Homer book club questions

The reading plan

Meeting 1: Part 1 to Chapter 5

1. When a dispute divides an army, is refusing to fight a fair response?
2. How should responsibility be shared between Minerva and Pandarus when her persuasion leads him to shoot Menelaus?
3. Does Diomed's willingness to challenge gods suggest courage, poor judgment, or something else?
4. Is inherited friendship a good reason to stop a duel when the wider fighting continues?
5. How does Hector's farewell to his wife affect your judgment of his return to combat?

Meeting 2: Chapters 6 to 13

6. How does the threat to the ships affect your judgment of Achilles' refusal to return?
7. What does a rescue becoming a fatal pursuit suggest about the limits of helping in battle?
8. How far should grief change our judgment of Achilles' violence?
9. Is Achilles' response to Priam best understood as mercy, respect for grief, or something else?
10. How do the Greeks' troubled homecomings change what victory at Troy seems to mean?

Meeting 3: Chapters 14 to 22

11. What do Ulysses' tears at songs of Troy reveal that his display of strength might not?
12. How would you divide responsibility for the delayed voyage between Ulysses, his companions, and the dangers they meet?
13. Does the crew's destruction after a forbidden feast seem like a fair consequence?
14. What might Ulysses gain or lose by enduring abuse while disguised in his own home?
15. How do you judge Ulysses' destruction of the men occupying his home?

Themes to talk about

Tips for the host

1. Open each meeting with one question everyone can answer, then go deeper.
2. Anyone who fell behind can catch up with the 15-minute summary.