The Iliad - Read Aloud
For children (and adults) age 8+
Chapter 1: The Golden Apple
“In the high and far-off days when men were heroes and walked with the gods…”
Backstory to The Iliad - Read Aloud
Hi, everyone..
I’m Jesse McCarthy, the man above reading The Iliad.
Years ago I was an elementary and junior-high teacher, though now I mainly “teach” teachers and parents.
Back when I worked with children/students every day, I would sometimes read aloud, usually with 4th and 5th graders but also all the way up to 8th graders.
Most loved it — and so did I.
Given everything that’s going on with this crazy coronavirus, and since many of us, young and old, are stuck in the house more often, I thought I’d do some read aloud with everyone out there regardless of your age, though I’d recommend you be at least 6 or 7 years old and at the most 117 (that’s the age of the oldest person alive right now). The ideal age range here is probably 8-12, but again I enjoy read aloud even as an adult.
The book I chose is The Iliad by Homer, or actually a children’s version of it called ‘Black Ships Before Troy’ by Rosemary Sutcliff, which you can find here. If you aren’t familiar with The Iliad, I encourage you to do some Googling and learn a bit, as it’s one of the most influential books in all of history. (Alexander the Great reportedly kept a copy of it under his pillow at bedtime, right next to his knife!)
But for this read aloud all you need to know is that the book comes from ancient Greece around 3,000 years ago, and it’s about a war, the Trojan War, which many historians now believe actually took place. Note though that A LOT of this epic story, if not most of it, is definitely unreal or mythical. (Chapter one gives background to the war, or why it supposedly began according to myth.)
If at any time during our story you want to contact me with a question or a comment, or with a response to one of my questions, or with anything on your mind really, feel free to email me: jesse@jessemccarthy.com.
Now I hope you’re able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the adventure!
-Jesse
Chapter 2: Ship-Gathering
“When Menelaus returned home from hunting and found his queen fled with the Trojan prince…”
Chapter 3: Quarrel With The High King
”The Greeks did not have smooth sailing…”
Chapter 4: Single Combat
”When the twelfth day came…”
Chapter 5: The Women Of Troy
“The war might have ended that day…”
Chapter 6: The High King’s Embassy
“Paris caught up with his brother, and they went down from the Scaean Gate together as though there had been no hard words between them, and plunged back into the fight…”
Chapter 7: The Horses of Rhesus
“There was little enough sleep for any of the Greek leaders that night…”
Chapter 8: Red Rain
“Dawn was indeed well up in the sky, but over the Greek camp there was little light…”
Chapter 9: Battle for the Ships
“Meanwhile, Hector was urging on the front-fighters of his war-host…”
Chapter 10: The Armour of Achilles
“With his heart sick and hammering within him, Patroclus ran for the camp…”
Chapter 11: Vengeance for Patroclus
”Everywhere the war-host was falling back…”
Ch 12: Funeral Games
“Hector’s mother and all her women, crowding the battlements above the Scaean Gate, raised piteous shriek and began to wail and lament…”
Ch 13: Ransom for Hector
”The gods sent for the lady Thetis, and bade her go tell her son that Zeus and all the gods of Olympus grew angry with him for his treatment of Hector’s body…”
Ch 14: The Luck of Troy
“After the truce-days for Hector’s burial, the siege wore slowly on…”
Ch 14: The Luck of Troy (Part II)
“Almost, she cried out, but he laid a finger on his lips, and bade her, ‘Hush!’”
Ch 15: Warrior Women
“eanwhile, Paris was guiding the Amazons into Troy.”
Ch 16: The Death of Achilles
“The chiefs and princes and old men of Troy gathered in council.”
Ch 17: Poisoned Arrow
“When the Greeks found Ajax dead by his own hand, they lamented [~cried] for him so that all the seashore was loud with their sorrow.”
Ch 18: The Wooden Horse
“After the death of Paris, Helen was still not given back to Menelaus, her true marriage-lord.”
Ch 18: The Wooden Horse (Part II)
“From the walls of the citadel the Trojans saw the smoke of the burning camp…”
Ch 19: The Fall of Troy
“All day the people rejoiced, singing and dancing in the streets…”
THE END.
🙏⚔️❤️