Lesson plan based on Fallen Warrior

Explore ancient warfare through a dramatic reading of select portions of The Iliad.

Skills and Focus: Reading, Discussion, Oral Presentation

Subject Area: English Language Arts

Thematic Connection: Myths and Legends, Literature

Grade Level: Middle School

Time Needed: Two to four 50-minute class periods

Objectives

• Identify the major characters in Homer's epic The Iliad.

• Understand the strategies, external forces, and alliances of the Trojan War.

• Comprehend the kind of warfare celebrated in the Fallen Warrior relief.

Instructional Materials Needed

Stories: The Shield of Athena and Why Was This Sculpture Made?

Props for dramatic reading (two plastic swords, a baby doll)

Print Resources:

• Hamilton, Edith. "The Trojan War," in Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1942. pp. 255-276.

• Picard, Barbara Leonie. "The Iliad," in Adventures for Readers, Book Two. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. pp. 624-643.

Activity

Step 1: After students watch the stories The Shield of Athena and Why Was This Sculpture Made?, introduce them to The Iliad and the factors that contributed to the Trojan War. Although the warrior on the shield of Athena is known to be fighting in the Greek war against the Amazons, the principles of valor, loyalty to one's country, and heroism are also applicable to the war against Troy.

Step 2: The Picard text is divided into four sections that trace one battle of the Trojan War from the quarrel that initiated it to the final outcome. If there is enough class time, the entire text should be read so that students will understand the scope of the battle and the characters in it. However, the first three sections will provide a complete picture, and if there is even less time to spend with the text, the second and third passages will provide a more narrow, but still complete, overview.

Step 3: Assign students to each of the following parts (listed below by section). The classroom can be arranged to provide a set for a dramatic reading of the text incorporating limited movement. In this way, students (those who read and those who participate as non-speaking Greeks or Trojans) can physically get an idea of the words and movements of battle.

The Quarrel (set in an assembly hall):

Speaking: Narrator, Achilles, Calchas, Agamemnon, Nestor

Non—speaking: Patroclus, Athena, members of the assembly

Hector and Andromache (set outside Hector's home):

Speaking: Narrator, Hector, Andromache, nurse

The Vengeance (set in a battlefield just outside the physical walls of Troy):

Speaking: Narrator, Priam, Achilles, Hector, Hecuba, Andromache

Non—speaking: Athena, Trojans

The Ransom (set in the hut of Achilles):

Speaking: Priam, Achilles, Hermes, Cassandra, Andromache, Hecuba, Helen

Non—speaking: Automedon, captive women, Achilles's men

Step 4: After reading each section, allow students to change roles so that most of them are able to read and act out a speaking role during the class period. Discuss the ways in which each section reveals events and situations that explain the continuation of the war.

Goals

This activity meets Illinois State Goal 1: Read for understanding and fluency.

This activity meets Illinois State Goal 2: Understand explicit and implicit meaning in literature representing individual, community, national, world, and historical perspectives.

This activity meets Illinois State Goal 4: Listen and speak in a variety of situations.

© 2000, by The Art Institute of Chicago. All rights reserved. Use of this program is subject to the terms below. No part of this program may be reproduced, transmitted or distributed in any form or by any means, except for personal or classroom use. All Copyright in and to the program, in whole or in part, belongs to the publisher and its licensors and is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office