February 6: Homeric Society in the Iliad
- There are a number of assemblies - meetings of the kings and all the troops - in the Iliad. How do they work? How are decisions reached? What role is there for the average soldier to play?
- At the start of Book 2 of the Iliad there is a “council” between all the leaders - how does this work? How are decisions made?
- In Book 2 we meet the only ordinary soldier to have a substantial role, Thersites. How do you interpret his physical description, speech, and the response he evokes? What does this show about society?
- What is the source of Agamemnon’s power? Why does everyone else follow him, even though he’s a jerk?
- What kinds of rituals or customs play a key role in the functioning of society in the Iliad? Are there any differences between the Achaeans and the Trojans?
- How are disputes settled? Is Achilles right or wrong to refuse Agamemnon’s gifts in 9?
- What role does gift-exchange play in Homeric society?
February 8: Homeric Warfare
- How does Homeric combat work? Is the picture in the Iliad consistent?
- What are chariots used for? Does this make sense?
- What role does the mass of common soldiers have to play in the fighting?
- What kinds of strategies and tactics are employed by the kings?
- What types of arms and armor do the heroes use? How detailed are Homer's descriptions?
- How realistic does warfare as practiced in the Iliad appear to be? How might it be more fantasy than real?
February 10: Gods and Religion in the Iliad
- How do characters pray to deities? What are the components of a typical prayer?
- How does sacrifice work? What is the role of sacrifice in the context of society?
- What is the full significance of the scenes showing the gods interacting with one another, as in Books 1, 5, and 14. Is there a relationship between such scenes and nearby scenes involving humans?
- How does the society of the gods mirror that of humans? How does it differ? What does this show about how the Greeks understood their religion?
- Athena appears to be a patron deity of both Greeks and Trojans. How does this affect our reading of the poem, and what does it show about the nature of the gods?
- In Book 16 what can we learn from the episode of Sarpedon's death about the Homeric gods, their relations with humans, and the relation between the gods and fate in the Homeric worldview?
- What role do the gods have as guardians of justice and morality in the Iliad?
February 13: The Ideology of the Homeric Hero
- What motivates heroes to fight? What do they get out of it?
- What is the “heroic code” and what contradictions does it embody?
- What is the importance of family and lineage for heroes?
- How does the aristeia of Diomedes show the nature of the hero and his limits?
- How does the aristeia of Patroclus compare/contrast with those of Diomedes and Agamemnon? How does Patroclus lose his own identity?
- How does the aristeia of Achilles further twist this theme?
- How does Achilles question and contradict this heroic value system? How is Achilles himself a bundle of contradictions?
- How does Achilles revert to a more primitive, savage, form during his aristeia, and what does this show about Homeric society?
- How does Hector embody the heroic code, and what contradictions do we see in him? How does he compare to Achilles?
February 15: Discussion: The Iliad: Summing Up
- How do you account for all the wrangling about eating in Book 19? What is the significance of feasting and eating in the poem? What use is made of this motif in 24?
- How does Iliad 24 serve to put the final touches on the characterization of Achilles? How would you describe the nature of the relationship that develops between him and Priam during their remarkable scene together?
- What are the effects of the poet's decision to end the poem with the funeral of Hector?
- Even though the poem does not reach the end of the Trojan War, do you feel satisfied with its conclusion? Why or why not?
- How relevant to the Bronze age does the Iliad seem to be?
February 20: The Homeric City
- The Iliad means a poem about Ilium, i.e. the city of Troy. What defines Troy as a city? How does it contrast with the Achaean camp?
- On the Shield of Achilles we are given of view of cities at war and at peace. What are the defining characteristics of these cities, and how do they differ? How do they compare to Troy (and later, to Ithaca)?
- At the beginning of the Odyssey we see the city of Ithaca, bereft of its leader for 20 years. How well is it functioning? What role does the king have to play in the city, and why do the people need him? What other civic structures seem to be in place?
- Besides warriors, who else lives in the cities? What kind of specialist craftsmen do we encounter in the poems? What is their position in cities?
- How important are cities in shaping the identities of the heroes who come from them? How much duty do the heroes (especially the Trojan ones) feel towards their city, and how much are they being driven by the heroic code?
February 22: Xenia
- An important component of Homeric society is xenia, variously translated as hospitality or guest-friendship. What are the rules and obligations of this, and what does this show about how relations function in the Homeric world?
- How well do the rules of xenia work in practice - think about Paris and Helen, Achilles and Priam, Telemachus and Nestor and Menelaus, and Odysseus and the Phaeacians?
- Are there true interstate relations in the Homeric world, or are personal relationships all that matter?
