8/4/2019 Writing 2 - Iliad - Gods

1/2

II. The assignment has TWO (2) parts; you must choose one from part one and one

from part two

II. THE QUESTIONS

A. CATEGORY ONE

Chose one (1!) of the following questions and write an essay/argument of

around 700 words

1.This course has argued for the singularity of Greek religion, with the gods

having human personality but mortals possessing godly traits as well, with the lines

generally between the gods and men being permeable.

Discuss this issue using both The Iliad and class lectures.

OROROROROR

2. This course has discussed the singular trait of the Greeks to personalize and

even individualize with a corresponding emphasis on free will or individuals

making their own character. Discuss this issue using both the Iliad and class

lectures.

B. SECOND CATEGORY

Choose one of the following quotations and write around 500 words. Analyze

how it reveals some fundamental quality or qualities of the poem (relative gods,

humankind, the character, the poem, etc.). Do not merely summarize the passage,

but relate it to other material in the text. As for Introductions, Part A - begin with

the book or episodes of the passage itself (ie - look up the passages!)

Choice 1: From Book 6, lines 497-505Mother tells me, the immortal goddess Thetis with her glistening feet, that

two fates bear me on to the day of death. If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy,

my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the

fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies...true, but the life thats left me will be

long, the stroke of death with not come quickly.

Choice 2: From Book 16, lines 506So with their battle cries rushed each other there. And Zeus the son of Cronus with

Cronus twisting ways, filling with pity now to see the two great fighters, said toHera his sister and his wife My cruel fate...my Sarpedon, the man I love the most,

my own son - doomed to die at the hands of Menoetiuss son Patroclus. My heart

8/4/2019 Writing 2 - Iliad - Gods

2/2

is torn in tow as I try to weigh all this. Shall I pluck him up, now, while he is still

alive. . .or beat him down at Patroclus hands at last.

Choice 3: From Book 17, lines 100-111:

And the cry [of Hector] pierced Menelaus, deeply torn now as he probed his owngreat heart: What can I do? If I leave this splendid gear and desert Patroclus-who

fell here fighting, all to redeem my honor-wont any comrade curse me, seeing mebreak away? But if I should take on Hector and Hectors Trojans alone, in single

combat - trying to save my pride - wont they encircle me, one against so many?. . ..But why debate, my friend, why thrash things out? When you fight a man against

the will of the gods, a man they have sworn to honor - then look out.

Choice 4: From Book 23: lines 352-362Theres no great need for me to set you straight. Well you know how to

double round the post...but youve got the slowest nags - a handicap Id say. Yeteven if the other teams are faster, look at their drivers; theres not a trick in their

whips that you dont have at hand. so plan your attack, my friend, muster all your

skills or what the prize slip by! Its sill, not brawn, that makes the finest

woodsman. By skill, too, the captain holds his ship on course, scudding the wine-

dark sea though rocked by gales. By skill alone, the charioteer outraces

charioteer.