When we were asking around last Friday, only Tau had a copy of the English selection so hopefully we won't be too late for the Tuesday lesson. Read na lang the first book and we'll just have the rest photocopied on Tuesday morning. (Jeyjey, do we have enough money na?)
It's a bit blurred but it's readable. :) If you tilt your screen back, it helps a bit. Just in case though, here's the first part:
"For the events leading up to the Trojan war, see the first paragraph of the Introduction to Homer. As the Iliad opens, Troy is undergoing its tenth year of siege by the Greek coalition. Although they outnumber the Trojans, the Greeks have not been able to take Troy and win back Helen -- this despite the presence on the Greek side of the warrior Achilles and the Myrmidons, his tough and disciplined army.
The gods take a strong interest in the war and are divided in their allegiances, some supporting the Greeks and some the Trojans. The division is explained by a mythological episode that occurred before Paris and Helen eloped. Paris had judged a dispute among Hera, Athena and Aphrodite over which of the three was the most beautiful. He decided for Aphrodite who had promised him as a reward the most beautiful woman in the world and then kept her promise by giving him Helen. As a result, Aphrodite sides with Paris and his people while Hera and Athena oppose them bitterly. "
It doesn't really say anything about what actually happens in the first book. I tried looking for e-book copies of the Iliad but I can't find the Robert Fitzgerald translation that the school uses. I found an Alexander Pope translation, but it's super different. The Alexander Pope version has a sort of summary at the beginning of each book so I'll put that here:
"In the war of Troy, the Greeks having sacked some of the neighbouring towns, and taken from thence two beautiful captives, Chryseis and Briseis, allotted the first to Agamemnon, and the last to Achilles. Chryses, the father of Chryseis, and priest of Apollo, comes to the Grecian camp to ransom her; with which the action of the poem opens, in the tenth year of the siege.
The priest being refused, and insolently dismissed by Agamemnon, entreats for vengeance from his god; who inflicts a pestilence on the Greeks. Achilles calls a council, and encourages Chalcas to declare the cause of it; who attributes it to the refusal of Chryseis. The king, being obliged to send back his captive, enters into a furious contest with Achilles, which Nestor pacifies; however, as he had the absolute command of the army, he seizes on Briseis in revenge. Achilles in discontent withdraws himself and his forces from the rest of the Greeks; and complaining to Thetis, she supplicates Jupiter to render them sensible of the wrong done to her son, by giving victory to the Trojans. Jupiter, granting her suit, incenses Juno: between whom the debate runs high, till they are reconciled by the address of Vulcan.
The time of two-and-twenty days is taken up in this book: nine during the plague, one in the council and quarrel of the princes, and twelve for Jupiter's stay with the AEthiopians, at whose return Thetis prefers her petition.
The scene lies in the Grecian camp, then changes to Chrysa, and lastly to Olympus. "
Hope that helped. :)
Scan of the Iliad
View more presentations from Flora Palabrica
1 comments:
Mail makes the quality low :)
Post a Comment