The Iliad

Examine the relationship between mortals and immortals. Draw on at least three specific interactions in your discussion.

What is the function of nature similes in the poem? Explore their meaning using at least three similes from the poem.

What defines a hero, according to the Iliad? Discuss using at least three examples from the text.

In Book 4 Athena flicks an arrow away “as quick as a mother / flicks a fly from her baby sleeping softly” (149), while Apollo in Book 15 knocks down the Achaeans’ walls “with the same ease / some boy at the seashore knocks sandcastles down” (399). Discuss the similes used to describe the gods. How do they differ from the similes that describe mortals? Use at least four examples in your discussion.

The poet invokes the Muses several times in the poem. Consider the significance of these invocations by analyzing at least two examples of them.

Is the Iliad a poem about a war or set during a war? Support your answer using at least four examples from the text.

Analyze the visual description of Achilles’s shield. What does it represent?

When Andromache sees Achilles dragging Hector’s body through the dirt, she rips out her headdress, a gift from Aphrodite on their wedding day, and leads the Trojan women in a lament. Discuss the significance of Andromache’s actions in the context of women’s roles in the Iliad.