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A transcript-matched topic anchored by excerpts such as "...conquerors. They killed a lot of people for their own personal glory. Why would Alexander the Great be in here, the circle of violence,..."
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Jiang says Alexander and Julius Caesar did the same basic thing as great conquerors who killed many people for personal glory, which makes their different placements a major interpretive problem.
He says Dante's prophecy in Canto 17 will sharply contrast with the triumphant Aeneid pattern, shifting from glory to whatever awaits Dante after he leaves heaven and returns to the real world.
At the spirit level, Penelope is asking whether the war-hero Odysseus will seek adventure and eternal glory again, and Odysseus answers by saying his heart is rooted at home.
Achilles represents the heroic choice of fame and early death: he chose to die young at Troy so others would celebrate him.
The Trojan War is introduced as the event that promises glory and makes mortals into gods, which is why Achilles goes and why Odysseus is tempted despite loving his family.
Achilles changes the expected course of events by adding glory and divine possibility to Patroclus' mission, exciting his desire to prove himself rather than simply rescue the Greeks.
Jiang claims Achilles' speech gives Patroclus hubris by implying he can win eternal glory and perhaps surpass Achilles, while omitting the real danger of Hector.
Achilles' choice of a young heroic death at Troy over old age at home illustrates Jiang's claim that Achilles can flourish only through fighting and glory.
"...conquerors. They killed a lot of people for their own personal glory. Why would Alexander the Great be in here, the circle of violence,..."
"...in the Aeneid, the prophecy is one of triumph, one of glory."
"But in Dante's prophecy, it's completely different. Okay? So this is Canto 17. And we're going to read Dante's grandfather telling him what lies..."
"...you know, 20 years ago, you were the one who brought glory in war. How do I know that if we let you back..."
"for you, and it cannot be moved. And it's something that is the foundation of who I am. So I will never ever leave..."
"But you, Achilles, there's not a man in the world more blessed than you. There never has been, never will be one. Time was,..."
"Okay, so this brings us back to the Iliad, right? So remember, in the Iliad, the Iliad is about Achilles, and Achilles tells everyone..."
"And it happens just in the middle of the plot, okay? In the beginning, Odysseus has been away for 20 years, and he's stuck..."
"That's why Achilles enters this war, because this is the opportunity for him to prove that he is the greatest warrior in all of..."
"So, we've known for a long time that we as humans operate at many different levels all at once. And so, we don't really..."
"...enter the battlefield, Zeus, okay? Zeus is going to give you glory, all right? He's getting Patroclus excited. Patroclus is hoping to win some..."
"...it tells Patroclus. Patroclus, you have the opportunity to seek eternal glory. You have the opportunity to be better than me. In fact, you're..."
Dante's Hell is not just a ladder of sins in this lecture.
The seminar begins with line-by-line questions and expands into a larger claim: Dante matters because poetry trains imagination, vows turn hope into action, and faith, hope, and love stop meaning obedience and start meaning...
The Odyssey ends by making love more important than empire, fame, and heroic death.
The Iliad begins as a war of wills and ends as a metaphysics of love: memory is emotion, poetry is consciousness in motion, forgiveness defeats revenge, and forced perspective-switching becomes the big bang of...
A source-grounded reading of Homer as civilizational engine: the Iliad trains Greeks to fight with speeches, poetry projects movies onto the world, language controls time and space, and the poet becomes the flame through...
A source-grounded reading of the Iliad as self-recognition: Achilles becomes a mirror for humiliation and pride, Homeric speech tries to control reality, and the ancient poet becomes prophet and teacher because truth is beautiful,...
A source-grounded reading of Jiang’s lecture on Homer as the big bang of Greek civilization: empire turns writing into control, the polis turns speech into civic training, and the Iliad turns war into the...
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