- What role does gift-exchange have to play in this?
- How are the suitors of Penelope abusing these customs, and why can't Telemachus and Penelope do anything about it?
- What role does more typical friendship between heroes play? How is this especially seen between Achilles and Ajax, Phoenix, Odysseus, and above all Patroclus? How does Achilles’ wrath ruin this?
February 24: The Ideology of Competition
- Athletic contests were very important for the Greeks, who after all founded the Olympics. How are the funeral games in Iliad 23 organized? Who gets to participate in them, and what kind of rewards do they get?
- Beyond being a way to honor Patroclus, how does Homer use the funeral games in Iliad 23 to further develop his characters?
- What else do the funeral games reveal about the nature of competition in the Homeric world? How does this compare with (or contrast with) what we have already seen of Homeric society?
- How do the competitions in Odyssey 8 further build on this? Is there a difference between the two poems, or do they present a consistent picture?
February 29: The Death and Afterlife of the Hero
- What are the key features of the Homeric funeral?
- What is the role of the funeral in society? How does it further justify the heroic code?
- How do the heroes in Homer view death? How is death an impetus for them? How is death particularly important for Achilles, and how does he understand it compared to the other heroes? How is the funeral of Patroclus really the funeral of Achilles?
- Homer will sometimes give obituaries for dead or dying heroes. What kinds of information does he include, and what does it show about how he and his audience understand death?
- In the Odyssey we see the afterlife, such as it is. How does this fit into the heroic code we see in the Iliad? What does it show about Greek beliefs?
March 2: The Gods and Religion in the Odyssey (and the Iliad cont.)
- What role do the gods, especially Zeus, have as guardians of justice in the Odyssey, and how does this differ from the Iliad?
- What is Athena's role in the Odyssey, and how does this differ from the Iliad?
- How justified is Poseidon in his anger towards Odysseus? Do the other gods approve of this? How does this compare to Hera and Athena's anger towards Troy?
- When Odysseus' men eat the cattle of the Sun, why can't Helios punish them himself? What does this show us about the nature of sacrilege in the Homeric world?
- How does the overall portrayal of the gods in the Odyssey compare to the portrayal in the Iliad? Can we see any signs of beliefs evolving during the time between the composition of the two poems?
March 5: Homer's Audience
- How does Homer create distance between his audience and the heroic characters of his poems?
- What assumptions does Homer appear to make about his audience and their knowledge of the heroic world? What might this show about them?
- There are several bards in the Odyssey, especially Demodocus. How are they portrayed and what does this reveal about Homer's own times?
- How do the similes in Homer give a fuller picture of his own world, as opposed to the heroic world?
- What can we infer about Homer's audience and its social characteristics? What is missing from Homer's world?
March 7: The Homeric Household & Family
- Who makes up a hero’s household? How big is it?
- What do the main sources of income appear to be for the household?
- What kind of physical space makes up the household? What are the most important elements of it?
- What role does trade have to play in the Homeric world? Who engages in it?
- What duties does the hero’s immediate family have to play? What is the relationship of fathers and sons?
- What kind of system is available for righting a wrong? Are there differences between the Iliad and the Odyssey?
March 9: The Ideology of the Hero in the Odyssey
- What does Homer accomplish by starting with Telemachus, not Odysseus? Is this redefining the heroic code of the Iliad, or simply showing us another side of it?
- One of Odysseus' most important traits - perhaps the most important - is metis, which encompasses cleverness, resourcefulness, and practical intelligence. How does this distinguish him from the heroes of the Iliad? Does Homer view this as a positive trait?
- How does Odysseus' crew in 9-12 function in terms of their relationship with Odysseus? Is he responsible for their loss? What does this show about leadership in the Homeric world?
- What do you make of Odysseus' encounter with Achilles? Is Achilles consistent with his character in the Iliad?
- Why must Odysseus kill all the suitors, even the more agreeable ones, and how does Homer make it clear that he must? How does this compare to the Iliad?
- Having read both Homeric poems, how would you compare Achilles and Odysseus as archetypal heroes? They will have an enormous impact on the later epics.
March 12: Homeric Women
- What is the overall role of the women in Iliad 6 with whom Hector speaks? Notice that the same three women deliver eulogies for Hector in Iliad 24 - why?
- What is the nature of Helen's social position in Troy? How responsible is she for the war?
- How are Andromache and Helen being contrasted in Iliad 6? What can we learn about the proper role of women in Homeric society from this?
- How do the female goddesses compare to the mortal women?
- How does Homer characterize Helen and her relationship with Menelaus in the Odyssey? How does this compare to the rest of the poem?
