荷⾺史詩

Homeric Epics
 希臘化時代
Idealized portrayal of Homer dating to the Hellenistic period. British Museum.
From wikipedia
Homer
n 7th or 8th century BC
n The teacher of Greece

n Providing models of
persuasive speaking
Epic

n Epic = a long narrative

poem
n Developed from oral

poetic tradition in
(a) 沒有⽂字的︔尚未使⽤⽂字的
preliterate societies
Characteristics of an epic
n Begins in medias res (or medias in
res)= into the middle of things
n The setting is vast, covering many
nations, the world or the universe.
n Begins with an invocation to a muse.
(epic invocation).
n Begins with a statement of the theme.

n Includes the use of epithets.

(from Wikipeida “epic poetry”)

Characteristics of an epic
n Contains
(n) ⽬錄= catalog
long lists (epic
catalogue).
n Features long and formal speeches.
n Shows divine intervention on
human affairs.
n Features heroes that embody the
values of the civilization.
n Often features the tragic hero's
descent into the Underworld or
hell.
Homer’s Use of Epithets

n use of epithets:
e.g. Hera, the white-armed
goddess

See a list in “Epithets in Homer” in wikipedia

 The Iliad: Setting

n Time: fifty days in

特洛伊戰爭
the ninth
year of the Trojan war;
特洛伊第⼀勇⼠
ended with Hector’s death
WIFE➜Andromache
Place: Troy
Theme in The Iliad

The rage of Achilles

in the Trojan war
The Trojan War

n Causes:
n--The Judgment of Paris
(n) 私奔

n--The Elopement of

Paris and Helen

The Judgment of Paris
Hector’s father 佩琉斯
n TheHector’s
wedding of King Peleus + sea
mother 忒提斯
nymph Thetis 不和女神
n Jealous Goddess of Discord, Eris
Aphrodite eventually got the Apple.
n An apple the to fairest èThe apple
不和諧
of discord
(v) 間接提到
* Vaguely alluded in Homer’s Iliad
Bribes for Paris

希拉
n Hera: Lord of Europe and Asia
雅典娜
n Athena: Victory
維納斯 Judged by Paris
n Venus (Aphrodite): the fairest

woman in all the worldè

Helen, Zeus & Leda’s daughter
The Judgement of Paris, Peter Paul Rubens, 1632/33
blog.creaders.net
The Judgment of Paris
adamant.typepad.com
An agreement among Helen’s
suitors

n All the suitors would

(v) ⽀持︔捍衛︔⾾爭
champion the cause of
Helen’s husband, if any
one tried to carry Helen
away.
Elopement of Paris and Helen
because of the judgement
Venus’s reward for Paris
Paris chose Aphrodite— and, therefore, Helen.
en.wikipedia.org
Helen and Paris
etravelgreece.blogspot.com
The Two Great Heroes Who Refused
to join the Trojan Wars
奧德修斯
Odysseus: pretending to be mad
(v) 播種
sowing salt instead of
seeds
Odysseus Pretends to be Insane
from Pinterest.com
Odysseus Pretends to be Insane
from the Gutenberg Project e-book
 The Two Great Heroes Who
Refused to join the Trojan Wars
阿基⾥斯
Achilles: his mother wanted him to
hide in the court of king
Lycomedes and dressed up
like a lady,
BUT found out by wise Odysseus
Jan de Boeckhorst (1604-1668)-'Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes'-oil

on canvas München-Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen

Nicolas Poussin.Achilles and Daughters of Lycomede. 1656. Oil on
canvas. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA.
The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
Heroes in the Trojan War
n The Greeks n The Trojans
n Agamemnon 阿加曼儂 n Priam
n Menelaus n Hector
n Achilles 阿基⾥斯 n Paris
n Patroclus (Achilles’ best n Glaucus
friend)
n Phoenix (Achilles’ tutor)
n Odysseus
n Ajax
n Nestor
n Diomedes
The Quarrel between
Agamemnon and Achilles
n Agamemnon offended Apollo for
refusing to release Chryseis, the
daughter of Apollo’s priest, Chryses.
n After returning Chryseis to appease
Apollo, Agamemnon asked for
Achilles’ slave girl, Briseis, instead.
The Gods on Two Sides
n For the Greeks n For the Trojans
n Zeus n Zeus
n Hera
n Apollo
n Athena
n Hermes
n Thetis
n (Thetis)
n Hephaestus
The Causes of Achilles’ Anger

n For the slave girl taken away by

Agamemnon
n For Agamemnon’s selfishness

and awful leadership

n For Patroclus’ death
The Anger of Achilles Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748-
1825)
The Rage of Achilles (detail Achilles and Athena),

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770), Italian Rococo

Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus. By Nikolay Gay. 1855. Oil

on canvas. The Art Museum of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus

 How Anger Influenced Achilles?

• Ruthless
• Disobedient

• Childish

• Selfish

• Revengeful

• Vindictive

• Inhuman

**Did Achilles have a high level of EQ?

The Greek Concept of Fate
n The three fates:
n Clotho (Young): spinning the thread of life
n Lachesis (adult): measuring out each mortal’s

span
n Atropos (old): snipping the thread of life off at

its end.
è the power over the gods
Achilles’s Two Fates
A short life with honor
or
A long life without honor

Achilles’s choice?
Thetis pleads before Zeus
Achilles’ Shield
Confrontations in The Iliad
n Agamemnon vs Achilles
n Achilles vs Hector
n Achilles vs Phoenix
n Achilles vs Priam
n Hector vs Andromache
n Hector vs Paris
The Rage of Achilles
Hector and Andromache by Gavin Cre Hamilton painted between 1775

and 1780.
Priam Asking Achilles to Return Hector's Body. By Alexander Ivanov.

1824. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.