Homer I: handbook to the Iliad

Act I (Books 18): Clash and backlash

Books 14: The Antagonists outline p. commentary p.

1. The Quarrel 1 23
2. The Forces are Displayed 1 30
3. A Truce and a Duel 3 34
4. Pandarus Breaks the Truce 3 38

Books 58: The Tide Turns

5. Diomedes Fights the Gods 4 43
6. Hector and Andromache 5 50
7. Ajax Fights Hector 5 56
8. The Trojans Reach the Wall 6 60

Act II (Books 916): crisis and disaster

Books 912: The Crisis

9. Overtures to Achilles 7 65
10. Night Interlude 7 73
11. Achilles Takes Notice 8 78
12. Hector Storms the Wall 9 83

Books 1316: Hectors day

13. The Battle at the Ships 9 88
14. Zeus Outmanoeuvred 10 94
15. The Achaeans at Bay 11 99
16. Patroclus Fights and Dies 12 105

Act III (Books 1724): vengeance and reconciliation

Books 1720: The Return of Achilles

17. The Struggle over Patroclus 13 114
18. Armour for Achilles 14 120
19. The Feud is Ended 15 127
20. The Gods Go to War 15 132

Books 2124: Endgame

21. Achilles Fights the River 16 138
22. The Death of Hector 17 145
23. The Funeral and the Games 18 152
24. Priam and Achilles 19 162

Appendices
Chronology 171
Speakers and speeches 172
 Iliad: Outline
Book 1. The Quarrel lines
1. The proem 1
2. Chryses 9
a) Agamemnon & Chryses 11
b) The plague 43
3. The assembly 54
a) prelude: Achilles and Calchas (2 speeches each) 57
b) the quarrel: Agamemnon and Achilles (5 speeches) 101
c) interlude: Achilles and Athene 188
d) the crisis 223
(1) Achilles oath 225
(2) Nestors speech 245
(3) Agamemnons final speech 285
(4) Achilles final speech 292
4. Agamemnons action 304
a) the expedition to Chryse 308
b) the taking of Briseis 318
5. Achilles and Thetis 348
6. Chryse 428
a) The return of Chryseis 428
b) Chryses ends the plague 446
7. Olympus 493
a) Thetis and Zeus 493
b) Zeus and Hera 531
c) Hephaestus defuses the quarrel 571

Book 2. The Forces are Displayed

1. Agamemnons false dream 1
2. The council 53
a) Agamemnons report 56
b) Nestors response 76
3. Agamemnons ploy 84
a) The assembly 84
b) The retreat 142
c) Athene and Odysseus intervene 155
d) Thersites 211
e) Odysseus speech 278
f) Nestors speech 336

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 g) Agamemnons speech 369
h) The sacrifice 398
4. The Greek muster and catalogue 441
a) The similes 455
b) Invocation to the muse 485
c) The Catalogue of Ships 493
(1) the contingents 494
(a) central Greece 494
i) Boeotia 50 494
ii) Orchomenus 30 511
iii) Phocis 40 517
iv) Locris 40 (Ajax son of Oleus) 527
v) Euboea 40 536
vi) Athens 50 546
vii) Salamis 12 (Ajax) 557
(b) the Peloponnese 559
i) Argos 80 (Diomedes) 559
ii) Mycenae 100 (Agamemnon) 569
iii) Sparta 60 (Menelaus) 581
iv) Pylos 90 (Nestor) 591
v) Arcadia 60 603
vi) Elis 40 615
(c) western and central Greece 625
i) Dulichium 40 625
ii) Ithaca & western isles 12 (Odysseus) 631
iii) Aetolia 40 638
(d) southeastern islands 645
i) Crete 80 (Idomeneus) 645
ii) Rhodes 9 653
iii) Syme 3 671
iv) lesser islands 30 676
(e) northern Greece 681
i) Phthia 50 (Achilles) 681
ii) Phylace 40 (Protesilaus) 695
iii) Pherae 11 711
iv) Methone 7 (Philoctetes) 716
v) Oechalia 30 729
vi) Ormenius 40 734
vii) Argissa 40 738
viii) Dodona 22 748
ix) Magnesia 40 756
total Greek ships: 1186 (with 90120 men each)
(2) the Muse: Eumelus and Achilles 761
5. The Trojan muster and catalogue 786
a) Iris and Hector 786

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 b) The Trojan catalogue 816
(1) Troy and the Troad 816
(a) Trojans (Hector) 816
(b) Dardanians (Aeneas) 819
(c) Trojan Lycia (Pandarus) 824
(d) Adresteians 828
(e) Hellespontines (Asius) 835
(f) Pelasgians 840
(2) Europe 844
(a) Thracians 844
(b) Cicones 846
(c) Paeonians 848
(3) Black Sea 851
(a) Paphlagonians 851
(b) Halizones 856
(4) northern inland Asia Minor 858
(a) Mysians 858
(b) Phrygians 862
(5) southern/coastal Asia Minor 864
(a) Maeonians 864
(b) Carians 867
(c) Lycians (Sarpedon) 876

Book 3. A Truce and a Duel

1. Paris and Menelaus 1
2. Hector and Paris 38
3. The truce 76
4. Iris and Helen 121
5. Helen and Priam: the teichoscopia 144
a) Agamemnon 166
b) Odysseus 191
c) Ajax 225
6. The oaths 245
7. The duel 316
a) the lots 316
b) arming 327
c) exchange of spears 346
d) Aphrodite intervenes 373
8. Aphrodite, Paris, and Helen 383

Book 4. Pandarus Breaks the Truce

1. Council in Olympus 1
a) Zeus 5
b) Hera 24

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 c) Zeus 30
d) Hera 50
e) Zeus 68
2. Pandarus wounds Menelaus 73
a) Athene tempts Pandarus 73
b) the bow and the shot 104
c) Agamemnons response 148
3. Agamemnons tour of the army 223
a) fighters and shirkers 232
b) Idomeneus 251
c) Ajax & Ajax 273
d) Nestor 293
e) Menestheus and Odysseus 327
f) Diomedes and Sthenelus 365
4. The first clash 422
a) The advance to battle 422
b) The first kills 457
(1) Antilochus kills Echepolus 457
(2) Ajax kills Simoeisius 473
(3) Odysseus kills Democoon 489
c) Apollo rallies the Trojans 505
d) lesser kills 516

Book 5. Diomedes Fights the Gods

1. Diomedes aristeia begins 1
a) Phegeus & Idaeus 9
b) Athene & Ares withdraw 29
2. interlude: other Greek kills 38
a) Agamemnon 38
b) Idomeneus 43
c) Menelaus 49
d) Meriones 59
e) Meges 69
f) Eurypylus 76
3. Diomedes II 84
a) Pandarus wounds Diomedes 95
b) Diomedes and Athene 114
c) Diomedes resumes the slaughter (4 pairs) 144
4. The wounding of Aphrodite 166
a) Aeneas and Pandarus 166
b) Diomedes and Sthenelus 241
c) Diomedes kills Pandarus 274
d) Diomedes wounds Aeneas 297
e) Diomedes wounds Aphrodite 327

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 5. On Olympus 367
a) Aphrodite and Dione 370
b) Hera, Athene, and Zeus 418
6. Diomedes and Apollo 431
7. Ares rallies the Trojans 454
a) Sarpedon and Hector 471
b) Hector supports Aeneas 494
8. Pitched battle 519
a) Agamemnon 528
b) Aeneas 541
c) Menelaus & Antilochus 561
d) Diomedes withdraws before Hector & Ares 596
e) Hector 608
f) Ajax 610
g) Sarpedon v Tlepolemus 628
h) Odysseus 668
i) Hector presses forward 679
9. The wounding of Ares 711
a) Olympus: Hera, Athene, Zeus 711
b) the goddesses descend 767
c) Athene and Diomedes 793
d) the stabbing of Ares 846
e) Ares and Zeus 868

Book 6. Hector and Andromache

1. Pitched battle resumes 1
a) Ajax 5
b) Diomedes 12
c) Euryalus 20
d) other kills 29
e) Menelaus, Adrestus, and Agamemnon 37
f) Nestor rallies the Greeks 66
g) Helenus counsels Hector 73
2. Glaucus and Diomedes 119
a) the meeting and challenge 119
b) the story of Bellerophon 152
c) the exchange of armour 230
3. Hector in Troy 237
a) Hecuba 251
b) the offering to Athene 286
c) Paris and Helen 313
d) Andromache 369
(1) Andromaches story 395

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 (2) Hector on the fall of Troy 447
(3) Astyanax, and farewells 466
e) Hector and Paris go out to battle 503

Book 7. Ajax Fights Hector

1. The second duel 1
a) The challenge 1
(1) Battle rejoined 1
(2) Athene & Apollo 17
(3) Helenus & Hector 44
(4) Hectors challenge 54
(5) The Greeks respond 92
(a) Menelaus 94
(b) Agamemnon 104
(c) Nestor 123
(d) the nine volunteers 161
(e) the lots 170
(f) Ajax arms 206
b) The duel 219
(1) the speeches 224
(2) the exchange of spears 244
(3) close combat 255
(4) the heralds stop the duel 273
2. Councils and truce 313
a) The Greek council 313
(1) The feast 313
(2) Nestors plan: the truce and wall 323
b) The Trojan council 345
(1) Antenors proposal 347
(2) Paris counter-proposal 354
(3) Priams terms 365
c) The truce 381
(1) Idaeus, Diomedes, and Agamemnon 381
(2) The pyres and the wall 421
(3) Poseidon complains to Zeus 442
(4) The day ends 464

Book 8. The Trojans Reach the Wall

1. Zeus takes charge 1
a) Zeus ban 4
b) Athenes response 30
c) Zeus descends to Ida 41
d) The days battle begins 53
e) The scales 66
2. The rout 78
a) Diomedes 80

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 (1) Diomedes rescues Nestor 80
(2) Diomedes kills Eniopeus 116
(3) The thunderbolt 130
(4) The debate and flight 137
b) Hector 172
(1) Taunt, rally, and boast 172
(2) Hera and Poseidon 198
c) The Greek rally 212
(1) Agamemnon rallies the Greeks 217
(2) Diomedes 253
(3) The nine warriors 261
(4) Teucers sniper aristeia 273
(a) 9 kills 274
(b) Agamemnons praise 278
(c) Gorgythion (famous simile!) 300
(d) Archeptolemus 309
(e) Hectors revenge 315
3. The goddesses disobey 335
a) Hera & Athene 350
b) The goddesses arm 381
c) Zeus sends Iris 397
d) Back to Olympus 425
e) Zeus unfolds his plan 469
4. The Trojans occupy the plain 489
a) Hectors speech 497
b) The watchfires 553

Book 9. Overtures to Achilles

1. The assembly 1
a) Agamemnon 13
b) Diomedes 30
c) Nestor 52
2. The inner council 89
a) Nestor spells it out 92
b) Agamemnons offer 114
c) Nestor appoints spokesmen 162
3. The delegation to Achilles 182
a) Arrival and welcome 185
b) The negotiations 222
(1) Odysseus speech 222
(a) the crisis 225
(b) the appeal 247
(c) Peleus advice 253
(d) Agamemnons terms 262
(e) other considerations 300

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 (2) Achilles reply 307
(a) the broken code 314
(b) home to Phthia 356
(c) Agamemnons terms rejected 369
(d) Thetis prophecy 410
(e) conclusion 421
(3) Phoenix speech 432
(a) Phoenixs story 444
(b) the allegory of the Prayers 502
(c) the story of Meleager 524
(d) the point spelled out 600
(4) Achilles reply to Phoenix 606
(5) Ajax speech 620
(6) Achilles reply to Ajax 643
4. Odysseus reports back to Agamemnon 670
a) Odysseus report 676
b) Diomedes response 693

Book 10. Night Interlude

1. The Greek night council 1
a) Agamemnon 3
b) Menelaus 25
c) Nestor 72
d) Odysseus, Diomedes, and the rest 132
e) the assembly 194
(1) Nestors plan 204
(2) the volunteers 218
f) arming, prayers, and departure 253
2. The Trojan council 299
a) Hectors plan 302
b) Dolon volunteers and sets out 313
3. The encounter in no-mans-land 338
a) detection and pursuit 338
b) Odysseus interrogation 382
c) Dolons death 446
4. In the Trojan camp 469
a) slaughter of the Thracians 469
b) the horses of Rhesus 498
5. Return to the Greek camp 525
a) Nestors welcome 532

Book 11. Achilles Takes Notice

1. The long day breaks 1
2. Agamemnon arms 15

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 3. The Trojans muster 56
4. Battle joined 67
5. Agamemnons aristeia 91
a) two single kills 92
b) two paired kills 101
c) the Trojans retreat and regroup 163
d) Zeuss message to Hector 181
e) the Muse invoked 218
f) Iphidamas wounds Agamemnon, and is killed 221
g) Con killed over his brother 248
h) Agamemnons withdrawal 264
6. The woundings of the Greeks 284
a) Hector renews the assault 284
b) Odysseus and Diomedes strike back 310
c) Hector escapes Diomedes 343
d) Paris wounds Diomedes 369
e) Odysseus at bay 401
f) Socus wounds Odysseus, and is killed 425
g) Menelaus and Ajax 462
h) Paris wounds Machaon 502
i) Ajax at bay 521
j) Paris wounds Eurypylus 575
7. Achilles and Patroclus drawn in 596
a) At Achilles camp 599
b) Nestor and Patroclus 618
c) Nestors big speech 655
(1) the tale of the cattle raid 670
(2) Peleus and Achilles 762
(3) Nestors plan for Patroclus 790
d) Patroclus delays with Eurypylus 806

Book 12. Hector Storms the Wall

1. Flashforward: the fate of Nestors wall 1
2. Hector presses the attack 34
3. Polydamas plan: the fivefold attack 60
a) Hector 88
b) Paris 93
c) Helenus 96
d) Aeneas 98
e) Sarpedon 101
4. The assault on the wall 105
a) Asius charge repelled 108
b) Hector and Polydamas 195
(1) the omen 200

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 (2) Polydamas advice rejected 210
(3) Ajax & Ajax defend 265
c) Sarpedon & Glaucus 290
(1) Menestheus summons Ajax 330
(2) Ajax defends the wall 370
(3) Teucer wounds Glaucus 387
d) stalemate 415
e) Hector breaks through 436

Book 13. The Battle at the Ships

1. Enter Poseidon 1
a) Zeus withdraws 1
b) Poseidon moves in 10
c) Poseidon rallies the Ajaxes 43
(1) his speech 46
(2) their speeches 66
d) Poseidon rallies the other Greeks 81
(1) his speech 94
(2) the Greeks stand firm 125
2. Hectors attack 136
a) Hectors charge stopped 145
b) Meriones repels Deiphobus 156
c) Teucer kills 170
d) Hector kills 183
e) Ajax blocks Hector 188
f) the corpses retrieved 194
3. Idomeneus aristeia 206
a) the entry to battle 210
(1) Poseidon rallies Idomeneus 216
(2) Idomeneus and Meriones (5 speeches) 246
(3) into the battle 330
b) interlude: comment on Poseidon and Zeus 345
c) the aristeia 361
(1) Idomeneus kills Othryoneus 363
(2) Idomeneus kills Asius 383
(3) Antilochus kills Asius charioteer 402
(4) Deiphobus kills Hypsenor 410
(5) Idomeneus kills Alcathous 424
(6) Idomeneus challenges Deiphobus 445
(7) Deiphobus recruits Aeneas 455
(8) three spearcasts: 502
(a) Aeneas (misses) 502
(b) Idomeneus (kills Oenomaus; withdraws) 506
(c) Deiphobus (missed Idomeneus, kills Ascalaphus) 516
4. the battle after Idomeneus 526
a) Meriones wounds Deiphobus 528

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 b) Aeneas 541
c) Antilochus 545
d) Meriones kills Adamas 560
e) Helenus kills Deipyrus 576
f) Menelaus wounds Helenus 581
g) Menelaus kills Pisander 601
h) Meriones kills Harpalion 643
i) Paris kills Euchenor 660
5. Hector at the breach 673
a) the catalogue of defenders 685
b) the Ajaxes and their contingents 701
c) Polydamas advice accepted 723
d) Hector finds Paris 758
e) Hector returns to the breach 789
f) Ajax and Hector 809

Book 14. Zeus Outmanoeuvred

1. In the Greek camp 1
a) Nestor leaves Machaon 1
b) the wounded 27
c) the debate 41
(1) Agamemnons speech 41
(2) Nestors response 52
(3) Agamemnons speech 64
(4) Odysseus rebuke 82
(5) Agamemnons response 103
(6) Diomedes proposal 109
d) Poseidon and Agamemnon 135
2. The beguiling of Zeus 153
a) Heras plan and preparations 159
b) Aphrodites girdle 187
c) to Lemnos: Sleep 224
d) Hera and Zeus 292
e) Sleep and Poseidon 354
f) Poseidon rallies the Greeks 363
3. the battle rejoined 378
a) Ajax stuns Hector 402
b) the Greeks strike back 440
(1) Ajax II kills Satnius 442
(2) Polydamas kills Prothoenor 449
(3) Ajax misses Polydamas, kills Archelochus 468
(4) Acamas kills Promachus 486
(5) Peneleus kills Ilioneus 489
c) the Greeks rout the Trojans 508
(1) invocation to the Muses 508

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 (2) individual kills 511
(a) Ajax 511
(b) Antilochus (2) 513
(c) Meriones (2) 513
(d) Teucer (2) 514
(e) Menelaus 515
(f) Ajax II (many) 520

Book 15. The Achaeans at Bay

1. Zeus resumes control 1
a) Zeus and Hera 4
b) Zeus foretells the story 59
c) Hera and Themis 78
d) Athene halts Ares 113
e) Zeus sends down orders 143
(1) Iris to Poseidon 157
(2) Apollo to Hector 220
2. Hectors aristeia 262
a) Hector returns to battle 262
b) Thoas urges retreat 281
c) Apollo with Hector 306
d) Hector kills 2 329
e) Aeneas kills 2 332
f) kills by Polydamas, Polites, Agenor, Paris 339
3. the battle at the ships 343
a) Hector targets the ships 346
b) the Trojans cross the ditch 352
c) Nestors prayer to Zeus 370
d) the Trojan charge 379
e) Patroclus leaves Eurypylus 390
f) Hector and Ajax 405
(1) Ajax kills Caletor 419
(2) Hector kills Lycophron 429
(3) Teucer kills Clitus 445
(4) Teucers bowstring breaks 458
(5) Hectors speech to the Trojans 484
(6) Ajaxs speech to the Greeks 501
g) the standoff 515
(1) more kills 515
(a) Hector 515
(b) Ajax 516
(c) Polydamas 520
(d) Meges 523
(e) Menelaus 540
(2) Hector rebukes Melanippus 545
(3) Ajax calls on the Greeks 560
(4) Antilochus kills Melanippus 572

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 h) the Trojans reach the ships 592
(1) Zeus supports Hector 592
(2) Hector kills Periphetes 636
(3) Nestors appeal 657
(4) Ajax defends the ships 674
(5) Hector reaches Protesilaus ship 704
(6) Ajax holds off the fire-bearers 727

Book 16. Patroclus Fights and Dies

1. Patroclus and Achilles 1
a) Achilles question 6
b) Patroclus reply 20
c) Achilles instructions 48
2. The burning of the ships 101
a) Ajax at bay 101
b) invocation to the Muses 112
c) Hectors triumph 114
d) Achilles dispatches Patroclus 124
3. Patroclus goes to war 130
a) Patroclus arms 130
b) The Myrmidon muster and catalogue 155
c) Achilles prayer and Zeus response 220
d) into battle 257
4. Patroclus aristeia and death 278
a) The first kill 284
b) the Greeks strike back (9 kills) 306
(1) Patroclus 607
(2) Menelaus 311
(3) Meges 313
(4) Antilochus 317
(5) Thrasymedes 321
(6) Ajax II 330
(7) Peneleus 334
(8) Meriones 342
(9) Idomeneus 345
c) the rout of the Trojans 352
(1) Ajax and Hector 358
(2) Hectors retreat 364
(3) Patroclus pursuit (12 kills) 377
d) The death of Sarpedon 419
(1) the encounter 419
(2) Zeus and Hera debate the outcome 431
(3) the duel 462
(4) Sarpedons dying appeal to Glaucus 492
e) the battle over Sarpedons corpse 508
(1) Glaucus prayer to Apollo 508

