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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Dear readers,</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Here are Danny Weitz's responses to our last question on Books 7-8. He included illustrations of the Classic Comic book covers of the Iliad. Enjoy his comments and keep the conversation going!</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Andre</font></div>
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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;"><b>----- Original Message -----</b></font></div>
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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Andre-</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">There is a strong probability that I will not be able to call-in to the discussion.</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">I hope my thoughts and answers will help!</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Danny</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Hector and Ajax duel; divine and human; Homer's cinematic moments. </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">What terms or conditions does Hector propose for an individual duel? </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">The image of Athena and Apollo (VII, 62 on)“sat like vultures in Zeus’ tall oak enjoying the warriors” is certainly an odd and striking image of the gods. This is almost as odd as the term “ballistic Apollo” (I, 118) At first I though was Apollo covered in silver ballistic nylon? Notice that Hector blames Zeus for both sides violating their oaths. </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">He proposes that the winner may strip the armor of the loser, but should return the body for proper disposition (burning for the Trojans, burial under a barrow for the Greeks. The Greeks held it to be vital to give the proper burial to the fallen; as in the case of the Athenian admirals who were punished for not trying to recover the bodies of the dead from a naval battle. The barrow will be a sign of the fallen and Hector’s fame for future generations.</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">What does it take to get Greek warriors to volunteer to fight against Hector? </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Menelaus chastises the Greeks as being “wusses” for not taking up the challenge, and prepares to do battle himself until stopped by the Greek Agamemnon and the other Greek leaders. Nestor’s “If only I was young again speech…we were tough then, not like now!” shames 9 of them into volunteering. Ajax is chosen by lot [Note that they mark their lots; they do not write their names; is this a reference to a pre-literate Greece?]</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">What does this say about Hector’s formidability? </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Geneva" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Geneva;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">.</font><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000" style="font-family:Geneva;font-size:14pt;color:#000000;">They are terrified of fighting Hector.</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">How does Hector react to being pitted against Ajax? </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">His heart pounds; but issuing the challenge he cannot withdraw. The image of mutual fear is fascinating. The Greeks felt that there was no shame in being afraid as you entered battle, as long as you rose to the challenge. The Spartan poet Tyrtaeus (mid 7<sup>th</sup> century BC) spoke of men voiding their bowels as they enter battle. Perhaps the mutual taunts are to erase this fear.</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Who stops the duel and under what authority is this demand made? </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Notice that swords are “the weapon of last resort” among the Greeks; only taken up when all spears are gone. The heralds from both sides stop the duel. Zeus wishes them to stop as it is getting dark, and Ajax insists that Hector make the formal request as he issued the formal challenge.</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">A long stretch of battle, punctuated by a long scene on Mt. Olympus, offers more contrasts between the divine and human worlds. Discuss how Homer portrays leadership and authority in human figures like Menelaus and Hector, as compared with the god Zeus. How does a divine king wield power, as compared with a mortal one? </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Menelaus and Hector wield power by moral authority and example; they are each not the technical leaders of their armies. The other Olympians seem to obey Zeus from fear rather than love or respect.</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Does Homer offer any judgments about Zeus’ exercise of power?</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Zeus certainly does seem tyrannical and a threatening bully. Yet all is pre-ordained by the fates which bind even Zeus.</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">The pace of the poem changes in Book 8 - it shifts into high gear. Modern readers may describe the experience of reading Book 8 as "cinematic." What was your experience? How does Homer change the pace and quicken the heart of readers? Why does he do so at this point in the poem?</font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">My first reading of the Iliad was in the 1950’s when I read the “Classic Comics” version of the Iliad. I had already read the “dumbed-down” version of the Odyssey that my brother brought home from high school, and the public librarian said an 8 year old was too young to be exposed to the Iliad, so I purchased the comic version instead. I can still see the illustrations in my mind as I read the book. It was $.15 then and is described as they </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Iliad-Classics-Illustrated-Comics-No/dp/B0012RAE7Y"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;">http://www.amazon.com/Iliad-Classics-Illustrated-Comics-No/dp/B0012RAE7Y</font></a></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">1950’s cover followed by modern cover:</font></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"><img src="cid:Y2xpcF9pbWFnZTAwMi5qcGc=@mail.hockaday.org" align="bottom" width="157" height="157" hspace="0" vspace="0" alt="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IpV8tk-XL._SS500_.jpg" title="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IpV8tk-XL._SS500_.jpg" border="0" /></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><img src="cid:Y2xpcF9pbWFnZTAwMy5naWY=@mail.hockaday.org" align="bottom" width="100" height="143" hspace="0" vspace="0" alt="The Iliad (Classic Comics)" title="The Iliad (Classic Comics)" border="0" /></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;"> </font></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="+2" color="#000000" style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:17pt;color:#000000;">Homer seems to use short, “combative” phrases and names of insignificant victims to give the speed and intensity of battle. This is well-translated by Lombardo. In an oral reading this would leave both the speaker and the crowd almost exhausted with the frenzy of battle, and then on to the slower pace of Olympus.</font></div>
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