Iliad: Week 2 Discussion (Book 2)

Book Two Events and Observation:
-To appease Thetis (whom he had forced to marry a mortal), Zeus sends Agamemnon a dream that if   he attacks Troy now, he will win the war
-Agamemnon comes up with a stupid idea to test the men’s loyalty by saying they are going to go   
  home
-Odysseus cleans up Agamemnon’s mess
-The Catalogue of Ships (Click here for a cool project on this)
-Introduction to Trojan troops
-Noteworthy Quotation: Agamemnon to the Greek army:
"I mean Achilles and myself. We fought
like enemies, in words, over a girl--
and I gave way to anger first. 
We two--
if we could ever think as one, the Trojans'
evil day would be postponed no longer" (2.442-7), Fitzgerald trans.  
 Some Questions to get started:-What does it mean if Zeus, king of the gods and god of justice, tells lies to people?-Why is honor so important to Achilles?-Why does Homer spend so much time on the Catalogue of Ships?

Iliad: Week 2 Introduction (Book 2)

In Book Two, we see the results of Agamemnon’s actions from Book One. We also get a really long list of all the kings who have brought troops to the fight. Here is a cool project exploring what is called The Catalogue of Ships. While this list is a bit hard to read, I encourage you to at least skim it. There are some interesting facts and stories slid in between the list of names. After the list, the reader is introduced to the Trojans and their allies.