Greek Epics XX: Iliad Book 19, or Agamemnon Apologizes… Sort Of

Posted byTriumvir ClioPosted inGreek Epics, The Greeks

We still aren’t quite ready for battle, but at least Achilles and Agamemnon are friends again…

Discussion Prompts
  1. Why is Achilles the only Myrmidon brave enough to look at the armor from Hephaistos?
  2. If you were a speech writer for Agamemnon, how would you rewrite his apology speech?
  3. What do you think about Briseis in this book? For real? Or just an act?
  4. We know that Achilles is mortal, but he is filled with divine things in this book (i.e. armor, nectar/ambrosia, fire, his maternal line). Are divinity and immortality two different things? Why or why not?
  5. Why doesn’t Homer include anything about the famous Achilles’s Heel?

Published by Triumvir Clio

I have a BA in History and Classical Civilization from Loyola University Chicago and an MPH from Western Michigan University. I've been a geometry teacher, a religion teacher, a writing tutor. I'm a writer, a knitter, a dancer, a singer, an actor. And, yes, for fun I like to reread everything that was assigned while getting my classics degree.

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