3. Q. What is the position of the Iliad of Homer in literature? A. It is the leading poem of the world.
4. Q. From what is the Iliad entitled? A. From the word Ilium, which is the alternative name of Troy.
5. Q. What episode in the siege of Troy is the real subject of the Iliad? A. The wrath of Achilles.
6. Q. What occasioned the siege of Troy? A. The carrying off of Helen, wife of Menelaus, a Grecian king, by Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy.
7. Q. Who engaged in the siege against Troy? A. The confederate kings of all Greece, with Agamemnon as commander-in-chief.
8. Q. What was the occasion of the wrath of Achilles? A. The arbitrary interference of Agamemnon to deprive Achilles of a female captive, Briseïs, and usurp her to himself.
9. Q. What at length incites Achilles to again return to the field? A. The death of Patroclus, his close friend, slain by the Trojans.
10. Q. What is the result as to Achilles? A. He slays Hector, the Trojan champion, and is himself killed by Paris.
11. Q. What forms the subject of the Odyssey? A. The adventures of one of the Greek chieftains, Ulysses, or Odysseus.
12. Q. When and how does the Iliad itself close? A. Before the fall of Troy, and with the death and funeral rites of Hector.