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 (2) Glaucus rallies Lycians and Trojans 530
(3) Patroclus rallies the Greeks 553
(4) the clash 562
(a) Hector kills 569
(b) Patroclus kills 581
(c) Glaucus kills 593
(d) Meriones kills 603
(e) Aeneas misses Meriones 608
(f) the battle for the corpse continues 632
f) the death of Patroclus 632
(1) Zeuss policy 646
(2) Hector flees 655
(3) Apollo uplifts Sarpedon 666
(4) Patroclus disobeys Achilles 684
(5) Patroclus penultimate 9 kills 692
(6) Apollo checks Patroclus attack on the walls 698
(7) Apollo urges Hector 712
(8) Patroclus last kill (another charioteer down) 731
(9) the duel over Cebriones 751
(10) Patroclus death 777
(a) Apollo strikes 784
(b) Euphorbus strikes 806
(c) Hector strikes 817
(d) Hectors boast 830
(e) Patroclus prophecy 843

Book 17. The Struggle over Patroclus

1. The battle for the armour 1
a) Menelaus versus Euphorbus 1
b) Apollo recalls Hector 61
c) Menelaus withdraws to fetch Ajax 89
d) Hector strips the corpse 123
e) Ajax defends the corpse 128
2. The Trojans regroup 140
a) Glaucus and Hector 140
b) Hector dons Achilles armour 188
c) Zeus promise 198
d) Hector calls on the allies 210
3. The battle for the corpse 233
a) Ajax and Menelaus call for reinforcements 237
b) Ajax II, Idomeneus, Meriones, &c. 256
c) Ajax kills three attackers 288
d) Apollo and Aeneas 319
e) Aeneas kills 344
f) Lycomedes reciprocates 346
g) deadlock 352
(1) Achilles unknowing 401

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 h) Automedon rescues the corpse 412
(1) the horses of Achilles 426
(2) Zeus takes pity 441
(3) Automedon and Alcimedon charge 459
(4) Hector and Aeneas meet the charge 483
(5) Automedon kills Aretus 493
i) the gods step in 543
(1) Athene fortifies Menelaus 553
(2) Apollo rebukes Hector 582
j) the Greek flight 593
(1) Polydamas wounds Peneleus 597
(2) Hector wounds Letus, kills Coeranus 601
(3) Ajax and Menelaus 626
(4) Menelaus seeks out Antilochus 651
k) the Greeks retrieve the corpse 700

Book 18. Armour for Achilles

1. Antilochus brings the news to Achilles 1
2. Thetis and Achilles 35
a) Thetis lament with the Nereids 35
b) Thetis question to Achilles 70
c) Achilles vow 78
d) Thetis prophecy 94
e) Achilles acceptance 97
f) Thetis promises armour 127
3. Achilles shows himself 148
a) the corpse-carriers harried 148
b) Iris rouses Achilles 165
c) Achilles scares off the Trojans 202
4. The Trojan council 243
a) Polydamas strategy 249
b) Hector rejects the plan 284
5. Achilles tends the corpse 314
a) Achilles lament and vow 324
b) the washing of the corpse 343
6. In Olympus 355
a) Zeus and Hera 355
b) Thetis and Hephaestus 368
(1) Charis welcomes the goddess 382
(2) Hephaestus debt 393
(3) Thetis request 428
(4) the forging of the armour 468
7. The shield of Achilles 478
a) the boss: sea and sky 483

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 b) the two cities 490
(1) the city at peace 491
(2) the city at war 511
c) three agricultural scenes 541
(1) the ploughmen 541
(2) the reapers 550
(3) the vintage 561
d) three pastoral & festive scenes 573
(1) cattle and lions 573
(2) the sheep-meadow 587
(3) the dancers 590
e) the rim: Ocean 607

Book 19. The Feud is Ended

1. Thetis and Achilles 1
2. The assembly 41
a) Achilles speech 55
b) Agamemnons speech 77
(1) the story of Ate (Delusion) 85
c) Achilles reply 145
d) Odysseus proposals 154
e) Agamemnons assent 184
f) Achilles vows fast 198
g) Odysseus stands firm 215
3. The return of Briseis 238
a) Agamemnons oath 249
b) Achilles speech 268
c) Briseis lament 282
4. The night and morning 303
a) Achilles fast and lament 303
b) Athene nourishes Achilles 340
c) Achilles arms 357
d) the horses speak 392

Book 20. The Gods Go to War

1. Council in Olympus 1
a) Zeus rescinds his edict 4
b) The gods join the battle 31
2. The gods square off 67
for Greeks for Trojans
b) Poseidon v Apollo 67
c) Athene Ares (+ Aphrodite) 69
d) Hera Artemis 70
e) Hermes Leto 72
f) Hephaestus Xanthus 73

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 3. Aeneas v Achilles 75
a) Apollo (as Lycaon) urges Aeneas against Achilles 79
b) the gods withdraw 110
c) the duel 156
(1) Achilles challenge 176
(2) Aeneas reply 199
(3) the exchange of spearcasts 259
(4) Poseidons prophecy 288
(5) the rescue of Aeneas 318
(6) Achilles reaction 340
4. Achilles and Hector 353
a) Achilles rallies the Greeks 353
b) Hector rallies the Trojans 364
c) Apollo warns Hector off 375
d) Achilles aristeia begins 381
(1) Iphition 382
(2) Demoleon 395
(3) Hippodamas 401
(4) Polydorus 407
e) Achilles v Hector: the abortive duel 419
(1) the challenges 423
(2) the gods interfere 438
5. Achilles aristeia continues 455
a) Dryops 455
b) Demuchus 457
c) Dardanus & Laogonus 460
d) Tros 463
e) Mulius 472
f) Echeclus 474
g) Deucalion 477
h) Rhigmus 484
i) the double simile 490

Book 21. Achilles Fights the River

1. The rout of the Trojans 1
a) the slaughter in the river 1
b) the prisoners for sacrifice 26
2. Lycaon 34
a) his story 35
b) Achilles soliloquy 49
c) the supplication 71
d) Achilles reply 97
e) the death blow 114
f) Achilles speech over the corpse 120

17
 3. The wrath of Xanthus/Scamander 136
a) Asteropaeus 139
(1) the challenges 148
(2) the exchance of spearcasts 161
(3) the sword of Achilles 173
(4) Achilles boast 184
b) the river strikes back 200
(1) seven more kills (in 2 lines!) 209
(2) the river-gods plea to Achilles 211
(3) Achilles reply 222
(4) the river attacks 228
(5) Achilles flight, and the pursuit 246
c) the battle of the elements 272
(1) Achilles calls on Zeus 272
(2) Poseidon & Athene 284
(3) the river-gods threat 305
(4) Hera sends in Hephaestus 328
(5) fire and water 342
(6) divine truce and withdrawal 356
4. The other divine duels 383
a) Athene fells Ares & Aphrodite 391
b) Poseidon challenges Apollo, who refuses 435
c) Hera humbles Artemis 470
d) Hermes concedes to Leto 502
e) Artemis complains to Zeus 504
5. The flight into the city 514
a) Priam opens the gates 526
b) Agenors stand 544
(1) Agenors soliloquy 550
(2) Agenor challenges Achilles 583
(3) Apollo draws Achilles off 595

Book 22. The Death of Hector

1. Achilles approach 1
a) Apollo disabuses Achilles 6
b) Priam watches 25
c) Priams appeal to Hector 56
d) Hecubas appeal 79
e) Hectors soliloquy 98
2. The pursuit 131
a) Hector breaks and runs 136
b) the springs 145
c) Zeus and Athene 167
d) the fourth circuit and the scales 188

18
 3. The endgame 214
a) Athene encourages Achilles 214
b) and dupes Hector 225
c) Hectors challenge 248
d) Achilles response 260
e) Achilles spearcast (returned by Athene) 273
f) Hectors spearcast and realisation 289
g) the charge and death-blow 306
h) the speeches 330
(1) Achilles boast 330
(2) Hectors plea 336
(3) Achilles refusal 344
(4) Hectors prophecy 355
(5) Achilles response 364
4. The aftermath 367
a) Achilles speech 376
b) the mutilation of the corpse 395
c) Priams reaction 405
d) Hecubas reaction 429
e) Andromache learns the news 437
(1) in Hectors house 440
(2) her fears 447
(3) the view from the walls 432
(4) her lament 475

Book 23. The Funeral and the Games

1. The funeral of Patroclus 1
a) that evening 1
(1) the salute to the corpse 3
(2) the feast 26
(3) Achilles refuses to bathe 38
(4) the ghost appears in the night 57
b) the next day 109
(1) timber for the pyre 110
(2) Achilles lock 140
(3) the pyre and offerings 161
(4) the gods preserve Hectors corpse 184
(5) the Winds ignite the pyre 192
c) the morning after 226
(1) gathering the bones 231
2. The funeral games 257
a) the prizes 259
b) the events 261
(1) the chariot race 261
(a) the five contestants 287
i) Nestors advice to Antilochus 306

19
 (b) the race 362
i) Apollo obstructs Diomedes 382
ii) Athene thwarts Eumelus 387
iii) Antilochus applies Nestors tactics 402
iv) the home stretch 448
(1) Idomeneus & Ajax II 455
(2) Achilles makes peace 488
v) the result 506
(1) Diomedes 506
(2) Antilochus 514
(3) Menelaus 516
(4) Meriones 528
(5) Eumelus 532
vi) the award of the prizes 534
(1) consolation prize for Eumelus 536
(a) Antilochus disputes 539
(b) Achilles makes good 555
(2) Menelaus challenges Antilochus foul 566
(a) Antilochus yields the prize 586
(b) Menelaus returns it 596
(3) the spare prize awarded to Nestor 615
(a) Nestors speech of thanks 624
(2) the boxing 651
(a) Epeius challenge 664
(b) Euryalus responds 676
(c) a win by a knockout 685
(3) the wrestling 700
(a) Ajax v Odysseus 706
(b) the prize shared 734
(4) the footrace 740
(a) the contestants 754
(b) and theyre off 758
(c) Athene helps Odysseus 768
(d) Antilochus comment and reward 785
(5) the combat 798
(a) the prizes 798
(b) Ajax v Diomedes 811
(c) contest stopped; prize shared 822
(6) the shot-put 826
(a) the contestants 836
(b) Polypoetes victory 844
(7) the archery 850
(a) Teucers shot 859
(b) Meriones shot 870
(8) the javelin 884
(a) a prize for Agamemnon 889

20
Book 24. Priam and Achilles
1. The gods take thought 1
a) Achilles grief and Hectors corpse 1
b) Divine debate 23
(1) Apollos proposal 31
(2) Heras objection 55
(3) Zeuss verdict 64
c) Thetis brought in 77
(1) Iris summons 77
(2) Thetis and Zeus 100
(3) Thetis and Achilles 120
(a) her speech 126
(b) his response 138
2. Priams mission 142
a) Zeus sends Iris to Troy 142
b) Iris appears to Priam 159
c) Priam and Hecuba 193
d) the ransom 228
e) Priam rebukes his sons 247
f) the wagon made ready 265
g) Hecubas libation and Priams prayer 282
h) the omen of the eagle 314
3. Priams journey 322
a) into the plain 328
b) Zeus sends in Hermes 331
c) the king and the stranger (9 speeches) 349
d) into the camp 440
e) Hermes unmasks 460
4. Priam and Achilles 469
a) the supplication 472
(1) the suppliant at the feast 472
(2) Priams speech 485
(3) Achilles speech 517
(a) the urns of blessing and sorrow 527
(b) Peleus and Priam 534
(4) Priams reply 552
(5) Achilles warning 559
b) the exchange of corpse and ransom 572
c) Achilles hospitality 596
(1) Achilles story of Niobe 602
(2) the meal 621
(3) Priam asks to retire 633
(4) Achilles response 643
(5) the truce 656

21
5. the return to Troy 677
a) Hermes prompts Priam to leave 680
b) Cassandra 697
c) Priams reception 709
d) the mourning for Hector 719
(1) Andromaches lament 723
(2) Hecubas lament 747
(3) Helens lament 761
e) the funeral of Hector 777

22
 23

Iliad 14: The Antagonists

The first act of the Iliad is dominated by a single days fighting, which extends from the
dawn which breaks at 2.48 to the end of the day in truce at 7.380. As youll see from the
chronology, its one of the three long days of warfare that make up the body of the poem.
Ive given these books the collective title The Antagonists, because they take us on a
tour of the main rivalries from which the story is constructed.
Book 1: the personal clash between the Greek leaders Achilles and Agamemnon, from
which the plot of the poem arises.
Book 2: the Greek and Trojan armies, seen in an epic widescreen view as they advance to
battle.
Book 3: Paris and Menelaus, the rivals for Helen and ultimate cause of the war.
Book 4: the long-awaited eruption of all of these various rivalries into pitched battle.
Its also helpful to think of the first four books as all being concerned with beginnings.
Book 1 introduces the main characters in the Greek army and on Olympus, and tells the
origins of Achilles anger.
Book 2 then shows us the armies;
Book 3 introduces the main Trojan characters; and
Book 4 tells the beginnings of the poems first great battle narrative, which continues over
the next three books.

1. The Quarrel
This is the most important book in the first third of the poem. Its main function is to explain
the roots of the story it sets out to tell, the anger of Achilles. But it also takes the opportunity
to introduce us to some fundamental features of the Iliads world:
the three most strongly-developed Greek characters (Achilles, Agamemnon, and Nestor)
the major Olympian gods, and their interaction with one another and with mortals
the value system underpinning the Homeric warriors way of life, and the unresolved
tensions in that system that will drive the plot of the poem.
The books dominated by the great assembly scene which takes up most of the first half.

Speaking characters introduced in this book:

Greeks
Agamemnon king of Mycenae and supreme commander of the Greek forces though,
as well see, that role is far from clearly defined
Achilles leader of the Myrmidons and single most powerful warrior in either army
Nestor king of Pylos, elder statesman and strategist
Odysseus king of Ithaca and master diplomat
Calchas prophet to the Greek army; appears only in this book

gods
Zeus king of the gods
Hera his wife, relentlessly hostile to the Trojans
Athene warrior daughter of Zeus, also active on the Greek side
Hephaestus smith-god, crippled son of Zeus and Hera
Thetis sea-nymph, mother of Achilles

other
Chryses priest of Apollo from Chryse, the only neutral character in the poem
 24

We also meet Patroclus, Achilles closest comrade; Apollo, the archer-god and principal
supporter of the Trojan cause; and Briseis of Lyrnessus, enslaved by Achilles on a raiding
expedition. Though none of these three speaks in book 1, the voices of all three will be heard
in later books.

A. The proem
Both epics start with an invocation to the Muse and a capsule summary of the story which is
as interesting for what it leaves out as for what it includes.
These addresses to the Muse mark challenging moments in the poem where the poets
skill claims to need a bit of supernatural help. One obvious such point is beginnings. It was
always a bit of a problem in Greek myth knowing where to begin and end a story, because the
stories were so interconnected that in principle you could trace the beginnings of any story
back to the creation of the world. Its the Muse who has to provide a starting-point for the
poet, who cant make that decision on his own. In this case, the poet asks the Muse to prompt
him with the name of the god who set it all in motion, and the answer Apollo acts as a
switch that turns on the tap of the story.
In the Greek, the first word of the poem is the word Lattimore translates as anger,
mnin. Mnis is a strong word, which is why others prefer translations such as wrath,
rage, or fury. In announcing this as the Muses theme, the poem defines its subject matter
closely as the episode which begins with Achilles quarrel with Agamemnon and ends with
the action by which Achilles finally lets go of the anger which has driven his actions
throughout the poem. By that stage, of course, the target of his anger has significantly shifted
from Agamemnon to Hector, but these opening lines stress that its all one process.
Notice how little were actually told of the plot here. Most of the emphasis is on the
avoidable suffering that resulted from Achilles anger, but its all in pretty general terms. In
particular, theres not a word about Patroclus, Hector, or the fate of Troy. This artful suspense
will be kept up till Zeuss speech at the start of book 15; its only then that we get any sense
of how the story is going to progress.
The tantalising reference to a plan of Zeus is an important signal that the human action
is part of a coherent divine purpose, and that the slaughter that seems so senseless on the
mortal plane has a higher level of explanation perceptible only to the audience or reader. This
split between two levels, and perceptions, of reality is fundamental to the Iliads worldview,
and to its power and subsequent influence.

B. Chryses
The narrative proper begins not with a mortals anger but with that of a god, Apollo, and goes
on to explain the background to his grievance against the Greeks. Agamemnon has rejected
the appeal of Apollos priest Chryses for the ransom and return of his daughter, who has been
captured and enslaved in one of the raiding parties around the Troad that have been so much a
part of this war. Rejecting a supplication, a formal religious appeal, is risky enough in the
eyes of the gods, but Agamemnon has compounded the offence by insulting Apollos own
priest. Chryses duly prays to his patron god for vengeance on the Greeks; and Apollo
responds by visiting them with a plague.

1. Agamemnon & Chryses

The Chryses episode serves as a kind of prologue to the main action. Notice the way it sets
up:
the character of Agamemnon, his dangerous disregard of accepted rules of conduct, and his
ultimate responsibility for what ensues;
the motif of supplication for a lost child (one of several connections to the final book,
which well look at in detail in a later lecture);
the pattern seen in the poems main storyline of insult, withdrawal, prayer, divinely
inflicted punishment, and eventual return of the insult victim to honour.
the absence of Achilles from any responsibility in this first phase of the crisis.
 25

2. The plague
Apollo and his sister Artemis were particularly associated with invisible forms of death (by
disease, etc.), which are often described as the effects of these gods arrows. Here Apollo
manifests his anger at Agamemnons insult to his priest by visiting a plague on the whole
Greek army. Such epidemics, in life and in myth were often seen as the results of a divine
grudge, and the standard recourse (as here) was to try and find out by divination which god
was offended and how the victim community could appease him or her. Apollo is also the
principal supporter of the Trojans among the major gods.

C. The assembly
Now comes the key scene of the book, and one of the most important passages in the whole
poem: the great assembly scene in which Achilles and Agamemnon come by subtle degrees
into a conflict which will drastically affect the course of the whole war. Like all the greatest
scenes in Homer, most of its richness comes from its speeches, and the complex interactions
between the different characters whose personalities are presented through their words.
This is the longest assembly scene in Homer, comprising thirteen speeches from four
characters, and youll see from the outline that it falls into four main phases.

1. prelude: Achilles and Calchas (2 speeches each)

First, Achilles summons the assembly on Heras prompting, and exchanges a pair of speeches
with the seer Calchas. (Why does Achilles take this role on? Well, Agamemnon has already
being characterised as comparatively insensitive to the armys will and the suffering of
others; note especially line 22. And Achilles concern here for the army as a whole is
important for our understanding of the normal Achilles, and how drastic will be his
decision to leave them to suffer.)
Crucially, Calchas asks for Achilles protection before he will tell what he knows of the
reason for the plague. In granting this protection, Achilles is publicly committing himself to
draw upon himself the anger of the unnamed king Calchas so fears. The audience already
know that the king is Agamemnon, and that the plague results from his dishonouring of
Chryses. Achilles may or may not guess some of this, but note that he opens the assembly
diplomatically enough by addressing himself first to Agamemnon as acknowledgement of his
role as senior commander. This recognition of mutually agreed roles is what will crumble as
the tension rises and becomes more personalised.
Lines 9091 are worth lingering over for a moment. Like so many pivotal moments in
Homer, they can be read more than one way. What is Achilles getting at here? Has he caught
the reference to Agamemnon, or not? Is his mention of Agamemnon a moment of dramatic
irony of which Achilles himself remains unaware? Or is it perhaps a clever bit of reassurance
to Calchas from an Achilles who knows exactly who is meant? Is it perhaps even a sideswipe
at Agamemnon, as some have caught a hint of in the words translated claims to be? This
last is actually an innocent enough phrase in its occurrences in Homer elsewhere, where it
just means has a [universally recognised] claim to be. But at the very least Achilles is
inadvertently anticipating the big argument coming up at line 244 over exactly who is the top
man among the Greek army, and Nestors attempt at reconciliation in 2801.

