Paper Topics and Examination Questions on Homer

1. Achilles’ rage plays a central role in the Iliad. What is the source or sources of Achilles’ anger? How does he overcome his anger at the end of the epic?

2. The Iliad suggests three human responses to our morality: the life of the warrior; a life devoted to sexual love; and a life devoted to one’s community. How are these three paths a response to our mortality? How they relate to, and come into conflict with, one another. Does the text recommend one path over the others?

3. What do the deaths of Patroclus and Hector in the Iliad and the coming death of Achilles soon after the end of the Iliad, all have in common? What do these three heroes have in common and that leads to their deaths?

4. What, for the Iliad, is the meaning of fate? What role do the Gods play in determining the fate of human beings?