- How are gender relations being explored throughout the Odyssey, especially in 1, 4, 5-8, and 10?
- What dangers do female beings of whatever sort present to men? How would you compare Circe and Calypso and Helen? Does this have any bearing on Penelope's role?
- How do you account for Penelope's behavior with Odysseus in 19 and 23?
- Does Homer have any concept of "love" between man and woman? What ultimately is the relationship between the sexes in the poems?
March 14: The Odyssey: Summing Up
- How do you interpret Odysseus' distressing maintenance of his disguise with his father Laertes in Odyssey 24?
- Book 24 of the Odyssey is sometimes thought to be a later addition to the poem. How does it serve as an appropriate conclusion? Would the poem work better without it?
- Generally speaking, is the society depicted within the Iliad and the Odyssey internally consistent? Can you see any changes in society between the two poems that might be accounted for by changes in Greece in the late 8th century?
- How relevant to the Bronze Age does the Odyssey seem to be?
- Now that we've read the Homeric epics, how should we define epic poetry as a genre?
March 30: Heroism v. Scholarship
- What kind of assumptions does Apollonius make about his audience from the outset?
- What is the point of including Heracles in the expedition when he is almost immediately lost in Book 1?
- How does the catalogue of Argonauts compare with the catalogue of ships in the Iliad?
- What role do women have to play in Books 1-2 of the Argonautica? How does this compare to Homer? What does it reveal about the role of women in Hellenistic society?
- One important aspect of Hellenistic literature is the ekphrasis, or literary description of a work of art. There is an ekphrasis on lines 730ff of Book 1 - what does it describe and how does this relate to or comment on the larger narrative?
- What defines Jason as a hero? What qualities does he show over the course of the poem? How does he differ from the Homeric heroes such as Odysseus or Achilles? What might this show about what Apollonius’ audience was looking for?
- A scholarly pursuit of Hellenistic scholars was mythography. Mythographers often tried to “rationalize” myths by finding ways to remove impossibilities. Do we see any sign of this in Apollonius?
April 2: Heroism v. Woman
- How are the Argonauts portrayed as a force of civilization and culture in areas inhabited by non-Greek “barbarians?”
- One important element of Hellenistic scholarship is aetiology, which means studying the origins of different customs, traditions, names, etc. What kind of aetiologies do we find in the Argonautica? Is Apollonius simply showing off his knowledge, or does he employ aetiologies in a way that enhance his story?
- Other important branches of Hellenistic scholarship were geography and ethnography. How does Apollonius integrate this kind of information into the Argonautica? Is it just for show, or do you think he has other purposes?
- What role do the gods have to play in the Argonautica, especially at the start of Book 3? How does this compare to the gods in the Iliad and the Odyssey, and what does this show about Hellenistic sensibilities?
- How is Medea compared/contrasted with the male characters? What does Apollonius’ portrayal of Medea and her femininity reveal about the Hellenistic world (think about Penelope in the Odyssey)? How does Medea serve as a foil for Jason?
- What is the role of love in the Argonautica and how does this differ from the Homeric poems?
April 4: The Argonautica: Summing Up
- There are a number of references to Heracles in the later books of the Argonautica, even though he never makes another appearance. Why does he come up so much?
- How does the character of Jason evolve/change in book 4? How does his relationship with Medea change? What might this suggest about male/female roles and relationships in the Hellenistic period?
- How does the character of Medea evolve/change in book 4? Was she always a violent figure, or is this a new development? How does her relationship with Jason change?
- What is the role of love/sex/romance and of course, marriage, in the Argonautica, how does it differ from the Iliad & Odyssey, and what does this show about Apollonius and his audience?
- How does Apollonius connect the wanderings of the Argonauts with those of Odysseus in Book 4? How does he differentiate them? Is this related to Apollonius’ different views on heroism or the expectations of his audience?
- Why would this epic poem have been so popular among the elite in the Hellenistic world, and what does that reveal about them and their society?
- Ultimately, how does the Argonautica validate myth for the Hellenistic Age?
April 9: Kingship in the Aeneid
- In the first book we see several kings/potential kings - Aeneas, Aeolus, Dido. What characteristics mark them as good rulers or as bad rulers?
- What qualities of Aeneas are emphasized when we first meet him in Book 1? What do they show about his character? Are they what you expected?
- Virgil is found of ecphrases and other digressive descriptions - what is the significance of the temple frieze and of Iopas’ song at the party?
- How does Virgil moralize war in Book 2?
- How does Virgil, if he does, seek to legitimize Rome’s position in the Mediterranean during his own time in Book 3?
- How does Book 3 relate to the Odyssey? How does Virgil reshape his Homeric model?