2. the quarrel: Agamemnon and Achilles (5 speeches)

Once Calchas has named Agamemnon and spelled out what needs to be done, he disappears
from the debate and from the poem. Instead, it is Agamemnon who now takes over the
duologue with Achilles, in the first of five speeches that will see both an escalation of the
anger on both sides and an increasing focus on Achilles as the personal target of
Agamemnons anger.
Agamemnons first speech (10620) is directed not at Achilles at all, but at Calchas. He
doesnt dispute either the offence or the necessary remedy, though well see this grudging
tone and reluctance to admit fault in other key speeches. One of the important things about
staging the quarrel as part of an assembly scene is that all the humiliations and promises are
public, and Agamemnon is always much more willing to confess mistakes in private than he
is to lose face before the wider army. Its easy to see this as a fault, but Agamemnons
 26

position is extremely difficult; as well see, his formal authority is very vaguely defined, and
highly dependent on how his authority is perceived by the rest of the army. Thats why he
insists on compensation for the loss of Chryseis: his position as supreme commander needs to
be shored up by some demonstrable token that his status has not been diminished by this
public (note line 120) humiliation. The word translated prize is the complex Greek word
geras: an item of booty publicly allocated as a mark of respect to an individual. In the Iliadic
world, where status is a matter of fierce competition and signalled by publicly visible actions
and possessions, the loss of such a prize is a loss of the status it measured and conferred.
But as Achilles now points out, Agamemnons condition for Chryseis return is
impractical. Perhaps surprisingly, Achilles doesnt dispute Agamemnons right to ask the
army for compensation. What he disputes is the practicality of providing a substitute prize
now rather than later. Instead, he asks Agamemnon to accept an IOU now in return for a
much greater reward from the future spoils of sacked Troy itself.
Agamemnon is not having this; he senses a slippage in his standing, and reiterates his call
for a prize now. If the army cant agree collectively on a way to proceed, Agamemnon will
simply make his choice from among the prizes of the other leading warlords, Achilles not
excluded. Then he suddenly backs off: another moment of psychological ambiguity. Does he
realise hes provoked Achilles too far? Or is he playing an ineptly manipulative game? Notice
the similarity between his list of nominees in 1456 to lead the expedition to Chryse and his
list of potential candidates from whom to choose his new prize (139). Does he want to get
Ajax, Odysseus, or Achilles himself off the scene so that he can appropriate their women?
Now its Achilles turn to raise the temperature, in the most important speech of the scene
and of the first third of the poem. As Achilles points out, Agamemnon has no formal
authority over the other warlords, who are there not because they are compelled to obey
Agamemnon but because they expect to be rewarded for joining his war. Allocation of booty
is an especially sensitive area, because Achilles is clearly the most effective fighter, yet
Agamemnon is constantly being awarded a larger share of the booty in accordance with his
status as the greatest king. (Nestor will explain about this shortly.) As far as Achilles is
concerned, Agamemnons present abuse of his already shaky authority is the final straw.
Agamemnon has broken the unwritten contract that keeps Achilles in the war, and Achilles
announces his intention to return home to Thessaly rather than continue with the war.
In that case, Agamemnon responds, Achilles has made the choice for him. If he abandons
the war, he has no claim on his favourite Briseis, and Agamemnon will choose her rather than
the geras of a more loyal commander. Notice Agamemnons continuing public insistence on
his need to be recognised as greater (Greek pherteros, literally more powerful). This isnt
just insecurity; if Agamemnons authority as supreme commander is disputed, the unity and
coherence of the war effort will fall apart.

3. interlude: Achilles and Athene

Now comes one of the most extraordinary moments in Homer. Enraged, Achilles
contemplates killing Agamemnon on the spot; but Athene physically intervenes to prevent
him, unseen by all the other characters, and the exchange of speeches between them is
unnoticed by any of the bystanders. Theres nothing quite like this elsewhere in Homer,
though there are occasional moments when a mortal character (Diomedes in book 6,
Odysseus at several points in the Odyssey) is granted a private glimpse of a god invisible to
onlookers. Nevertheless, its a moment that illustrates the workings of Homeric divinity
remarkably well: the use of divine intervention to articulate psychological processes of
decision and (perhaps unexpected) impulse; the privileged communion between gods and
their mortal favourites; the glimpse of a secret world of terrifying power and purposefulness
beyond the veil of mortal perception. In particular, notice Athenes promise to Achilles that
one day hell be richly compensated if he just gives way now: the kind of offer Agamemnon
refused, but then it wasnt delivered by a god.
Incidentally, theres a great retelling of this scene in Dan Simmons science fiction novel
Ilium, in which the gods are revealed as unimaginably enhanced post-humans from the far
distant future
 27

4. the crisis
Finally, the assembly is unpaused, with four concluding speeches summarising the position
resulting from the quarrel.
a) Achilles oath
First, Achilles delivers a blistering verbal attack, in substitution for his aborted physical
assault, on Agamemnons right to command and his conduct as commander. He also swears a
public oath by the highly charged symbol of the assembly speakers staff or sceptre, that
Agamemnon will live to regret his actions when Hector, now unchecked by Achilles
superior prowess, slaughters the Greeks around him.
b) Nestors speech
Now comes the only intervention by a third speaker: the first of many great speeches by the
veteran warlord Nestor, whose experience, strategic intelligence, and skills of diplomacy
make him the one character unreservedly trusted by all the Greeks, Agamemnon included.
Nestor tends, as here, to play the role of a slightly rambling old man, prone to wander off into
seemingly irrelevant tales of his long-past heroic youth. In fact hes razor sharp, with an
unerring sense of others psychological weak spots, and at times (as with Patroclus in book
11) can be quite ruthlessly manipulative beneath his mask of meandering senility.
This speech is typical of Nestors technique. He begins with a diplomatic summary of the
present situation, and then by the technique of digression sometimes called ring-
composition launches into an exemplary tale from his copious memories of younger days,
softening up his listeners before hitting them with his uncomfortable recommendations,
which he neverthelss packages in acceptably tactful terms. It looks at first like mere heroic
namedropping, but theres a barb to it: Nestor has noted the way Agamemnon and Achilles
are throwing around terms like greatest and best of themselves, and Nestor gently
reminds them that theyve a long way to go before they can compete with the heroes of old
like Theseus. Nevertheless, he deftly adjudicates the claim: Achilles is the stronger man
(Greek karteros, referring to physical strength), but Agamemnon the greater (pherteros
again) in light of his larger kingdom. (Well actually get the statistics on this in the next
book.) And his advice is for both sides to back off: Agamemnon should leave Briseis be, but
Achilles should recognise Agamemnons greater authority. Its a brilliant piece of diplomacy,
and it nearly works; but the final speeches from Agamemnon and Achilles show that things
have gone just a little too far for either to back down now.
c) Agamemnons final speech
First to refuse Nestors terms is Agamemnon. This isnt surprising, since he was the one
addressed at the end of Nestors speech, but it does leave us wondering whether Achilles
would have accepted the compromise if Agamemnon hadnt pushed him further in this
speech. Agamemnon commends Nestors advice, but obliquely demands an apology from
Achilles who is now no longer addressed directly, but merely referred to sidelong in the
third person.
d) Achilles final speech
Achilles is merely irritated by this clumsy attempt to save Agamemnons face at the expense
of his own. But he does promise not to resist Agamemnons abduction of Briseis: a deft tactic
to present Agamemnon as the aggressor and Achilles himself as a passive respondent.

D. Agamemnons action
Now the promises of the assembly have to be put into action. First comes the matter of
returning Chryseis to her father, as even Agamemnon was grudgingly prepared to concede;
and then we return to the Greek camp for the scene of Briseis actual removal by
Agamemnons agents. The two scenes form a closely connected and contrasting pair, closing
off the phase of the action comprising the assembly and its immediate decisions, and opening
the way for the new and still more significant turn taken by events in the final section of the
book. The two storylines are interlaced, in the first separation of the narrative into multiple
 28

plotlines which the narrative repeatedly cuts between: an important device in much of the
later battle narrative.

1. the expedition to Chryse

For the journey to Chryse, Agamemnon chooses his most trusted diplomat, Odysseus. Well
learn in book 3 that hes been a regular choice to serve on such potentially delicate embassies.
Notice the elaborate ritual with which the ship is dispatched, including a hecatomb (mass
sacrifice) to the angry Apollo back on the shore. This wasnt part of Calchas instructions, but
Agamemnon is taking no chances: one of several moments in the book where weve been
reminded that, however unhappy the characters may be with the gods will, no-one will take
the slightest risk of offending them.

2. the taking of Briseis

Meanwhile, Agamemnon orders two reluctant army heralds (Talthybius and Eurybates) to
carry out his dirty work for him. Perhaps hes mindful of Achilles parting threat of violence
against Agamemnon himself if he showed up at Achilles shelter in person, but its an action
which plays into Achilles hands by letting him play the injured party whose quarrel is solely
with Agamemnon.

E. Achilles and Thetis

Now events take an unexpected turn, as Achilles plays a hitherto unmentioned trump card,
and we understand why he felt so confident of the future slaughter as to swear a mighty oath
about it. Weve already seen in the Athene scene that Achilles has a uniquely privileged
relationship with the divine; what we havent been told is that he has a direct line to his own
goddess mother Thetis, which he now exploits to exert pressure on the king of the gods, Zeus
himself, to accelerate the fulfilment of Achilles threat to the Greeks. Achilles treats Thetis to
a fascinating first-person retelling of the story so far as viewed from the perspective of the
injured party: not inaccurate, but highly personalised. Then he reminds her that Zeus owes
her a favour from a cosmic insurrection long ago, and urges her to call the favour in. If Zeus
throws his power behind the Trojans, the Greeks will quickly crumble, and Agamemnon will
realise his mistake in dishonouring Achilles. Thetis consents, but the gods are on one of their
periodic African holidays (like Poseidon in Odyssey 15), so therell be the second of the
books nine-day interludes. (See the chronology handout from the first lecture. It would be
twelve, but the first three days are taken up by the expedition to Chryse. Notice, incidentally,
that theres a similar pair of nine-day gaps in book 24: one of a number of curious symmetries
between the first and last books of the poem. Coincidence? Perhaps.)

F. Chryse
With events temporarily at a standstill both in Troy and in heaven, the narrative leaves the
Troad altogether for the first and last time in the poem, as we follow Odysseus and his ship to
the neighbouring town of Chryse. The episode is carefully constructed in two balanced
halves, showing the closely reciprocal relationship between the return of Chryseis on the one
hand and Chryses appeasement of Apollo in return.

1. The return of Chryseis

First, Odysseus delivers Chryseis to her father, with a formal speech of apology on
Agamemnons behalf. Its a foretaste of the far more difficult version of this role hell have to
undertake in book 9, when it comes to delivering Agamemnons terms to Achilles.

2. Chryses ends the plague

Agamemnons hecatomb on the Trojan shore is echoed by the fulfilment of the promised
hecatomb in Chryse. (Confusingly, both the priest and his daughter take their names from
their town; Chryseis simply means daughter of Chryses, just as Briseis means
daughter of Briseus, the father named in book 19.) The scene, and particularly the ritual
details of the sacrifice, is narrated at some length to mark the firm closure of the subplot of
 29

Apollos wrath. Its also one of the poems rare scenes of peaceful community celebration, in
which both Greeks and locals participate together in healing festivity, before the grim return
to the plains of Troy and the violent events about to unfold there. Apollo even relaxes his
traditional enmity against Greeks to help Odysseus ship on its way with a favourable wind.
But this harmony will be broken once the story returns to its centre.

G. Olympus
Nine more days pass before the promised scene on Olympus. This is a major episode in the
poem: our first glimpse of the chief divine players Zeus and Hera, and of the Olympian world
and family to which they belong. A key function of the scene is to establish a set of pointed
contrasts between the mortal world of the warriors and the immortal world of the Olympians.
In both, we see a quarrel between the two most powerful figures in the inner circle of
command; in both, theres a challenge to the authority of the supreme commander which
jeopardises his control over a motley alliance of strong-willed, colourful individuals with
widely differing agendas. Zeus, as well see, is a more effective commander-in-chief than
Agamemnon, and yet even he is constrained by the limits of his own authority. He has to
honour his obligation to Thetis, act counter to his own policy while seeing off resistance from
within his own team.

1. Thetis and Zeus

The sequence begins not with a big cosmic flourish but with a low-key, intimate two-handed
scene. Its the second of the books momentous supplications. At the start of the terrestrial
action, Chryses supplicated Agamemnon, and was rejected; now, as the Olympian
counterplot gets under way, Thetis supplicates Agamemnons celestial counterpart, who
demonstrates his better judgment by giving his very reluctant consent. It takes two attempts,
but she gets her promise out of him, and the moment where he nods his cosmic nod of assent
is dwelt on as a pivotal moment in the plot and a demonstration of vast power decisively
aligning itself.

2. Zeus and Hera

Only now does the narrative camera pull back to show the Olympian world, and cast, in full.
Thetis exits by the back door, and Zeus takes his place on his throne at the centre of the
Olympian community; but Hera has seen Thetis with Zeus, and suspects conspiracy. In a
charged exchange, Hera challenges Zeus without letting on how much she has seen; Zeus
stalls and stonewalls, trying to assert his authority; Hera then reveals what she has seen, and
what she (correctly) guesses to have happened. But instead of admitting the truth and
defending it, Zeus chooses not to play Heras game at all; instead, he calls her bluff, insisting
on his right and power to do what he wants, and ordering Hera to sit down and shut up. Zeus,
of course, can do this; Agamemnon cant. Thats part of the difference between Olympian
politics and the politics of the Greek army.

3. Hephaestus defuses the quarrel

All the same, this is a dangerous moment. We saw in the Greek assembly how attempts to
assert power backfired and merely antagonised, and how Nestor tried, brilliantly but
unsuccessfully, to defuse the quarrel by mediating. The Olympian counterpart to Nestor is
Hephaestus, and his speech begins with a similar point to Nestors: that dissent in the
leadership is disastrous for the whole team. But instead of proposing a compromise, he
appeals to one side in particular Hera to back down. Its a complex, resonant scene, in
which the bond between mother and son is played against the glimpse of terrible power and
violence associated with Zeus response to insurrection. And then, just as Hera is wordlessly
won over by Hephaestus advice, the tone changes again as the other gods coarsely, to
modern taste and perhaps to Homers laugh uproariously at the spectacle of the crippled
god playing cupbearer. (The suitors in the Odyssey also find cripples funny, and doom
themselves by their unerringly inappropriate sense of humour.) Perhaps this defusing of
tension was Hephaestus intention; at any rate the quarrel on Olympus ends in a kind of
harmony and collective celebration glimpsed otherwise only in Chryse, the one location in
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the Iliad no longer touched by the war. At the end of the first book of the poem, weve had a
powerful glimpse of just how different is the world of the godlike heroes from the world of
the gods theyre supposed to resemble.

Book 2. The Forces are Displayed

So far, weve seen only four of the key human characters in any detail at all, and the Trojans
havent even put in an appearance. What the second book brilliantly does is to open up the
vista, showing us the armies of both sides as they march into battle, and taking the audience
on a vast, sweeping tour of the two armies that serves as a checklist of all the principal
characters on both sides. Its a fascinating book historically as well as poetically, culminating
as it does with the astonishing Catalogue of Ships an amazing tour of the political
geography of the Mycenaean world as imperfectly remembered half a millennium later. Well
return to the historical significance of the Catalogue in a later lecture; for now, I want to
focus on the contribution it makes to the story, and the episode to which its attached:
Agamemnons near-disastrous attempt to test the armys morale, prompting the muster by
contingents that forms the pretext for the Catalogue itself. Its an episode designed to convey
an impression of the mass psychology and mood of the army as a whole as well as of
Agamemnons precarious control of both.

A. Agamemnons false dream

Right from the start of the book, its made clear that Agamemnons skills of leadership,
diplomacy, and psychological manipulation are no more reliable when it comes to the army
as a whole than they were when he was dealing with Achilles. Once again, hes going to have
to rely on Odysseus and Nestor to undo the damage caused by his erratic judgment. (We now
see why the poem was so keen to introduce us to these two characters in the first book, rather
than to more prominent fighters such as Diomedes and Ajax.) But once again, we shouldnt
be so quick to judge Agamemnon as merely incompetent. The first scene makes clear that
what were witnessing is the first phase of Zeuss fulfilment of his prophecy to Thetis. Like
everyone else, Agamemnon is a victim of casual divine manipulation, and its quite a shock
to see the supreme deity lie so flatly and unconcernedly to the king whose cause he
championed until the day before.
Zeus sends a false dream to Agamemnon to tempt him into rash and destructive action, in
the belief that Troy is destined to fall to him that very day. Its a fairly typical Homeric
dream, taking the form of a trusted adviser in this case, Nestor is the obvious candidate. But
this is the only such dream that is deliberately misleading, and theres a grim and explicit
contrast drawn between what Agamemnon expects from this day and what were told it has in
store. The dawn that breaks at line 48 will be the start of the second longest day of battle in
the poem, and its not going to go well for the Greeks.

B. The council
Agamemnons first action is to summon an inner council: not an assembly such as we saw in
book 1, but a small gathering of commanders. Ordinarily, Achilles would be in this group;
now, well see how Agamemnon manages without him.

1. Agamemnons report
Agamemnon reports his dream to the council. (The verbatim quotation of earlier speech is
standard in Homer when reporting someone elses words, even a dreams.) But the last three
lines of his speech are a surprise. Instead of urging the army to attack the city in confidence
of victory, Agamemnon decides on a bizarre and near-disastrous scheme of his own: to play
games with the armys mass psychology, testing their morale by proposing that they flee back
to Greece. This is not part of the dreams instructions, and were clearly meant to think of it
as a strange misjudgment of Agamemnons own.
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2. Nestors response
Nestor, as ever, is diplomatic. If he feels any scepticism about the content or reliability of the
dream, he expresses it guardedly. He quotes line 72 approvingly, but makes no mention of
Agamemnons strange proposal to test the armys morale. This has the effect of distancing
him from Agamemnons misjudgment, whether or not thats his intention and sure enough,
itll be Nestor who has to come up with a solution to the situation Agamemnon has created.

C. Agamemnons ploy
Now Agamemnon puts his plan into action, with consequences that come close to throwing
away the war and making Zeus whole plan redundant. As youll see from the outline, Ive
divided this fairly complex episode into eight main sections to help give a sense of its shape.

1. The assembly
First, Agamemnon calls a full assembly of the army as a whole, in contrast to the inner
council we saw in the previous scene. Its the first of a number of scenes in this book which
try specifically to convey a sense of the appearance and behaviour of the army in its entirety,
and is marked by the first simile in Homer at 8790, comparing the armys massed movement
to a swarm of bees. Theres attention to the logistics of getting the entire army seated, silent,
and attentive, and Agamemnons performance is introduced with a famous account of the
long history of the family sceptre he wields to indicate his right to speak.
The speech itself is a brilliant composition, if counterproductive in its actual effect. We
know that Agamemnon intends the opposite effect to his words that he wants the army for
once to reject his advice, and go all-out for the capture of Troy. We can hear the heavy irony
in his arguments: the failure of Zeus to live up to his promise; the everlasting shame on the
Greeks if they give up now; the vastly superior numbers in the Greeks favour. (This is a
passage of great interest for the composition and strengths of the armies. Theyre roughly
equal in number, but the Trojans only make up about a tenth of their own army, the rest being
composed of allies from around the Troad and islands. Some of the implications of this will
be seen towards the end of this book.) Hes also less than encouraging about the
seaworthiness of their ships. Unfortunately, he conjures up just too effective a picture of the
families whove been waiting nine years for their return, and the army responds in exactly the
opposite way to that intended.

