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Achilles Heros Journey Activity
Achilles Heros Journey Activity
Instructions: Find quotes from the textbook that illustrate each stage of Achilles adventure. There can be more than one answer for each stage; these situational archetypes are flexible.
2. Back I go to Phthia / Better that way by far /to 2. Refusal of the Call: journey home in the beaked ships of war . . . . (line 198 Achilles leave battlefield after fighting with Agamemnon over Briseis; refuses Odysseus attempts to 202). recruit him back to battle 3. Supernatural Assistance: The goddess Athena stops Achilles from fighting with Agamemnon over the prize (Briseis). 4. Crossing the Threshold: Achilles returns to battle after Patroclus is killed by Hector 5. Belly of the Whale: The long period in which Achilles grieves for Patroclus 3. Down from the skies I come to check your rage / if only you will yield . . . . (lines 241 251). 4. Patroclus manages to drive the Trojans back to the city walls, but Apollo intervenes, allowing Hector to slay Patroclus and strip the body of its armor. Almost mad with grief, Achilles re-enters the battle wearing new armor made for him by the god Hephaestus. 5. (see above) - excerpt from summary on pg. 383
The Quest
Description of Achilles Quest
1. Road of Trials: Killing Trojan soldiers in an attempt to reach Hector, chasing Hector around the city of Troy, fighting Hector 2. Meeting with the Goddess: Athena assists Achilles by distracting Hector and retrieving spears (also Achilles new armor is the product of supernatural assistance at this point in the story). 3. Encounter with Temptation: Achilles continues to give into his weakness (anger) when he refuses Hectors pact and continues to drag his his body around the camp. 4. Atonement with Father: Achilles conversation with Priam; he faces Hectors father, thinks of his own father, and learns to control anger and grief 5. Apotheosis: Agrees to return Hectors body to King Priam.
6. The Ultimate Boon: The ransom that Achilles receives in exchange for the body or the fact that he helps to win the war. Description of Achilles Return 1. Refusal of Return According to myth, Achilles dies at gates of Troy on the day that the city falls to the Greeks. Paris prevents his return home by shooting an arrow through his heel. 2. Magic Flight NOT APPLICABLE TO THIS STORY 3. Rescues from Without NOT APPLICABLE TO THIS STORY 4. Crossing the Return Threshold NOT APPLICABLE TO THIS STORY 5. Master of Two Worlds Achilles is both famed Greek soldier and conquerer of Troy. 6. Freedom to Live He earns immortality through his feats in the war, which are still told in myths thousands of years later.
6. He gave me worthy ransom / and you shall have your share from me, as always, / your fitting, lordly share . . . (lines 245-247) Supporting Quote from Story 1. Not described in epic.
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He also freed himself of the constraints of anger and grief that held him back at beginning of war.