Customer Reviews

The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad

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In this book, Schein reviews the standard literature of the Iliad. He provides a structure for understanding the work. Beginning with the original performers and listeners, what stories they would have know, how this tale is different from the normal hero tales they were use to, and how those differences are important to the tale.

Another axis is how Troy was destined to lose, and at the same time, Hector is shown as the more moral of the leading fighters in the epic.

You can see the listeners hearing what they want from the story: a simple story of how their side won a long war, how their favorite warriors were braver than anyone else during some phase of the battles, how it would have all been different if the gods had not intervened, how it only turned out right because the gods intervened. And then also listeners who were listening for something more, also heard about `good things happening to bad people', and then even more that the bad people were in circumstances in which there were no other options, and how these people accepted their undeserved fates or railed against them.

This book has 6 chapters : 1. The Poetic Tradition. 2. The Gods. 3. War, Death and Heroism. 4. Achilles: One. 5. Achilles: Two. 6. Hektor and Troy. I have found the 1st chapter on the oral poetry formulas clear and helpful. A diagram of the structure of the Iliad might have been helpful.

I read the Iliad and thought that this book would be useful but it was not extremely useful and the book didn't come during the time it was supposed to come. The book was brand new and in perfect condition, which it should have been anyways.