The IliadThe Great War

By:Davon Bryant

The Beginning Achilles-half man, half God Agamemnon-King of Mycenae Hector-Mightiest warrior of Trojan

army Helen-cause of the war

Achilles Although Achilles possesses superhuman strength and has a

close relationship with the gods, he may strike modern readers as less than heroic. He has all the marks of a great warrior, and indeed proves the mightiest man in the Achaean army, but his deep-seated character flaws constantly impede his ability to act with nobility and integrity.

He cannot control his pride or the rage that surges up when that pride is injured. This attribute so poisons him that he abandons his comrades and even prays that the Trojans will slaughter them, all because he has been slighted at the hands of his commander, Agamemnon. Achilles is driven primarily by a thirst for glory. Part of him yearns to live a long, easy life, but he knows that his personal fate forces him to choose between the two. Ultimately, he is willing to sacrifice everything else so that his name will be remembered.

Agamemnon King of Mycenae and leader of the

Achaean army; brother of King Menelaus of Sparta.

Arrogant and often selfish, Agamemnon provides the Achaeans with strong but sometimes reckless and self-serving leadership. Like Achilles, he lacks consideration and forethought.

Hector

Unlinked by Achilles The leader of the Trojan

Army

Helen The Cause of the war. Cause of her beauty, it can launch a

thousand ships. Married to Menelaus

PICS

Armor

One would naturally expect a martial epic to depict men in arms.

In My opinion Armor was just extra, they just loved fighting in war.

War Started all over a women The Quarrel  During the ninth year of war, the

Greeks realizing that they could not expect to win the war, while the Trojans continued to receive troops and supplies from Troy's neighboring kingdoms and vassals, they decided to set about destroying the vassals. By destroying the surrounding kingdoms, the Greeks not only gained supplies but also women captives.

Battles Hector kills Potroclus by his sphere Achilles Gets Revenge Hector Achilles Kills Hector to avenge patroclus

Death. Paris Kills Achilles

Burials While martial epics naturally touch

upon the subject of burial, The Iliad lingers over it.

The Burial of Hector is given a lot of attention, it marks the meltdown of Achilles rage.

Burials Hector finally receives his Burial when

Achilles gives his body up. Patrocolus also gets a good burial after

being killed by Hector.

The Iliad’s interest in burial partly reflects the interests of ancient Greek culture as a whole

Warfare in the Iliad the Homeric poems (the Iliad in particular)

were not necessarily revered scripture of the ancient Greeks, they were most certainly seen as guides that were important to the intellectual understanding of any educated Greek citizen

Warfare in the Iliad This is evidenced by the fact that in

the late fifth century BC, "it was the sign of a man of standing to be able to recite the Iliad and Odyssey by heart

Warfare in the iliad This is evidenced by the fact that in

the late fifth century BC, "it was the sign of a man of standing to be able to recite the Iliad and Odyssey by heart

Warfare in the iliad The biggest issue in reconciling the

connection between the epic fighting of the Iliad and later Greek warfare is the phalanx, or hoplite, warfare seen in Greek history well after Homer's Iliad.

Warfare in the Iliad While there are discussions of soldiers

arrayed in semblances of the phalanx throughout the Iliad, the focus of the poem on the heroic fighting, as mentioned above, would seem to contradict the tactics of the phalanx. However, the phalanx did have its heroic aspects.

Conclusion Although certain events subsequent to the

funeral of Hector are foreshadowed in the Iliad, and there is a general sense that the Trojans are doomed, a detailed account of the fall of Troy is not set out by Homer. The following account comes from later Greek and Roman poetry and drama.

Conclusion Achilles was killed on the battlefield by

Paris, with a poisoned arrow to his vulnerable heel.

Ajax the Greater and Odysseus feuded over who would keep his armour.

Conclusion They drew lots and Odysseus won. Ajax went

mad with grief and slaughtered his livestock, believing they were the Greek commanders. Overcome with grief, he then killed himself. The Amazons came to join the battle. Philoctetes, a crippled Greek who had been abandoned by the others along the journey, was recruited because the war could not, it was prophesied, be won without his bow.