Homer's
Iliad (Fagles Translation)
Introduction
and Study Guide
This
is intended as a brief and handy introduction and study guide to the Iliad.
Read the first four pages before beginning the poem. Fuller information on many of these
points may be found in the introduction to Robert Fagles’ translation. That introduction is not by Fagles, but by
the great British-American classical scholar Bernard Knox (1914-2010). While it is an excellent interpretation of
the Iliad, it is fairly lengthy, and
it contains “spoilers.” Thus, it may
prove more helpful when you have already read the poem or at least have gotten
into it.
In
addition to Knox’s introduction, note also the follow features of Fagles’
translation:
-
the maps on pp. 68ff
-
the genealogy of the royal house of Troy on p. 617
-
the notes on particular passages on pp. 621-33 (These notes are by Bernard
Knox.)
-
the pronouncing glossary of names and places on pp. 639-83 (This is very
helpful for sorting out characters and places and in refreshing your memory as
you read. Note the much briefer glossary
of characters at the end of this study guide.)
Genre: The Iliad
is an epic poem (not a
“novel”!) An ancient epic (from the
Greek word epos, "word, utterance" or, especially in the plural,
"poetic utterance, poem") is a long narrative in verse on a subject drawn from the legends of
the "Heroic Age" of Greece, roughly the late second millennium BCE.
The Iliad and the Odyssey were products of a long history
of oral epic poetry. Oral poets (aoidoi, "bards") were illiterate artists whose
productions were skillfully
improvised conglomerations of traditional themes, scenes and phrases, accompanied
by a lyre and perhaps by impressive costumes and gestures. Audiences may have
been the inhabitants and guests of noble houses, though festivals at shrines of
gods and
aristocratic funerals were also likely contexts for performances of
particularly ambitious oral
epics.
Place
of composition: Western Asia Minor (modern Turkey) or an island off the
coast (Chios has been a popular ancient and modern
candidate).
Time
of composition: The Iliad probably
achieved more or less final form around the mid to late 8th
century BCE.
Composer:
The
moments at which the two great epics, the Iliad
and the Odyssey, were captured in writing marked the end and
perhaps also the high point of the Greek oral poetic tradition. These moments also marked the beginning and
perhaps also, as the later Greeks themselves believed, the high
point of Greek literature. Both epics
were attributed to a bard
named "Homer." Nothing is
securely known about "Homer," not even
that he actually existed. The tradition
of his blindness was probably derived from
the moving portrayal of the blind bard Demodokos in the Odyssey. It is in fact far from certain that
both epics were composed by the same poet. It is also quite uncertain whether these
epics were written down by the composer(s) or were dictated to scribes. The "freezing" of these oral poems
in writing remains a highly mysterious and controversial phenomenon.
Form: The Iliad
comprises almost 15,700 lines of dactylic hexameter verse. Greek verse is composed of patterns of long and short syllables—not, as in
traditional English verse, patterns of
accented and unaccented syllables. A
line of dactylic hexameter, the meter of all
ancient epics, has six units ("feet"), most of which are
dactyls. A dactyl is one long syllable followed by two
shorts. The two short syllables may be
replaced by one long syllable, and
the last foot will contain one long followed by a single syllable, either long
or short. The translation by Robert Fagles uses what
Fagles terms "a loose five- or six-beat line
but inclining more to six." In
length, then, Fagles' lines approximate Homer's, but his accentual metrics ("beats") do
not reflect Homer's "quantitative" (long vs. short syllable) system.
Divisions: At some point in antiquity, perhaps
during the 3rd or 2nd centuries BCE, the Iliad
was divided into 24
segments, traditionally called "books." The "books" were given as titles the 24 letters of the
Greek alphabet, and brief descriptive headings were supplied.
Thus, the first book was called "A" ("Alpha") and
subtitled "Plague. Wrath." It is more common these days simply to give
the books numbers. Fagles, like many other translators,
has also supplied titles (e.g. Book 1: "The Rage of Achilles").
It is important to remember that these titles, while often helpful, are entirely the invention of the
translator. In writing papers, it is
best to refer to the books of the epic by their numbers, not by
the titles the translator has devised.
Time of Action: The
traditional date is around 1200 BCE, near the end of the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilization of
the Greek mainland and islands.
Place of Action: The Iliad takes place in and around the city
of Troy—also called Ilion (Ilium),
hence the poem's name Iliad.
Troy was located in NW Asia Minor, near the entrance to the Hellespont (the Dardanelles),
then as now a highly strategic location: the Gallipoli Peninsula, made famous by the disastrous 1915 campaign, lies
just across the Hellespont from Troy,
an indication of how strategic this region was and still is.
Background: Zeus, king of the gods, had a passion
for mortal women. While
"courting" one
of them, Leda, wife of Tyndareus,
he took on, as he often did, an animal disguise: this
time, that of a swan. The product of this peculiar union was Helen,
who grew up to
become the most beautiful woman in
Greece, courted by all the Achaean (Greek) chiefs.
Her shrewd stepfather Tyndareus
made all of her suitors vow to band together to support
the marital authority of the lucky man who would win her hand. This man turned out to be
the marital authority of the lucky man who would win her hand. This man turned out to be
Menelaus, king of Sparta, whose
brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, the most
powerful Achaean ruler, took in
marriage Helen's half-sister Clytemnestra.
Not long afterwards,
Jason led the Argonauts on the quest for the Golden Fleece.
