The Iliad

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Books 1-4

Reading Check

1. Why is Chryses at the Achaean camp?

2. What is the epithet most often applied to Achilles?

3. Who stops Achilles from killing Agamemnon?

4. Who agrees to fight Menelaus?

5. Why is Troy Zeus’s favorite city?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. The Iliad opens with “Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles” (Line 1). How might this be an example of foreshadowing?

2. What role does honor play in this section of the story?

3. Why does Helen regret coming to Troy?

4. Why does Agamemnon declare Menelaus the winner of the duel?

Paired Resource

“Mythology for Dummies Cheat Sheet”

• Provides a helpful guide to the Greek gods
• What role do the gods seem to be playing in this war? What might this suggest about the relationship between the human and the divine?

“This Is How The Iliad Sounded When Its Original Readers Recited It”

• A brief article with audio recording
• Students can hear a short portion of the story read aloud in ancient Greek.
• As the article indicates, the sounds of the language convey “an appropriate dignity for the message they transmit.