On+the+Iliad



This page is for resources on and reaction to the assigned readings (Intro., Chapters 1,3,15,19,22, and 24) in the Iliad.

1) An interesting quote:

“The true hero, the true subject, the center of the Iliad, is force. Force as man's instrument, force as man's master, force before which human flesh shrinks back. The human soul, in this poem, is shown always in its relation to force: swept away, blinded by the force it thinks it can direct, bent under the pressure of the force to which it is subjected. Those who had dreamed that force, thanks to progress, now belonged to the past, have seen the poem as a historic document; those who can see that force, today as in the past, is at the center of all human history, find in the Iliad its most beautiful, its purest mirror.”

“Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates. The truth is, nobody possesses it. The human race is not divided up, in the Iliad, into conquered persons, slaves, suppliants, on the one hand, and conquerors and chiefs on the other. In this poem there is not a single man who does not at one time or another have to bow his neck to force.”

Simone Adolphine Weil L'Iliade ou la poème de la force (1940) Questions that emerge from this quote (Use the discussion button above to comment):

a) After having read the assigned sections of Iliad, how do you react to this quote? b) Who are some of the characters in the thrall of force and how do they cope with it. c) What of “progress?” d) In what way does the Iliad hold up a mirror to humanity? e) Are not human beings masters of the energy they have harnessed, the forces they have tamed, the weapons they have crafted?

Week #2 extra reading assignment: (Reaction Paper optional) - Thursday, Sept. 5
Stephen King



//This download is available to students in UHON 121-012 for educational purposes vis a vis Fair Use guidelines. This download is an exerpt from ON WRITING by Stephan King. Students are encouraged to purchase the book.//