In the course of this celebrated
voyage, the Argonaut Peleus fell in love at first sight with
the sea nymph Thetis. The two were eventually married in a big
wedding on Mt. Pelion.
All
the gods were invited—with one exception: Eris, the goddess of Strife. Understandably
miffed, Eris crashed the party and tossed among the carousing goddesses a
golden apple inscribed "For the Fairest." Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all dove for the
apple, initiating a contest that could be settled only by referring the matter
to the pure young Trojan prince Paris as he pastured his flocks on Mt.
Ida. In exchange for her offer of the
love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Aphrodite goddess of love
received the prize, whereupon Paris proceeded to Sparta to collect his prize, Helen. (Incidentally, Homer mentions this
"Judgment of Paris" only once: in the last book of the Iliad.)
Paris'
abduction of Helen activated the oath sworn by the suitors to Helen's
step-father Tyndareus. This, then, was
the beginning of the Trojan War, an expedition of Achaean chieftains against
Troy, led by Helen's brother-in-law Agamemnon king of Mycenae.
Subject: The action of the Iliad takes place as we enter the last year of this ten-year
war. In other
words, the Iliad is by no means the story of the entire Trojan War. It does not even take
us to the end of that war. Its subject, as stated in the first lines of
the poem, is the wrath of
Achilles, the best fighter of the Achaeans, against the commander-in-chief
Agamemnon. The cause of the quarrel is the subject of
the first book of the epic. The
subsequent 23 books are devoted
to the dire consequences of that wrath, consequences
disastrous for Agamemnon, for
the Achaeans, for the Trojans, and for Achilles himself.
Duration of action: The action of the Iliad covers 52 days. In
fact, 21 of the 24 books cover only six days. The lapse of time is as follows:
- Book 1:
23 days (But only the action of three of these days is recounted
in
any detail; the others are passed over in a few lines.)
- Books
2-22: 6 days: lst day of battle (Bks
2-7); 2 days of truce (near the
end
of Bk 7); 2nd day of battle (Bk 8),
followed by events of the
subsequent night (Bks 9-10); 3rd day of battle (Bks 11-18); 4th day
of battle (from Bk 19 to the first lines
of Bk 23)
- Book
23: 2 days for the funeral of Patroklos
- Book 24: 21 days (Again,
most of these days are traversed in a few
lines; the main
action occurs on the night of the ninth of these days.)
Characters: Like most ancient epics, the Iliad presents the deeds and words of three main kinds of characters:
1. aristocratic men and
women - the agathoi ("good
people") - The majority of mortal figures in the Iliad are lords of relatively small
territories, their nobly born companions, and their
womenfolk. While slaves do appear—and
two slave women play a decisive, though
passive, role in the action—slaves in Homeric epic tend
to be no less nobly born than their masters; they simply have had the misfortune to be captured in
war. Though it is clear that the bulk of
the warring armies at Troy were composed of
non-aristocrats, the poet virtually never brings them
into individual focus. The only member
of the "common people" (demos) to
receive a name, description and opportunity to speak in the Iliad is the loudmouth Thersites, "the ugliest man who ever came to
Troy." (Some scholars suspect that Epeus in Book 23 is another man of
the demos, but it is hard to be
sure.)
2. gods and goddesses - Homeric gods live
forever, are much stronger than mortals, and have a special diet (liquid:
nectar; dry: ambrosia, lit. "immortal
stuff") and hence also a special fluid in their
veins (ichor) instead of blood. It is
also implied at times that they have a language of
their own, though this may simply be a special vocabulary for some birds,
geographical features and the like. In
most other respects, however, Homeric gods
startlingly resemble Homeric mortals in their values, psychology and way of
life. Gods and goddesses are
particularly sensitive about the honors they receive. In this too they resemble mortals, but gods
do receive special honors denied to
mortals: especially sacrifices of bulls, sheep and other expensive animals.
A particularly impressive sacrifice will be referred to in the Iliad as a hecatomb, technically a sacrifice of a hundred
animals. By a convenient arrangement, the gods
especially enjoy the smoke of the sacrifices, particularly the smoke of
thighbones wrapped in fat. The edible
parts of the animals are left to the human
celebrants to barbecue and feast upon.
The most important of the gods live on Mt.
Olympus in northeastern Greece, though many of them have other favorite spots in
which to spend time and receive honors.
Some lesser divinities live on the earth
(river gods, nymphs of springs, etc.); others live under the ground (their king is Hades, lord of the
dead); and others live in the depths of the sea.
The principal divine figures of the Iliad
are ten of the twelve Olympians and
the sea-nymph Thetis. (See below for
notes on individual gods.)
3. the offspring of mixed marriages—or "affairs" (often in
fact rape)—between gods and mortals - These figures are
what the Greeks designated as "heroes" in the strictest
sense of the term. They are mortals and
live among ordinary humans, but they tend to be stronger (if male)
and better looking than full-blooded mortals, and they
will receive quasi-divine offerings when they die. While alive they may receive
special aid or favors from their divine parents and other divine protectors, but their mortality persists as a
tragic, unalterable fact. Among the main
figures of the Iliad who fall into this category are Achilles, Helen, Sarpedon and
Aeneas.
