[Iliadm] Specific questions to assign to your readers for session 2 of Iliad

Tue Feb 7 21:17:27 UTC 2012

Hey moderators,

Hope you are doing well today and enjoyed the Super Bowl (Go, Giants!).

We have the specific questions for you to send your readers.

We'd like to do something a bit differently this time. Instead of sending the whole list, just send one question to each reader you want to prepare a question.

If you have more than 8 readers, just go ahead and randomly assign (perhaps with an eye to assigning folks who didn't get a question last time).  

At the end of the week, I'll have you send the whole list so everyone can see it before coming in on Monday but I'd like to see if sending the individual questions only now is a slightly less intimidating way to do it!

Below is everything you need:

- Sample note to each reader
- All 8 questions

Can you make these assignments today, Tuesday and get the notes out?

Thanks!

Phil 

---

To: [each reader]
From: [yourname]
Subject: A question for you to think about for our session Monday?

Hey [firstname],

Would you be willing to think about the question below for our session this Monday, February 13 at [location/phone number, time]?

You don't have to prepare a formal answer - just jot down some thoughts so I can call on you to start the conversation. And we won't necessarily cover everything the question asks. Feel free to pick and choose (or even bring up a point that the question does not itself raise). The questions are only meant to provide some guide rails - rails which we are free to ignore or jump over.

Can I count on you to put a little thought into this question?

Please let me know.

Thanks,

[yourname]

---
Question below

[place one question here - copy and paste from below]
---

---------------------------- 
All 8 questions - only YOU the MODERATOR sees all 8
---------------------------- 

I. Book 9: Achilles and the Ambassadors
Book 9 opens with Agamemnon bemoaning the Greeks’ situation and the lack of favor from Zeus.  This won’t be the last time he gives into despair when Zeus does not favor him. 

1)    What arguments are made by each of the three representatives (i.e. Odysseus, Phoenix, Ajax) sent to Achilles in order to persuade him to drop his anger against Agamemnon?  How does Achilles refute each of them differently?  Although Achilles’ loyalty to Agamemnon is frayed, does Achilles still show loyalty to his brethren warriors? 
2)    Is Achilles in any way helping his pressed comrades by taking a stand against Agamemnon and injustice? 
3)    What effect does Diomedes’ speech at the end of Book 9 have on the Greek command structure?

II. Book 10: Night Moves
In Book 10, unable to sleep, Agamemnon initiates waking up the Greek commanders with Menelaus’ and Nestor’s help in order to raise a scouting party. 

1)    How does Homer portray the interactions between these leaders, even under these trying conditions?  What do we learn about the personalities of each of these foremost Greek warriors before they show themselves in fuller form on the battlefield? 
2)    How do Hector’s efforts at recruiting scouts complement the Greeks’ effort?  How does it differ? 
3)    After their casual murder of the Trojan scout Dolon, how do Diomedes and Odysseus take their good fortune for granted?  What allows them to eventually return to safety and complete their intelligence mission?  [By the way, the significance of capturing Rhesus’ horses is related much later by Vergil in Aeneid I. 469-473 as one traditional reason for Troy’s downfall.]

III.  Book 11: Agamemnon’s Aristeia
As the troops are marshalled, how involved are the gods at the beginning of Book 11? 
1)    How does Zeus orchestrate the movements of both Agamemnon and Hector?  How is Agamemnon wounded?   How does Hector intrepret this turn of events?  How do Diomedes and Hector face each other?  
2)    What part does Paris play in this battle? 
3)    How is Odysseus saved both by mortal and divine intervention? 
4)    What makes Ajax finally retreat? 
5)    Why is Achilles suddenly interested in the battle? 
6)    When Patroclus visits him, why does Nestor tell his long story?  What important things do we learn about Patroclus in Nestor’s story?

IV. Book 12: Tear Down the Wall
With a subtle nod to Troy’s own walls, Homer describes the deterioration and ultimate destruction of the Greek wall defense by Poseidon. 
1)    Why would Homer begin Book 12 like this? 
2)    As the Trojans dismount and advance to the Greek wall on foot, an omen of an eagle clutching a snake appears overhead.  How is this omen interpreted differently by Polydamas and Hector? 
3)    How is it evident in Sarpedon’s words and deeds that he is inspired by Zeus to gain glory?  Like Sarpedon, how does Zeus inspire Hector to glory?  What action distinguishes Hector at this point in the battle?

V.  Book 13: Poseidon Inspires
With Zeus unsuspecting at the beginning of Book 13, Poseidon deliberately intervenes on the side of the Greeks as they are pushed back towards their own ships. 
1)    How do Zeus and Poseidon affect the battle, either knowingly or unknowingly?  How specifically does Poseidon get involved?  
2)    What does Menelaus point out to the Trojans after defeating both Helenus (a son of Priam) and Peisander? 
3)    Meanwhile thanks to Poseidon, the two Ajaxes stand firm like “a team of oxen” (13.743) against Hector and the Trojans.  How does Ajax justify the Greeks’ military weakness?  What inspires Hector to renew the stalled Trojan attack?

VI.  Book 14: Hera’s Plan
At the beginning of Book 14, the Greeks are again starting to be pushed back by the Trojans, and the wounded Greek leaders gather to discuss the best course of action. 

1)    How does Odysseus chide Agamemnon, his superior?  Are Odysseus’ words in line with what he said earlier in Book 2 about Agamemnon’s “proposal” to sail away?
2)     How does Hera react to the ongoing events when she sees Poseidon down on the battlefield?  How does she feel about Zeus?  Hera tricks Aphrodite and Zeus. How does she do it? What’s the impact?
3)    How is Hector later knocked down?  How does the Homeric simile (14.420-424) show irony in this instance? 
4)    As Book 14 ends, Homer invokes the Muses again, an epic convention that sometimes denotes a significant moment in the story.  Why was this moment so crucial?

VII.  Book 15:  Return of the King
Zeus wakes up angrily from Hera’s deception to see his brother Poseidon openly aiding the Greeks at the beginning of Book 15.  Zeus’ decisions are swift and are accompanied by a specific prophecy (15.60-78) of the outcome of this battle and the war as a whole beyond even the scope of the Iliad. 

1)    Why does Homer include this prophecy and “give the story away” at this moment?
2)    As Hector is revived by Apollo, how do Homer’s similes (15.266-271 and 275-280) help visualize the morale of the Trojans and the Greeks at this moment?
3)    As the fighting by the Greek ships intensifies, how much does bravery matter in a battle that is being managed by Zeus?
4)    Ajax and Hector are destined to meet at a climactic moment as Trojan fire is about to touch the Greek ships.  Who is portrayed as braver?

VIII.  Book 16: Patroclus’ Aristeia
Patroclus opens Book 16 with a battle report to Achilles and a plea to at least let him (Patroclus) lead the Myrmidons if Achilles was still unwilling to.  Lombardo translates:  “That was how Pataroclus, like a child begging for a toy, begged for death” (16.49-50).   Of course, Book 16 will end with Patroclus’ death, but not before he has his moment of glory. 

1)    Why does Achilles allow Patroclus to fight?  In what ways and for what reasons does he restrict Patroclus’ actions?
2)    Why does Zeus not save his son, Sarpedon?  Could he have saved him if he wished?  Is Zeus all-powerful?
3)    Why does Patroclus die?  Why does he not follow Achilles’ warning? Is there something that is not satisfactory in the way Patroclus dies? What credit can Hector take for Patroclus’ defeat?  What part does Hector’s slaying of Patroclus play in Zeus’ overall plan or will?