How should I answer this exam q: "To what extent do you agree that Achilles’ behaviour in Book 24 is very different to his behaviour elsewhere in the Iliad?"

This question is worth 20 marks and, when done in exam conditions, should take you 20 minutes to answer, so I would suggest giving yourself this amount of time when practising at home, to simulate exam conditions. The important thing about this type of question is noticing the introductory phrase - in this case it is 'to what extent...' This gives you the clue that to answer this question well you need to weigh up different points of view, and finally come to a conclusion which is convincing and has been built up by the logical structure of your argument. Another important thing to remember is that the marking criteria states that examiners are looking for detailed knowledge of the Iliad which has been carefully and thoughtfully selected in order to answer this question. As you have a limited time to complete this question, you should not simply throw all your knowledge at it and hope that it makes a coherent answer - it is very important to spend up to 5 minutes planning your answer, going through the quotes and examples you know in your head and selecting the ones which would build a strong argument to answer this question. In terms of content for this particular question: firstly, consider Achilles' behaviour in this book and how it can be characterised (he shows empathy and forgiveness towards Priam). Then pick out a few examples of times when Achilles has not behaved like this (e.g the first line of the epic, "Sing, Goddess, of the anger of Achilles" frames the narrative of the epic with his powerful anger; book 1 shows his quarrel with Agamemnon; the following few books show the terrible consequences of his anger; book 9 shows his refusal to relinquish his anger or forgive Agamemnon even when asked by Phoinix, Odysseus and Ajax; and of course book 23 and 24 show his unyielding grief and rage at the death of Patroklos, leading to the killing of Hektor, the child sacrifices and the mutilation of his body). From this evidence, it seems that Achilles' behaviour in book 24 is different. However, you should then consider the other side of the argument. Think about times when Achilles has also shown respect towards elderly heroic figures, for example his interactions with Phoinix, and note that this is an important part of the heroic code Achilles lives his life by. Consider that in book 24 Achilles is showing piety towards the gods by his actions, as the Gods sent Thetis to tell Achilles to change his behaviour and relinquish Hektor's body, and thus his behaviour is perhaps not so different from the rest of the epic where he often shows piety and respect towards the gods, such as in book 1 where he follows Athena's command not to kill Agamemnon. Finally, come to a balanced conclusion based on the points you have made.