Illiad Books 1 and 22

I really liked reading the Iliad because I used to read Greek mythology a lot when I was younger. I read the story of paris choosing between the Goddesses and how he chose Aphrodite causing the war of troy. I also know some of the other stories about Zeus from Metamorphoses, even though his roman name is Jupiter or Jove. I wonder what was more of the actual history between Greece and Troy. It is hard to believe that only one woman caused an entire war! Both Agamemnon and Achilles are jerks. Agamemnon steals Achilles prize, and Achilles brutally kills Hector and then drags around his body. There was no need for that brutality. I also knew the legend of Achilles, that he was dipped in something magic that made him invincible, but he was held by his ankle, and this was the only part of his body not made invincible, and it is his only weakness. I would be interested in reading the rest of the Iliad.

The Illiad Book 1

I thought that reading Book 1 of the Illiad was much more enjoyable than the other three literary works we have read so far. It seemed to follow the formula of most ancient epics, which is something we also went over in class this week. The poem begins with Homer invoking the muses to assist him in telling the story about the rage of Achilles during the Trojan War. An invocation to the muses is characteristic of how mostly all epics begin. All throughout Book 1, there is constant quarrel (rage) between two of the main characters, Achilles and Agamemnon. Agamemnon has abducted the daughter of a god’s priest, Chryseis, and has refused to return her to her father (Chryses) despite the generous ransom he has offered. Enraged Chryses’ prays to Apollo and asks for divine intervention in the form of plague and terror on the Archaen army. These first few events lead to, and are mainly the cause of what occurs throughout the rest of the epic.
It was interesting to see the struggle for supremacy between both Agamemnon and Achilles, and to see how they both prioritized their individual glories over the well-being of the Archaen army, ultimately jeopardizing the efforts in war.

The Illiad, Book 1

I really enjoyed reading the prose version of Book 1 of the Illiad. It was easy to understand. The most confusing thing was that the author switched between referring to a character by their actual name and saying "son of ..." it was difficult to remember who was son of who. Agamemnon seems like kind of a jerk, holding people's daughters hostage and then stealing Achilles "prize". Obviously in this day and age it is strange to hear about a woman being given as a prize, but no matter what the actual prize was, that is a serious sign of disrespect from Agamemnon to Achilles. I am interested to keep reading and see what happens. I have only read the Oddessy before and it felt like it was a lost harder to get through, but that may have been due to the translation I was reading.