The Iliad Scholarship Flashcards
World of the Hero (MSD) (24 cards)
Supports the idea that war scenes are formulaic and predictable.
Could also be used to support the argument that the narrative can get boring,
Peter Jones - Duels often follow a pattern of one throwing and missing and then the second fighter hitting and killing.
The Iliad critiques heroic values by showing how individual pride and honour often undermine collective welfare.
Allan - Heroism often conflicts with personal ambition.
Homer presents heroism as inherently unstable—the Iliad reveals that the traits which elevate heroes—fury, pride, ambition—also cause suffering and instability.
Allan - Heroic greatness breeds self-destructive flaws.
Achilles is not just a warrior of rage; his complexity lies in emotional struggle and human attachments.
Edwards - Achilles’ decisions are driven by conflicting loyalties and deep emotional ties.
Achilles’ immaturity undermines his greatness, making him a paradox of strength and childishness.
T.S Elliot - Achilles is godlike in power but immature in emotion.
The Iliad charts Achilles’ emotional journey from rage to reflective acceptance of human limits.
Barker and Christensen - Achilles’ awareness of death transforms him.
Achilles challenges the values of his world, becoming a destabilising force within heroic society.
Silk - Achilles’ extremism disrupts heroic norms.
Homer shows that heroic individualism often endangers communal loyalty and cooperation.
Jones - Pursuit of honour threatens bonds of duty among the Greeks.
Achilles is the epic’s focal point, a study in how unyielding heroism leads to tragic downfall and greatness alike
Jones - Achilles embodies the powerful yet destructive extremes of heroism.
Homer briefly foregrounds Menelaus to show heroism is not limited to central figures like Achilles.
Jones - Menelaus is the start of this book’ (talking about book 17)
Odysseus exemplifies Greek rhetorical skill, contrasting with Achilles’ emotional outbursts.
Jones - Odysseus’ speech in Book 9 is masterful and persuasive.
Like Achilles, Patroclus is destroyed by heroic excess, not failure.
Jones - Patroclus dies from overreaching, not weakness.
Two types of heroism are contrasted: divine but isolated and human but social.
Schein - Hector is relatable; Achilles is exceptional but isolated
Helen symbolises conflicting views on women: objects of desire, scapegoats, and icons.
Helen is both vilified and idealised
Homer presents war as morally ambiguous, not simply heroic or tragic.
Allan - The Iliad glorifies and critiques war at once.
The Iliad values heroic excellence while recognising its cost.
Allan - To understand the Iliad is to understand that war brings both suffering and glory.
The divine is impersonal and inevitable—mortals must respect it, not worship it ideologically.
Jones - Greek gods act like natural forces, not moral agents.
Human decision-making in the Iliad
Jones - Humans can act freely—gods aren’t always needed.
The gods’ role in relation to internal human experience
Silk - The gods are external symbols of inner emotions.
The gods parody human strife, highlighting the tragic stakes of mortal heroism.
Silk - Mortal conflict has weight—divine conflict does not.
War’s impact extends beyond battle, and The Iliad hints at this through figures like Helen and Andromache.
Haynes - Women suffer war’s emotional and social aftermath.
The Iliad prizes eloquence—Achilles’ greatness is verbal as well as physical.
Griffin - Heroism is shown through speech, not just combat.
The characters in the iliad have their own say not Homer.
Aristotle - Homer lets characters shape the story.
The Iliad challenges, not just celebrates, heroism.
Schein - Homer uses contrast and structure to expose contradictions in heroic values