The principal human and divine
characters of the Iliad are:
1 Achaeans (also called Danaans and Argives: "Greeks" to
us)
- the Atridae (i.e. sons of Atreus):
1. Agamemnon - king of Mycenae, commander-in-chief of the Achaean confederation
2. Menelaos - king of Sparta, Helen's original husband
- Achilles - "best of the Achaeans," son of Peleus - king
of the Myrmidons, a tribe in southern Thessaly
- Patroclus - son of Menoetius - companion of Achilles (actually
older than Achilles, though we tend to think
of him as younger)
- Nestor - king of Pylos in the west of Greece - the "elder
statesman" of the Achaean army
- Diomedes - son of Tydeus - from Argos, near Mycenae - the
second-best warrior after Achilles
- Odysseus - king of Ithaca, off the west coast of Greece - wiliest
of the Achaeans
- Ajax (Aias) - son of Telamon - a fighter of tremendous staying
power (not to be confused with Ajax son of Oileus, a
notoriously savage
warrior from Locris who can often be found fighting
along side his more famous namesake)
2. Trojans (including such allies as the Lycians)
- Priam - aged king of Troy, husband of Hecuba and father of Paris,
Hector and many others
- Hector - Trojan prince, greatest warrior of the Trojans
- Paris - Hector's brother and Helen's current husband
- Andromache - wife of Hector and mother of their son Astyanax
- Sarpedon - son of Zeus - king of the Lycians, allies of the Trojans
- Polydamas - the shrewdest counselor on the Trojan side
- Aeneas - son of Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite - second-best
Trojan warrior after Hector
3. in a class by herself
- Helen - Helen of Sparta / Helen of Troy
- wife first of Menelaus, then of Paris, then (after the action of the Iliad—see Book 4 of the Odyssey) of Menelaus
again
4. gods and goddesses
-
neutral (at least officially neutral re. the larger picture of the war)
-
Zeus - "father of men and gods,"
"cloud-gatherer," the embattled patriarch of the Olympian family
- supporting the Achaeans:
-
Athena - goddess of crafts and craftiness (not yet of
"wisdom") - a loser in the "Judgment of
Paris"
- Hera - wife and sister of Zeus - closely associated with Argos near
Mycenae - the other loser in the "Judgment of
Paris"
- Hephaestus - son of Zeus and Hera - the lame smith god
- Poseidon - brother of Zeus and Hera - lord of the sea
- Hermes - son of Zeus and the nymph Maia - along with the goddess
Iris, he is a messenger of the gods
- Thetis - mother of Achilles, wife of the mortal Peleus - a sea
nymph, not one of the Olympian gods (Actually, the only Achaean she really
supports
is her son.)
- supporting the Trojans:
- Aphrodite
- daughter of Zeus and the minor goddess Dione - winner of the "Judgment of
Paris" - goddess of love and beauty
- Apollo - son of Zeus and the nymph Leto - also called Phoebus - god
of prophecy, music and
healing (not in Homer the god of
the sun---that is Helios)
- Artemis - twin sister of Apollo - virgin goddess of the hunt
- Ares - son of Zeus and Hera - god of war (despite the fact that he
backs the losing side!)
Two
other Olympian divinities, Demeter and Dionysus, do not take part in the action
of the Iliad.
Homer's Iliad:
Study Questions (Fagles translation)
Book 1
What
do the opening lines of the Iliad seem
to tell us about the subject of the entire epic?
Several
tempers are lost in this first book.
What kinds of behavior seem to trigger human and divine outbursts of
anger?
In
the course of Book 1 the priest Chryses offers up two prayers to his patron god
Apollo. What forms do these prayers
take, and how do they differ from each other?
What do these prayers tell us about the nature of the gods and of
human-divine relations?
Trace
carefully the course of the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon. How much of this crisis seems due to the
immediate situation? How much of it
appears to be rooted in long-standing differences between the two men? How does the quarrel reveal possible points
of contradiction and tension in the entire society? How might the quarrel have been avoided?
A
central theme of the quarrel is the question of the distribution and retention
of gera, gifts of honor (see #6 on
handout on basic terms). What are some
of the objects of value in the society of this poem, and why are they
valued? Keep this question in mind as
you continue to read the Iliad.
What
do we learn about Achilles in the scene between him and his mother, the sea-nymph
Thetis? How might this color our
understanding of this hero and of what happens to him in this poem?
How
does Zeus, "father of gods and men," reveal himself in his exchanges
with the two goddesses Thetis and Hera?
How does divine society as displayed at the end of the book contrast
with the human society we have seen in the rest of the book? Contrast the divine quarrel at the end of the
book with the human quarrel earlier.
What are your first impressions of the nature of the Greek divinities, at
least as Homer portrays them?
Book 2
What is Zeus' motive in
sending the delusive dream to Agamemnon?
What are Agamemnon's motives in his plans in response to this dream?
What does the behavior of
the Achaean army in response to Agamemnon's "testing speech" tell us
about the mood of the army after nine years of war?
What do you make of
Thersites? Why do you think the poet's
presentation of him is so contemptuous?
Do Thersites' words justify the poet's scorn and Odysseus' response? How is Thersites viewed by his comrades?
What is the effect of the
clustered similes and the invocation of the Muses before the
"catalogues" (pp. 114-5). And
what is the poetic effect of the "catalogues" themselves?
(These are commonly
called "the Catalogue of Ships" and the "Catalogue of
Trojans.")
