Week 7

Going through this long Journey of the Iliad was satisfying. Usually when I read books this long, I give up around halfway through and try to find summaries. I think what worked better for me was to see the Books (Chapters) as their own separate stories. When I first read the end of The Iliad I was a little confused in that the ending seemed to be happy (Well, as happy as it could be). When Mr. Sandridge explained that the story was a continuation of the already present mythology, I understood how this was only a portion of the whole story. Overall, I enjoyed the Iliad. I liked the drama and tragedy within it as well as the development of a lot of characters. On Thursday, during our final quiz for the Iliad, I felt a little sad because I thought that we were pretty much done with anything involving it. When Mr. Sandridge explained that we still have an exam that sadness quickly turned into anxiety, but I think I will be prepared by that time, Especially if I take advantage of Thursday’s review. On Tuesday, we spent class discussing the ending of the Iliad as well as doing a google doc comparing Book one to Book 24. Doing that opened my eyes up to just how big the Iliad world was and how many things changed through out the story: Introduction of new people, new gods, new problems, and even new armor. I would say the first book compared to the 24th book is a lot less open ended. In book 24 they were alluding to the ending of a lot more and in book 1, since they were still laying the foundation for the entire story, had to be more concrete in what they said. Another thing you can see develop is how different characters feel about each other. It is in the first chapter that Achilles begins to dislike Agamemnon because of what he did. And this continues throughout a lot of the story. For the last few chapters, I read them all in a day because I just wanted to get them over with. If I could add a chapter, I think I would show Achilles’ death as well as show the ending to the War. I was so frustrated that we didn’t get to see Achilles actually see his fate because of his choice to go back into the War.