in front of the walls continuously failed. After 10 years of fighting, the Greeks finally had a plan to get their armies inside the walls of Troy. They made it appear as they had left. Before they left they built a great wooden Trojan horse. Inside the horse were Greek soldiers, who quietly waited until the horse was brought into the walls of Troy. After the city fell asleep, the Greeks opened the main gate and let the Greek armies into the city. After the city was sacked, Helen was taken back to Menalaus, and Achilles, the Greeks greatest warrior was killed in battle with a poison arrow to his heal. The movie revolves around Achilles and his struggle with Agamemnon which is documented in the myth. The movie had only a few similarities to the character of Achilles. He was definitely portrayed as a great, and inspirational...
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...of different cultures cause different attributes to become valued in leaders. These cultural values are reflected in both the actions of a hero and in the heroic motivations. This paper focuses on the heroes of the Iliad, the Aeneid, Beowulf, and The Song of Roland and examines how historical events and cultural circumstances shaped the portrayal of the heroes in these works. Sabiduria, vol.1,1 Hero as a Reflection of Culture 1 Every culture has heroes. In works of literature, is an individual to be admired and emulated, and because of this he is the embodiment of the greatest virtues of the culture that created him. The ideals of every culture were shaped by the social conditions of the time and therefore different attributes became valued. To different degrees, the hero in a work is a result of not only the culture from which the hero comes, but also the culture of the author. Cultural values are reflected in both the actions of a hero and his motivations. As heroes, Achilles, Aeneas, Beowulf, and Roland reflect the values of the societies that created them. One of the oldest works of ancient literature is Homer‟s Iliad. Homer‟s works are dated to between 900 and 750 B.C. (Krieger, Jantzen and Neill 106). Although the events of the Iliad take place during the Greek Bronze Age, the culture portrayed in Homer‟s works is that of Greek Dark Age (Redfield 99). The Dark Age was a result of the struggles that took place after the fall of the Mycenaean civilization...
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...A Day in the Life of Karl “PopEye” Lux; One Hundred years after. Karl W. Lux Kaplan University Under the instruction of Professor, Ken Caron My, oh my, what a wonderful day! First let me explain, it is Friday the thirteenth, and it is a full moon as well. It doesn’t get much rarer than that to start, so on this special day I commemorated it with a Full moon Friday the thirteenth tattoo; yes I am tatted, and pierced. I also lived in the Southern California area, and so, far as the weather, it was a perfect eighty two degrees with forty four percent humidity, and a slight breeze; sans clouds. A bit about myself, I am fifty one as of just two weeks prior to this writing, and in my second term of college. I have been forced into a career change due to a back injury. So, at this time I am going for a BS in Legal Studies, and working just part time to help pay the bills. Because of being back in school, most of my days were spent doing class work and doing cleaning and chores around the house; to keep me up and moving too. An average day for me, would always start off by feeding my dogs, and then feeding my face too. After that I will check my class white board that I have up, to see what I have on schedule for the day. I have recently realized a talent and passion for writing; so every day I would do a bit of writing just to stay sharp. So daily I could be found sitting in my writing studio hammering down on the keyboard of my computer. Through...
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...One thing that stood out to me as I was reading The Iliad is how Chryses offered so many gifts as ransom in order to get his daughter back, but no matter what he offered or how much he begged, Agamemnon refused. He kept telling Chryses that he would not give her back. On page 78, Agamemnon states, “The girl- I won’t give up the girl.” One line that I thought was very powerful was when Agamemnon says to Chryses, “Now go, don’t tempt my wrath- and you may depart alive.” After hearing this, Chryses felt threatened and he obeyed what Agamemnon said. On page 79, Apollo sends a plague upon the Greek army and on this page it states, “he cut them down in droves- and the corpse-fires burned on, night and day, no end in sight.” I thought this was also a very powerful line and it was a line that stood out to me. One thing that stood out to me as I was reading The Iliad is how Chryses offered so many gifts as ransom in order to get his daughter back, but no matter what he offered or how much he begged, Agamemnon refused. He kept telling Chryses that he would not give her back. On page 78, Agamemnon states, “The girl- I won’t give up the girl.” One line that I thought was very powerful was when Agamemnon says to Chryses, “Now go, don’t tempt my wrath- and you may depart alive.” After hearing this, Chryses felt threatened and he obeyed what Agamemnon said. On page 79, Apollo sends a plague upon the Greek army and on this page it states, “he cut them down in droves- and the corpse-fires...
