Class 5
In today's class we:
Here is the awareness test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4
1. Helen, the Queen of Sparta, was abducted by Paris (son of Priam, the King of Troy) leading to a war between the two (effectively Greece v Turkey)
2. Apollo (God of disease) rained arrows of disease down on the Greeks because their King (Agamemnon) had abducted Chryseis, who was the daughter of the priest of Apollo.
3. King Agamemnon should have given her back to save his men from the disease, but he was worried about losing face.
4. He took Briseus off Achilles (a great warrior) to save face. This made Achilles furious but there was little he could do as he had sworn on oath to protect the King. He wanted to kill the King but Athena (in her role as Goddess of moderation) encouraged Achilles to do nothing. Achilles therefore went to sulk.
5. Eventually Achilles went to Thetis (his mother) and asked her to talk to Zeus (who had a soft spot for her) to turn the war against Agamemnon and the other Greeks. This was largely shocking to Ancient Greeks....the idea of causing your own side to start losing.
6. The war turned against the Greeks but Achilles continued to refuse to fight.
7. Eventually, just as the war seemed lost, Achilles finally came back and his rage ultimately led to the Archeans (the Greeks) winning the war on the battle field.
The Iliad is largely a story about the rage of Achilles.
- Looked at the Hades myth and discussed it
- Talked about how the geography of Greece may have affected the stories in terms of the location to the sea, the trade, the mountains and the weather
- Listened to a lecture on the Trojan War (episode 5 of the mp3s on the homepage). We looked at the roles of Helen, Achilles, King Agamemnon, Apollo and Athena
1. Helen, the Queen of Sparta, was abducted by Paris (son of Priam, the King of Troy) leading to a war between the two (effectively Greece v Turkey)
2. Apollo (God of disease) rained arrows of disease down on the Greeks because their King (Agamemnon) had abducted Chryseis, who was the daughter of the priest of Apollo.
3. King Agamemnon should have given her back to save his men from the disease, but he was worried about losing face.
4. He took Briseus off Achilles (a great warrior) to save face. This made Achilles furious but there was little he could do as he had sworn on oath to protect the King. He wanted to kill the King but Athena (in her role as Goddess of moderation) encouraged Achilles to do nothing. Achilles therefore went to sulk.
5. Eventually Achilles went to Thetis (his mother) and asked her to talk to Zeus (who had a soft spot for her) to turn the war against Agamemnon and the other Greeks. This was largely shocking to Ancient Greeks....the idea of causing your own side to start losing.
6. The war turned against the Greeks but Achilles continued to refuse to fight.
7. Eventually, just as the war seemed lost, Achilles finally came back and his rage ultimately led to the Archeans (the Greeks) winning the war on the battle field.
The Iliad is largely a story about the rage of Achilles.
- Watched a documentary on The Odyssey (which happens after the events of The Iliad) but instead focuses on Odysseus, a character who fought alongside Achilles, but in a lot of ways is the antithesis of him...more thoughtful and democratically minded.