2. The retreat
At first its not clear which way the army is going to be swayed. The suspense is drawn out
by a second great simile of mass movement and feeling, which begins with the assembly
being stirred like grain by the wind, and only then reveals that what theyre stirred to do is
run straight back to the ships and try to launch them for Greece. Its a moment of near-
comedy. At a stroke, and without any help from delusive divine dreams, Agamemnon has
thrown away control of his army and the chance of winning his war.

3. Athene and Odysseus intervene

Fortunately for Agamemnon, the goddesses Hera and Athene are firmly on the side of the
Greeks, and arent going to let the war end prematurely. Heras position and dignity normally
inhibit her from descending to the battlefield herself, so she works through Athene, who has
no such inhibitions. In her turn, Athene fastens on the one man capable of turning the tide of
retreat: her favourite Odysseus, who grabs Agamemnons sceptre as a symbol of the kings
authority, and tours the army rallying the men. A particularly nice touch here is the pair of
speeches at 1907 and 2006, showing how Odysseus adapts his advice depending on
whether hes speaking to a fellow aristocrat or a common soldier. Its a deft demonstration of
Odysseus skill at adapting language to his purpose.

4. Thersites
At the end of Odysseus efforts, just one dissident voice remains: the famous and rather
debated figure of Thersites, memorably revived in Shakespeares Troilus and Cressida.
Thersites is a bit of a mystery, though later tradition tried to flesh out his story. He appears
 32

only in this scene, and is notoriously the one soldier not to be acknowledged with a
patronymic. This has suggested to many that hes a common soldier rather than a member of
the aristocracy an example of the class of character Odysseus was addressing in 2006. If
so, Odysseus rough dismissal of Thersites sarcastic but perceptive complaints is a powerful
affirmation of aristocratic authority and ideology. But if Thersites is indeed a common
soldier, hes the only one to be granted a voice in the poem; and hes also the one character to
take Achilles side against Agamemnon, which is why Odysseus has to make an example of
him on the spot. The best treatment of all this is the article by W.G. Thalmann, Thersites:
Comedy, Scapegoats, and Heroic Ideology in the Iliad, TAPA 118 (1988) 1-28.

5. Odysseus speech
With Thersites silenced and the army cheered up by Odysseus treatment of the subversive,
Odysseus takes further advantage of Agamemnons sceptre to make a rallying speech to the
army. Its a masterly performance in all the ways that Agamemnons was misjudged. He
gauges the armys mood astutely, speaking sympathetically of the soldiers yearning for
home, and then carefully turns their feelings around using a variation of Agamemnons
argument about the shame and wasted effort of giving up after so many years. But instead of
Agamemnons bungled attempt at reverse psychology, Odysseus offers positive grounds for
optimism about an early end to the war. He takes their minds back to Calchas first prophecy
nine years earlier at Aulis, that Troy would fall in the tenth year. Its a clever choice, because
Calchas accuracy has just been vindicated by his advice on the plague. Odysseus involves
his audience in the episode by artful storytelling, drawing them in by a vivid, emotional
description of the bizarre and violent omen and only then demystifying it with Calchas lucid,
exhilarating prediction.

6. Nestors speech
Odysseus has already won the army around, but Nestor now comes in with a powerful
supporting speech. He starts with a rebuke to the army, of the kind Odysseus has carefully
avoided, for even considering abandoning the war at this stage. But then he too turns to
encouragement through past omens (3503) and an especially vivid, brutal evocation of the
rewards of victory (3546), before turning again to a darker, more specific threat against
anyone still contemplating flight (3569). As usual, though, Nestor saves his key point for the
end, after his audience have been softened up for the advice he now proposes: organise the
army by its original tribal contingents and the ships it originally sailed in, which will freshen
morale for battle and also make it easier to spot any shirkers. This of course is a slightly
contrived setup for the books big set piece, the Catalogue of Ships but more of that in a
moment.

7. Agamemnons speech
Agamemnon readily assents, and in an important moment expresses the first regrets for his
quarrel with Achilles, even acknowledging that the fault lies mainly with himself (378). The
second half of the speech shows us a side of Agamemnons character thats been largely
suppressed up until now: an infectious sense of purpose and energy at the approach of battle,
something well see makes him a highly effective battle leader despite his erratic strategic
sense and mood swings off the battlefield. This is just what the army needs in its present
mood; a third mass-action simile follows as the army disperses for brunch, and
Agamemnons war is back on track. But its been a close-run thing.

8. The sacrifice
Agamemnon now gathers his inner circle of warlords, including our first glimpses of
Idomeneus, Ajax I and II, Diomedes, and his own brother Menelaus. Together, they offer a
sacrifice and prayer, following the pattern weve already seen in the Chryse episode in book
1. Agamemnons prayer is a characteristically vivid, purposeful evocation of Troys
destruction, which he prays will indeed take place today in fulfilment of the dream. But its
immediately undercut by the narrators comment that Zeus appreciated the sacrifice but
rejected the prayer. As itll turn out, the war will indeed come close (a second time!) to
 33

ending that very day but on rather different terms from those Agamemnon expects, as well
see in the next book.

D. The Greek muster and catalogue

And so to the Catalogue itself, which is led into by two striking devices: the largest pileup of
similes anywhere in Homer, and a new invocation to the Muse.

1. The similes
You may remember this famous passage from a first-year Greek Literature seminar, where
we used it to explore the workings of the Homeric simile in close-up. Seen now in its full
context, it follows on from the three similes earlier in the book as a continuation and climax
to the impression thats been built up of the movements and mood of this vast mass of
warriors. Youll probably remember that one of the things we looked at first time around was
the way each of the six main similes focussed in turn on a different aspect of the armys
advance, with a strongly cinematic movement from wide longshot to individual close-up. The
final shot of Agamemnon singles him out in his now somewhat rehabilitated role as a
genuinely impressive warrior and war leader.

2. Invocation to the muse

Invocations to the Muses tend to come at moments of epic significance, where the poet
presents himself as needing a special injection of outside assistance to deal with the challenge
of narrating the coming action successfully. In this case, the Muses have their work cut out,
because what the poet proposes is nothing less than a complete database of the entire Greek
army by tribal contingents, complete with sizes of contingent by ship and name, family, and
dominion of the contingent leader. Its an amazing enterprise, and the appeal to the Muses
here presents it as something of a superhuman performance to get the list out at all.

3. The Catalogue of Ships

Its easy to be intimidated by the sheer scale and detail of the Catalogue, and I do want once
more to stress that for now were only really concerned with its function in the poem, not
with its historical basis. What Ive done here is to present the essentials in the outline
handout. Have this visible as I sketch out a few key points to help you get your head around
this famous passage.
The Catalogue is organised in five geographic zones, starting with the Greek mainland
(central and southern) and then sweeping round the western mainland and islands, the Greek
islands of the south-eastern Mediterranean, and ending up with the northern part of mainland
Greece. Note the absence of the Aegean islands, which are not Greek in the world of the
Homeric epics.
Its often suspected that the Catalogue began as a separate composition and was only later
incorporated into its present place in the Iliad. You might remember from the first-year
course that we have another catalogue oddly embedded in a book of Homer, the pageant of
heroines in Odyssey 11. Both catalogues give special prominence to the local heroes and
heroines of Boeotia and its principal Thebes and Orchomenus, and Boeotia was the stamping-
ground of the catalogue poet par excellence, Hesiod. This seems good prima facie evidence
for a local Boeotian tradition of catalogue poetry which interacted with, and in these cases
actually found its way into, the epics themselves. Some see signs of this late adaptation to its
present position in the Catalogue itself, arguing that it describes the situation at the start of
the war rather than the ninth year. (Note in particular the inclusion of Protesilaus, who was
killed on the first day of the war, and Philoctetes, whos been stuck on a desert island for nine
years.) Nestors excuse for arranging the army in contingents is fairly contrived, so there may
be something in this.
the Muse: Eumelus and Achilles
To close the catalogue, theres a slightly unexpected coda. The poet calls on the Muse one
more time to nominate the top warrior out of all the thousand-plus ships, and the best horses.
(Horses in Homer are only used to draw chariots, by the way.) Achilles not surprisingly wins
 34

in the first category, with Ajax as runner-up; this is part of a ranking of warriors on both sides
that will take on more detail in later books. The horseman is the otherwise inconspicuous
Eumelus surprisingly, as we hear a lot more about Achilles horses, who even at one
extraordinary moment get a speaking part.

E. The Trojan muster and catalogue

The Greek catalogue is now balanced by a shorter, but still fascinating, Trojan catalogue,
following Hectors muster of the Trojans for battle in response to the prompting of Zeus
messenger Iris. This is our first proper glimpse of the Trojan army and its principal warriors,
and prepares us for the turn of the narrative spotlight on to the Trojan characters in the next
book. This introductory view is more concerned with overall impressions, including some
pointed contrasts with the Greek army.

1. Iris and Hector

Iris confirms what Agamemnon has already noted, that the Trojans rely heavily on their allies
from around Asia Minor and the northern coastal peoples. This makes, among other things,
for a babel of different languages, in striking contrast to the Greeks ethnic and linguistic
coherence. So whereas the Greek muster by contingents is proposed on strategic grounds, in
the case of the Trojans its a matter of sheer necessity, as only their own leaders can speak the
various tribal languages.

2. The Trojan catalogue

Again Ive listed and grouped the contingents in the outline. We dont this time have an
indication of relative contingent sizes (because obviously the Trojans didnt come by ship
though one wonders how the allies from the other side of the Hellespont got there). We do,
however, get a first glimpse of the main Trojan leaders, notably Hector, the crown prince and
leader of the city contingent; his cousin Aeneas; and the mightiest of the allies, Sarpedon of
Lycia with his second-in-command Glaucus.
Once again theres an attempt at geographical groupings, beginning at the centre and
working outwards: Troy and its environs as far as the Hellespont; the allies from the
European side of the strait; more northerly allies from the southern Black Sea; the northern
hinterland, and the southern coastal region. How much of this has a basis in actual second-
millennium political geography is another matter; but notice again the omission from either
catalogue of the Aegean islands and Greek cities of Asia Minor, evidently reflecting an
awareness in Homers time that these areas were Greek-settled at a date later than the fall of
Troy.

Book 3. A Truce and a Duel

The third book is short but unusually rich in important or famous scenes. Its the book in
which we finally get to meet the key Trojan characters, including
Hector the eldest prince and overall war leader (already seen, but not heard, at the
end of book 2)
Priam his father, King of Troy
Paris Priams fairly feckless younger son
Helen Pariss Greek wife, abducted from her former husband, Menelaus of Sparta
which makes this the obvious book in which to introduce a further Greek character whos
been rather in the background until now:
Menelaus king of Sparta and brother to Agamemnon.
The main action of the book is the abortive attempt to settle the war by single combat
between Menelaus and Paris the rivals for Helen, and principal antagonists in the war over
her return. You might reasonably ask why nobody thought of this nine years ago. But thats
not the point; the lesson of the episode is that civilised attempts to end the war on agreed
terms can never succeed, for reasons to do above all with the involvement of the gods. At the
 35

same time, its another of a number of set pieces in these early books which help us to catch
up with the history and issues of the war as it enters its final phase. And though the duel itself
proves inconclusive in a way everyone had fatally failed to foresee, its ambiguous outcome
has consequences that will extend over the next four books. In particular, the making and (in
the next book) breaking of the truce will launch us into the first day of pitched battle, until its
conclusion in a second inconclusive duel in book 7.

A. Paris and Menelaus

The book opens with another montage of similes as the armies approach for the clash. This
time, though, both are described together, with a grim contrast between the motley yelling of
the Trojans and the silent determination of the Greeks. But then we go almost immediately
into the kind of close-up single encounter that serves as the main dramatic focus of Iliadic
battle narrative. First we see Paris (more commonly called Alexandros in Homer), flouncing
around the battlefield in a characteristically exotic outfit and making a show of daring which
his actual prowess and spirit will be woefully unable to back up. Sure enough, when
Menelaus sees his mortal enemy challenging all comers to single combat, he jumps at the
chance only for Paris to back immediately off from the fight, realising correctly that he is
no match for Menelaus.

B. Hector and Paris

This earns Paris a speech of rebuke from Hector for his cowardice, and the failure of his
martial spirit to match his dazzling looks. As always with his brother, Paris accepts the
criticism; but hes shamed into renewing his offer to fight Menelaus in single combat, and
proposes a deal under which both sides agree to the outcome of the duel determining who
gets Helen and thus the end of the war. Hector approves, not because he thinks Paris is likely
to win, but because it seems to promise that Troy will be spared whoever wins the duel. What
Hector hasnt realised is that the duel isnt going to go as simply as he anticipates, thanks to
the very element of divine favour he sneers at in 54 (and Paris defends in 636).

C. The truce
With some difficulty (perhaps a touch of comedy here), Hector delivers Paris terms to the
Greek army, and Menelaus eagerly accepts. He proposes an elaborate sacrifice to seal the
terms of the agreement, insisting on Priam himself as the guarantor for the Trojans given the
treachery of his sons (a swipe at Paris, obviously, but perhaps also undeservedly at Hector).
This will take some organising, so the action pauses while the poet takes the opportunity to
introduce us to one of the most complex, poignant figures in the poem.

D. Iris and Helen

Our first glimpse of Helen is a famous one. Like a good housewife, she is at home doing the
weaving; but what shes weaving is an embroidery of the scenes of the war she has
precipitated. The messenger goddess Iris brings her news of the duel, and Helens wordless
reaction is a rush of feeling for her old husband and life. Throughout her appearances in the
poem (and hers is the last voice heard), Helen is deeply ambivalent and self-critical about her
abandonment of Menelaus for Paris. Now, it seems after all this time as if the choice is about
to be made for her.

E. Helen and Priam: the teichoscopia

Helens arrival on the walls of Troy to watch the duel is viewed first through the eyes of the
assembled elders. Even they are ambivalent about Helen: shaken by her more than mortal
beauty and unable to condemn those who go to war over her, yet longing to be rid of her for
the sake of the survival of their people. Their response is more thoughtfully articulated by
Priam, who invites her warmly to sit with him and take the opportunity of this unprecedented
gathering of Greeks in sight of the walls to identify some of the faces in the crowd. This
famous scene is the so-called teichoscopia or watching from the walls. Its a rare moment
 36

of physical description, with some interesting comments on the outward appearance of three
of the major Greek warlords.

1. Agamemnon
Explicitly refusing to judge Helen harshly for the war, Priam picks out Agamemnon, whom
he has never met. Helen breaks her long silence to name him as her former brother-in-law, in
a speech marked by bitter regret, brutal self-criticism, and a haunting final cadence that seems
to cast doubt on her own memories of the possibility of contentment. Priams response is
characteristically non-judgmental, of Helen and Agamemnon alike; he ignores her outburst,
and congratulates his deadly enemy on the extent and magnificence of his kingdom. Theres
an attractive Nestorian touch in the old mans reminiscence of youthful exploits, though
Priam is a much less calculating and manipulative character than his wily counterpart.

2. Odysseus
Next to catch Priams eye is Odysseus, who lacks Agamemnons arresting stature, but is
physically impressive and (in an evocative simile) exudes leadership. Helen characterises him
as clever and devious, an impression confirmed by the Trojan elder Antenor from his
involvement in early negotiations over Helens return. Odysseus presence on such a mission
comes as no surprise; weve seen Agamemnon choose him for the mission to Chryse, and
hell be first choice for the far more delicate job of approaching Achilles on Agamemnons
behalf in book 9. These famous lines say a lot about how effective speech was valued in
ancient culture; physically less striking than Menelaus, Odysseus greatness is apparent only
when he opens his mouth.

3. Ajax
Priam then singles out a third visually conspicuous figure, who turns out to be Telamonian
Ajax a character little glimpsed in the early books, but central to the narrative of the
longest day in books 1117. Helen is warming to the role, and spontaneously recognises
Idomeneus as she scans the crowd in search of her brothers. Typically of Helen, she
speculatively attributes their absence to shame at their sisters conduct; but the truth, we learn
in a poignant aside by the poet, is that both are already dead and Helen has been beyond the
reach of the news.

F. The oaths
Priam is now called away: the sacrifice is now ready, and the king is needed to ride out and
pledge the Trojans side of the oath. Its a nervous moment for Priam (259), but he rides into
his enemies midst in a way that anticipates the still deadlier journey he will make in the final
book. The oath-making is a variant of the pattern of sacrifice and prayer with which were by
now familiar, except that instead of the prayer Agamemnon dictates the formal terms of the
agreement to which both sides swear. It seems watertight, but notice that Agamemnon only
mentions two possible outcomes: either Paris kills Menelaus, or Menelaus kills Paris. Clearly,
Agamemnon cant imagine anything that would end the combat before the death of one or
other warrior; but his failure to cover other options will leave a fateful ambiguity in the terms
of the truce.

G. The duel
Now comes the duel itself, the first combat of any kind recounted in the poem. It follows a
pattern well quickly come to recognise as standard: first the combatants exchange spears,
and then if neither has scored a decisive wound theyll move in to close combat with their
swords. By convention its tempting to say by a basic law of narrative the first thrower
tends on average to be the loser. Its far from a hard and fast rule, but its sufficient to tension
all such single combats with a subtle sense of anticipation and imbalance.
 37

1. the lots
Normally on the battlefield spearcasts would be entirely opportunistic. But this is a formal
duel, so both combatants have the same opportunity to cast the first spear, and so (as in duels
with very different weaponry in later ages) they have to choose who goes first, in this case by
lot. Given the principle of first-throw-loses just mentioned, its not a great surprise that the
weaker Paris is chosen by the lot to go first. We must suspect that Paris cant possibly be
killed on this occasion, but the suspense lies in keeping us guessing how hes going to escape.

2. arming
The suspense is spun out further by the first of four arming scenes in the poem, all of which
follow a regular sequence beginning with the greaves and moving up the body to finish with
the helmet. Its a classic example of a so-called type scene, a sequence that follows a
traditional pattern of ordered actions as one level of the process of formulaic composition.
But there are always subtle variations such as the fact here that Paris has to borrow his
brother Lycaons corselet because he doesnt seem to have one suitable of his own.

3. exchange of spears
Now at last Paris gets to throw his spear. This being Paris, its a fairly weedy throw that
simply gets stuck in Menelaus shield without penetrating the armour. Menelaus is more
careful, as well as more formidable: he accompanies his throw with a prayer to Zeus in his
capacity as patron god of the sacred bond between host and guest, which Paris violated when
he abused Menelaus hospitality to carry off his wife. On a different day, Zeus might have
responded more favourably, but even as it is the spear passes through shield, corselet, and
even undershirt before Paris manages to wriggle out of the path of the point in the
microsecond between fabric and flesh. This first description of a weapon penetration, even
though harmless, is typical of such moments: the close, almost slow-motion description of the
moment of penetration, here exploited for deft suspense as layer after layer gives way to the
remorseless bronze point. Then the narrative snaps into an accelerated version of normal
speed, as Menelaus instantly moves in with the sword, and is only briefly deterred by the loss
of his sword when it shatters on Pariss helmet. Even barehanded, Menelaus is more than a
match for Paris; he simply hauls him helplessly off by the helmet towards his own ranks to be
despatched at leisure.

4. Aphrodite intervenes
But now we see how a warrior as hopeless as Paris has managed to stay alive so long. His
patron goddess Aphrodite now makes her first appearance in the poem, and first engineers a
non-accidental accident to deprive Menelaus of his prize. Then she spirits Paris away from
the battlefield entirely, teleporting him invisibly to his bedroom back in the city. To complete
her trio of miracles, she then disguises herself as a trusted mortal and goes to fetch Helen to
join him, while Menelaus rages baffled on the field of combat.

