Literary Tradition I
Patrick Hook
Essay 1: Due Wednesday, SEPT 19th, in Mailbox
Please choose one of the following prompts on the Iliad and write a 500-750 word essay (2-3 pages, typed in font-size 12) in response to it. Attach a UD cover sheet, read and signed. Late work will fall one full grade for every class period late.
1. Concentrate on either the Helen-Aphrodite exchange in Book 3 or the Diomedes-Athene exchange in Book 5 and answer the following question: Are human beings free in the Iliad?
2. Examine one simile from Books 1-6 of the poem, and answer the following questions: How, exactly, does the simile work, and what is its effect on the action in which it takes place? What does a Homeric simile do?
3. Are Achilleus’ anger and his responses to it justified?
4. From Books1-5, answer the following question: Is Agamemnon a good leader?
5. Using Book 5 as your focus text, answer the following question: Is there an art of war in Homer; if so, what are its features?