The Iliad LRJs

LRJ #1 Book One:

http://www.literaturepage.com/read/theiliad-2.html

1.    Identify four examples of epithets

2.    Identify Homeric similes—explain what two things are being compared and what is revealed in the simile.

3.    Infer some Greek values and traditions based on the text. Use textual evidence to support your claims.

• Epithets: a characteristic of Homer’s style is the use of reoccurring epithets--a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing, as in “rosy-fingered dawn” or “swift-footed Achilles.”  Epithets deepen the meaning of each noun that they modify.  Epithets can inform the reader about the character’s origin, parentage, appearance or state, skill-set, position, or heroic quality. 
• Homeric Simile: a detailed comparison in the form of a simile that is many lines in length comparing some kind of heroic event with simple, everyday things.  For example: “As a mountain falcon, swiftest of all birds, swoops down upon some cowering dove—the dove flies before him, but the falcon with a shrill scream follows close after, resolved to have her—even so did Achilles make straight for Hector with all his might” (Book 22).

 LRJ #2 Book 22

1. Identify Homeric similes—explain what two things are being compared and what is revealed in the simile. 
2. Infer some Greek values and traditions based on the text. Use textual evidence to support your claims. 
3. What themes do you see in these two sections of the Iliad?  Provide textual evidence to support your ideas.