 Aerial Photo of the site of Troy
Book 2
- Why does Agamemnon tell his troops they should return home? What is their response? What does he do about their response and what does this tell us about his character? What do we learn about Odysseus's character in this episode?
- Why do you think Homer put such long lists of people and places in the last part of book 2?
Book 3
- Whose idea is the duel at the beginning of book 3?
- Does Homer describe Helen's beauty directly? How does he do it, and why do you think he does it this way?
- How does the duel appear to end?
Book 4
- How is the truce broken in the first part of book 4?
- What specific lines in the episode of Athene and Pandaros suggest that he is just as responsible for his crime as Athene is for provoking it? Why is his crime so bad?
- In lines 422-445, what is the contrast between the advance of the Danaan (Achaian) armies and that of the Trojan armies? What is one explanation suggested here for the chaos of the Trojan army?
Book 5
- Which Achaian warrior does book 5 focus most on? This temporary focusing of interest on one hero is called an "aristeia", a word which comes the Greek word for "best". Watch for other aristeias throughout the book, especially in 11, 13, 16, and 20-22.
- Which two gods or goddesses get wounded in the fighting in book 5?
Which side were they fighting on? What effect does it have on our impression of this hero when he fights with and wounds gods?
- In the following lines are extended similes. (Remember that a simile is a comparison of one thing with another to make the first thing
clearer.) For each one, what event in the story is the simile making clearer?
2.87-90 (book 2, lines 87-90)
b. 4.275-279
c. 4.482-487
d. 5.136-142
e. 5.554-558
- Look at lines 5.42 and 5.540. Why do you think these lines get repeated (they are repeated in many other places too), and other similar descriptions of men dying which you may notice throughout the story? What didn't Homer use something original each time?
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