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...details, examples and one additional element—appeal. Persuasion is the kind of writing that depends on the reader’s reaction to what the writer says. One should remember that the goal of persuasive writing is to make the reader change from his viewpoint to the writer’s viewpoint. Therefore, the writer must present his argument in a way that will not offend his reader. • TOPIC: In the epic poem Iliad, who best fits the traits of the hero? Hector or Achilles? In your essay, persuade your audience that either Achilles or Hector is the better example of the archetypal hero. I. Introduction • Begin your introductory paragraph by discussing the fact that heroes have many characteristics. • List some possible heroic characteristics. • Include the title of the epic and the author (Homer). • State your thesis at the end of the paragraph—Achilles or Hector is the better hero II. Body Paragraphs • Begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence—an example of an archetypal/epic hero trait that the hero possesses • Include specific examples from the Iliad. • End each paragraph with a Clincher/Transition sentence that wraps up this idea and moves us to the next idea. Warning **Pitfalls to avoid in body paragraphs: stereotypes, name-calling, slanting the truth, quoting out of context, and distortions of the oppositions’ views. Remember: Using unfair persuasive techniques to disguise weakness in one’s own position or to discredit the opposition’s...
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...Ἀθηνᾶ Goddess magazine presents an exclusive interview with the ever-elusive Athena, goddess of wisdom, war and invention. She has been revered and worshipped for over three thousand years, is the daughter of the mightiest god, Zeus, and is the patron deity of Athens. She has counselled warriors and heroes as well as punished many mortals. Her power and beauty was renowned as was her purity and wisdom. She speaks today about her fantastical birth, her decision to remain chaste and her semi-feud with Aphrodite. T he first thing I noticed about the infamous goddess of wisdom was her undeniable beauty. Her very essence had fascinated me for years. The fact that she remained faithful to herself and her beliefs as well as the fact that she wielded her power with such grace and elegance made her my favourite deity by far. Goddess: Let’s start out first with your incredible birth. Unlike any other mortal or immortal, you were born from your father’s head. Do you think that gave you a closer relationship with him? Athena: [Nods] Certainly. I never knew my mother. He was everything to me. I believe the fact that I was born from his head allowed my father to feel a closer connection to me than any of my many other siblings. That being said, my father did initially swallow my mother, Metis, to prevent my birth. [Laughs] “I never knew my mother. He was everything to me. I believe the fact that I was born from his head allowed my father to feel a closer connection to me than any...
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...The Warrior Hector Hector is the eldest son of Priam, the king of Trojan. Being the first-born and the bravest among the Trojan warriors, he is the rightful heir of the kingdom. His leadership skills receive praises since he is a thoughtful leader. Moreover, many people admire him as a result of his devotion to his family, friends, and the community. As such, Hector’s character represents a great son, a caring husband to Andromache, a father, and a trusted friend. As the heir to the throne, Hector already shows responsibility to the community by defending it and advocating for justice for all the people. Hector’s leadership helps Trojan defeat the Achaeans by pushing them back to their ships and later burning them. However, just like many other warriors, he is also full of pride. Hector is a great man who is family-oriented. The motivation for Hector’s fighting is the responsibility to his family, as well as, the city. His parents are the leaders of Troy; his father is the king and his mother the queen. As he fights for the protection of his city, Hector is also protecting his parents. Moreover, his interactions with his wife and son show a high level of responsibility for their wellbeing. Hector shows his love for the family when he holds his child in his arms and prays for him. He prays to Jove their God to make his child follow his footsteps or even perform better. He continues to pray that he becomes the hero that his mother will be proud of when he goes battling to revenge...
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...The poet invokes a muse to aid him in telling the story of the rage of Achilles, the greatest Greek hero to fight in the Trojan War. The narrative begins nine years after the start of the war, as the Achaeans sack a Trojan-allied town and capture two beautiful maidens, Chryseis and Briseis. Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the Achaean army, takes Chryseis as his prize. Achilles, one of the Achaeans’ most valuable warriors, claims Briseis. Chryseis’s father, a man named Chryses who serves as a priest of the god Apollo, begs Agamemnon to return his daughter and offers to pay an enormous ransom. When Agamemnon refuses, Chryses prays to Apollo for help. Apollo sends a plague upon the Greek camp, causing the death of many soldiers. After ten days of suffering, Achilles calls an assembly of the Achaean army and asks for a soothsayer to reveal the cause of the plague. Calchas, a powerful seer, stands up and offers his services. Though he fears retribution from Agamemnon, Calchas reveals the plague as a vengeful and strategic move by Chryses and Apollo. Agamemnon flies into a rage and says that he will return Chryseis only if Achilles gives him Briseis as compensation. Agamemnon’s demand humiliates and infuriates the proud Achilles. The men argue, and Achilles threatens to withdraw from battle and take his people, the Myrmidons, back home to Phthia. Agamemnon threatens to go to Achilles’ tent in the army’s camp and take Briseis himself. Achilles stands poised to draw his sword and...
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