Book 3
At the beginning of this
book, the Achaean and Trojan forces confront each other for the first time in
the poem. But what promises, after the
"Catalogues" of the preceding book, to be a grand scene of massed
battle suddenly turns into a scene focused upon two figures: Paris and
Menelaus. Why these two? How do they comport themselves and reveal
their characters in this scene?
Perhaps the most
fascinating figure of this book is Helen.
What are our first impressions of her?
How do others view her? How does
she view herself?
The scene of Helen and
the Trojan elders on the Scaean Gates has always been famous, known since
antiquity as the "Teichoscopia" ("View from the
Walls"). What do we learn of some
of the key characters of the poem in this short but powerful scene? It is often noted that it is implausible that
Priam would need to have Helen inform him of the identity of Achaean leaders
who had been besieging his city for the past nine years. Why do you suppose the poet risked this
criticism to create this scene?
The book closes with
scenes of meetings between Helen and Aphrodite and between Helen and
Paris. Both scenes reveal rather unusual
relationships. How do these characters
seem to treat and feel about each other?
Book 4
This book opens with
another scene on Mt. Olympus. Analyze
the interchange between Zeus and Hera.
How do they view and treat each other?
What are the limits on their power?
What claims do the humans below have upon them? What is the result of this scene for the
immediate action? What is the implied
result for the entire war?
What is the role of
Athena in the truce-breaking scene? Does
divine intervention seem necessary here?
To what extent does it seem to absolve Pandarus of responsibility for
his action?
Analyze the role of
Agamemnon in this book How does he
reveal himself as a human being and as commander-in-chief? In Book 1 Nestor had reminded Achilles about
Agamemnon: "He has more power because he rules more men" (p.
86). How does Agamemnon display this
superior power in this book? What are
the qualities of a good commander that he reveals here? What are the qualities of good
subordinates?
Recall the mood of the
Achaean army in the first half of Book 2.
Compare that with what we see here.
What has made the difference?
Book 5
Book 5 is the first book
of the poem to be devoted to scenes of full-scale battle. The book's traditional name is
"Diomedes' Aristeia (Great
Deeds)." (Remember that the titles
that Fagles gives to the books in his translation are entirely of his own
invention.)
You might focus your
reading of this book by staying alert to three main aspects:
1. Homeric warfare
- What seem to be standard features
of an encounter between
hostile
pairs of Homeric heroes?
How does Homer give
his battle scenes an orderly rhythm
so
as to avoid the impression of chaos?
2. Diomedes - Why does Homer
create such a major role for him in this book?
In what ways
is his stature exalted here?
How would you describe his
character? (You might want to look
back at his
brief appearance in Book 4, pp. 157-9.)
3. the gods - There are many ways the gods make their
presence felt on the field
of battle in
this book. What are some of these ways?
What is the effect upon a reader
of Diomedes' wounding of two of
the gods?
Book 6
We learn some interesting
details about minor victims towards the beginning of this book. Why might we be given such information? What effect does it have on us?
Why does Hector return to
Troy? Does this seem entirely plausible?
Pay special attention to
the famous meeting between Diomedes and Glaucus the Lycian (a Trojan
ally). Is Diomedes' presentation of
himself here consistent with what we saw of him in Book 5? What is the point of the mythological stories
here? What do you make of the poet's
comment on Glaucus' "stupidity" at the end of the encounter? What is the effect of the entire scene in the
context of this day's battle?
Hector pays a visit to
Paris and Helen. What are the dynamics
of their interaction? How do they view
one another—and themselves?
Hector's meeting with his
wife Andromache and his infant son Astyanax is one of the most celebrated
scenes in western literature. Why might
this be so? More specific questions to
bear in mind here are:
- What does this scene tell us about the position of
women in Homeric society?
- What does this scene reveal about the character of
Hector and the motivations
for his behavior?
- How do you
reconcile Hector's prayer for his son with the fatalism of the
speech which he had just delivered to his wife?
Book 7
Up to this point in the
poem, though the Trojans may have been bolder than usual on the field of
battle, the Achaeans have generally had the upper hand. Similarly, the duel between Hector and Ajax
in this book, though technically declared a draw, is not improperly celebrated
by the Achaeans as a victory for Ajax (p. 224).
Note also Diomedes' confident prediction of Troy's fall as an argument
for refusing any "deals" with the Trojans (p. 227). Nevertheless, Book 7 does mark a kind of
transition from the books that show us the Achaeans managing reasonably well
without Achilles to the books where "the will of Zeus was moving towards
its end" (see the first lines of the poem). In the absence of any serious setback on the
battlefield, how does Book 7 nevertheless prepare us for a shift in Achaean
fortunes?
Book 8
In Book 1 Thetis had
supplicated Zeus: "Come, grant the Trojans victory after victory / till
the Achaean armies pay my dear son back, / building higher the honor he
deserves!" (p. 94). At last, in
Book 8, Zeus seems ready to deliver on his promise to Thetis. How does he go about doing so? And how does he ensure that the Trojan
success doesn't go too far? Also, if
Book 8 takes us back to Zeus' promise in the first book, how does it also
prepare us for the future action of the poem?
Especially celebrated is
the end of Book 8: the Trojan campfires burning on the plain. How does the poet prepare for and develop
this scene? What gives it its special
power?
Book 9
Early in this book
Agamemnon utters two speeches in which he recognizes the gravity of the mistake
he had made in quarrelling with Achilles, "the best of the
Achaeans." (Compare also his speech
to the assembled Achaeans in Book 2, p. 103.)
