Keeping track of all the men killed in Iliad is a challenge. Lombardo has even provided a “Catalogue of Combat Deaths” on pages 502-05 to make it easier. Yet simply cataloguing who dies and how would quickly make those deaths lose impact. How does Homer make these deaths tragic rather than simply a litany of hackings, slashings, piercings, and disembowelments? Or does he not succeed at that?
The deaths themselves are both vivid and gruesome. Do you detect any difference stylistically — meaning in terms of the technique of the descriptions themselves — between the way Homer describes killing and the way he describes everything else?
The nemesis of the Achaeans — the ostensible heroes of Iliad — is Hector, man-killer, Prince of Troy. Yet many readers find Hector the most sympathetic character in the entire epic. Consider his character, his actions, his words, and his motivations. Consider his relationship with Andromache and Astyanax. More fundamentally, consider what the Trojans are fighting for versus what the Greeks are fighting for. Where should our sympathies lie? You may also consider how Hector is both similar to and different from Achilles.
Re-consider Achilles’ position. It is central to Iliad. Why does he refuse to fight? Why are Agamemnon’s promises so ineffective at bringing him back to the war? What does Achilles want?
Diomedes is one of the great heroes of the book. What are his virtues?
Scholars generally agree that Book 10 was not part of the original text; it was added much later — much like how Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a later addition to the Star Wars saga. Once you realize that, the signs are obvious: it is a stand-alone episode that has no connection to or effect on the overall plot, and stylistically it is quite different from the rest of the epic. What differences between it and the rest of the poem do you notice?