Achilles Gerens Stolam is a story about Ulysses tricking Achilles. Achilles had been hiding on Skyros dressed as a woman to avoid an oracle stating he would die at Troy. Much as Ulysses had been tricked by Palamedes, Ulysses tricks Achilles into revealing the truth about his identity and committing to war with the Trojans.
We broke Achilles Gerens Stolam into three parts. In part one, we used the Pictatio, which I was generally pleased with. Actually, we did it a second time in our Intro classes. One of my students later asked to do the activity when I asked what games we should play in the last couple of minutes of class. We followed up the Pictatio with traditional reading questions and also did reading-comprehension questions with the middle part. We used the third part as part of a quiz to assess reading comprehension. In its various parts, we spent about two weeks teaching this story. We glossed words in bold.
To help students make connections between the actions of both Palamedes and Ulysses, students had to determine who was the Furcifer Pessimus. This helps students reflect on both the Insania Ulixis and Achilles Gerens Stolam stories. In addition, it helps as a way to make further connections between these stories before reading Odium Ulixis where… well, things get rather hateful.
The Furcifer Pessimus activity works best when students have read both Insania Ulixis and Achilles Gerens Stolam, but you can adapt a similar activity to comparing any two characters in a story. After students complete the activity, divide the whiteboard into two parts. Have students each write at least one sentence describing a thing that Palamedes and Ulysses (or whoever) both did. It can be a good or a bad thing. Depending on the size of the class, you might want students to write more than one sentence on the whiteboard. This activity is a great way to retell two different stories or to compare and contrast characters.
Achilles Gerēns Stolam
Nōmen mihi erat Achillēs, et ego eram mīles. Māter mea, cui nōmen erat Thetis, nōlēbat mē esse mīlitem! Māter mea nōlēbat mē īre ad gerendum bellum Troiae. Ōrāculum dīxerat mē mox moritūrum esse in bellō. Sī īrem ad gerendum bellum, ego mortuus essem sed habērem glōriam immortālem.
Quā dē causā, ego habitābam in īnsulā, cui nōmen erat Skyros. Māter mea nōlēbat mē morī in bellō. Ego simulābam esse fēmina! Ego eram mīles; ego autem gerēbam stolam! Ego nōn habēbam gladium! Ego nōn habēbam arcum et sagittās! Ego nōlēbam gerere stolam! Ego volēbam gerere bellum!
Ōlim, nautae ex Graeciā vēnērunt ad īnsulam ubi ego habitābam nōn cum matre meā, sed cum fēminīs pulchrīs. Nautae etiam erant Graecī mīlitēs quī ībant ad Troiam ad gerendum bellum. Ego volēbam scīre multa dē mīlitibus. Ego volēbam īre ad gerendum bellum quia ego volēbam habēre glōriam immortālem.
Ego, autem, amābam hanc pulcherrimam fēminam, cui nōmen erat Dēidamīa et quae erat fīlia rēgis. Haec fēmina sēcrētē erat mea coniūnx, sed nēmō sciēbat Dēidamīam esse coniugem meam. Dēidamīa mox esset māter fīliī meī! Nēmō sciēbat mē nōn esse fēminam, sed virum. Ego volēbam īre ad gerendum bellum, sed ego etiam nōlēbam īre ā Dēidamīā et ā fīliō meō! Sī ego īrem ad gerendum bellum, ego numquam coniugem viderem.
Quid nautae et Graecī mīlitēs volēbant? Ego mox scīrem! Ego audiēbam omnia quod nautae et Graecī mīlitēs dīxērunt.
Graecī nautae dīxērunt, “Ō rēx Lycomēdēs! Nōs vēnimus ē Graeciā. Nōs volumus dare multa dōna tibi et hominibus quī habitant in hāc īnsulā! Nautae et mīlitēs nōs sumus! Et nōs volumus tē dare nōbīs mīlitēs Graecō exercituī. Nōs mox īmus ad gerendum bellum Troiae!”
Nautae dedērunt multa dōna rēgī, hominibus, et fēminīs.
“Grātiās vōbīs agō, nautae et mīlitēs,” rēx Lycomēdēs respondit.
Ego eram cum fēminīs, et nautae dedērunt multa dōna feminis. Nautae dedērunt stolās, gemmās, ānulōs, et calceōs feminis! Stolae, gemmae, ānulī, et calceī nōn mē dēlectābant. Nautae, autem, etiam gladiōs, arcus, et sagittās feminis dedērunt!