How does Agamemnon characterize and account for his mistake? How does he promise to retrieve it?
The first major speech of
the "embassy" to Achilles is that of the wily Odysseus. In addition to conveying Agamemnon's offers,
how does Odysseus sustain his reputation for shrewdness by devising persuasive
gambits of his own?
Achilles' long speech in
reply to Odysseus (pp. 261-66) is one of the most important speeches in the Iliad.
It deserves a careful reading—and rereading. What are the speech's principal points? How does Achilles now view the heroic code by
which he has hitherto lived? What is the
famous "choice of Achilles" with which this speech reaches a climax?
Phoenix's speech (pp.
266-72) is the longest in the Iliad. Why is so long a speech given to so
relatively minor a character? What are
Phoenix's general arguments? What are
the arguments that he tailors especially to the case and nature of
Achilles? Why does he devote so much of
his speech to the story of Meleager?
What do Achilles and Meleager have in common? What is the specific point of the story?
Ajax's speech (pp. 272-3)
is, in this context, relatively short.
It is, however, crucial in helping us to understand how Achilles'
behavior is assessed by his own peers.
How has this book
advanced—or complicated—the story? Here
are two subsidiary questions:
- What will satisfy Achilles now?
- What, specifically, does he intend to do? Note that he signals his intentions to
Odysseus, to Phoenix, and to Ajax. Is he consistent? Also look carefully at
Odysseus' report to Agamemnon.
Book 10
This book is
traditionally known as the "Doloneia" ("Doings of Dolon"),
after the name of the Trojan spy of its central scene. In ancient times it was widely suspected that
this book did not form part of the "original" Iliad, and many modern scholars have agreed that it is a later (but
still quite ancient) addition. Even if
we assume that these ancient and modern scholars are correct, we still need to
ask:
- Why was this section added?
- What might its intended effect be upon a reader of the Iliad?
- How has this episode been made to fit relatively
smoothly into this part of the
Iliad, and how
might it contribute to its immediate context in the poem?
Book 11
With this book the third
day of fighting begins, a long day which will last eight books. Perhaps the most important thing to observe
as you read this book is its contribution to the central narrative architecture
of the poem. How does this book both
efficiently move the story forward and strategically slow it down? As you read, jot down the most important
events of the book. You will want to pay
special attention to:
-
Zeus' promise to Hector – What, precisely, is the extent of Hector's mandate
from Zeus?
- the wounding of the main Achaean heroes – How are these
scenes constructed?
What is their immediate result?
-
Nestor's long speech to Patroclus – Why does the poet have Nestor deliver such a
long speech to such an impatient listener?
Why does Nestor indulge in this
lengthy reminiscence?
-
Patroclus' meeting with the wounded Eurypylus – What does this scene tell us
about
the character of Patroclus? Why does the
poet let Patroclus get sidetracked
by
this minor character?
Book 12
In this book, as the
Trojans begin their assault upon the Achaean rampart, we get to know Hector
more deeply than at any time since Book 6.
In particular, note his interaction with the Trojan warrior Polydamas. What is Polydamas' role here? What does Hector reveal of himself in his
exchange with him? Pay special attention
to Hector's famous response to the bird omen and to Polydamas' comments upon
it.
The best-known passage in
this book is the speech of Sarpedon, son of Zeus and Lycian ally of the
Trojans, to his fellow Lycian Glaucus (pp. 335-6). Read this speech carefully. What does it tell us about the heroic code
which was called into question by Achilles in Book 9? What is the effect of this speech in its
immediate context?
Book 13
This book contains the
account of the Trojan assault upon the Achaean ships. Since many of the main Achaean heroes were
knocked out of action in Book 11, temporarily major roles are here given to
relatively minor characters. How does
Homer nevertheless manage to sustain our interest here? Also, how does he contrive to remind us of
the general situation, the main structure of the poem's story? Note also the continuing role of Polydamas,
whom we met in the last book.
Book 14
This book begins with
Hera's celebrated—or notorious—"Deception of Zeus" (the ancient name
for this book). What effect does this
scene have on us at this stage of the poem's action? What does it add to our conception of the
nature of Homeric divinities—especially that of the "father of gods and
men," Zeus? What are the immediate
consequences of this scene?
Book 15
After the
"detour" of Hera's "Deception of Zeus" (Book 14), the
awakened and angry divine monarch puts his plan back on track in this book. Indeed, we learn much more about the details
of the "will of Zeus" in this book than we had known before. What do we learn, and how do we learn it? And how does the poet get the story moving
forward once more?
Book 16
This book is the
"Patrokleia," "The Doings of Patroclus." What have we learned about Patroclus up to
this point? How does he reveal himself
in his conversation with Achilles at the beginning of this book?
Pay particular attention
to Achilles' speech to Patroclus on pp. 414-5.
What does it reveal to us of Achilles' present state of mind? What is the principal factor restraining him
from going into battle himself? What do
you make of the prayer with which he concludes this speech?
As you read the account
of Patroclus' behavior on the battlefield, be especially alert to:
- Homer's use of similes – What effect do they have on
you as a reader?
- the mixture of divine and human responsibility in the
death of Patroclus
Book 17
This book is devoted to
the fight over the body of Patroclus.
Why do you think Homer made this so protracted a struggle?
Note in particular the
weeping horses of Achilles (pp. 456-7).
How does Homer develop the peculiar pathos of this scene? What contribution does Zeus' speech to the
horses make to the mood of the entire poem?
