Classical Myths IESMolí de la Vila de Capellades
Norma Jorba

UNIT 3 - LESSON 3

The Iliad

1 hour

Aims

  1. To introduce the plotand the main characters of Homer’s Iliad
  2. To relate the events presented by a literary work to its cultural context
  3. To show the importance of burial practices in ancient Greece
  4. To relate primary written sources to works of plastic arts

Objectives

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Content

  • To present the main events and characters of Homer’s Iliad
  • To highlight that the Iliad does not explain the Trojan War, but only a small part of its events

Cognition

  • To promote skills to build a sequence of events
  • To synthesise visual material (iea work of art) withwritten material (ie descriptions / interpretations)
  • To recall previous knowledge

Communication

  • To foster strategies for reading a long narrative text
  • To encourage to read fragments of a literary text

Culture

  • To make students aware of what was felt to be the appropriate behaviour for a hero in a Greek epic context
  • To provide a variety of artistic depictions inspired by the Iliad

Content

Learners will be able to:

  • give a general account of the events explained by the Iliad
  • list some events of the Trojan War which are not included in the Iliad

Cognition

Learners will be able to:

  • sequence the events of the Iliad
  • infer the author of a speech from a given context
  • compare and synthesise visual and written input
  • analyse the actions of the Greek and Trojan heroes
  • apply previous knowledge

Communication

Learners will be able to:

  • understand a written summary of the plot of Homer’s Iliad
  • relate direct speech to reported speech
  • express opinions

Culture

Learners will be able to:

  • justify actions of the Greek and Trojan heroes
  • show greater awareness of the survival and different uses of a classical myth

Activities (Teacher's notes)

1. a. Reading activity. Students are given eight cards with a fragment of a text in each one. In pairs students reorder the fragments of a text which summarises the Iliad.

b. Students are given the handout of the lesson. There they can find the right sequence of the cards, but each one has an added quotation taken from the poem, which supports the event explained on the right. The task is to decide who says each speech, among the characters named in the given list. In pairs. Comment in plenary when finished.

2. Draw arrows to relate a picture with its description.

3. Put the images of the previous exercise in order, according to the plot of the Iliad. One of them is an odd one. Students must say which one is the odd one and justify the answer.

4. Read carefully the underlined sentences of the summary. Which ones do you think express the right behaviour of an epic hero?

Materials

  • Pack of eight cards containing a fragment of the summary of the Iliad each one. A pack for each pair of students.
  • Handouts for the students

Assessment

The teacher assesses the work done during the session.