The Iliad

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the work over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Though Paris is the one who brought Helen to Troy, Hector leads the Trojan army against the attacking Greeks.

• What does Hector symbolize, to the Greeks, to the Trojans, and even to the gods? (topic sentence)
• Choose three examples from the text offering different perspectives on Hector and connect them to your central argument.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect Hector’s character to the theme of Poetry as a Medium of Immortalization.

2. The Iliad begins with Achilles’s rage.

• How does Achilles as a character shift over the course of the epic? (topic sentence)
• What prompts Achilles’s actions throughout the poem? How do his responses change?
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, consider what Achilles is remembered for and how he develops over the course of the text.