Iliad Step One Exercise
As you watch this two-minute interview of Jay-Z, quickly enumerate as many problems of leadership as you can. How many different problems did you identify?
Now practice your technique on an ancient epic...
A lot goes wrong in Iliad One on the level of Achaean leadership, specifically the leadership of Agamemnon. As you encounter just the first 246 verses, how many problems of leadership, real or potential, can you identify for Agamemnon? Try to identify as many as 21 distinct problems and record them in your notebook, an annotated Google document, or an online journal such as Medium. Be sure to specify which lines of the poem reveal which problems you are noticing. Once you have exhausted your attempts, continue on to the next stage of this path at the bottom of this page.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this exercise is to help you notice, conceptualize, and ultimately anticipate the kinds of problems a leader is likely to face in a given situation, whether that leader is someone you follow or you yourself. Future exercises will be devoted to helping you understand the cause of these problems and explore some solutions.
KEY NAMES
As you explore, be sure to familiarize yourself with the following characters in terms of their names, lineage, skills, origins, and motives. Click on the hypertext for further information.
Achilles
Agamemnon
Klytaimestra
Apollo
Chryses
Priam
Chryseis
Kalchas
Odysseus
Ajax(Aias)
Athene
Zeus