48033 - Homer, Iliad Bks 9-12

Course Description

Our multi-year exploration of the Iliad approaches its midpoint, beginning with book 9 and the appeal to Achilles to return to battle. Achilles’ refusal of Agamemnon’s over-the-top offer to reconcile arguably sets the poem on its genre-making course. An Achaean recon-mission - the stand-alone book 10 - ends instead with the rustling of Thracian horses. And with battle resuming in books 11 & 12, the development of two minor characters on each side of the conflict – Patroclus (Achilles’ BFF) & Pouludamas (a Trojan foil for Hector) – offers hints of what is to come. We read aloud in Greek (& translate) approximately 100 lines of the poem each week, with some minimal recourse to the monolith of Homeric scholarship. Prerequisites: At least one year of previous ancient Greek instruction, preferably Homeric (or Attic). If new to the course, please email the instructor at pomathai@gmail.com before the first session to find out the exact starting point.