Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad Part B

Rousing of Achilles

Plot: Fighting for the body of Patroclus.

Beautiful Sentences: "As a lioness stands before its cubs and will not suffer the hunter to take them, so did Ajax stand before the body of Patroclus and defend it from the Trojan." Simile used to describe Greater Ajax as a lion defending the body Patroclus from Hector and the Trojans. 

The Slaying of Hector

Dialogues: Agenor spoke to himself. Used first person to talk to himself for a paragraph. conflicting thoughts of whether to flee or fight Achilles.

The Slaying of Hector (cont.)

Beautiful Sentences: "Fast he fled from the place where he stood by the great Scæan Gate, and fast did Achilles pursue him, just as a hawk, which is more swift than all other birds, pursues a dove among the hills." Simile, Hector run away from Achilles after seeing him. 

"...Athené lighted from the air close to Achilles and said: "This is your day of glory, for you shall slay Hector, though he be a mighty warrior. It is his doom to die, and Apollo's self shall not save him. Stand here and take a breath, and I will make him meet you." gods intervening, no such thing as free-will. Athena and the other gods can shapeshift into another person.

Achilles Displaying the Body of Hector at the Feet of Patroclus. Painting by Jean Joseph Taillason. Source: Wikimedia

Bibliography: "Homer's Iliad." Written by Homer and retold by Alfred. J. Church (1907). Web source.