H. Aphrodite, Paris, and Helen

The remarkable scene that follows shows the uniquely volatile relationship between the
troubled Helen and the goddess who claims her as her favourite. Aphrodites domain is sex,
and she seems unable to conceive of her mortal favourites happiness in anything other than
sexual terms inviting Helen to join Paris in his bed, without any explanation of how he got
there, or any recognition that Helens feelings towards Paris have been a little ambivalent
since Iris visit (and probably long before). But Helen actually sees through the goddesss
disguise, and (astonishingly) refuses to comply, accusing her of using Helen as a kind of
sexual surrogate for her own mortal beloveds. Particularly breathtaking is Helens suggestion
that Aphrodite turn herself into a slave to her mortal favourites, as shes effectively enslaved
Helen to Paris.
No other character in Homer talks back to a divinity like this, let alone gets away with it.
Aphrodite responds with a fleeting glimpse of her dark side, and the fate that awaits Helen if
ever the goddess were to withdraw her protection and favour. Cowed, Helen is eerily
transported unseen to her bedroom, where Helen rounds on Paris with a bitter denunciation of
 38

his cowardice, failure, and unworthiness in comparison with Menelaus. The tone of her final
lines (4326) is hard to judge: is she being sarcastic, or is she relenting to a degree, perhaps
influenced by Paris charms or Aphrodites unseen influence. (By this time the goddess has
quietly faded from the narrative.)
Paris dismisses her rebuke, making us think of his response to Hectors rebuke at the start
of the book, and merely urges her into bed. Helen is silenced now, and we leave them there as
the narrative cuts back to the bemused Menelaus still wondering what happened to his victim.
Agamemnon, however, seizes the opportunity to remind the Trojans of the terms of their
oath. Menelaus has won, even if he has not actually killed Paris as its wording stated. For
Agamemnon, this is enough to claim the right to take Helen back; but will the Trojans agree?

Book 4. Pandarus Breaks the Truce

The fourth book marks the long-awaited opening out of the action into pitched battle. It
moves through four phases: a second scene on Olympus; the breaking of the unstable truce
agreed in book 3; Agamemnons epipolesis or review of the army prior to battle; and finally
the start of the long battle narrative that will extend over the next three books. This is the
book where preliminaries are cast aside and the poem settles into its most characteristic
narrative mode: the representation of mass slaughter on the field of battle. Its also the book
that introduces the important character of Diomedes, who will dominate the fighting over the
following two books.

A. Council in Olympus
With Agamemnons challenge ringing in our (and the Trojans) ears, a response is artfully
delayed by the cut to Olympus and the reactions of the divine audience to the events of the
previous book. But its more than just a device of suspense; the gods themselves are about to
debate the decision facing the Greeks and Trojans below, and will agree to influence that
decision in a way none of the mortal characters have predicted, which will raise the stakes of
war still further.

1. Zeus
Zeus feels sufficiently confident of his authority to provoke Hera deliberately into an
outburst. The narrators introduction to his speech gives us to understand that Zeus is not
seriously proposing a peaceful end to the war, which would in any case conflict with his
promise to Thetis.

2. Hera
But Hera takes the bait, challenging Zeuss proposal on the unsettling grounds that shes put a
lot of work into making the Trojans lives unbearable and she doesnt intend to see it wasted.
Make a pasing mental note of line 29; its one of those lines well encounter again in a
significantly parallel-but-different context, which (intendedly or not) encourages us to
compare, contrast, and find meaning in the different uses in the two situations.

3. Zeus
Zeus reply includes a famous description of Heras remorseless hostility to Troy (line 35 is
especially memorable), contrasted here with Zeuss own affection for Priam and his city. We
never actually do find out explicitly in the text just why Hera is so set against the Trojans.
Later tradition traced it to the story of the judgment of Paris, but this is hinted at only once in
the Iliad, in the final book, and there in pretty ambivalent terms. If Zeus knows of a reason,
he never mentions it, though his silence could be tactful or teasing. Similarly, its hard to read
the tone of his offer to Hera to let her destroy Troy if he can have his pick of her own
favourite cities. Is he serious? Is he still trying to provoke her to anger, and if so why? Or is
he simply teasing her for his own amusement?
 39

4. Hera
In whatever case, Heras reply is fairly chilling. She casually nominates her all three of her
favourite Greek cities the kingdoms respectively of Diomedes, Menelaus, and Agamemnon!
for total destruction on Zeuss whim, so long as she can do the same to Troy. Having won
this apparent concession, she is then all conciliation and compromise: accepting Zeus
superior authority, but reminding him of her own near-equal status by birth and marriage
alike, so that it ill suits them to be seen at loggerheads. In this spirit of agreement so long as it
agrees with what she wants, Hera makes a suggestion: resolve the impasse over the status of
the truce by making someone from the Trojan side break it.

5. Zeus
Zeus briskly assents, and issues the order to Athene. In all this theres been no mention of his
promise to Thetis, and at this stage its unclear how his present action can help fulfil it. But
clearly a renewal of the fighting serves the common purpose of Zeus, Thetis, and Achilles as
much as it serves Heras, and he has tellingly made no commitment to support the Greeks
against the Trojans even if the Trojans put themselves in the wrong by breaking their oath.

B. Pandarus wounds Menelaus

Athenes chosen stooge is the minor Trojan warrior Pandarus, who will break the truce by
taking a sniper arrowshot at the exposed Menelaus. Athene, playing both sides, will then
ensure that the arrow does just enough damage to constitute a clear violation of the truce and
galvanise Agamemnon into all-out battle.

1. Athene tempts Pandarus

In mortal disguise, as usual, she paints Pandarus a wildly optimistic image of the rewards to
be anticipated if he were to kill Menelaus. Notice how she carefully suppresses any mention
of the truce that would by broken by such an action, stressing instead how it would end the
war at a stroke and incur Paris undying favour. A nice touch is the suggestion to vow a
sacrifice to Apollo if he succeeds; whether Apollo ever hears this prayer or not isnt said, but
Athene certainly has no intention of its ever being fulfilled.

2. the bow and the shot

Pandarus takes the bait, gets out the bow, and aims. The pacing of the whole scene is almost
slow-motion, and gets more so as the climax approaches. As often with significant objects
(especially weapons) in Homer, the bows pivotal role in the plot is marked by a digression
on its history made, aptly enough, from an earlier successful shot by Pandarus himself.
Even more striking is the bravura description of the arrows passage to its target. A fraction
of a second of real time is spun out to sixteen lines, followed by a further six-line simile on
top. Athenes intervention, to prevent the consequences of the action she herself has
instigated, is effortless, as the accompanying simile at 1301 conveys. But we seem to see the
arrows motion through the eyes of a god, as it penetrates belt, corselet, and finally flesh, in a
way reminiscent of but surpassing the description of Menelaus spearcast in book 3. The
narrative lingers especially, almost in freeze-frame, over the welling of blood from the
wound, which looks more shocking to the onlookers than we know it to be in reality.

3. Agamemnons response
This is the cue for a magnificent, yet almost comically undercut, reaction speech from
Agamemnon, who thinks that he is watching his brothers death at the hands of an
oathbreaking sniper. Its a crime he vows to repay in Trojan blood, in the powerful prediction
of Troys doom at 1637. (This is another passage that turns up in a later book with a very
different significance, but well come to that in a couple of lectures time.) Typically of
Agamemnon, though, his grief is not entirely unselfish; quite apart from losing a brother,
hell have lost the whole reason for continuing with the war, and he spends considerably
more lines on the damage thatll do to his own reputation than he does to the prospect of his
brothers death.
 40

During this whole melodramatic speech, Menelaus has been patiently waiting to report
what hes already realised at 151: that the wound is shallow and hes not going to die at all.
Not for the last time, Agamemnon has overreacted and jumped to conclusions. But his
anxiety over Menelaus in the following scenes seems genuine, as he first makes sure of his
brothers safety and then turns with renewed vigour to turn the full force of his anger on the
Trojans.

C. Agamemnons tour of the army

Now follows a set piece showing Agamemnon at his most effective, rallying the army almost
single-handed and leading visibly from the front. In a rapid series of short vignettes, we see
Agamemnon all over the battlefield, taking charge and urging on his subordinates. Its all
reminiscent of Odysseus rallying of the army in book 2 but here Agamemnon is in his
element, and proves himself more than capable of doing the job himself. Each short episode
has its own particular format and structure, bringing variety and virtuosity to the montage of
encounters.

1. fighters and shirkers

First come a pair of generic speeches, like Odysseus pair in book 2 to the warlords and the
common soldiers, showing how Agamemnon varies his military rhetoric according to the
conduct of his addressee. Energetic fighters are rewarded with encouragement and a reminder
of their own moral advantage, while shirkers are taunted and shamed for their inactivity.

2. Idomeneus
Now we enter a series of encounters with named individual leaders, beginning with the
somewhat colourless figure of Idomeneus the Cretan, who nevertheless gets a speech crisply
articulating the very values of heroic reciprocity that Achilles claimed Agamemnon has
violated. Warriors fight well, risk their lives, and are repaid with public respect and pride of
place at the feast. This is the contract between a warrior and his society. Only Achilles sees
what shaky foundations it rests on.

3. Ajax & Ajax

Next up is a team and a simile: the confusingly homonymous, but unrelated, pair of Ajaxes,
compared to the wind driving a stormcloud as they propel their forces into battle. This time
Agamemnon doesnt linger, contenting himself with a short speech of commendation.

4. Nestor
In a further variant, the next encounter is with Nestor, whom we first see passing on his
advice to the younger fighters in a combination of indirect and direct speech. Impressed,
Agamemnon stops to commend the old mans effectiveness despite being too old for combat
himself, and Nestor wistfully acknowledges (with one of his briefest reminiscences) that that
particular torch has passed.

5. Menestheus and Odysseus

Finally, Agamemnon faces the more difficult task of rebuking warlords who dont seem to be
pulling their full weight. The first of two contrasting pairs here are the Athenian Menestheus
and the normally reliable Odysseus, who apparently have failed to realise the battle has
already been joined. Odysseus is stung by the sharpness of Agamemnons rebuke (339 is
unexpected, given Odysseus services to the king in earlier books), and strongly disputes the
charge of shirking. To his credit, Agamemnon at once recognises that he has spoken too hard,
and withdraws the rebuke: a further sign that Agamemnons self-control and judgment are
stronger than they were in book 1.

6. Diomedes and Sthenelus

Different again is the exchange with Diomedes and Sthenelus, who also seem to be hanging
back. To them Agamemnon issues his longest speech in the sequence, recounting the role of
 41

Diomedes father Tydeus in the war of the Seven against Thebes, and comparing the sons
character unfavourably with his fathers. Diomedes bites his lip, and it is left to Sthenelus to
come to his defence rather astutely pointing out that the Seven never actually sacked
Thebes, whereas their sons did. But Diomedes silences him, asserting Agamemnons right to
do whatever he needs to hasten the capture of Troy. Later, Diomedes will have his chance to
turn the tables, charging Agamemnon himself with failing in his duty.

D. The first clash

Now, at last, the narrative plunges us into the thick of the battle at the moment of its joining.
First we see the armies clash in a mass; then we see the first individual kills by Greek
warriors; then Apollo moves in to help the Trojans regroup; and the book ends with a second
series of individual kills.

1. The advance to battle

The clash is marked by the last in the simile series that began in book 2, comparing the
massed bodies of soldiers to forces of nature. But now the Greeks come off better, compared
to crashing surf while the Trojans are as passive as sheep waiting to be milked. Here again,
too, a contrast is drawn between the silence and unity of the Greek ranks and the chaotic
noise and linguistic jumble of the Trojans and their allies. Theres a brief glimpse, invisible to
the characters, of the gods driving the armies on on either side, before the climactic moment
of the first massed clash is marked with a further extended simile.

2. The first kills

Now we get the first of many montage sequences tracking individual kills in closeup.
Typically of these sequences, the victims are given a brief identity and background at the
moment of their death, which may be anything from a bare patronym to a poignant potted
obituary. (These last are often referred to as necrologies.) Also typical is the narrative
weight given to two moments in the kill: the penetration of the death blow, and the fall of the
body to the ground. Youll also notice a very common pattern in which a kill is followed by a
struggle over the dead mans corpse and (especially) armour, which often draws other
fighters into the combat.
a) Antilochus kills Echepolus
Thus Antilochus killing of Echepolus with a gruesome spearcast to the head is followed by
the seizure of the body by the Greek Elephenor only to be killed in his turn by Agenor, who
catches Elephenor at a vulnerable moment as he bends to strip the corpse.
b) Ajax kills Simoeisius
The death of Simoeisius varies the sequence with a full-scale necrology of this beautiful but
doomed youth, and a characteristic touch of pathos in the comment about never returning to
his loving parents. Theres also an extended simile to develop the moment of the bodys fall,
as well as the expected medical closeup of the death wound itself.
c) Odysseus kills Democoon
Different again is the third in this trio of closeups, as Odysseus sees one of his own men cut
down by a Trojan spear next to him (again during the retrieval of a corpse), and retaliates
with a spear that takes out a different Trojan again to the original killer.

3. Apollo rallies the Trojans

Clearly, the Greeks are in the ascendant now; but as well as the gods glimpsed in the initial
charge, Apollo is active on the Trojans behalf, and allows his voice to be heard from his
shrine in the city. Yet the Greeks have a no less formidable divine supporter in Athene, and
the stage is starting to be set for the extraordinary clashes with the gods themselves in the
next book.
 42

4. lesser kills
The book closes with a short sequence of minor victims: the gruesome death of the Greek
Diores at the hands of Peirus of Thrace, who is killed in turn by the Greek warrior Thoas. But
Peirus fellow Thracians end this sequence by rallying to the defence and driving Thoas
back
 43

Iliad 58: The tide turns

Introduction to Books 58
These books will take us through the first consequences of Achilles withdrawal from the
battle, culminating in the Trojan recapture of the Scamander plain. By the end of book 8, the
besiegers have become the besieged: the Greeks have had to build their own defensive wall
around their camp on the shore, and as night falls the Trojans are about to break through even
that. Only Achilles can turn the tide of battle back again, just as he vowed would happen in
book 1; but what can persuade him to renounce his quarrel with Agamemnon?
Achilles disappears from the poem in book 1, and isnt seen again until book 9. These
books show how the war proceeds in his absence, beginning with spectacular successes from
the most aggressive Greek warrior in his absence, the fiery young hero Diomedes, but
gradually losing ground on the new days fighting that dawns at the start of book 8. That
book closes with the famous scene of the Trojan watchfires burning on the plain through the
desperate and eventful night that follows.
These books are one of the richest and most rewarding sequences of extended battle
narrative in the poem, including in books 56 the poems first warrior rampage or aristeia,
spotlighting Diomedes and including the extraordinary episode when he battles, and injures,
the gods themselves. Other highlights include the story of Bellerophon in book 6 and the duel
between Hector and Ajax in book 7 bringing the first days fighting to an end, as it began,
with a single combat.
Over the course of these four books, well see the consequences of Achilles absence
slowly begin to bite. At the start of book 5, the Greeks are riding high, with the young warrior
Diomedes dominating the fighting and almost as unstoppable as Achilles himself. But this
first long and vivid days combat, which finally reaches its end in book 7, will be the Greeks
last day of success. By the end of book 8 the Greeks will find themselves as penned in behind
their own hastily-erected fortification wall as the Trojans have been for the last nine years,
while the Trojans have recaptured the entire Scamander plain that separates the walls of Troy
from the Greek camp. Now even Agamemnon must realise that without Achilles the war is
doomed. But will Achilles listen?

Book 5. Diomedes Fights the Gods

When I first read the Iliad in my mid-teens, this was my favourite book in the whole poem.
That probably says more about teenage boys than it does about Homer, but its an important
clue to how this remarkable book works and why its placed where it is.
What happens in book 5 is that the young Greek warrior Diomedes has a run of success
that culminates in something that, for very good reasons, never happens anywhere else in
Homer: he actually succeeds in wounding two of the gods who are stomping round the
battlefield invisible to the mortal combatants. Diomedes is one of two Greek heroes
especially beloved of the most hands-on Olympian supporter of the Greeks, the goddess
Athene. (Her other great favourite, of course, is Diomedes close comrade Odysseus.) And
its Athenes support which singles him out as the first hero of what Homeric scholars call an
aristeia: a divinely-assisted run of unstoppable success in which the hero kills everyone rash
enough to cross his path.
We havent seen a lot of Diomedes so far, but he emerges now as an interesting if
uncomplicated figure. Young, energetic, adventurous, and unquestioningly committed to the
war, he has a lot in common with the absent Achilles, for whom hes something of a
surrogate here. Achilles is a far more thoughtful and troubled character, as well see in book
9, which is why Diomedes works so well for this point in the poem. Unlike Achilles,
Diomedes has no doubts about what hes doing, and his escapades in this book (and the next)
give us our first and only sense of just how exhilarating the warrior life and the thrill of
killing can be to one who lives that life to the full. Very soon, the horizons will darken; but
Diomedes view of the world is one that needs to be shown first.
 44

Its also an important book about the relationships, and the boundaries, between mortals
and gods. Its the only book in which a mortal gets to shed divine blood, and the reasons why
hes able to (and why nobody else is able to in the rest of the poem) are important to
understanding the way this vital boundary operates in the Iliads world. More of that as we
go.
The structure of the book, as often with battle books, is quite complex, and youll
probably want to have the outline in view as we proceed. Youll see that it alternates between
scenes tracking Diomedes exploits with glimpses of events elsewhere on the battlefield, and
in Olympus.

A. Diomedes aristeia begins

The book opens with the first move in what will turn out to be an increasingly dangerous
game played by the younger gods over the course of this book. Athene singles out her
favourite Diomedes for special support, and sets in motion a train of events that will lead
eventually to the unprecedented wounding of two other Olympians. Though the simile is
primarily about the light that blazes from Diomedes armour, the star in the simile is Sirius,
whose rise was in Greek tradition a sinister sign of disease and destruction: a prime example
of the importance of secondary associations in Homeric similes.

1. Phegeus & Idaeus

Diomedes first kill involves the poems first chariot encounter; well see a lot of chariot-
work in this book. Homer notoriously hasnt much of a clue what you might use chariots for
in battle, and simply has them ferry warriors around the battlefield: a memory of a Bronze
Age tactic whose actual workings and purpose have been forgotten over the centuries. In
Homer, riding a chariot is a two-man job: one to manage the chariot, and one to fight from it
using spears to throw or stab. Here the charioteers are brothers, and the spearman is Phegeus,
who throws first and (as usual in the Iliads exchanges of spears) fails to strike; then
Diomedes throws, and kills him, while his brother runs away and abandons the chariot for
Diomedes to claim as spoils.
Even here, divine intervention is skewing the outcome. The brothers are sons of a priest
of Hephaestus, and the god himself (in a rare appearance on the battlefield, where normally
he supports the Greeks rather than the Trojans anyway) teleports the survivor invisibly away
for Private Ryan reasons. Weve already seen this divine teleportation in Aphrodites rescue
of Paris in book 3; next time, itll have more dramatic consequences still.

2. Athene & Ares withdraw

To prevent the divine plot from escalating prematurely, Athene and Ares, the gods whove
been active on either side since book 4, make a pact of non-interference. (This may be a ruse
by the wilier Athene, since we know shes already programmed Diomedes with more than
human strength and courage.) This is the first, and least effective, of a series of such attempts
at divine withdrawals well see just how ineffective soon enough.

B. Interlude: other Greek kills

Before we return to Diomedes, theres a montage of short scenes showing six other Greeks
each strike down a Trojan: another mark of the initial peak of success from which the Greeks
will decline over the coming books as the Trojans gradually taken the advantage. This rapid
series of Greek kills, immediately following Ares withdrawal, increases pressure and
expectation for his early return to shore up the Trojan effort. Weve already seen a shorter
version of such a montage in the previous book; theyre an opportunity for a series of
virtuoso variations and contrasts, which escalate in vividness and pathos as the sequence
proceeds.
Agamemnon First variation: Agamemnon kills a charioteer from behind with a spear-
throw. His victim, Odius, has the doubtful distinction of being the first
leader from the Trojan catalogue to be killed in the course of the poem; see
2.856.)
 45

Idomeneus Second variation: Idomeneus kills another charioteer as hes mounting.