- Aeneas is often described as pious. What qualities mark him out as a pious man, and what does this show about how the Romans understood piety?
April 11: Dido & Aeneas
- Is Dido guilty and thus responsible for her own demise, or is she an innocent victim of Aeneas or the gods or fate?
- How does Dido change from a good ruler to a bad ruler over the course of book 4?
- The narrator asserts that Aeneas feels great love (magnus amor) for Dido. Does Aeneas show this? Is he guilty of injuring Dido?
- How do the duties of kingship fit in with the duties of love?
- How does the “marriage” of Aeneas and Dido compare/contrast with the “marriage” of Jason and Medea in Argonautica 4?
April 13: The Funeral Games of Anchises
- Aside from sheer spectator fun, how does Virgil use the athletic events, especially the ship race, to comment on such things as human character, religious belief, fairness, and leadership?
- How is Aeneas being contrasted with Achilles at Patroclus’ funeral games? What elements of his character does Virgil choose to emphasize and why? How does Aeneas develop as a leader compared to the earlier books?
- What is the significance of the burning of the ships? How justified is Juno in fighting the decrees of fate?
- Is there any reason for the loss of Palinurus, other than that Neptune seems to require it?
April 16: Rome Sneak Preview
- What is the function of the Daedalus ecphrasis? Does it have any relation to Aeneas himself? Compare it to the frieze on Dido’s temple.
- What sort of picture of human life on earth do we get from the cosmology that Anchises articulates at 835ff? Is it harmonious with the rest of the poem? How does it compare to the Homeric epics?
- What is the precise nature of the foreign policy Anchises recommends at 981-4?
- This is the first of two books to give a general overview of Roman history. How does it characterize Rome? What elements of Roman society is Virgil keen to emphasize, and how might this relate to the Augustan era?
- How important to the poem is young Marcellus, the last shade that Aeneas meets?
April 18: The Golden Age of Latinus
- What is the state of civilization and culture of the native Latins, including Turnus’ Rutulians, as depicted in the first half of the book, and why does this matter?
- Does Virgil encourage us to make moral judgements regarding the responsibility (other than Juno’s) for the outbreak of war in Italy? If so, how broadly would that judgement extend?
- Similarly, how responsible is Turnus for his actions given the role of Allecto?
- Of the 13 leaders named in the catalogue of Italians, only six at most will reappear noteworthily: Mezentius (with Lausus, his son), Messapus, Halaesus, Ufens, Turnus, and Camilla. Of those six only Mezentius and Lausus, Turnus, and Camilla will have starring roles. What else then, if anything, is the narrator up to in this cavalcade?
April 20: The Shield of Aeneas
- Why does the narrator show so much interest in Evander’s genealogy, his Greek past, and his preexisting relationship to Aeneas through Anchises? Relatedly, why is so much space devoted to Evander’s linking of Tarchon and the Etruscans to Aeneas as allies?
- Is Hercules being presented as a model for Aeneas and perhaps for Romans generally? How is he portrayed? Does the story of Cacus have any other relevance for the poem?
- How do you account for the poet’s use of Golden Age motifs here and in Book 7? What is the point of it all, and how has he characterized it here as compared with earlier versions of the motif?
- What is the full significance of Venus’ role in this book?
- How does the description of Aeneas’ divinely made shield continue the poem’s treatment of Roman history? What do you make of Aeneas’ own reaction to its images? Does this shed any light on the end of Book 6?
- What is Virgil trying to convey in Book 9 with the Nisus and Euryalus episode?
April 25: The Tragedy of Civil War
- How does Virgil characterize the strife between Trojans and Latins as a civil war? How does he hint at the eventual unity of the two peoples? Can we see any sort of Italian nationalism in the later part of the poem?
- Technically Aeneas is the foreigner and Turnus the local boy. But how does Virgil turn this equation around, to make Turnus the foreigner and Aeneas the true Italian?
- Virgil describes the image on Pallas’ sword-belt when Turnus strips it away (10.586ff). What is the significance of this ecphrasis?
- Lavinia - real character or cardboard cut-out?
- How does Mezentius serve as a foil for Aeneas? How about Camilla?
April 27: The Wrath of Aeneas
- How justified is Juno in fighting fate and trying to stop Aeneas? What, if anything, does she get out of it?
- As in the Iliad, an important theme in the second part of the Aeneid is anger/rage/wrath. What role does anger have to play? Which characters are gripped by anger? Is anger necessarily a bad emotion? Which character is the new Achilles?
- How do we interpret the death of Turnus at the end of the poem?
- What does Virgil want his audience to take away from all this?
April 30: Aeneid Summing Up