GRK 142 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Thersites, Preface, Odysseus
Document Summary
Opening lines set the tone (proem prologue) Rage is the first word: greek word that only applies to gods, leaving bodies is the worst thing achilles does. As much about gods as it is about mortals: men are the gods" chess pieces, gods interfere with human interaction. Starts in the middle: grab the audience, picking up where the last epic left off. Covers 57 days of the 10th year of the trojan war. Book 1: intro to army leaders, agamemnon king of mycenae, has the most men, achilles. Agamemnon kidnaps menelaus" daughter to be his wife. Oath of all helen"s suitors to help get her back: odysseus, nestor old, talkative god wise, diomedes, patroclus achilles" best friend, ajax. Ransom isn"t accepted so plague is sent down: agamemnon gives girl back but wants to take achilles" woman so achilles leaves, thetis (achilles" mom) begs zeus to help achilles, greeks suffer to give achilles more honor.
