Iliad: Week Three Introduction (Book 3)

Book Three: Introduction

The next two books move away from the opening conflict of the Iliad and back towards the cause of the Trojan War. When Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world (the face that could launch 1,000 ships), married Menelaus (Agamemnon’s younger brother) all her other suitors promised to defend that marriage. So when Paris/Alexander “kidnapped” her (Helen’s participation in the event is debatable), all her former suitors, i.e. the princes and kings of Greece, have to uphold their vows and go to Troy to get her back.

Behind of the scenes of these human actions are the gods, specifically Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. They had asked Paris to judge which of them was the most beautiful, each one offering a bribe if he chose her. Hera offered a kingdom, Athena offered victory in war, and Aphrodite offered Helen. Paris chose Aphrodite’s offer, which explains why she supports the Trojans while Hera and Athena support the Greeks.

Book three begins with what the whole Trojan War should have been to start with: a duel between Menelaus (Helen’s wife) and Paris (the guy who kidnapped her). However, Aphrodite gets involved and the duel ends in an unexpected way. The rest of the book deals with the results of this duel, particularly with Helen’s reaction.

Questions to consider while reading:

-Hera is the goddess of marriage, Athena the goddess of wisdom, and Aphrodite the goddess of love. How do these things affect their interactions with humans? How powerful are each of them, respectively?

-What are the effects of Zeus constantly making bargains about how the war will go?

-Why does Homer wait until now to introduce the main conflict behind the Trojan War?

Discussions on these two books will begin on 
Friday, January 30th and continue through the weekend. 

Please post any questions you may have about the reading here as you go along, 

and I will answer them (or find someone who can). 

However, I ask that you try to save any big discussion questions for Friday. 

See you then!