iliad scholarship- gods, women and achilles (with examples)

Allan- Andromache draws attention to how war destroys the lives of women (in book 6 when she tries to stop hector from going back and fighting) despite hector knowing this, he claims that war is ‘the concern of men’

Nicolson- sex and violence is at the heart of the Iliad

Helen, Briseis and Chryseis are stolen and the Greeks boast that they will kill all trojan men and steal the women

Allan- the importance of female beauty is embodied in the formulaic language of the poem- epithets

white armed Hera, fair cheeked Briseis

reinforced by the fact Briseis and Chryseis have the same epithet, showing they’re replaceable

Farron- women have strong sentiments and emotions about the world around them but are ignored, showing their helplessness and inability to control their lives.

when Andromache laments the life she and Astyanax will have if hector dies in book 6

Edwards- intervention adds glory to the heroes because it shows they are worthy

Griffin- the gods are involved in the battles as much as humans

Silk- they are trivial, they interfere but the heroes still act with free will and their autonomy remains

Griffin- Achilles having Thetis as a mother means that he mobilises the gods to intervene in his quarrel

Thetis supplicates Zeus after Achilles decides to leave the Greeks in book 1

Silk- Achilles is an uncomfortable and even destructive presence in the heroic world

both Hector and Patroclus die when wearing Achilles’ armour

Silk- Achilles becomes an extremist in all things

his revenge on Hector was extreme- he dragged Hector’s body around for 12 days in book 24, he cuts his hair for Patroclus and puts it on the pyre in book 23

Jones- there is tension between the desire for time and kleos to be gained by winning, and one’s obligations to be cooperative

Wilson- Achilles demonstrates himself as a spiritual man in a material world

Book 9 when he rejects the gifts the embassy try to bribe him with