COLEGIO DE DAGUPAN

Arellano St. Dagupan City

School of Business and Accountancy

WORLD LITERATURE
First Semester, A.Y.2021-2022

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Midterm Activity 1: Story Review for The Iliad

I. Title: The Iliad

II. Author: Homer

III. Introduction (in not more than 20 sentences)

“Homer made this way of starting an epic famous, and in the case of The
Iliad, the poet plunges into his story nine years into the Trojan War, at the
moment when a personal dispute erupts between the Achaean king,
Agamemnon, and the greatest Achaean warrior, Achilles.
The event that set the Trojan War in motion occurred is when Paris, the
prince of Troy, stole away from Sparta with the young woman Helen. Similarly,
the event that sets The Iliad in motion occurs when Agamemnon steals from
Achilles a young woman named Briseis, who had come to Achilles among other
spoils from victory in battle. In this way, the beginning of The Iliad symbolically
repeats the beginning of the Trojan War. Yet in spite of their symbolic
similarity, these two abductions have opposing effects. Whereas Paris’s
abduction of Helen pushes the Achaean and Trojan armies into battle,
Agamemnon’s abduction of Briseis so enrages Achilles that the warrior removes
himself from battle entirely.”

IV. Personal reflection

` The Iliad celebrates war and the men who wage it. The same invocation also
mentions the “countless losses” suffered as a result of the Trojan War. While much
of The Iliad celebrates the splendor of military victory, the poem also honestly
depicts the costs of war, which significantly undermines the idea that war is a wholly
glorious endeavor.
V. Critical analysis

Answer the following questions in not more than 10 sentences.

1. What was the conflict of the story?

“I think the major conflict in the story is what Agamemnon’s demand
for Achilles’ war prize, which is the maiden Briseis, that wounds Achilles’
pride and Achilles’ consequent refuse to fight causes the Achaeans to suffer
greatly in their battle against the Trojans.”

2. What is the theme, or the central idea, of the story?

“I think there are four themes or the central idea in the story. First, is the
glory of war as we can read that the Iliad seems to celebrate war as the characters
emerge as worthy or despicable based on their degree of competence and bravery in
battle. Paris, for example, doesn’t like to fight, and correspondingly receives the
scorn of both his family and his lover while Achilles, on the other hand, wins eternal
glory by explicitly rejecting the option of a long, comfortable, uneventful life at
home. Second, military glory over family life, this is closely related to the glory of
war, it is clearly admiring the reciprocal bonds of deference and obligation that bind
in Homeric families together, but it respects much more highly the pursuit of kleos
which means the “glory” or “renown” that one wins in the eyes of others by
performing great deeds. Third, the temporariness of human life and its creations as
the Iliad chronicles in a very brief period in a very long war, there are specific ends
awaiting each of the people involved in the story. Troy is destined to fall, as Hector
explains to his wife in the story and it also stated that Priam and all of his children
will die and even Hector dies before the close of the poem and it is also said that
Achilles will meet an early end as well, although it is not within the pages of The
Iliad and the author made it clear that even the greatest of men cannot escape death.
Lastly, the influence of fate – fate plays a crucial role in the poem.  Fate as a
narrative means to foreshadow future events, the author uses it as a thematic means
 to underline the significance of heroism and one of the defining features of heroism
in The Iliad relates to the way heroes accept their destiny without flinching.”

3. Who do you think is the most interesting character of the story? Tell something
about him or her.
“I think it would be Achilles and Hector. Achilles as the better hero
and Hector as the better man. Achilles as what classical heroes do, he meant
it to do. He fighter who fights for a pure glory and not with an outright
greed. He is the one everyone remembers while Hector motives are also well-
intentioned and He’s greatly defending his home from invaders and would
prefer not to fight at all, not because he’s a coward or without skill, but
because he understands the futility of the war. He does not love war the way
Achilles does but still this two-character interest me the most because they
have the true quality of being a leader.”

4. Who do you think is the least interesting character of the story? Tell something
about him or her.
“I think Paris the brother of Hector would be the least interesting
character in the story. He kidnaps a woman, Helen, who’s happily married to
the king of Sparta and this sparked the Trojan War. He is self-centered and
often unmanly. He fights effectively with a bow and arrow but never with the
manlier sword or spear and he often lacks with the spirit for battle and
prefers to sit in his room making love to Helen while others fight for him.”

5. What was your favorite part of the story?

“As I also watched the movie Troy (2004) that is based on the epic
poem The Iliad and as I read it my favorite part was when King Priam get
the body of Hector. I think it is one of the significant part of Iliad, he become
a father not a king. In King Priam's case he is a king and as a king you will
never let anything or anyone deprive your pride no matter what especially to
 your enemy but because King Priam really loves his son Hector he went to
Achilles camp alone, Achilles was the one who is responsible of his son's
death, in this case he become a father, he forget anything just for the sake of
his son even if he has no assurance if he will come out alive or not and this
shows that even your life must put to risk because you’re a father.”

6. What was your least favorite part of the story?

“Anything that Paris do or part in the story. He is a self centered guy
who only know himself.”

7. Does the story have a ‘coda’, or a lesson? What is it?

“The moral message of the Iliad is that having the courage to fight gives a
man’s life honor and meaning, but that war itself is tragic while Homer emphasizes
honorable exploits of brave warriors, he also does not shy away from showing the
human cost of war and is that we should not put our main focus an outward beauty.
This is because in most cases what we feel in our hearts usually determines what we
perceive on our minds.”

8. Based on your answer in question number 6. Were you able to relate that lesson in your
life right now? Share something about it.
“There are I think still has lot of man like Paris who is self centered guy who
always think just for himself.”

9. Does the story have a ‘twist’, or an unexpected ending?

“The poem ends on an elegiac note or becomes sorrow, emphasizing the
greatness of the Trojans’ loss and, by extension, of the Achaeans’ loss as well. It
emphasis on mourning an accomplished hero, the ending of The Iliad also builds
anticipation for events that the poem doesn’t recount but which will happen in the
aftermath of Hector’s death. The sense of anticipation will be strongest for those
with a broad knowledge of Greek mythology who are aware that Troy is fated to
fall. But even for readers who don’t know that the Achaeans eventually prevail, the
 poet builds a sense of anticipation through the deal struck between Achilles and
Priam, in which the two armies will cease fighting for as long as it takes properly to
bury Hector. After that time, though, the already nine-year-old war will continue
just as it has throughout this epic poem.”

10. Would you recommend this story to others? Why?

“Yes, The Iliad is a masterpiece and it’s one of the first works of Western
literature in history even I take time to read because of the complicate language, but
I found it to be completely worth it and it’s a story that I recommend everyone
should read at least once in their lifetime.”