The Iliad

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is a myth? What roles do myths play in our society? What is a retelling of a myth?

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to think beyond myths as “cool stories” and to think critically about what they might reflect about a culture. This can also lead to a conversation about the role of retellings.

• “What is a Myth?” is an article on the companion website for the PBS series In Search of Myths & Heroes. The article discusses what a myth is and what myths have typically reflected. Links within the article point to additional resources.
• Xo Orpheus includes 50 retellings of classic myths that can be used to discuss what constitutes a retelling.

2. What does “oral tradition” mean? In what context have you heard this phrase?

Teaching Suggestion: Part of the experience of reading The Iliad is knowing that Troy will fall, that Achilles will ultimately die, and that Odysseus will take another ten years to return home to Ithaca. Encourage students to think about what it would be like to hear this story from a poet retelling it.