Help with Questions to The Iliad: How are Hector and Patroclus similar?

1. How are Hector and Patroclus similar? Do you see any similarities in the behavior of Achilles and Priam? (Describe Achilles’ states of mind in the scene with Priam.) 2. What do you think is the message of Achilles’ fable of Zeus’ jars (483-484)? Why do you think Homer put sensible advice about grief (484-86) in the mouth of Achilles? Vae painting: A Warrior Leaving Home (Perseus). 3. In what ways can you relate Achilles’ altered notions of honor and glory to the changes we see in his anger and grief in Book 24? (Read carefully pp. 483-486.) Notice when Achilles’ and Priam’s griefs coincide, and when they are at odds. Vase painting: The ransom of Hector’s body (Perseus). Compare with a different version of the same scene. 4. Why do you think Homer ends the poem in the way he does? What is his point in ending that way? Why didn’t Homer end the poem with Achilles’ death or the capture of Troy? (In other words, why do you think Homer wants to stress the reconciliation and the end of Achilles’ anger in book 24?) Vase painting: The Death of Priam (Perseus). 5. Why do you think this poem is not called the Achillead?