Menelaus Third variation: Menelaus kills a footsoldier in the back as he flees. The
necrology here, and grim narratorial comment of the form <distinguishing
quality> could not help him, give this victim more identity and pathos.
Meriones Fourth variation: a thrust rather than a throw of the spear this time, as the
Greeks start to catch up with the (apparently fleeing) Trojans. Meriones is
worth keeping an eye on: though a minor hero, his speciality in the poem is
inflicting unusually gruesome and painful wounds, like this memorably
nasty one here. Again theres a necrology, this time with an extra touch of
irony in the victims unwitting involvement with the cause of the war that
killed him.
Meges Fifth variation: another stab with the spear from even closer up. The first
two necrologies have centred on the victims skill and profession; this one,
more poignantly, centres instead on the miniature soap-opera of the heros
family history. As usual, theres a bleak unstated irony: all that exemplary
love went for nothing. As with Meriones kill, its a more graphic and
anatomically inventive (not to say improbable) death-wound than the simple
chest and shoulder wounds of the first trio.
Eurypylus Finally, Eurypylus gets close enough to use a sword, and actually hacks off a
running Trojans arm. This time the victim is himself a priest, of the local
river-god Scamander, who will eventually rise up against the Greeks in
person.

C. Diomedes II
But as the elemental simile now powerfully reveals, all these Greek successes are outclassed
by the rampage of Diomedes, to whom we now return for the first major sequence of his
aristeia and the first of two such sequences that will each culminate in the wounding of a
god. The process starts, however, with a thread left dangling from the previous book: the fate
of the sniper Pandarus, following his ill-advised bowshot at Menelaus.

1. Pandarus wounds Diomedes

Pandarus begins by trying his previous trick again: a long-range sniper shot with his bow.
Once again he draws blood, and this time, thanks to Athenes pact with Ares, theres no
goddess on hand to protect his victim. But Diomedes is made of strong stuff, and simply has
his charioteer pull the arrow straight through the shoulder and out, then shrugs off the wound
and goes back for vengeance.

2. Diomedes and Athene

With Diomedes prayer to Athene, the divine pact is stretched close to breaking. Athene stops
short of intervening physically on the battlefield in the way we saw her doing at the end of
book 4; but she does appear to Diomedes and answer his prayer and more.
Diomedes is stung by Pandarus boast, which has had the unfortunate effect of telling him
who shot him. Line 119s shot me before I could see him underlines the fact that, for the
major heroes, the bow is something of a cowards weapon, as it doesnt involve a face-to-face
confrontation and trial of strength between combatants, and can be used by a weaker warrior
(like Paris) to inflict damage on someone he wouldnt dare meet in open battle.
Athene has a closer relationship with her favourites than the other Olympians. Weve
already seen her appear in person to Achilles, and she acts similarly with Diomedes and
Odysseus (the latter especially in the Odyssey). Even more strikingly, she here not only grants
Diomedes prayer for vengeance, but gives him a gift unique in either poem: the power to see
what otherwise only the poet and the audience see, the invisible world of the gods at work on
the battlefield. Initially this is for Diomedes own protection, so that he can know to back off
if he sees a god coming at him. But she does, fatefully, give him permission to strike directly
at Aphrodite a goddess who scarcely belongs on the battlefield, but has already diverted the
 46

natural course of the war once today by spiriting her favourite Paris out of the duel he was
about to lose.

3. Diomedes resumes the slaughter (4 pairs)

So we rejoin the battle with two encounters to anticipate: Diomedes vengeance on Pandarus,
and a meeting on the battlefield with Aphrodite. The poems first great lion simile marks a
new escalation in Diomedes energy and destructiveness, as he starts killing Trojans two at a
time in all but the first case bereaving a Trojan family of a pair of brothers, culminating in
the double killing of two sons of Priam himself, and with a second lion simile framing the
sequence.

D. The wounding of Aphrodite

Now the two strands of the plot converge, as Aphrodites son Aeneas teams up with the
doomed Pandarus, drawing both into a deadly confrontation with the unstoppable Diomedes.

1. Aeneas and Pandarus

This is our first sight in action of Aeneas, prince of an outlying branch of the royal family and
the most powerful Trojan warrior after Hector. He was named second in the Trojan catalogue
at 2.81921, is bracketed with Hector at 6.779, and is the only native Trojan other than
Hector to stand consistently up to the Greek onslaught. (Sarpedon and Glaucus, the other key
fighters on the Trojan side, are not Trojans but Lycian allies.) Hes no match for Diomedes,
but hes a far superior warrior to Pandarus, and gets drawn into Pandarus showdown with
Diomedes by offering to share his chariot when Pandarus explains his disillusion with the
archery hes relied on so far. Though weve seen warriors on foot take out charioteers earlier
in the book, Pandarus realises hes got no chance alone and on foot against a chariot-borne
Diomedes so Aeneas offer seems to even the odds. But as well soon see, it wont be
enough.
Pandarus autobiography is a long speech, full of sad irony for the audience who sense the
imminence of his death. His choice of the bow over the chariot as his favoured weapon of
war has been an even more disastrous choice than he recognises, as his two arrows fired so
far have only served to hasten his own end.

2. Diomedes and Sthenelus

The conversation between Aeneas and Pandarus, debating with grim practicality who should
drive and who should be spearman, now gives way to the scene at Diomedes chariot.
Sthenelus, Diomedes loyal charioteer urges retreat in the face of two major Trojan heroes;
but Diomedes remembers his commitment to Athene, and as further inducement notes that
Aeneas horses would be a tremendous prize if the Greeks could capture them. (Diomedes, as
well see again in book 10, is something of a horse-fancier.) He refuses to mount the chariot
and retreat; hell face Pandarus chariot charge on foot.

3. Diomedes kills Pandarus

When they come within earshot, Pandarus throw his spear first, and for the third and last time
commits the fatal error of assuming hes struck his man down just because the missile has
struck home. But Diomedes seems undamaged, and in a famously contorted throw manages
to hit Pandarus full in the face so the spear comes out of his jaw.

4. Diomedes wounds Aeneas

This leaves Aeneas to face Diomedes alone. Pandarus corpse has fallen from the chariot, so
Aeneas has no choice but to dismount himself if he wants to defend it. Diomedes has thrown
his spear, so it seems he will have similarly to face Aeneas hand-to-hand. But in his present
state of superhumanly enhanced strength, hes able to improvise a throwing weapon from a
nearby rock, and cripple Aeneas with a crushing blow to the hip.
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5. Diomedes wounds Aphrodite

Just as with Paris in book 3, but even more so, the sight of her beloved Aeneas facing certain
death triggers immediate intervention from Aphrodite. Normally these moments of divine
rescue would be invisible; but Diomedes has been given the temporary power to see the gods
with his mortal eyes. Mindful of Diomedes instructions, Sthenelus shoos Aeneas chariot
and horses off to the Greek ranks for capture; and then the two of them ride in pursuit of the
vanishing Aeneas, and Diomedes spear catches Aphrodite in the hand.
All hell breaks loose. Aphrodite immediately drops the injured Aeneas, who has to be
rescued instead by Apollo, and goes running to Ares, who apparently is still abiding by his
pact of non-intervention with Athene. Borrowing his divine chariot, she takes off to Olympus
with the messenger goddess Iris as her charioteer.

E. On Olympus
The narrative now tracks Aphrodite to Olympus, where a pair of scenes between the gods in
their own domain takes us away from the battle and marks the close of the first phase of the
book. The second will begin once we rejoin the battle, and will culminate in the wounding of
Ares.

1. Aphrodite and Dione

Aphrodites mother Dione only appears in this scene. Mythology buffs might be surprised to
find Aphrodite has a mother at all, as later Greek tradition was pretty unanimous that she
arose out of the ocean foam. (The standard version is that when Zeus father Cronus castrated
his father Uranus, the blood fell into the sea and fathered the goddess.) But that version isnt
found in Homer.
Dione consoles Aphrodite by telling her three fascinating stories of other gods attacked
by mortals: Ares bound and starved by the giants Otus and Ephialtes, and Hera and Hades
both wounded by Heracles with arrows. The allusions are so obscure that its widely
suspected that the stories were made up for this passage, as seems to be the case with other
obscure myths told as parallels to things going on in the main narrative. (The classic article
on this is Malcom M. Willcock, Mythological Paradeigma in the Iliad, Classical Quarterly
14 (1964) 14154, which you can find through JSTOR.) The enigmatic reference to a fight
between Heracles and Hades at Pylos (Nestors kingdom) is mysterious, though later writers
allude to it as well.
Dione closes by warning that Diomedes is playing a dangerous game, and that having
Athenes permission doesnt mean hes going to get away with attacking the gods raising
the stakes and ratcheting up the suspense for the confrontation with Apollo now taking place
back on earth.

2. Hera, Athene, and Zeus

After Diones healed Aphrodites wound, a brief scene brings in the other gods, as Hera and
Athene tease Aphrodite, and Zeus soothes the tensions by discreetly advising her to stay out
of the world of warfare, where she doesnt belong. The whole episode has underlined the vast
gulf that separates immortals from mortals: any damage is quick to heal, and merely a subject
for petty point-scoring. Diomedes other victims havent been so lucky.

F. Diomedes and Apollo

Now we cut back to the battlefield, rejoining the action at the moment we left it, as though no
time has passed. Apollo has taken charge of the wounded Aeneas: a much more formidable
antagonist than Aphrodite, and a dangerous test of Diones warning. The whole scene,
including the three-times and then on the fourth pattern, is twice replayed by Patroclus
in book 16: first in his charge at the walls of Troy at 16.702ff., and then fatally in his death
charge at 16.784ff., by which time the sinister pattern has become ominously familiar by the
repetition. Diomedes, however, heeds the gods warning and wisely backs off allowing
Apollo to spirit Aeneas away for his mother and sister to tend, and substitute a divine
simulacrum to be fought over in his place. Its a strange moment, unparalleled elsewhere, and
 48

a sign of the extreme level of divine intervention in this book, which will soon have a stop
put to it on Zeuss orders.

1. Ares rallies the Trojans

Apollo now urges Ares, the remaining pro-Trojan divinity attending the battlefield, to stop
Diomedes himself. Ares doesnt intervene physically at this stage, but he does put on divine
disguise (as Acamas, mentioned in the Trojan catalogue at 2.844) and prompts the other
Trojans and allies to join in the rescue attempt being fought over the phantom Aeneas.

2. Sarpedon and Hector

This prompts a reaction from Sarpedon: the first speech from this character, wholl emerge as
a key figure in later books. Sarpedon is the most powerful of the Trojan allies, and thetension
between him and Hector mirrors the situation between Achilles and Agamemnon. This isnt
Sarpedons war, and he doesnt owe the Trojans anything; if the Trojans themselves dont
pull their weight, why should their allies? Unlike Achilles, he doesnt even have the prospect
of booty; he fights purely out of a sense of heroic obligation, which hell express in a famous
speech at 12.31028.

3. Hector supports Aeneas

Hector is spurred into action by Sarpedons complaint, unaware of the larger divine drama
playing unseen around him as Ares enters the battle at his side, and Apollo surreptitiously
substitutes the now divinely healed Aeneas for the phantom, with none of the mortals the
wiser. With Athene still back on Olympus, Apollo and Ares are unopposed, and for the first
time the Greeks are checked, the stalemate marked with an ironically pastoral simile.

G. Pitched battle
The Greeks are on the defensive now, but they dont give way. A second nature-simile leads
into the books second montage sequence, as the narrative jumps rapidly from one warrior to
another, but this time alternating Greeks and Trojans unpredictably.

1. Agamemnon
Again we lead on Agamemnon, in his element now as a warlord leading from the front. A
brief speech of encouragement to those around him, and he takes down one of Aeneas own
men who has presumably been part of the battle over the phantom.

2. Aeneas
Aeneas counters by killing not one but two Greeks, the brothers Orsilochus and Crethon
who get both an extensive necrology and an interesting lion simile which casts the lions as
both predators (of human flocks) and victims (of human hunters). Theres still debate over
exactly when lions were hunted out of mainland Greece and Asia Minor, but its at least
possible that lions were still a real threat to mountain herds as late as the eighth century.

3. Menelaus & Antilochus

A characteristic Menelaus moment now: Menelaus is an able but not invincible second-tier
warrior whose spirit exceeds his prowess, and like Patroclus has a dangerous tendency to feel
too acutely the sufferings of others, which he then attempts to relieve by jumping into fights
where hes out of his natural depth. With another warrior this might be less of a concern, but
as weve already seen in book 4 the Greeks cant afford to lose Menelaus as hes the reason
theyre all there in the first place; so other characters, like Antilochus here, keep a
surreptitious eye on him. Aeneas then recognises their combined power as more than a match
for himself, so backs off and allows the Greeks the recovery of the corpses, while Menelaus
and Antilochus press home their advantage with a pair of further kills, including a hero from
the Trojan catalogue. (For Pylaemenes see 2.851.)
 49

4. Diomedes withdraws before Hector & Ares

Now the action escalates and the major players get drawn in. Hector charges in support of the
fallen Pylaemenes and his charioteer; and with him, unseen to any but Diomedes, is the war-
god Ares himself. Athenes licence to wound only covered Aphrodite, and Diomedes has
been warned by Apollo of the danger of standing up to other gods; for Diomedes, as the
simile conveys, fighting Ares would be suicide, and he gives way.

5. Hector
Hector seizes the advantage, with another double kill from a single chariot

6. Ajax
which draws in Ajax, who makes a single kill and then has to give way under the
ferocious assault which then follows as he tries to strip the armour. This is a typical Ajax
moment: a powerful defensive fighter, capable of taking enormous punishment, and forced to
give way only with great difficulty.

7. Sarpedon v Tlepolemus
Next comes a full-blown duel, between Sarpedon and the Rhodian leader Tlepolemus: a son
of Zeus against a grandson of Zeus (through Heracles). This is the books climactic combat,
and the first death of a hero from the Greek catalogue (2.653ff.). This is the poems first duel
to include the full exchange of speeches followed by two spearcasts, and (not surprisingly,
given the combatants ancestry) begins with an exchange of taunts about ancestry.
Tlepolemus challenge to Sarpedons divine paternity borders on hubris, and his challenge is
countered with impressive and characteristic restraint by Sarpedon, who (as a non-Trojan) has
no hesitation blaming Troys former king Laomedon for its sack at Heracles hands, rather
than allowing Heracles the credit claimed by his son. Theres a warning in this against
excessive pride, which its hard not to take as a dig at Tlepolemus own speech.
Unusually, both spears are thrown simultaneously; and both strike home, Sarpedons
fatally, Tlepolemus seriously. But its here that Sarpedons superior ancestry saves him, as
Zeus himself intervenes to prevent his death. As with the DiomedesApollo encounter earlier,
this is artful anticipation of the climax in book 16, where Zeus will be unable to save
Sarpedon a second time.

8. Odysseus
Now the camera picks out Odysseus, who has a typical Odyssean moment of decision where
two alternatives are weighed up, usually with the second, later, and better thought prevailing.
We saw one of these earlier from Achilles at 1.188ff., but on that occasion the decision was
made for him by Athene, and its a pattern more usually associated with the thoughtful
tactician Odysseus, no less in the Odyssey than in the Iliad. He opts not to pursue the
wounded Sarpedon, and instead makes this books high score of seven kills in two lines a
total matched only by Achilles at the height of his aristeia, at 21.21920.

9. Hector presses forward

But this new slaughter attracts Hectors attention. Theres a strange moment between him and
Sarpedon which has suggested to analyst critics, who argue for signs of different versions
in the text of the Iliad as we have it, that Sarpedon originally was meant to die at this point,
since he delivers a typical form of dying heros speech, yet uniquely recovers after. But
Hectors been curiously laconic in this book, and its possible to read his disregard of
Sarpedon here as simply responding to Sarpedons taunt earlier, which he also answered with
actions rather than words.

H. The wounding of Ares

Now the book approaches its extraordinary and chilling climax. Diomedes has told the rest of
the Greeks what hes seen: Ares accompanying Hector through the battle, making him
 50

effectively invincible. Sure enough, he now kills six named heroes in three lines, as well as
others left unnamed.

1. Olympus: Hera, Athene, Zeus

Back in Olympus, Hera and Athene observe this, and prepare for action, in a dazzling divine
counterpart to the scenes where mortal warriors arm themselves (as in 3.330ff.). Like the
chariot duos weve seen on the battlefield, one takes the role of charioteer and the other rides
shotgun allowing the famous descriptions of Hera the charioteers divine chariot, and the
transformation of Athene the goddess of handicrafts into the terrifying war-goddess weve
already seen in action on the battlefield. Unlike Ares and Aphrodite, they take care to seek
Zeuss permission, and present themselves as merely countering Ares unilateral slaughter of
the Greeks.

2. The goddesses descend

The chariot alights at a quiet edge of the plain, and the goddesses set out for the battle on
foot. Hera, whose status and dignity prevent her from intervening physically in the fighting,
settles for urging the troops on in the guise of the loud-voiced Stentor (a character in fact
mentioned only here, despite having contributed stentorian to the lexicon).

3. Athene and Diomedes

Meanwhile, Athene seeks out Diomedes, from whom we havent heard since his encounter
with Apollo. It turns out his wound from Pandarus arrow has been, understandably giving
him trouble; but Athene for the second time appears to him undisguised. To her charge of
shirking he replies with a mild reminder of the terms of her original instructions: that the only
god he was allowed to attack was Aphrodite, but thanks to her gift he can see that its Ares
out there. Athenes reply rather exaggerates the terms of Ares agreement with her, which in
any case has been pretty strained by Athenes own clandestine support of Diomedes; but she
grants him permission to attack Ares provided that she can drive, and (with amusing
peremptoriness) takes Sthenelus place in the chariot from Sthenelus, taking care to wear the
divine helmet of invisibility that will prevent Ares from recognising her.

4. the stabbing of Ares

Ares is caught like a mortal warrior, stripping the corpse of a Greek hes killed with his own
hands on the battlefield. Were probably meant to feel this as a debasement of his divine
status; no other god does either of these things in the course of the poem. Athenes unseen
hand first diverts Ares spear from the otherwise doomed Diomedes, then helps Diomedes
spear to inflict an agonising belly wound on Ares himself. Ares superhuman cry of pain,
which momentarily stops the battle in shock, is a magnificent touch at this climactic moment;
and we watch through Diomedes privileged eyes, as unseen by other mortals the form of the
god ascends rapidly back into the sky.

5. Ares and Zeus

Where Aphrodite complained to her mother, Ares complains to his father Zeus himself. Ares
isnt normally the most eloquent of gods, and his indictment of Athene is the longest speech
he delivers in the poem: a harsh, petulant performance that does him no favours, and is
brusquely dismissed by Zeus, who gave Athene full permission and isnt going to hear his
favourite daughter attacked by his least favourite son. Neverthless, his son he remains, and
Zeus grants him the same healing that Aphrodite had from Apollo (Paion is his title as
healer-god). With the return of Athene and Hera in the final lines, all the gods are now back
in Olympus, and this extraordinary round of divine intrusions on the action is at an end. Soon,
Zeus will take steps to stop anything like this happening again.

Book 6. Hector and Andromache

Three much shorter books now follow the bravura martial and cosmic action of the huge fifth
book, beginning with the book that completes the aristeia of Diomedes and culminates in one
 51

of the most famous episodes anywhere in Homer, Hectors moving scene with his wife
Andromache. The book falls into two halves, the first continuing the battlefield narrative and
the second following Hector on an emotionally-charged journey through the city of Troy and
a trio of encounters with the women closest to him, each of whom in turn tries in vain to turn
him from his warrior duty. Its a book in which not only the character of Hector, but also the
complex and irreconcilable tensions that drive the warriors sense of his responsibility, are
explored in fuller depth than weve so far seen, making it a key book in the poem as a whole
even though its frankly a detour in the plot.

A. Pitched battle resumes

Back on earth, the Greeks are regaining the advantage following the withdrawal of the gods
who were skewing the outcome, and the book opens with the third of our pitched-battle
montages of short scenes spotlighting different individual warriors.
Ajax First in the spotlight is Ajax, at whose hands the Thracian chieftain Acamas (last
seen being impersonated by Ares at 5.454ff.) now becomes the fourth of the
twenty-three leaders in the Trojan catalogue to die.
Diomedes Next Diomedes scores yet another double kill from a Trojan chariot, with a
typical necrology on the failure of the dead mans virtues to protect him from
his fate.
Euryalus Euryalus then keeps the score climbing with a quadruple kill culminating in a
pair of brothers
other and the narrative reaches a frenzy of slaughter with a bravura catalogue
kills narrative in which seven different Greeks killing seven Trojans in eight lines.

