If Homer's Iliad is the first work of Western literature, as it well may be, then the first word of Western literature is "anger." Homer begins his epic with a particular word for anger, "mênis." It is but one of several ancient Greek words for this emotion, and means something like wrath, righteous and vengeful fury. Consideration of Homer's famous portrayal of anger's meaning and effects will lead us to these questions, among others: what is anger and what shapes does it take? What leads us to feel it? Is it a good thing to feel, or is it to be suppressed on grounds of its irrationality, destructiveness, or its connection with possibly flawed quasi-moral notions such as honor? Are there ever good reasons to give it up (for example, a duty to forgive), and if so how should we understand forgiveness, reconciliation, and the like? Anger and its modulations (resentment, vengefulness, righteousness, indignation, malice, among others) certainly seem to be extraordinarily prevalent and influential at multiple levels-- social, interpersonal, and personal. In Homer and the Bible, even the relation between humans and the divine is fraught with anger. In exploring what anger is, we will delve into the philosophy of emotion, and therefore into the relation of emotion to reason as well as to feeling and mood. In discussing why we feel anger, we will examine its relation to self-esteem, honor, and more broadly our nature as social beings. We will also consider several emotions that are related to anger, such as envy, jealousy, and love. Our readings will extend from Homer through the Bible, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics (in particular, Seneca's On Anger), Shakespeare, to contemporary philosophers (some of whom approach the topic with issues of gender, race, and social standing in view). CAS Divisional Assignment: HU; KHC Assignment: HU