The Death of Hector from the Iliad by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles

THE DEATH OF HECTORFROM THE ILIAD BY HOMER, TRANSLATED BY ROBERT FAGLES

Literary Skill: The Epic SimileAdvanced Skill: Analyze Epithet

Detecting Imagery

EPIC SIMILE OR HOMERIC SIMILE Extended comparisons Color and amplify Digression from the plot

EPIC SIMILEEXAMPLE – DESCRIPTION OF ACHILLES' SPEAR

“Bright as that star amid the stars in the night sky, / star of the evening, brightest star that rides the heavens, / so fire flared from the sharp point of the spear Achilles / brandished.”

CLOSE READINGMETACOGNITIVE STRATEGY: LADDERS OF QUESTIONS

Reread the simile in lines 139-145. Paraphrase the text to ensure understanding. Literal Question: What things are being

compared in the simile? Interpretive Question: What might this simile,

and others in the story, tell you about Homer’s listeners?

Experiential Question: How do animals behave when they are hunting? How do they behave when they are being hunted?

EPITHET Phrases that include adjectives

describing characteristics of a person or thing.

Aid to listener to identify. Aid to oral story teller to maintain

meter and recall plot.

EPITHET EXAMPLES

“swift Achilles” “swift racer Achilles” “brilliant Achilles” “proud runner Achilles”

“Hector, breaker of horses”

CLOSE READING PRACTICE

Re-read lines 98-110 from “With that” to “my fighting strength.”

What epithets describe Hector? What evidence in the passage supports

the epithets used to describe Hector? What additional epithet does Homer

include? How do the epithet’s contribute to the

tone of the passage?

IMAGERY Writing that speaks to or engages the

senses.

VOCABULARY THAT ADDRESSES THE SENSES

Find the following words in the text: lethal (line 51)

onslaught (line 76) gluts (line 91) rend (line 194) defiled (line 253)• Explain how each word contributes to

the imagery of battle.