1. Menelaus, Adrestus, and Agamemnon

Now for a famous moment, and the books first developed scene: a telling episode in the
characterisation of Menelaus and Agamemnon. Adrestus (not the one from the Trojan
catalogue at 2.828, but one of a number of confusing homonyms) is the first victim in the
poem to supplicate his killer to spare his life in exchange for a ransom payable by his family.
This is an option that well see proposed, and rejected, at a number of points in the poem;
only at the very end does such an appeal succeed, when Priam induces a reluctant Achilles to
release the corpse of Hector for burial. But Menelaus, who weve already seen has a more
sympathetic and sensitive side than his immediate colleagues, is inclining to sympathy when
his more forceful and brutal brother Agamemnon interrupts and slaughters him himself. This
is very much the Agamemnon we saw at 4.163ff., for whom nothing short of genocide will
pay for the Trojans past and recent crimes against his brother.

2. Nestor rallies the Greeks

Finally in this sequence, the camera gives us a glimpse of the contribution old Nestor makes
in these scenes of pitched battle, where he cant wield weapons but can still direct the battle
tactically. Here he sees that the Greeks have the Trojans in retreat if only they press home
their advantage and dont stop to strip corpses, and urges that they kill first and plunder later.

3. Helenus counsels Hector

This is a vulnerable moment for the Trojans, and for the first time in the poem we hear the
advice of Hectors brother Helenus, who is both a warrior and an interpreter of the gods will.
His advice is to appeal to Diomedes patron goddess Athene, who also has a shrine in the
citadel of Troy: an offering of a royal robe now and the promise of a vast sacrifice later, if
shell only restrain Diomedes. This will all come to nothing, but its real function in the poem
is to get Hector off the battlefield, into Troy, and into a series of scenes with the women of
the royal family, who will need to take charge of the offering of the robe.
 52

B. Glaucus and Diomedes

While Hector heads for Troy, however, Diomedes onslaught is checked by an unexpected
and brilliantly-staged encounter. Glaucus, youll remember, is co-commander with Sarpedon
of the Lycian contingent of allies. Though a spirited fighter, hes no match for Diomedes,
particularly in his present flush of energy and success. What follows begins as what looks
like a doomed encounter between very unequal warriors, develops into a bravura display of
storytelling, and culminates in a part-comic, part-heroic twist that shows that even a warrior
in his aristeia is the centre of a complex value system that can override the need to kill.

1. The meeting and challenge

Diomedes speaks first. For reasons well see shortly, its important that Glaucus is an
unfamiliar face to him; and in the light of Apollos warning in the previous book, he is
understandably wary of attacking anyone who might turn out to be a god. He supports this
with a story that was to become famous in later versions: the war declared on the new god
Dionysus and his supporters by the Thracian king Lycurgus, who in this version was blinded
by Zeus in punishment. So long as hes assured that hes facing a mortal, however, Diomedes
will fight, and will kill or so he thinks.

2. The story of Bellerophon

Glaucus replies with one of the longest speeches in the poem, answering Diomedes question
about his identity with a long, suspiciously leisurely discussion of his family history. If you
get a bit lost, the family tree comes out like this:
Aeolus

Sisyphus

Glaucus king of Lycia

Bellerophon princess

Isander Hippolochus Laodamia Zeus

Glaucus Sarpedon

Its hard not to see this as a desperate attempt to buy time with a filibuster, particularly
following the rather flabby (though much-quoted in antiquity) platitudes with which it opens.
But the content is fascinating, if puzzling in some details, and would become the basis for a
number of famous tragedies by Sophocles and Euripides. Its the story of Bellerophon, which
is built up from a series of so-called folktale motifs found widely in other traditions.
Theres a sexually predatory queen who turns against the hero who rebuffs her (think
Potiphars wife, or if you must Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat); theres a
series of impossible tasks set for the hero by the wicked king, all of which he survives to win
the kings daughter. But the most intriguing elements by far are the parts of the story that are
left only partly told. What happened to Bellerophon to make him hated by all the
immortals, and what happened to him in the end? (Later versions enjoyed filling in the gaps,
as they did with the story of Oedipus as told in Odyssey 11.) And above all, what were the
deadly symbols he carried in a tablet, that could convey a secret message unknown to the
bearer?
 53

The answer to the second question, at least, is clear: the symbols were writing, here
mentioned for the only time in Homer, and in terms that suggest the poet and his audience
seem to have had only a rather hazy idea of what writing was or did. Is this a last, distant
memory of the Linear B script of the Mycenaean age? If so, it seems to have been conflated
with more modern writing forms, as the clay tablets of the Mycenaean world were anything
but foldable. But that would surely strike Homers audience as a bizarre anachronism, as if
characters in Chaucer were to drive around in Model T Fords. Perhaps the Lycian setting
shows an awareness that a form of alphabetic writing, though a recent import in the Greek-
speaking world, had been around for a while in the eastern Mediterranean. Whatever the case,
its ironic that a text that depended on the invention of writing for its survival should show
such a semi-mystical sense of the technology that enabled it to be preserved.

3. The exchange of armour

All through this speech, weve been imagining Diomedes tapping his foot and waiting for the
moment when Glaucus will shut up and he can chuck his spear at him. That makes it all the
more of a surprise when Diomedes instead buries his spear in the ground and greets Glaucus
as an old family friend. Diomedes own grandfather Oeneus had been a xenos to Bellerophon:
that complex relationship awkwardly translated as variously guest-friend or host, under
which members of different communities would look after one another during visits in the
absence of any kind of international law to guarantee their status. The importance of this
relationship, a powerful bond in Greek society in myth and history alike, is nicely illustrated
by the fact that the gifts exchanged in their grandfathers day have remained family
heirlooms; so that Diomedes proposes a renewal of the bond by an exchange of the most
valuable things they have to hand, the armour theyre wearing.
This they do, and Glaucus lives to fight another day, no doubt to his great relief. The
narrators wry comment that he came off much the worst from the deal is usually interpreted
as a touch of dry humour a signal that were meant to recognise that Glaucus is gratefully
buying himself out of trouble and Diomedes exploiting the situation to fleece him. I have to
say Im not at all persuaded; its all too easy to read irony where ancient values clash with our
own, though I dont think theres any doubt that the exchange is meant to symbolise the
pairs unequal status as warriors and the degree by which Diomedes outclasses Glaucus. But
the plot of the Odyssey is founded on the premise that such cynical abuse of the sacred
institution of xenia is a crime punishable by death, so we should hesitate before claiming to
have fully understood the tone of this episode.

C. Hector in Troy
So Diomedes rampage comes to an unexpectedly peaceful end; but Hector knows none of
this, and we catch up with him as he enters the city, in what will prove to be our last glimpse
of the world inside the walls for the next two-thirds of the poem. Theres a poignant little
touch as the families of the warriors still out there on the battlefield ask for news of their
loved ones, and he has to temporise. Then comes the first full description of the vast palace of
Priam and his huge extended family an important piece of scene-setting, as Hector will
have to find his way around this complex in search of his brother and wife.

1. Hecuba
Now comes the first of three encounters between Hector and the women of his family, each
of whom in turn will try to tempt him, with increasingly persuasive arguments, to put his own
safety before his sense of his duty on the battlefield. First up is his mother Hecuba, who
subtly tries to delay him for a drink; but Hector easily resists, tactfully begs off on religious
grounds, and goes straight to the reason for his visit. Instructing Hecuba in what needs to be
done for the offering and prayer to Athene, he takes the opportunity himself to find out
whats happened to his wastrel brother Paris since he vanished from the battlefield three
books ago.
 54

2. The offering to Athene

We track the first of these storylines next, as Hecuba chooses the highly symbolic offering of
a Phoenician robe from Sidon brought by Paris himself on the journey that also brought
Helen. Treasures and heirlooms in the heroic world often have such stories attached to them,
whose history is part of their value; think of Agamemnons sceptre at 2.1008.
The robe is duly presented to Athene, in one of the rare references in Homer to a statue of a
deity in a temple: a glimpse of the world of the eighth century intruding anachronistically on
the Mycenaean past. But the whole episode is a cruel reminder of the fickleness of the gods,
and Athene pays no more heed to the Trojan womens elaborate offering and prayer here than
Zeus did to Agamemnons prayer at 2.41920.

3. Paris and Helen

Now for Paris, who is still where we left him at the end of book 3: at home with Helen, who
has now abandoned him to return to her weaving while he fiddles with his armour. Its a
tableau that can be interpreted in more than one way; perhaps, as is often argued, Paris is still
smarting from Helens rebuke at 3.42836, to which some see an allusion in 337 (though we
recall that Helens words there were anything but soft). The salient thing, as Hector points
out, is that Paris is at home with his wife while all other men of fighting are out there risking
their lives on the battlefield, and Hector has no time for this.
Paris replies by agreeing wholeheartedly with Hectors rebuke: not, for example, the kind
of response weve seen from the likes of Diomedes and Odysseus when their spirit was
challenged by Agamemnon and (most recently, in Diomedes case) Athene. He gives what
its hard not to read as an Ah yes, I was just on my way, honest answer, only to be
undermined completely by Helen. Her speech combines her favourite topics of self-loathing,
guilt, regret, and contempt for Paris with an eerie sense of her place at the centre of an epic
song that will preserve her unhappy story down the centuries. We perhaps caught a bit of this
in book 3, where she was glimpsed weaving the story of the deaths shed caused into a
tapestry, and where she confronted Aphrodite over the goddesss puppet-like treatment of
her. But this is the only passage in the Iliad in which any characters show this kind of almost
metaliterary awareness of the epic of which theyll be part.
Hector easily resists Helens attempt to detain him, and excuses himself with the need to
take the opportunity to visit his own family for what may be, and in many ways feels like, the
last time.

4. Andromache
This isnt in fact the final parting between Hector and Andromache it so vividly presents
itself as. Hector will be safely back in Troy that night, and indeed on the four subsequent
nights. (Have a look at the chronology of the poem, which Ive taken from my 2000 book The
Classical Plot and the Invention of Western Narrative. Well come back to this in detail the
lecture on structure.) But its the only scene we get to see between them, and it centres
strongly on the experience of the warriors parting from his wife for what he knows may be
the last time. This scene is the deepest we probe into Hectors motivation and choices, and
one of the key episodes for understanding the heroic value system that drives him and his
world. Its also the poems most powerful glimpse of the effect of the war on its non-
combatants, and the future that lies in store for the survivors.
a) Andromaches story
Andromaches speech powerfully presents the womens perspective on the war. To his
people, Hector is their strongest weapon against the Greeks; but to Andromache and her
child, Hector is the last thing left in their lives after Achilles has slaughtered all her other kin.
Her story is a grim one: her home city of Thebe sacked on one of Achilles devastating raids
around the Troad, and all her male family dead by Achilles own hand, most of them
apparently caught unawares and unarmed in the fields. As killing machines go, Achilles
retained some sense of honour: he gave her father a warriors funeral, and ransomed her
mother to Andromache in Troy, only for her to die soon after. This isnt the first weve heard
of this raid. It was also (1.3669) the occasion when Chryseis was captured, apparently by
Achilles himself, only to be awarded as a share of the spoils to Agamemnon; and at 2.6901
 55

we learned that on the same occasion Achilles sacked a second city, Lyrnessus, from which
he captured Briseis. (What Chryseis, a native of Chryse, was doing in Thebe is never
explained. But it raises the ironic reflection that if Agamemnon hadnt claimed Chryseis in
the first place the problem over her ransom would never have arisen, as Achilles himself
ransomed a captive from that very same expedition.) All that stands between Andromache
and Achilles is Hector.
b) Hector on the fall of Troy
Hectors reply is one of the key speeches in the poem: a central statement of the values that
determine the Homeric warriors choices. Its a carrot-and-stick life: the reward is a glorious
reputation, and the punishment for shirking is shame. The heros responsibility to his people
overrides his responsibility to his family, however painful the choice. But at the same time,
poignantly, Hector acknowledges that all he can do is delay the inevitable: that he will die,
Troy will fall, and Andromache will end her days in slavery. The one bitter consolation is that
at least hell die before that happens.
Hectors lines at 4479 are words weve heard before in a very different context, when
Agamemnon vowed the total destruction of Troy in retaliation for the wounding of Menelaus
at 4.1635. The sad fatalism here contrasts strongly with the grim resolve with which they
were spoken there. If this were a modern written text wed put it down to deliberate and
ironic repetition, but in an orally composed epic built from repeatable expressions the effect
is harder to pin down. Hardline oralists (well see what that entails in the composition lecture)
would say these are just prefabricated lines that have popped into the poets head as
appropriate at two very different moments in his song and got frozen in the text as it was
recorded (however exactly that happened, cough-cough), and that they shouldnt be given the
same weight of intention and significance as they would in a literate, more fully premeditated
composition. Others would say: why shouldnt they? What do you think? (Dont worry, you
dont have to answer that till the lecture on Composition, and not really then.)
c) Astyanax, and farewells
The doomy mood is broken by one of the most famous moments in Homer: Hector attempts
to give baby Astyanax a cuddle, but the child has never seen his dad come straight from the
battlefield in his armour and is understandably terrified by the apparition. (Bit of trivia: this
moment was in the shooting script of the 2004 film Troy, but didnt make it into the final
cut.) Amused, Hector abruptly lightens up: perhaps a first glimpse of the gung-ho
overconfidence that will prove his undoing in later books. At any rate he begins to entertain
the possibility that itll all turn out otherwise, that Troy will survive and his son grow up, and
prays to Zeus accordingly. Given Athenes response to the last such prayer we heard, the
prospects arent good; but Hector doesnt know that, and for a while itll look as if things are
indeed going his way at last.

5. Hector and Paris go out to battle

As Hector leaves, hes caught up by Paris, who has finally armed and is on his way out to
battle in a strangely buoyant mood, brilliantly conveyed in the simile of the escaped stallion.
The exchange between them succinctly distils their personalities and the difficult relationship
between them: Paris apologetic, deferential, oddly egoless; Hector not taken in and still
critical of his brothers indifference to the heroic obligations he takes so seriously, but
tempered now with a conciliatory tone that softens the speech at start and end.

Book 7. Ajax Fights Hector

The seventh book closes the long days fighting, and in its second half sees the war enter a
significant new phase during the truce that follows this day slaughter. The first half of the
book is a big set-piece climax to the battle narrative of the past two books, returning to the
single combat of book 3 but with two much more formidable combatants. Then the second
half prepares the ground for the very different days fighting that is about to follow.
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A. The second duel

The episode of the duel between Hector and Ajax comes in two phases. As in book 3, setting
up a formal duel is a complex process, and before we get to the combat itself there has to be a
challenge issued and accepted, and terms of combat defined. Then comes the actual duel,
which follows a by now familiar pattern, but carries extra momentum thanks to the extended
buildup.

1. The challenge
The first phase begins with a brief resumption of battle narrative and the re-entry of Hector
and Paris to the fighting; then the gods come up with the plan of a single combat to close the
days fighting, and the message is passed to earth through Helenus. Hector issues his
challenge, and the Greeks need to agree on a champion.
a) Battle rejoined
As often at moments when battle narrative resumes after a break, theres an impressionistic
general description of the state of fighting, coupled to a simile, and then we go into a series of
single encounters. Here the narrative continues to track Hector and Paris as they re-enter the
battle, and theyre joined in a trio of kills by Glaucus. Such a sequence of unbroken Trojan
kills is unusual in the fighting so far, especially after the flight of Ares: a sign that Hectors
return with Paris is turning the battle back on the Greeks.
b) Athene & Apollo
This impels Athene to seek an end to the fighting before the Greeks advantage is lost, and
she seeks out Apollo (who from now on will take over from Ares as Athenes opposite
number on the Trojan side). Apollo is only too ready to suggest a halt to the battle for the
day, and proposes a challenge to single combat by Hector, who is well matched against most
of the Greek heroes in Achilles absence. There seems little expectation of a fatal outcome,
though, and its clear the combat is more of a device to end the days fighting than the kind of
high-stakes clash we saw in book 3s duel between Menelaus and Paris.
c) Helenus & Hector
This is confirmed by Helenus the warrior-seer, who (unusually) relays the gods deliberations
instantly to Hector, and adds something that wasnt actually stated in the divine dialogue
itself: that Hector is not fated to die on this occasion, so can issue a challenge with
confidence. This defuses the tension a bit, especially after the grim emphasis on the
consequences of Hectors death in the previous book, and prepares us for a duel that is more
of a sporting test of prowess and ranking than a seriously life-threatening combat.
d) Hectors challenge
Nevertheless, Hector issues his challenge in stark terms: this will be a fight to the death, with
the fate of the losers corpse carefully agreed in advance. Unlike the terms of the duel in book
3, there are no larger stakes than the lives of the individual combatants and the prize of their
armour; its not a duel to determine the outcome of the war. But the terms nevertheless
foreshadow the terms Hector will attempt, and fail, to agree with Achilles in the final duel for
his life.
e) The Greeks respond
The silence that greets this challenge is an important sign of how formidable Hector is in the
eyes of the Greek leaders. Achilles could beat him and probably Diomedes, but Achilles is on
strike and Diomedes is wounded. Of the others, Ajax is a very close match, and Agamemnon
somewhere in the same bracket; the others are outclassed by a greater or lesser degree.
Menelaus Typically, its Menelaus who feels the situation most strongly and rashly
volunteers himself for a duel in which hes hopelessly outmatched. Its a
suicide mission, but its his war and he feels the obligation to stand up when
the call comes.
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Agamemnon Agamemnon, yet again, has to step in and stop his brother from committing
himself to an action which is certain to cost him his life and the war itself.
Hes frank about where Menelaus stands in the ranking of warriors, and
where Hector stands. Nobody else, of course, could or would speak to a
warrior like this, but weve seen that the complex relationship between these
brothers admits a certain amount of brusque elbowing-asideof his more
impetuous younger brother by the elder and more forceful Agamemnon.
Nestor Now its Nestors turn to speak up, as usual playing the role of the old man
reminiscing about the exploits of his lost youth, but tuning his story adroitly
to manipulate his audience to the needs of the occasion. Menelaus tried to
shame his comrades into standing up to Hector; Nestor more subtly evokes
how it will feel to be the one who stands up to the enemy champion and kills
him.
the nine This is what finally triggers the surge of volunteers: an interesting roll-call
volunteers of the mightiest of the Greeks in something approximating an order of
ranking from strongest to least. Its surprising to see Odysseus so far down
the list, and Eurypylus and Thoas are rather colourless figures elsewhere.
Menelaus would certainly complete the top ten, but hes closer to Odysseus
than to Ajax in prowess.
the lots This is confirmed by the prayers which accompany the drawing of the lots to
determine which of the nine will face Ajax. The three best qualified, by a
significant margin over the rest, are Ajax, Diomedes, and Agamemnon
perhaps in that order.
Ajax arms Ajax accepts the challenge, the first time hes spoken in the poem. As well
see in later speeches, this is typical of the straight-ahead, unreflective
simplicities in which he tends to think. Hes not the sharpest brain among
the heroes, but thats part of what makes him such a bulwark of the Greek
defence in later books, for which this duel is something of a rehearsal. Even
Hector has second thoughts at the sight of him; but its too late to back out
now.

