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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How old is Patroclus when he is orphaned?

2. Why do kings send their daughters to Lycomedes?

3. Who tells Patroclus where Achilles has been taken, when he disappears after their intimacies?

4. Where does Chiron say death comes quickest?

5. Why are Achilles and Patroclus recalled to Phthia?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Achilles and Patroclus get called back to civilization?

2. How does Achilles show Patroclus another way of looking at the death of Clysonymus?

3. How is Achilles’ identity unmasked?

4. Describe Patroclus’ interaction with Achilles’ mother Thetis.

5. How does Achilles explain his friendship with Patroclus to Peleus?

6. How does Patroclus end up fighting Achilles, and what is the outcome?

7. Why does Patroclus’ father take him to bid for Tyndareus’ hand in marriage?

8. Why does Deidameia accuse Achilles of being ‘apathos,’ or heartless?

9. What prophecy does Odysseus tell Achilles about the conditions under which he will die?

10. What is Patroclus’ status at the opening of the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Debate the proposition Chiron articulates, that no life matters more than any other. Patroclus says that there is no solution to this question, that whichever way you choose, you lose. Is there are an answer to the question, of whether this statement is correct? What must one lose in answering it one way or another?

Essay Topic 2

In what ways is The Song of Achilles relevant to contemporary readers? What contemporary issues are at play in the book, and how would the book contribute to contemporary discussion? Cite specific discussions from contemporary sources, and cite specific instances from the book, that describe its contemporary relevance.

Essay Topic 3

Patroclus’ name represents the split in Achilles’ character: it incorporates both Pater (fatherland) and kleos (immortal fame). The part is reprised by Cleopatra, in the story of Meleager. How does Patroclus himself mirror this split in Achilles’ character, and how is the tension between these two choices ultimately resolved?

(see the answer keys)

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