September 18th — September 23rd

Date: September 17th, 2020
Time: 8:10am-9:30 am

Today, we took our weekly quiz. I did horrible on this quiz. I try so hard to understand these stories, but I just can’t grasp what the meaning of the story is. I guess that’s why I am a mathematics major!

We went over some terms in class. The terms are…

Gorgon- each of three sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, with snakes for hair, who had the power to turn anyone who looked at them to stone.
Apotropaic- supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck.
Prosopopeia- A prosopopoeia is a rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer communicates to the audience by speaking as another person or object. The term literally derives from the Greek roots prósopon “face, person”, and poiéin “to make, to do;” it is also called personification.

After we took the quiz and had a discussion of the answers, we broke into break out groups. The professor shared a Google Doc with us titled “Agamemnon’s Leadership (or not) in the Iliad (Greek Literature in Translation, Fall 2020)”

These were the directions:

In your group select one of the following nine passages (write the names of your group members besides the passage to claim it). Explain using the comment feature whether this passage presents Agamemnon as showing (or have shown in the past) good leadership or not. If you think it is good leadership, explain your thinking. If you think it is bad leadership, explain what Agamemnon should have done/said instead. Finally, where do we see examples of Agamemnon’s leadership today?

I highlighted the following quote in Google Docs:

“Runaway by all means if your heart drives you. I will not entreat you to stay here for my sake.”

I said that I think this shows bad leadership because he encourages them to leave if their heart tells them to. Professor Sandridge replies and says “What makes this bad leadership?” I say I thought this was bad leadership because Agamemnon is not asserting power. In organizational settings, leaders must have great power to achieve individual, team, and organizational goals. Leaders must be able to influence their followers to achieve greater performance; their superiors and peers to make important decisions, and collaborators to establish the vitality of the organization.

After this discussion with the professor, we were told to find another quote, and I found this quote:
“Agamemnon thrust at him with the smoothed bronze spear underneath the knobbed shield, and unstrung him”

I simply said that he seems like a good leader because he’s participating in the battle. I honestly think that Agamemnon is a really bad leader, but he has his good moments.

Date: September 17th, 2020
Time: 1:30 PM- 2:30 PM

Book 13

What four gods have affected the plot of The Iliad the most so far?

The four gods that have affected the plot of The Iliad are Poseidon, Hector, Paris, and Menelaus.

What have been the motives of each god?

When Zeus leaves, Poseidon decides to fight. He takes the form of the Achaean warrior Thoas. He is trying to take leadership at this moment. Hector’s motive was to kill Teucer, but he accidentally ends up killing Amphimachus, who is Poseidon’s grandson. Hector gets Paris and tries to gather all of his warriors, only to find them all dead. Menelaos’ motive is revenge, and he throws a spear at Helenos piercing his hand, and he kills more people.

Here is what I got from today’s reading. Zeus seems to have complete control over the war in the following books, making him the leader of the course of men. It has been shown that Zeus is not actually the greatest, and that other gods can engage in his actions effectively. Destiny is really a force beyond the power of any single god. Poseidon is another god with strong links to war. Poseidon gives glory on Idomeneus, who becomes another hero whose achievements of power are chronicled by the author. As one way to describe it, Homer uses the gods. In terms of fights between siblings, the dynamic between Zeus and Poseidon describes one aspect of the structure. It seems like a willingness to refute his elder brother is one aspect of Poseidon’s help for the Achaeans. Ultimately, Hector is a person with a great assessment. He’s not too arrogant to admit that he’s mistaken, mentioning it as a kind of comparison to Achilles’ stubbornness. He is a dynamic man, and all the troubles he brought upon the Trojans, he also loves his brother, Paris.

Date: September 19th, 2020
Time: 1:30PM-2:30PM

Book 14

Here is what I got from today’s reading. Agamemnon demonstrates some problematic leadership of the captains of the Achaeans once again. Agamemnon is the strongest of the Achaeans, but his thoughts are not the most important on the battlefield. The biggest piece of advice is given by Diomedes, though younger than Agamemnon, and he stands by the strength of his beliefs. Hera is a goddess who, under Zeus, tries to develop plans to show the weakness of Zeus. Hera realizes that love is really able to surpass the attitudes that are most strict and violent. I am beginning to see that sleep is an example of a deity that is a direct personification of human behavior. The idea that Zeus can be put to sleep makes him more like a human being, which again means that destiny is not completely in his influence. Poseidon is capable of continuing the Achaean revival with Zeus sleeping. An Achaean victory stands in contrast to the scheme of Zeus but brings the Achaean heroes’ fame. Hector is almost killed by Ajax again, indicating his fate. The Trojans depend almost exclusively on Hector’s strength: there is no one to compensate for him if he dies.

Date: September 20th, 2020
Time: 9:45 AM — 11:00 AM

Book 15

Here is what I got from today’s reading. Although it is easy to deceive Zeus, the manipulation is only temporary. He is still far stronger than the other gods. Hera misleads Zeus again, however, and is able to escape his fury. She also finds the whole war plan of Zeus, including the details of a planned Achaean victory. Currently, they are working together to carry the will of Zeus to pass. The now awake Zeus, who is simply too powerful for Poseidon to oppose, subdues Poseidon. Zeus was determined to exert his will in the war.

Date: September 21th, 2020
Time: 10:45 AM — 1:00 PM

Book 16

Spoiler alert: Patroclus dies in Book 16! What does he himself do to cause his death? Who else could also be seen as responsible?

