SparkNotes: The Iliad: Quiz

1. Who sends the plague to the Achaean camp near the beginning of the Iliad?

(A) Apollo

(B) Zeus

(C) Hera

(D) Moses

2. When does Achilles die?

(A) In Book 4

(B) In Book 12

(C) In Book 24

(D) He doesn’t die in the Iliad

3. Which of the following characters do not engage in one-on-one combat with each other in the poem?

(A) Paris and Menelaus

(B) Achilles and Agenor

(C) Hector and Ajax

(D) Priam and Agamemnon

4. When is the Iliad thought to have been composed?

(A) The twelfth century b.c.

(B) The fifteenth century b.c.

(C) The eighth century b.c.

(D) The third century b.c.

5. Who helps rescue Machaon after Paris wounds him?

(A) Nestor

(B) Hector

(C) Patroclus

(D) Odysseus

6. Who kills Dolon?

(A) Odysseus

(B) Aeneas

(C) Ajax

(D) Diomedes

7. With what weapon does Ajax knock Hector unconscious?

(A) A boulder

(B) A spear

(C) A wooden club

(D) His astonishing good looks

8. At what point in the story do the Achaeans hold their athletic competition?

(A) After the war

(B) Before the war

(C) After the funeral of Patroclus

(D) When Achilles rejoins the battle

9. Which of the following characters is Helen’s brother-in-law?

(A) Hector

(B) Achilles

(C) Agenor

(D) Agamemnon

10. How long has the Trojan War been going by the time the Iliad begins?

(A) Nine years

(B) Eight months

(C) One week

(D) The poem begins with the beginning of the war

11. How many Trojan warriors does Achilles sacrifice on Patroclus’s pyre?

(A) 100

(B) 12

(C) 8

(D) 25

12. Who suggests that Helen be returned to Menelaus?

(A) Hector

(B) Hecuba

(C) Paris

(D) Antenor

13. Who reminds Achilles that the Achaean soldiers cannot fight on empty stomachs?

(A) Ajax

(B) Odysseus

(C) Agamemnon

(D) Menelaus

14. Which god helps to bring about the death of Patroclus?

(A) Zeus

(B) Hephaestus

(C) Poseidon

(D) Apollo

15. Why is Astyanax frightened when he sees his father, Hector?

(A) He sees Hector’s blood-stained sword

(B) He foresees Hector’s death

(C) The plume on Hector’s helmet startles him

(D) He worries that Hector will bring him back to the battlefield with him

16. Which of the following do not appear on Achilles’ new shield?

(A) Dancing children

(B) Constellations

(C) Verdant pastures

(D) Valiant warriors

17. With which immortal does Achilles engage in one-on-one combat?

(A) The river god Xanthus

(B) Zeus

(C) Hephaestus

(D) Apollo

18. Why does Zeus initially agree to help the Trojans in the war?

(A) Because he thinks Paris deserves Helen more than Menelaus does

(B) He does so as a favor to Thetis, who asks him on behalf of Achilles

(C) He does so to spite his nagging wife, Hera

(D) Because he despises Odysseus for lusting after Hera

19. What provokes Achilles’ rage against Agamemnon?

(A) Agamemnon’s demand that Achilles hand over Briseis

(B) Agamemnon’s insults of Achilles’ lineage

(C) Agamemnon’s defeat of Achilles in a footrace

(D) Agamemnon’s repeated sending of Achilles to the front lines, where the danger of being killed is greatest

20. Who raised Patroclus?

(A) Thetis

(B) Peleus

(C) Shepherds on Mount Ida

(D) Nestor

21. Who sets fire to a Greek ship?

(A) Aeneas

(B) Hephaestus, god of fire and iron

(C) Hector

(D) Agamemnon, in a suicidal urge

22. What magical charm does Hera use in seducing Zeus and making him fall asleep?

(A) Some powder from a ground-up rhinoceros horn

(B) An enchanted breastband from Aphrodite

(C) A magical potion mixed by the Sirens

(D) A talisman that Hermes gave her

23. What do Helen and Paris do during one particularly stormy battle?

(A) They pray to the gods

(B) They set up an orphanage for the future orphans of Troy

(C) They mix medicines

(D) They sleep together

24. Where is Achilles’ old armor most vulnerable to attack?

(A) At the heel

(B) At the elbow

(C) At the neck

(D) In the eye visor

25. What grave tactical error does Hector make out of overconfidence?

(A) He orders his men to put down their swords and fight with daggers

(B) He orders his men to camp outside Troy’s walls

(C) He gives permission for half of his men to go on vacation

(D) He decides that his troops do not need to eat before fighting