The Iliad XVIII-XX on Core Curriculum

Thetis commissions new armor for her son Achilles from Hephaistos

Episode nine of Core Curriculum’s ongoing deep read of Homer’s Iliad dropped this morning! In this episode, Michial Farmer, David Grubbs, and I talk through books XVIII, XIX, and XX of Homer’s great war epic.

In this section, Achilles, mad with rage at the death of his friend Patroclus at the hands of the Trojan prince Hector, vows revenge; his mother Thetis orders him a magnificent new suit of armor from the blacksmith god Hephaistos, including a remarkably detailed shield; Achilles has a short chat with his horses, who have definite opinions on what is about to happen; Agamemnon tries too late to make amends; and, with the gods agreeing among themselves not to interfere with whatever may happen next, Achilles returns to battle.

You can listen to Core Curriculum on iTunes, Stitcher, and other fine podcasting apps, or via the embedded Stitcher player in this post. The shownotes, with pertinent links and glosses on our discussion including which translations we’re working from, are available at the Christian Humanist Radio Network website here.

I had a great time discussing Homer with Michial and David and, as always, I hope y’all enjoy our chat, too. Sad to say there are only two more episodes to go after this one. Thanks for listening!