Name: Aleigha & Eli

Mr. Ferguson

English II Honors

24 January 2023

The Iliad Book 1 Guiding Questions

Directions:
Answer each of the following questions in complete sentences. Be sure to provide
evidence from the text to support your analysis. You should be prepared to discuss and
explain your reasoning for each question with the class.
1. Eli-Why are Agamemnon and Achilles disputing strategy in their conflict against the
Trojans? In other words, why are they disagreeing? Explain. The reason Achilles and
Agamemnon are disputing with the Trojans is that they kidnapped his sister.
2. Aleigha- Describe how Agamemnon treats Chryses, the priest whose daughter has been
taken as a prisoner. How do the gods respond to his actions? He treat’s her as a
object/prize he won. The God Apollo responds with rage, he shoots countless arrows to
kill the men.
3. Eli-Review your answer to question 2. How do this impact Achilles and his men? How
does Achilles respond to the situation? Apollo addresses Achilles by taunting him
Achilles responds by threatening him saying if he could punish him he would.
4. Aleigha- Review lines 97-105 of Book 1. What promise does Achilles make to Calchas,
the seer, in this scene? Explain. Achilles promised to protect Calchas if he told him the
reason why the gods were angered.
5. Eli-What is the cause of the plague, according to Calchas and what solution does he
offer? Calchas thinks that the cause of the plague was Agamemnon's answer to giving
chrysalis back to her family. He says that they will end the plague if he gives her back.
6. Aleigha- How does Agamemnon respond to the omen that Calchas presents and the
solution he offers to rid his men of the plague? Agamemnon was furious about what the
priest has said. But he will give the girl back, he said he wants to protect his people.But
7. Eli-What demand does Agamemnon make of Achilles and his army in return for his
“sacrifice”? He says that if he is forced to surrender chryseis, then he must be repaid
with war achilles war prize.
8. Aleigha- Review Achilles’ response to Agamemnon’s demands in lines 175-189 of the
Book How would you characterize Achilles’ attitude toward Agamemnon? What words
or phrases from the text provide evidence for this? Cite details to support your analysis.
Achilles' attitude towards Agamemnon is that of angered.“Shameless– armored in
shamelessness– always shrewd with greed!”(Line 174-175)
9. What action does Agamemnon take to appease Apollo? Whom does he take from
Achilles? Agamemnon's appeasement would be to return chryseis, his war prize.
10. Aleigha- What oath does Achilles swear? Why does he withdraw from battle? He swore
that he won’t ever return to where Agamemnon was. He withdraws because
Agamemnon stole Achilles' girl and also because Agamemnon is a coward.
11. What does Thetis promise to do for her son Achilles? Thetis promises to give her new
armor for her son from the god Hephaestus.
12. Aleigha- What impression do you form of Agamemnon’s character from his own words
and actions and the reactions of Calchas and Achilles? What kind of ruler is he based
on what you have read thus far? I see him as a selfish character who only cares about
power and women. He is the type of ruler that will do anything for power and he is very
greedy.
13. What ominous or threatening images can you identify in the first fifteen lines of Book 1?
What future events do these foreshadow? Words like rage,murderous, and great
fighters are introduced which sets the tone of the story as aggressive.
14. Aleigha- In the scene between Achilles and his mother, Thetis, there is a flashback to an
earlier time when Thetis helped defend Zeus. What purpose does this flashback serve?
The purpose of the flashback is to get Zeus to remember what Thetis did for him, so she
can finally get something in return from Zeus.