Coniūnx mea admīrābātur stolās, gemmās, ānulōs, et calceōs, sed ego admīrābar gladiōs, arcūs, et sagittās. Quam pulchrī erant gladiī! Quam pulchrī erant arcūs et sagittae! Gladiī, arcūs, et sagittae mē dēlectābant.
Ūnus nautārum mē spectābat.
“Gladiusne tē dēlectat?” Nauta mē rogāvit.
“Ō, est gladius pulcher et magnus!” Ego clāmāvī sīcut mīles et sīcut fortis vir.
Nauta mē cūriōsē spectāvit.
“Em, āh, em, gladius certē nōn mē dēlectat. Ego sum fēmina bona! Stolae fēminam bonam dēlectant, nōn gladiī!” Ego dīxī sīcut fēmina bona.
Nauta mē spectāvit et manum meam spectāvit… et ego manum meam spectāvī. Ego habuī gladium in manū meā.
“Em, em, certē, ō, dī immortālēs, ego sum bona fēmina! Nōn decet fēminae bonae habēre gladium,” ego clāmāvī, et ego posuī gladium in mēnsā.
Nauta rīsit et fēcit mōtiōnem aliīs nautīs.
Subitō, ego audīvī clāmōrem extrā domum Lycomēdis. Clāmor erat pessimus sonus, et ego audīvī mīlitēs. Clāmor erat mīlitēs quī petēbant aliōs hominēs. Ego audīvī cornū bellī. Fēminae clāmāvērunt. Rēx Lycomēdēs etiam clāmāvit.
Ego, autem, nōn clāmāvī, sed ego cēpī gladium.
Ego īvī ad petendum hostēs in exercitū quī nōs petēbant, sed nauta mē cēpit.
“Hahahahae,” nautae rīsit.
Nauta cēpit stolam meam et clāmāvit, “Tū nōn es fēmina, sed vir! Tū certē es vir Achillēs! Clāmor est falsus! Nōn necesse est tibi petere mīlitēs in hāc īnsulā, sed necesse est tibi petere hostēs Troiae! Nōn est bellum in hāc īnsulā, sed bellum mox est Troiae!”
Omnēs hominēs et fēminae attonitī erant. Rēx Lycomēdēs īrātē sē habuit quia ego habitābam cum fēminīs et cum fīliā eius. Dēidamīa nōn attonita erat quia Dēidamīa sciēbat mē esse virum. Quis erat hoc nauta? Ego nesciēbam.
“Est falsum?! Quis tū es? Quid tū vīs?” Ego rogāvī.
“Nōmen mihi est Ulixēs, et ego sum mīles in Graecō exercitū. Nōs Graecī volumus tē esse mīles in Graecō exercitū. Sī nōn tū nōn es in exercitū, Troiānī nōs vincent,” Ulixēs respondit.
Ego sciēbam Ulixem esse sapientem, et Ulixēs nunc scīvit mē esse virum. Ulixēs volēbat mē īre ad gerendum bellum. Quā dē causā, Ulixēs volēbat mē morī in bellō. Ego habērem glōriam immortālem, sed ego mortuus essem. Ego nescīvī quid ego agerem.
Subitō, Dēidamīa clāmāvit, “Graecī mīlitēs, nōlīte capere meum coniugem quia ego mox erō māter īnfantis!”
“QUID?!” Lycomēdēs īrātē clāmāvit.
“Vērum est. Dēidamīa est coniūnx mea,” ego dīxī.
Ego volēbam gerere bellum. Ego eram optimus mīles, sed ego nōlēbam īre ā Dēidamīā et īnfante nostrō. Habēre glōriam immortālem bonum erat.
“Sī tū nōn esses Achillēs, ego interficerem tē!” Lycomēdēs clāmāvit.
Ego nōn respondī. Ego certē eram Achillēs. Lycomēdēs nōn poterat mē interficere. Rīdiculum erat. Ego eram fortis, et ego certē fortior quam Lycomēdēs eram!
Ego spectāvī Ulixem et tum Dēidamīam. Glōria aut familia? Familia aut glōria? Quis nōmen mihi scīret sī familiam ego ēlegerem? Nēmō. Quis nōmen īnfantī meō scīret sī familiam ego ēlegerem? Nēmō. Omnēs hominēs mox scīrent nōmen mihi et īnfantī meō!
“Ego veniō. Ego eō ad gerendum bellum cum Graecō exercitū,” ego respondī.