Book 18
Read with heightened
attention the scene with Thetis and her son.
What are Achilles' feelings at this point? Has he learned anything? What is the function of Thetis in this
scene? Compare the scene of Thetis and
Achilles in Book 1.
Pay special attention to
the scene in which Athena and Achilles emit an ear-splitting shriek, just
before the sun comes down on the third full day of fighting in the poem. How does the poet give this scene its eerie
power?
At a Trojan war council
Polydamas offer his fourth piece of advice to Hector. What is Hector's response, what does this
response tell us about Hector, and how does the poet judge the success of
Hector's speech to the other Trojan warriors?
The last part of this
book is the most famous: Hephaestus' forging of new armor, especially a new
shield, for Achilles. Why has Homer
created such a scene here, and what is its effect on us?
Book 19
The most important event
of this shortest book of the Iliad is
the reconciliation between Achilles and Agamemnon. Analyze Achilles' first speech to Agamemnon
(p. 490). How does Achilles now look
back upon his anger and its cause? Next
study what is traditionally known as "Agamemnon's Apology." How does it compare with Agamemnon's earlier
admissions of error (Book 2, p. 103; Book 9, pp. 252-6)? How does Agamemnon apportion blame and
responsibility for his "folly" (atē)?
Much of the rest of Book
19 seems to be devoted to the somewhat surprising question of breakfast. Should the Achaeans rush forth into battle at
once, or should they eat first? Why does
the epic poet devote so much attention to this seemingly mundane question?
Book 20
Why does Zeus unleash the
gods early in this book? What is his motive? What do you think might have been the poet's motive? In particular, note Apollo's role as advisor
to Hector (p. 515).
Book 21
This book begins with one
of the most dramatic and poignant battlefield encounters in the Iliad: that between Achilles and the
Trojan prince Lycaon. What gives this
scene its special power? What does it
reveal to us of Achilles' present state of mind? How does it prepare us to await the meeting
of Achilles and Hector?
The central event of the
rest of this book is Achilles' "battle" with the raging Trojan river
Xanthus/Scamander. What is the effect
upon us of this unusual scene?
Book 22
The first major scene
finds Hector alone outside the gates, listening to the appeals of his aged
parents who stand above him on the walls.
Compare and contrast the essence of the speeches of Priam and
Hecuba. Then analyze Hector's response
(pp. 544-5). What is keeping him outside
the walls? What path do his reflections
take here? Does he remain true to his
nature?
After all of his
calculations, Hector turns to flight.
Why? And how does the poet convey
the excitement and pathos of this race "for the life of Hector breaker of
horses?"
In the climactic
confrontation of Hector and Achilles, we see again what we have so often seen
before: the convergence of human and divine agency. How are these intermingled and unified here? How do the "divine intrusions"
affect the reader? How do the heroes
give intensified expression to their own natures in this scene?
How does Andromache's
lament (pp. 557-8) add to our picture of the role and lot of women in the
Homeric world?
Book 23
Book 23 is largely
devoted to the funeral games of Patroclus.
On one level, of course, these games provide a kind of welcome relief
from the warfare that has formed the subject of so much of the rest of the Iliad.
At the same time, however, how do these games sustain and reinforce the
tone and values of the rest of the poem?
How does Achilles behave
in this book? Do you see any indications
that he may soon be ready to move beyond the frame of mind he has hitherto
displayed?
Book 24
The first major scene of
this final book takes place on Mt. Olympus.
How do the gods view Achilles' present behavior and state of mind? What is the standard of normal human nature
and behavior against which they measure him?
The central scene of this
book is Priam's supplication of Achilles for the return of his son's body. We have already noticed that supplication,
though a ritual presided over by Zeus, does not always succeed. Priam's supplication, however, does
succeed. Why? How does Priam move Achilles? How "close" do Priam and Achilles
become? How thoroughly has Achilles at
last "digested" his anger?
While the scene is largely devoted to Priam's persuasion of Achilles, it
also contains a persuasion of Priam by Achilles. What does Achilles persuade Priam to do? What attitude does he urge him to adopt? How consistent is this with the Achilles we
have seen in the rest of the poem?
How does Book 24 form an
effective conclusion to the Iliad? Think back to Book 1. Do the beginning and the end of the poem
achieve a kind of equilibrium? The end
of Book 24 is not the end of the Trojan War.
How have we nevertheless been made to think ahead to that now
not-too-distant event?
- Homer, Iliad 1.355-56 (- Fagles, lines 420-22) - Achilles tells his mother Thetis about his quarrel with Agamemnon:
Basic Terms and Themes
1. arete (ἀρετή)
pronounced
ah-reh-tay
Successfulness, effectiveness, competence,
skill, the ability to fulfill efficiently the requirements of one's status or
occupation; excellence, especially manly excellence: courage, valor (The word is perhaps related to ἄρσην, "masculine," cf. Latin virtus, "excellence, valor," related to vir, "man.") N.B.: Arete is often translated "virtue," a
misleading equivalent at best, though aretē
is indeed close in meaning to the Latin word virtus, from which our word "virtue" derives.
- Homer, Iliad 22.268-9 (= Fagles, lines 316-18) - Achilles to Hector, just
before they begin their duel:
Come, call
up whatever courage [lit., every sort
of arete] you can muster.
Life or
death—now prove yourself a spearman,
a daring
man-of-war.
