The Iliad is a story that is found in many high school and college curriculums, but why teach it to kids when they don't know who Homer is? Why teach it to kids who may have no interest in ancient Greek tales? The thing about this text, and every text for that matter, is that it is a living thing. It is applicable to lives; that's why they're still around. Literature tells us about the human condition.
While the Iliad has gods and concepts perhaps foreign to our modern students, it is also a perfect example of the devastating losses which come with war, and students know about war. With tensions rising in areas such as North Korea, war is discussed very often. War is bound up with humanity and obviously has been for centuries. There are no right or wrong answers as to why Homer ended the text the way he did, but when looking at it in terms of the destruction of warfare, it shows how Hector is stripped bare. The tale doesn't go into lengths to explain the reasons for starting the war or how it even ends, but the emotions which come out of it: rage, fury, loss, pain.
Charlotte Higgins wrote an interesting article in 2010 titled "The Iliad and what it can still tell us about war." The following paragraph is an excerpt from her writing that explains what the text can tell us about war today.
"Yet The Iliad still has much to say about war, even as it is fought today. It tells us that war is both the bringer of renown to its young fighters and the destroyer of their lives. It tells us about post-conflict destruction and chaos; about war as the great reverser of fortunes. It tells us about the age-old dilemmas of fighters compelled to serve under incompetent superiors. It tells us about war as an attempt to protect and preserve a treasured way of life. It tells us, too, about the profound gulf between civilian existence and life on the front line; about atrocities and indiscriminate slaughter; about war's peculiar mercilessness to women and children; about friendships and sympathies across the battle lines. It tells us of the love between soldiers who fight together. Most of all, it tells us about the frightful losses of war: of a soldier losing his closest companion, of a father losing his son"(Higgins's article can be found at the following link: The Iliad and what it can still tell us about war). Her article is very illuminating on warfare in the Iliad and how it resembles much like warfare today. I urge you to read it.
Students will connect with the text through the questioning I've discussed this week, but in the end, the ultimate question is, "So what?" Why do we put student through a book that many adults don't want to even pick up? To students who ask that question, one cannot simply say, "Because I said so," or "It's in the school district's curriculum." Those aren't good enough for our students nor should they be. Even if the language seems daunting and archaic or Nestor rambles on for 100+ lines about his glory days, students need to read this text. It's a poignant tale about the toll war takes. With things like Call of Duty or Halo at students' fingertips, they might not really understand what warfare or killing is really like. Homer tells us though. He explains the loss of life in such a way that one has to be affected by it.
The Odyssey is on the table for this next week. I have to work a basketball camp, but the posts will still come every day. The schedule resembles the same format from this previous week because Homer wrote another 24 books. Just a refresher, I'll let you know how it's going to go down.
6/17: History
6/18: Books I-VI
6/19: Books VII-XII
6/20: Books XIII-XVIII
6/21: Books XIX-XXIV
6/22: OFF
6/23: Final post
I enjoy Odysseus and I hope you guys will like my discussion of his tale.
Until tomorrow,
Cassy
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