Patroclus killed every Trojan he found. When Patroclus meets Sarpedon, a Trojan ally and the son of Zeus, he kills him. Zeus makes a decision whether to kill Patroclus in retaliation for Sarpedon or to let him first achieve further prominence. Hector’s chariot driver is murdered by Patroclus, and Hector and Patroclus battle over the body. Patroclus is knocked over from behind by Apollo, and Hector jumps on Patroclus to complete the kill. Zeus could have spared his son’s life, but his wife Hera told him not to. I wonder why she decided to let him go?

The pride and rage of Achilles toward Agamemnon is extreme, and even the deaths of many of his companions fail to shake him. The protection of his integrity is the measuring stick of his life for Achilles, and any Achaean injury makes his integrity better, and when he returns to fight and saves the day, it will make it all the more amazing. Achilles does not understand that his approval of the suggestion of Patroclus helps to fulfill the scheme of Zeus. The only thing that exceeds the quality of Achilles caring with his own beauty is his affection and compassion with Patroclus. The burning of the first Achaean ship is a warning that the Achaeans are in deep danger. The ancient Greeks were desirable people, using their ships for their wealth. Their vessels were, thus, valuable and, in the case of the Achaeans, their only means of going home. At a pivotal moment, then, Patroclus joins the fighting, with the fate of the entire war hanging in the balance. On his rampage, Patroclus scales tremendous heights, almost storming Troy, but his downfall is less glamorous. Apollo pressures him from behind, and one of the youngest Trojans spears him. There is a feeling that Patroclus has reached his boundaries and that, as decreed by Zeus, the war must revert to its normal order.

Date: September 22, 2020
Time: 8:10 AM- 9:30 AM

Today during class, the professor told us to join a breakout group to check in on our study habits. To study for this class, I read a book a day so I don’t get so caught up in the reading. The only thing about reading is that it is hard to understand the story. So, after I read, I look up book summaries or watch recaps of the book I read on Youtube. After that, he shared a speech with the class called Solitude and Leadership by William Deresiewicz. I haven’t looked at it yet because we were in class, but I will talk about it later. Anyways, after that, we discussed book 14 and how Hera in this part of the story was an aristea of seduction. Hera sees on Mount Olympos what Poseidon is doing and is delighted. She‘s scared of what could happen if Zeus gets sight of it, all the same. In the strength of a woman’s touch, she decides to distract him. She dresses herself up beautifully first, then calls Aphrodite, the goddess of love, to put on a few more touches. Specifically, she needs to borrow beauty and compassion. She then puts Zeus to sleep to carry out her plan.

We learned some key terms/Figures during this session:

Aristeia: In the dramatic traditions of epic poetry, as in the Iliad, an aristeia is a scene where a hero in war enjoys his best moments. Aristeia can lead to the hero‘s death, and thus indicates a “war in which he reaches his height as a hero and warrior.”
Boulē: The Boulē was a council of over 500 people chosen to manage the city’s everyday affairs in the towns of ancient Greece.
Hypnos: Hypnos is the ancient deity of sleep in Greece. A word we know today, hypnosis, is an artificially induced trance state that parallels sleep, distinguished by enhanced suggestion vulnerability.
Thanatos: Thanatos is an ancient Greek personification of death. A word we know today, euthanasia, is the act of painlessly putting to death or causing a human or animal to die, as if by withdrawing severe medical steps, suffering from an incurable illness or disorder, especially a painful one.
Priamel: Priamel is a list of things in a certain category, followed by the most important thing in that category (capping statement).

In class we addressed a few priamels. Professor Sandridge was playing The Beach Boys’ song California Girls. They said girls on the east coast had good style, girls in the south had good speech, girls in the midwest “make you feel right,” and girls in the north had great kisses. Even with that said, they suggest that the girls from California are the best.

We then found priamels in Betty Everett’s Shoop Shoop Song (it’s in his kiss). Betty said that to know if a man loves you, don’t look at his eyes, or his face, or the way he squeezes you. You know a man loves you by the way he kisses you.

After class, Sandridge told us to check out Baby It’s You by The Shirelles to find more priamels. It was pretty similar to Betty Everett’s song because The Shirelles state that It’s not the way you smile, or the way you kiss, it’s simply just that person that makes them feel that way.

Date: September 23, 2020
Time: 1:30 PM — 2:15 PM

Book 17

When in the Iliad do the heroes behave like women or are compared to women? Do you see any patterns in how they are described? What is the effect of comparing heroes to women?

The heroes behave like women or are compared to women on many occasions. For example, when Achilleus gets in a huge fight with Agamemnon because Agamemnon threatens to take his girlfriend away, he would have killed Agamemnon then and there if the Athena hadn’t stopped him. This incident is very petty because all he did was said that he was going to take his girl. Usually, the heroes are very angry and their girls are there to comfort them. This shows that the heroes needed a woman by their side.

The body of Patroclos is the largest emblem of glory that the war has seen so far. Not only has his last fighting effort been tremendous, but he is well recognized to be Achilles’ friend, and both sides understand what the capturing of his body would mean to the captain of the Achaean. The horses of Achilles are a symbol of the close friendship of Achilles with the gods since he himself is almost immortal. The combat between Automedon and Hector signifies a moment of readiness for the arrival of Achilles, so before Achilles can go into battle, Achilles’ special horses must be saved.
It’s a great direct reflection and heroism of Ajax that he will fend off the Trojans while Patroclus is borne by Menelaus and Meriones. Carrying the body means that Ajax's help has two fewer warriors. Throughout the day, Ajax proved that he was one of the true heroes of the Achaeans.