- Plato, Meno 71E - The old-fashioned Thessalian
aristocrat Meno defines arete for Socrates:
“If you
want a definition of the arete of a man, that is easy enough: the arete of a man is
to be capable of taking an active part in the business of the polis" [see below, # 14], and while
to be capable of taking an active part in the business of the polis" [see below, # 14], and while
doing so,
to be capable of helping one's philoi [friends and relatives] and harming one's
echthroi [personal enemies], while
taking care to suffer no harm oneself at their hands. Or
if you want
a woman's aret, that is easily described. She must be a good housewife,
protective
of the things inside the house and obedient to her husband.”
2. agathos
(ἀγαθός pronounced ah-gah-toss
An
adjective applied to one who possesses aret.
It has a wide range of meanings: 1) valiant,
brave,
courageous; 2) excellent, useful (esp. of things); 3) noble, of high birth and
station
(The
archaic and classical Greek language tended not to draw a sharp distinction
between moral
qualities
and social standing.)
- Homer, Iliad 6.476-81 (= Fagles, lines 568-74): Hector
prays to Zeus and the other gods on behalf
of his infant son:
of his infant son:
Grant
that this boy, my son,
may be like
me, first in glory among the Trojans,
strong and
brave [agathos] like me, and rule all
Troy in power,
and one day
let them say, “He is a better [ameinōn, comparative
form of agathos] man than
his father!”—
his father!”—
when he
comes home from battle bearing the bloody gear
of the
mortal enemy he has killed in war—
a joy to
his mother’s heart.
3. kakos
(κακός) pronounced
kah-koss
An
adjective applied to one who lacks aret:
1) cowardly, base-hearted; 2) useless, ineffective,
incompetent;
3) of low social status
- Homer, Iliad 2.191-2 (= Fagles, lines 220-1) - Odysseus rebukes an agathos warlord:
My
friend—it’s wrong to threaten you like a coward [kakos],
but you hold fast, you keep your men in
check.
4. time (τιμή)
pronounced tee-may
Honor;
respect; high standing in society, esp. as measured by audible praise and
tangible rewards (see #'s 5 &
6 below).
- Homer, Iliad 1.277-9 (= Fagles,
lines 324-7) - Nestor to Achilles during the quarrel at the start of the poem's action:
And you,
Achilles, never hope to fight it out
with your
king, pitting force against his force:
no one can
match the honors [tim] dealt a king, you know,
a sceptered
king to whom great Zeus gives glory [kudos].
5. kleos (κλέος)
pronounced
kleh-oss
Glory, fame, the audible aspect and measure of
tim, the things people say
about someone
(usually good things, that is, but one
may have a "bad kleos") - from kluo (κλύω), "I hear"
A closely associated word is kudos (κῦδος), perhaps most frequently used of the
glory of
triumph
in battle, but today used in English of any kind of public glory. (Incidentally, kudos
is properly a singular noun, not plural as many suppose.)
- Homer, Iliad 6.444-46 (= Fagles, lines 527-9) - Speaking to his
apprehensive wife Andromache at the
Scaean Gate, Hector defines his own nature:
Scaean Gate, Hector defines his own nature:
I’ve
learned it all too well. To stand up
bravely,
always to
fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers,
winning my
father great glory [kleos], glory for
myself.
- Sophocles, Antigone,
lines 502-3 (= lines 561-62 in Fagles’ translation):
Yet
what could I have done to win renown [kleos]
More glorious [full of kleos] than giving burial
To
my own brother?
6. geras (γέρας)
pronounced
gair-as -
plural form: gera (γέρα) gair-ah
A gift of honor, prize; the visible and
tangible reward and measure of aret.
- Homer, Iliad 1.355-56 (- Fagles, lines 420-22) - Achilles tells his mother Thetis about his quarrel with Agamemnon:
Atreus’ son
Agamemnon, for all his far-flung kingdoms—
the man
disgraces me [lit.: took away my tim], seizes
and keeps my prize [geras],
he tears
her away himself!
7. aidōs (αἰδώς)
pronounced
eye-doze
An
acute sensitivity to what other people think about you—and especially to what
they say
about
you—or what you imagine they are saying.
"Shame" is a common English translation,
but
aidōs is as often as much an impelling as it
is an inhibiting force. A.W.H. Adkins
has defined aidōs as "the distaste felt at doing something of which society
disapproves, or failing to do something
of which society approves."
- Homer, Iliad 15.560-64 (= Fagles, llines 650-55) – Ajax rallies his men
against Hector's attack upon the Achaean
ships:
Be men, my
friends; discipline [aidōs] fill your
hearts!
Dread what
comrades say of you here in bloody combat!
When men
dread that [lit. “feel aidōs”], more
men come through alive—
when
soldiers break and run, good-bye glory [kleos],
good-bye
all defenses!
- Homer, Iliad 6.441-43 (= Fagles, lines 522-25)
- Hector responds to his wife's counsel of caution:
All this
weighs on my mind too, dear woman.
But I would
die of shame [aidōs] to face the men
of Troy
and the
Trojan women trailing their long robes
if I would
shrink from battle now, a coward [kakos].
8. charis (χάρις)
pronounced
khah-ris
A favor; thanks; gratitude;
gratification; delight; loveliness (pl. charites). This word has much
of
the range and complexity of the English word "grace." (Charis
is the Greek word in the New Testament
which is rendered "Grace" in English, and the goddesses we call the
Three Graces
were called the Charites in Greek.)
were called the Charites in Greek.)
