Before Reading

1.  What makes someone heroic? 
2.  Is anger always destructive, or can it sometimes be justified? 
3.  What does a leader owe to the people who follow him? 
4.  Is glory worth risking one’s life for? 
5.  What responsibilities do people have to family when those responsibilities conflict with public duty? 
6.  Can enemies still be fully human in our eyes? 

Book I: The Quarrel

1.  Why does Apollo send a plague upon the Greek army? 
2.  Why does Agamemnon react so angrily to the demand that he return Chryseis? 
3.  Why does Achilles see the seizure of Briseis as such a serious insult? 
4.  Is Achilles justified in his anger? 
5.  What does Athena prevent Achilles from doing, and why does that matter? 
6.  What is the difference between Agamemnon’s authority and Achilles’ power? 
7.  Does Achilles have the right to withdraw from battle after being wronged? 
8.  How does the quarrel between two men become a problem for the entire Greek army? 
9.  What does Thetis ask Zeus to do, and why? 
10.  Does Book I make you sympathize more with Achilles, Agamemnon, or neither? 

Book II: The Armies

1.  Why does Zeus send Agamemnon a deceptive dream? 
2.  What does Agamemnon’s testing of the troops reveal about his leadership? 
3.  Why do the Greeks rush toward the ships when Agamemnon suggests returning home? 
4.  What role does Odysseus play in restoring order? 
5.  What is the effect of the Catalogue of Ships? 
6.  Why might Homer include such a long catalogue of places and leaders? 
7.  Does this book make the war seem glorious, exhausting, or both? 

Book III: Paris and Menelaus

1.  What does Paris’ behavior reveal about him? 
2.  How does Hector respond to Paris, and what does that reveal about Hector’s character? 
3.  Why does Helen’s presence matter so much in this book? 
4.  How does Priam treat Helen? 
5.  What does the duel between Paris and Menelaus seem likely to accomplish? 
6.  Why does Aphrodite rescue Paris? 
7.  What does Helen’s reaction to Paris suggest about their relationship? 
8.  How is Paris different from Hector? 

Book IV: The Truce Broken

1.  Why is the truce broken? 
2.  Who seems responsible for restarting the fighting? 
3.  What does the failure of the truce suggest about the possibility of ending the war peacefully? 
4.  How does Agamemnon behave as battle begins? 
5.  What does this book suggest about the role of the gods in human conflict? 

Books V–VIII: The Battle Intensifies

1.  What makes Diomedes such an impressive warrior? 
2.  Why is it important that even gods are wounded? 
3.  How do the gods resemble the humans they influence? 
4.  What does Hector’s courage reveal about him? 
5.  How does the scale of the battle affect your understanding of the war? 
6.  What qualities are praised most in battle scenes? 
7.  Does Homer glorify battle in these books, or does he also reveal its cost? 

Book VI: Hector and Andromache

1.  Why is Hector’s meeting with Andromache one of the most important scenes in the poem? 
2.  What does Andromache ask Hector to do? 
3.  Why does Hector refuse? 
4.  Is Hector acting out of courage, duty, pride, or some combination of these? 
5.  What does this scene reveal about the cost of war for families? 
6.  How does Hector’s role as husband and father affect the way we see him as a warrior? 
7.  Whose argument is more persuasive—Hector’s or Andromache’s? 
8.  Does this scene change the way you think about heroism? 

Book IX: The Embassy to Achilles

1.  Why does Agamemnon decide to offer compensation to Achilles? 
2.  Do Agamemnon’s gifts truly repair the original insult? 
3.  Why are Odysseus, Phoenix, and Ajax chosen to speak to Achilles? 
4.  Which of the three speeches is most persuasive? 
5.  Why does Achilles refuse to return? 
6.  What does Achilles say about the value of glory and life? 
7.  Has Achilles begun to question the heroic code itself? 
8.  Is Achilles admirable in this scene, stubborn, or both? 
9.  Does Achilles owe anything to the suffering Greeks? 
10.  If you were listening to Achilles, would you be convinced? 

Book X: The Night Raid

1.  Why might teachers or readers treat this book differently from others in the poem? 
2.  What qualities do Odysseus and Diomedes display during the night expedition? 
3.  How is this kind of warfare different from open battle? 
4.  What does the episode reveal about intelligence and strategy in war? 

Books XI–XV: The Greeks in Trouble

1.  Why are the Greeks increasingly vulnerable? 
2.  How does Achilles respond to reports of Greek suffering? 
3.  What does Patroclus notice that Achilles does not seem willing to acknowledge? 
4.  Does the poem encourage us to judge Achilles more harshly during these books? 
5.  How do these books increase the pressure on Achilles to return? 

Book XVI: Patroclus

1.  Why does Patroclus ask Achilles for permission to enter battle? 
2.  Why does Achilles agree? 
3.  Why does Patroclus wear Achilles’ armor? 
4.  What effect does Patroclus’ presence have on the Trojans? 
5.  Why does Patroclus go farther than Achilles instructed? 
6.  Is Patroclus acting out of bravery, compassion, ambition, or all three? 
7.  Why is Patroclus’ death the turning point of the poem? 
8.  Why does Patroclus’ death affect Achilles more than the suffering of the whole Greek army? 
9.  What does Book XVI reveal about friendship? 