The
most fundamental chain of meaning for charis
in Greek values is the following:
1.
A charis is a favor done by person X for person Y.
2.
Charis is the feeling created in Y by the act
performed by X.
3.
Y performs an act of charis for X in return.
4.
A feeling of charis is thus created in X, who accordingly feels
obligated to perform yet
another act of charis for Y,...and so on ad
infinitum.
Homer, Iliad 9.315-17 (= Fagles, lines 381-4) – Achilles rejects
Agamemnon’s offer of recompense:
Will
Agamemnon win me over? Not for all the
world,
I swear
it—nor will the rest of the Achaeans.
No, what
lasting thanks [charis] in the long
run
for warring
with our enemies, on and on, no end?
9. hiketeia (ἱκετεία) pronounced hick-eh-tay-uh
The rite of supplication. This is the
social ritual in which one person who presents himself as utterly helpless
and harmless (often as a result of losing a duel on the field of battle) puts
himself completely at the mercy (if any)
of another person whom he acknowledges as the person of power in this ritual relationship. The suppliant asks a free charis of that powerful person: life,
aid, ritual purification, a
son's body, anything that the suppliant needs and the other has the power to
grant. In
full hiketeia, actual physical
contact is usually at least attempted, especially with the knees and chin of the person supplicated. Hiketeia
was a powerful ritual which was
believed to be supported and
watched over by Zeus in his role as Zeus Hikesios (Zeus the God of Suppliants).
Homer, Iliad 1.500-503 (= Fagles, lines 596-600) - Achilles' mother, the
sea-nymph Thetis, approaches Zeus on
the summit of Mount Olympus:
And
crouching down at his feet,
quickly
grasping his knees with her left hand,
her right
hand holding him underneath the chin,
she prayed
to the lord god Zeus, the son of Cronus:
“Zeus,
Father Zeus!...”
Homer, Iliad 6.43-46 (Fagles, lines 51-4) - The Trojan Adrestus supplicates Menelaus on
the battlefield:
…above
him now
rose
Menelaus, his spear’s long shadow looming.
Adrestus
hugged his knees and begged him, pleading,
“Take me
alive, Atrides, take a ransom worth my life!.,,”
10. xenia (ξενία)
pronounced
kseh-nee-uh - in Homeric dialect xeinie (ξεινίη) ksay-nee-ay
The rite of guest-friendship. In an act closely related to hiketeia, a stranger (xenos, ξένος; in
Homeric
dialect xeinos, ξεῖνος) arrives at the hearth of another man and is granted food and
lodging. Both men are now xenoi (plural of xenos) in the more specialized sense of guest and
host.
A new and lasting relationship has now been instituted, often sealed
by an exchange of
gifts
(xeínia in Homer,
"guest-gifts"). In theory, a
chain of reciprocal charites (see #8)
has thus
been
forged, a chain which the descendants of the original guest-friends are
expected to
perpetuate, even if they may someday find themselves facing each other on the field of battle.
Xenia was a powerful ritual relationship that was believed to be fostered and watched over
by Zeus in his role as Zeus Xenios (Zeus the God of Guest-friendship).
perpetuate, even if they may someday find themselves facing each other on the field of battle.
Xenia was a powerful ritual relationship that was believed to be fostered and watched over
by Zeus in his role as Zeus Xenios (Zeus the God of Guest-friendship).
Homer, Iliad 6.215-18 (= Fagles, lines 257-61)- The Achaian Diomedes
addresses his apparent enemy, the Lykian Glaucus,
on the field of battle:
Splendid—you
are my friend [xeinos],
my guest
from the days of our grandfathers long ago!
Noble Oineus
hosted your brave Bellerophon once,
he held him
there in his halls, twenty whole days,
and they
gave each other handsome gifts of friendship [xeínia].
11. ate (ἄτη)
pronounced
ah-tay
Delusion, madness, destructive (often self-destructive)
folly; also, the resulting disaster, ruin.
At is often blamed upon a god, and on
occasion it is personified as itself a goddess, daughter
of
Zeus (which doesn't exempt Zeus himself from being at times a victim of at).
Homer, Iliad 19.91-95
& 134-38 (= Fagles, lines 106-9 & 161-4) - Agamemnon
"excuses" himself for his
folly in slighting Achilles, "the best of the Achaians":
Ruin [Ate], eldest daughter of Zeus, she blinds
us all,
that fatal
madness—she with those delicate feet of hers,
never
touching the earth, gliding over the heads of men to trap us all….
How could I
once forget that madness [atē], that
frenzy,
the Ruin
that blinded me from that first day?
But since I
was blinded [lit. experienced atē] and
Zeus stole my wits,
I am intent
on setting things to rights, at once...
Aeschylus, Agamemnon, lines 763-71 - The chorus
sings of the chain of Folly-Ruin (at) in
the history of
the House of Atreus (Lattimore translation):
But Pride [Hubris*] aging is made *hubris (ὕβρις) =
aggressive insolence
...ripe
with the young Pride In
an Athenian court of law it meant virtually
late or
soon when...birth is given “assault
and battery.” It implied “pride” insofar
to the
spirit none may fight nor beat down, as
“pride” might motivate one to intrude aggressively
sinful
Daring; and in those halls into
someone else’s “space.”
the black
visaged Disasters [Atai] stamped
in the
likeness of their fathers.