Books XVII–XVIII: Grief and the Shield

1.  Why does the struggle over Patroclus’ body matter so much? 
2.  How does Achilles react when he learns Patroclus has died? 
3.  What does Thetis understand about Achilles’ fate that deepens the scene? 
4.  Why is the shield of Achilles so important? 
5.  Why does Homer place scenes of ordinary human life on the shield? 
6.  What is the contrast between the world depicted on the shield and the violence of the battlefield? 
7.  Does Achilles’ grief make him more human, more dangerous, or both? 

Book XIX: Reconciliation

1.  Why do Achilles and Agamemnon reconcile? 
2.  Is the reconciliation emotionally satisfying, or does it feel incomplete? 
3.  Has Agamemnon truly learned anything? 
4.  Has Achilles forgiven Agamemnon, or is he simply focused on Patroclus? 
5.  Why does Achilles refuse food and turn his mind immediately to battle? 
6.  What has replaced the anger that dominated the opening of the poem? 

Books XX–XXII: Achilles Returns and Hector Dies

1.  How is Achilles different when he returns to battle? 
2.  Does Achilles seem heroic, terrifying, or both? 
3.  What is the effect of the gods’ renewed involvement? 
4.  Why does Hector remain outside the walls of Troy? 
5.  Is Hector’s decision courageous, tragic, misguided, or all three? 
6.  Why does Hector first run from Achilles? 
7.  What is the significance of the duel between Achilles and Hector? 
8.  How do you respond to Achilles’ treatment of Hector’s body? 
9.  Has Achilles crossed a moral line? 
10.  Does killing Hector bring Achilles what he wanted? 

Book XXIII: Funeral Games

1.  Why are the funeral games important after so much battle? 
2.  How do the games differ from warfare? 
3.  What do they reveal about competition and honor? 
4.  Do the games suggest a return to order, or do tensions remain? 
5.  How does Achilles behave differently here from the way he behaves in battle? 

Book XXIV: Priam and Achilles

1.  Why is Priam’s journey to Achilles’ tent so courageous? 
2.  Why does Priam ask Achilles to think of his own father? 
3.  What effect does Priam’s appeal have on Achilles? 
4.  Why do Achilles and Priam weep together? 
5.  What does this scene suggest about shared humanity? 
6.  Why does Achilles finally agree to return Hector’s body? 
7.  Why does The Iliad end with Hector’s funeral rather than the fall of Troy? 
8.  Is the poem’s ending more about victory, grief, or reconciliation? 
9.  Does Achilles change in this final book? 
10.  What kind of ending is this for a poem that began in anger? 

Questions About Achilles

1.  What is Achilles’ greatest strength? 
2.  What is his greatest weakness? 
3.  Is Achilles justified in withdrawing from battle? 
4.  At what point does his anger become destructive? 
5.  How does Achilles’ understanding of honor differ from Agamemnon’s? 
6.  Why is Patroclus so important to him? 
7.  How does grief change Achilles? 
8.  Is Achilles still heroic when he abuses Hector’s body? 
9.  What finally makes him stop? 
10.  Is Achilles a great warrior, a great hero, or both? 

Questions About Hector

1.  How is Hector different from Achilles? 
2.  What motivates Hector most: duty, honor, family, or reputation? 
3.  Why is Hector such a sympathetic character? 
4.  Does Hector make wise decisions? 
5.  What does his conversation with Andromache reveal about him? 
6.  Why does he choose to face Achilles? 
7.  Is Hector the poem’s most admirable character? 

Questions About Agamemnon

1.  What kind of leader is Agamemnon? 
2.  How does his concern for status affect his decisions? 
3.  Does he understand the consequences of insulting Achilles? 
4.  Does he accept responsibility for the damage he causes? 
5.  Is Agamemnon’s authority matched by wisdom? 
6.  How does Homer distinguish rank from leadership? 

Questions About Patroclus

1.  Why is Patroclus willing to risk his life? 
2.  How is Patroclus different from Achilles? 
3.  What makes Patroclus’ death so important to the poem? 
4.  Does Patroclus act heroically, recklessly, or both? 
5.  What does Patroclus reveal about compassion in the poem? 

Questions About Priam, Andromache, and the Families of War

1.  What does Priam reveal about the suffering of fathers in wartime? 
2.  Why is Priam’s grief so powerful? 
3.  How does Andromache help readers see the war differently? 
4.  What does the poem gain by showing us the perspectives of family members and not only warriors? 
5.  How do scenes involving Priam, Andromache, Hecuba, and Helen deepen the emotional range of the poem? 

Questions About Major Themes

Questions for the Whole Poem

1.  Why does Homer begin with a quarrel rather than with the origins of the Trojan War? 
2.  Which character changes most over the course of the poem? 
3.  Which scene best reveals the cost of war? 
4.  Is Achilles admirable? 
5.  Is Hector admirable? 
6.  What is the difference between being a great warrior and a great human being? 
7.  Does the poem celebrate war or question it? 
8.  Why are the Trojans treated with such humanity? 
9.  What role do the gods play in shaping the story? 
10.  Why is Patroclus’ death the emotional center of the poem? 
11.  What is the purpose of the shield of Achilles? 
12.  Why is Priam’s meeting with Achilles so important? 
13.  What theme seems most important in the poem as a whole? 
14.  Why does the poem end where it does? 
15.  Which question raised by The Iliad still seems most relevant today? 

Questions for a Final Discussion