2. The duel
As weve seen from book 3 onwards, theres a standard pattern to duels, whether formally
arranged like this one or spontaneously arising on the battlefield. First the combatants try to
psych one another out with a speech each; then they throw their distance weapons, and if
neither has struck decisively home they close in for hand-to-hand combat.
Ajaxs shield is another of those prized objects whose value and significance is
underlined by its having its own story. Its also a famous case of whats widely suspected to
be a surviving memory of Mycenaean warfare: Ajax is the only character whose shield is
described, three times, as like a wall, which seems to refer to the long full-body shield
shown in representations from Mycenaean tombs, though it fell out of use in the fifteenth
century BC. Maybe its reading too much into an isolated formula; but Hectors shield
bumped his ankles and neck simultaneously in the previous book (6.1178), and in book 8
Ajaxs own shield is big enough to shelter his archer brother Teucer as well as himself
(8.26772).
a) the speeches
Ajax speech and Hectors response play up their contrasting characters and moods. Ajaxs is
blunt, soldierly, subordinating the individual to the group; Hectors comes across as nervous,
defensive, acutely aware that Ajax is in danger of looking like the stronger performer.
b) the exchange of spears
Hector throws first no drawing of lots to determine this, as in book 3. This is a bad sign, as
weve seen first throwers generally come off worse, and sure enough Hectors spear fails to
penetrate Ajaxs massive shield, while Ajaxs comes within a hairsbreadth of striking flesh.
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c) close combat
Normally at this point the warriors would go straight to drawn swords for the deadly hand-to-
hand phase, but in this case an additional they each pull the enemys spear out of their shield
and use it as a stabbing weapon. Hector merely blunts Ajaxs spear on the great shield; Ajax
draws blood. Each then throws a rock, and again Hector goes first and comes off worse.
d) the heralds stop the duel
The Greek and Trojan heralds, Talthybius and Idaeus, both played a role in the arrangements
for the duel in book 3, and they now intervene together to stop the combat before it proceeds
to the assuredly lethal swordfight that must now follow. Ajax grunts assent to the proposal if
Hector, the challenger, accepts the lifeline. Its effectively an admission of defeat, as 312
makes clear, but Hector puts the best possible face on it by presenting it in terms of mutual
agreement, balance, and reciprocity, cemented by the exchange of gifts. Like the aborted duel
of Diomedes and Glaucus, its a moment where other heroic values seem to win out over the
pursuit of death and glory; but here as there it feels like an outclassed fighter buying himself
out of a corner. These two will meet again, for much higher stakes, in the assault on the
Greek camp and ships, so this first trial of their strength has been a useful benchmark. For
now, it allows the day to close on a note of amity and mutual respect, which will now
crystallise in the proposal for a formal truce.

B. Councils and truce

There now follows an important pair of scenes in the two armies camps, as each takes stock
of the days events and discusses its options for the future. These deliberations will lead to
two important developments: a truce for the burial of the days fallen, and the construction of
a defensive wall around the Greek camp. The first allows time for the second, which will play
a crucial part in the fighting in subsequent books. But the councils are also a neat way to
summarise and focus the state of the battle at the end of this first days fighting.
a) The Greek council
This is the first of a series of evening councils among the Greek commanders, which take the
form of a meal to restore energy and spirits followed by a discussion of strategy.
b) The feast
The meal itself is a typical heroic feast: a meat meal preceded by a sacrifice, with the meat
kebabbed for cooking and divided out among the banqueters. Even here, the process of
division incorporates subtle distinctions of honour: Ajax is the hero of the hour, and is
granted the choicest cut by Agamemnon.
c) Nestors plan: the truce and wall
Nestor now gives the benefit of his advice. This is one of the most puzzle-ridden speeches in
the Iliad, and has given analyst critics a field day in their hunt for signs of later additions to
the poem.
One problem is the deviant funerary practice, which uniquely (and impractically) proposes
the transport of the bones of the fallen back to their homeland after mass cremation.
Nothing more is heard of this, and Denys Page argued the lines were a very late addition
prompted by a similar practice introduced in Athens in 464 BC. Nothing much hangs on
this, though, and I mention it only because some commentators get quite worked up about
it.
Similarly, its not worth worrying too much about the apparent discrepancy between our
text and a passage in Thucydides which describes the Greeks as building a wall on the
arrival at Troy rather than in the tenth year. There are glimpses of references to an earlier
wall in later books, if were desperate to reconcile Thucydides account with the text as we
have it.
But much harder to sideline is Nestors strange, apparently unmotivated proposal to build a
defensive wall, at a point when the Greeks have been generally getting the better of the
war and certainly of the days fighting. With hindsight, of course, Nestors plan turns out
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to be uncannily prescient, because the next days fighting will see the tide of battle turn
decisively in the Trojans favour and the Greeks will need this wall to defend them in ways
you wouldnt have thought they could foresee. Most commentators wriggle around a bit
before admit that its slightly wobbly plotting that is nevertheless needed for the next act of
the poem to work. Can we do better? Why might Nestors proposal make sense at the
time?
Well, this council has a lot in common with the one in book 9 where Nestor delicately raises
the one subject that, pointedly, nobody seems to want to talk about: Achilles absence from
the fight. Nestor is the master strategist, and can see the implications of Achilles
continued absence. For this day, the Greeks have held the advantage, but even so there
have been some moments when the Trojans have rallied strongly during Ares support
for Hector, and again at the start of this book. In particular, this day has demonstrated that
while the Greeks still have strong fighters to oppose Hector, Achilles is the only man who
can consistently control this somewhat volatile, impetuous, and at times unstoppable force.
Nestor senses a change in the wind, and alone of the Greek commanders sees how lightly
theyve got off this day. He knows that itll need a greater setback to push things to the
point where Achilles becomes a topic he can mention in Agamemnons earshot; and
perhaps that point will never come. But Nestor is above all a planner, and this is as close as
he can come to articulating his anxieties and getting the rest of the Greeks to do something
about them. We know that Zeus is pledged to throw his weight behind Hector, and that
Nestors intuition is, as usual, correct.
d) The Trojan council
The Trojan council is a contrasting affair, riven with unresolved tensions and contradictions
over strategy. Perhaps significantly, Hectors voice isnt heard; unlike Agamemnon who is
both war-leader and high king, Hectors authority on the battlefield is overruled in matters of
politics by Priam and the Trojan elders.
Antenors First to speak is Antenor, the senior counsellor who was party to the original
proposal out-of-earshot discussion at 3.15660 about the prospect of giving up Helen,
even before the chaotic conclusion to the duel with Menelaus and the
unconscionable breaking of both the truce and the terms negotiated.
Paris Paris proposes a compromise: he keeps Helen, but the rest of his loot from
counter- Menelaus will be returned.
proposal
Priams Priam agrees to the putting of this proposal to the Greeks, with what cant be
terms any great optimism for its success, and adds a suggestion of his own for a truce
for the burial of the dead something neither of the other speakers seem much
concerned with.

The truce
Day breaks, and the previous evenings plans are put into effect: the delivery of Priams
proposals to the Greeks, the negotiation of a days truce, and the activities proposed to deal
with the aftermath of the first days fighting and preparations for the second.
a) Idaeus, Diomedes, and Agamemnon
The herald Idaeus delivers the terms to Agamemnon and the other Greek commanders, with
what sounds like a certain amount of foot-shuffling discomfort with the message. He curses
Paris behind his back, and explicitly confirms that the refusal to surrender Helen is Pariss
decision alone, against the judgment of the other Trojans. Agamemnon astutely leaves it to
others to react to this preposterous offer; Diomedes is the first to articulate the Greeks
incredulity, and only after his analysis has been confirmed by general acclamation does
Agamemnon deliver his formal rejection. But Agamemnon does pick up, as Diomedes failed
to, on the offer of a truce, which agrees neatly with Nestors proposal and his own intentions,
though hes shrewd enough to let the opportunity for building the wall seem like a Trojan
rather than a Greek initiative.
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b) The pyres and the wall

Theres now a low-key interlude as the pyres are constructed and the dead burned upon them:
the first such funeral interlude in the poem, foreshadowing the pyres of Patroclus and Hector
in the final two books. Nestors plan is apparently to take the opportunity of the construction
of the mass burial mound to shape it into a defensive fortification, adding a wall, staked ditch,
and gates to what is effectively a long rampart structure.
c) Poseidon complains to Zeus
An odd little scene follows in which Zeus brother Poseidon makes his first appearance in the
poem. Normally a supporter of the Greeks, a role hell take up vigorously in book 14, hes
here put out that this merely mortal construction will endure after the Greeks have destroyed
his own handiwork, the walls of Troy itself. Its commonly argued that this scene is here to
explain to Homers audience why what they believed to be the historic site of Troy showed
no traces of any such wall in their own day. Im not entirely convinced, but dont have a
better solution.
d) The day ends
The day of the truce closes with a rather fascinating, and isolated, glimpse of the logistics of
supplying the Greek army over the long period of the siege, with the Aegean island of
Lemnos providing the wine, bronze, and leather in return for slaves drawn from the captives
taken in the war. But the final lines look ahead to the renewal of fighting on the following
day, with a night-long thunderstorm that unnerves both sides and signals the long-awaited,
and now imminent, intervention of the thunder-god Zeus himself.

Book 8. The Trojans Reach the Wall

Book 8 spans a single day from sunrise to dusk: the day of the Greek collapse, when Zeuss
promise to Thetis is put into action and the Trojans recapture the Scamander plain from the
occupying Greeks, forcing the Greeks into a grim reversal of the siege to which theyve
subjected the Trojans for the last nine years.

A. Zeus takes charge

The first days fighting was characterised by unrestrained interference by the gods directly on
the battlefield, which not only threatened to undermine Zeuss own plans but led to an
unprecedented series of injuries to the Olympians themselves. This cant be allowed to
continue, and what we see now is the very different pattern of success that emerges when the
gods are held off from interference.

1. Zeus ban
Zeus opens the book with the strongest assertion yet of his authority and means to enforce his
will on the other Olympians. He still holds back from stating openly that this is bound to
favour the Trojans, since the Greek side has the stronger divine lineup in support, but the
message to Hera and Athene is clear enough. His ban on any intervention in the battle will be
probed, tested, resisted, and undermined repeatedly over the next seven books. But it sets the
conditions under which the battle will now be fought, and one of the threads of plot in this
book is the failure of the first attempts to circumvent the ban.

2. Athenes response
A signal of things to come is Athenes guarded reaction, which stops short of outright
challenge but artfully seeks to dilute the ban by excluding purely strategic assistance. Zeus
chooses not to get into a debate, but instead installs himself where he can monitor the battle,
and the other Olympians actions, for himself.

3. Zeus descends to Ida

Zeus descends from Olympus for the first time in the poem to take up a vantage point on the
summit of Mount Ida. This will be his daytime base from now on, and give him a direct view
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of the battlefield action in contrast to the second-hand reports hes relied on until now.
Nothing can now slip past his attention, as well see when its put to the test.

4. The days battle begins

Again the battle opens with a wide shot, an impressionistic description of the fighting before
the narrative moves into a series of close-ups of individual combats. But where wed
normally expect a simile to flesh out the picture, a different and more unusual imaginative
excursion follows

5. The scales
This is our first glimpse of Zeuss scales of destiny, which determine which side will triumph
in the solo or collective encounter that follows. As well see in the lecture on the gods &
supernatural, these scales are the subject of considerable modern debate: do they have a
power separate from Zeus, and if so what is that power? or do they merely operate as a
symbol of his own will, and if so how? These issues become quite important when we get to
Sarpedons death in book 16, but here at least the verdict of the scales coincides with what we
already know to be Zeuss policy. At any rate its an important signal to the audience of the
general turn events are about to take, and the thunderclap that accompanies it signals as much
to the characters as well.

B. The rout
Now the Greek collapse begins. Diomedes is the focus for the first phase of the retreat; then
we cut to Hector as he seizes the advantae; and then the Greeks rally with a short-lived
fightback, before the ill-advised episode of Hera and Athenes attempted support backfires
and the Greeks are utterly routed.

1. Diomedes
Rather than the montage we might have expected, the Greek retreat is dramatically framed
around a single nailbiting episode: Diomedes rescue of the stranded Nestor through the thick
of the Trojan pursuit. As well as its intrinsic drama, it allows for some fine interaction
between these two strongly-drawn characters, counterpointing the ways in which each of
these fiercely committed warriors deals with the uncomfortable necessity of flight.
a) Diomedes rescues Nestor
Nestor is, as usual, in the thick of the fighting in his chariot even though he can only
contribute as a commander and strategist. Now we see the old mans vulnerability as one of
his horses is shot from under him by Paris so that he is left with just one to pull his chariot to
safety. Hector sees this, and closes in for the kill; Diomedes sees it too, and tries to enlist the
help of his close comrade Odysseus in coming to Nestors aid. But Odysseus seems not to
hear; the Greek is ambiguous, and Lattimores gave no attention tries to capture the perhaps
intentional uncertainty as to whether Odysseus was unable or unwilling to hear. At any rate
Diomedes is left to rescue Nestor alone, which raises a problem: a chariot can only carry two
men, and with their drivers Sthenelus and Eurymedon there are four of them to get out of the
battle. That means that two will have to ride in Nestors crippled chariot, and the other two
buy them time to escape by attacking the Trojans Diomedes chariot (drawn, in a nice touch,
by the horses he captured from Aeneas the day before yesterday).
b) Diomedes kills Eniopeus
So Sthenelus and Eurymedon take to Nestors chariot; Nestor takes over from Sthenelus as
Diomedes driver; and the two of them wheel to face the oncoming chariot of Hector.
Diomedes has only one shot: he throws his spear, and misses Hector but does kill his
charioteer Eniopeus. (As well soon see, charioteer to Hector is a job that carries the poems
lowest life expectancy.) Hector is slowed but not stopped; he enlists a new driver and swiftly
rejoins the battle before his quarry escapes entirely.
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c) The thunderbolt
Retreat doesnt come easily to Diomedes, who is for facing Hector again; but a terrifying
thunderbolt from Zeus signals that this would be a mistake, and reminds the audience that the
Greek retreat is being carefully monitored by its instigator.
d) The debate and flight
Even so, Nestor has to argue hard against Diomedes own instinct to stay and fight. He reads
the omen correctly, but Diomedes cant bear the thought of Hector calling him a coward.
Nestor deftly responds that Diomedes reputation is already so strong that nobody would
believe Hector if he were to make such a boast, but even so Diomedes hesitates.

2. Hector
Now Hector seems finally to have the Greeks on the run, and Diomedes and Nestor in his
sights. But Zeuss ban on support for the Greeks is about to be sternly tested.
a) Taunt, rally, and boast
Hector comes back into earshot, and sure enough he taunts the fleeing Diomedes for
cowardice. Diomedes is stung, and on the verge of turning again to confront him. Hectors
thoughts, meanwhile, are racing ahead, and he formulates the plan that will drive him through
the next eight books: to break through the Greek fortifications and burn their ships, cutting
off any last possibility of escape and trapping the Greeks to be slaughtered on the beach. Its
a typically overconfident plan, and well come to recognise Hectors vulnerability to these
excesses of confidence at moments when a volatile situation goes his way. By the end of his
second speech, hes aiming at stripping the corpses of both Nestor and Diomedes, which
itself will be just the prelude to a series of successes which will see the Greeks quit Troy
forever by this days sunset.
b) Hera and Poseidon
This is too much for Hera, who tries to enlist the support of the other top-ranking Olympian
Poseidon to revolt openly against Zeuss edict. But Poseidon isnt rash enough to accept
setting in train what will eventually take shape as an alternative plan to distract Zeus long
enough for Poseidon to operate undetected.

3. The Greek rally

Hera, however, is unable to restrain herself, and engineers a fightback by the Greeks, led by
Agamemnon and culminating in a miniature aristeia by the Greek archer Teucer.
a) Agamemnon rallies the Greeks
Heras psychological prompting of Agamemnon to halt the Greek retreat is a risky defiance
of at least the spirit of Zeuss ban; but Agamemnons speech to his troops is buttressed by an
appeal and prayer to Zeus himself that moves Zeus to relent slightly from his active support
of the Trojans, so that Heras intervention is absorbed for now into Zeuss larger plan.
b) Diomedes
Not surprisingly, its Diomedes who strikes back first. Like the other Greeks, hes crossed the
ditch in front of the wall and rampart, but hasnt yet sought refuge inside the wall itself; now
he crosses back into the plain and makes first kill.
c) The nine warriors
Diomedes is swiftly followed by eight further heroes, who fill out a top ten similar to the list
of volunteers for the duel with Ajax. (Quickly: whos missing, and whos taken their place?
Click for the answer)
Odysseus and Thoas are gone, and their places taken by Teucer, who is about to have his
moment in the spotlight as he takes out a series of Trojans with his bow from within the
shelter of his half-brother Ajaxs giant shield. Otherwise the list is pretty much a carbon copy
of the one at 7.1628.
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d) Teucers sniper aristeia

This brief but striking display of archery is unusual in the poem, and the rather bizarre tactic
of sheltering behind anothers shield is unique to Teucer.
8 kills Archery has the advantage over other, more frontal forms of Homeric
combat in that its possible to kill a large number of different people
extremely fast as demonstrated by this impressive tally of eight hits in
three lines.
Agamemnons Agamemnons takes the opportunity for one of his sporadic displays of
praise the management skills that often so fatally elude him. But Teucer is
disappointed that Hector continues to escape his arrows, and his famous
next shot is no exception.
Gorgythion Aiming at Hector, Teucer instead kills one of Priams many sons by
concubines. Gorgythion would be just another name in the poems
casualty list but for the celebrated (and in antiquity, much imitated) simile
comparing his collapse to the droop of a poppy under the weight of spring
rain. (If you did the Greek Literature course, you might remember the
most bizarre echo of these lines: the death of the three-bodied giant in
Stesichorus Geryoneis.)
Archeptolemus As I said, Hectors charioteers dont tend to last long, and now he loses
his second in this book alone. He too is swiftly replaced, but before
Teucer can add another notch to his bow Hector is out of the chariot and
attacking.
Hectors Teucer is protected by Ajaxs shield, so is mostly beyond Hectors reach.
revenge But when he aims, he briefly exposes his arm and shoulder, and Hector
seizes this moment to catch him with a thrown rock that catches him in
his shoulder and temporarily disables his arm. Ajax immediately stands
over him, so Hector can do no more; but the sniper has been stopped.

C. The goddesses disobey

Hera uses this latest Greek injury to try again to enlist support for a revolt against Zeus, and
this time briefly succeeds. But the effect is only to harden Zeuss control, and to bring out
into the open his plan for the coming battle.

1. Hera & Athene

Having failed with Poseidon, Hera turns her efforts on Athene, whos already sounded a note
of guarded dissent against Zeuss ban. Athenes reply shows her apparently making up her
mind as she talks out the issues hinted at in her original exchange with Zeus. Though
genuinely dutiful and reluctant to defy her father, she is unsettled by the rift that seems to be
opening up in the relationship, particularly in his apparent favouring of Thetis wishes over
hers. Its enough to persuade her against her better judgment to fall in with Heras plan,
perhaps trusting unreasonably in the closeness of her bond with her father to defuse any
serious retaliation.

2. The goddesses arm

So for the second time Hera takes the reins of her sky-chariot and Athene arms herself for
war. (These are actually the same lines as 5.733ff., shortened to omit the description of
Athenes aegis.)

3. Zeus sends Iris

But the chariot never gets out of the gates of Olympus. From his vantage on Ida Zeus is able
to observe the immortal as well as the mortal realm, and instantly dispatches Iris with a threat
of devastating retaliation against Athene especially, whose defiance of his authority is the
more unexpected. (As usual with messages relayed in direct speech, the words are passed on
verbatim.)
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4. Back to Olympus
Hera recognises the game is up before its even begun, and the chariot goes back in the
garage. Zeus takes the opportunity to return to Olympus himself, the day having now gone
according to his plan, and confronts the goddesses to assert his authority in person. Hera
remains grudging, recycling Athenes original attempt at extracting permission at least to help
the Greeks with strategic prompts. But this time Zeus is having none of it.

5. Zeus unfolds his plan

In a key passage, Zeus for the first time unfolds the first phase of his plan. Not only will Hera
not intervene, but Hectors present run of success will continue right into the Greek camp and
ships. The only thing that will check Hectors advance is Achilles; and Achilles will join the
battle only when Patroclus is dead. What will happen from that point on remains to be
revealed; the next phase of the plan will only be revealed in book 15.

D. The Trojans occupy the plain

Night falls, leaving the Greeks penned and the Trojans now in possession of the Scamander
plain. The book ends with an evening war council led by Hector, whose Greek counterpart
(and its consequences) will have to wait for the next book.

1. Hectors speech
Hector acknowledges he was overoptimistic in hoping for an end to the war before nightfall,
but he still believes that the war is winnable and that any Greeks who do escape must suffer
such damage as to end any future threat to Troy. To that end, he proposes lighting up the
plain with watchfires so the Greeks cant slip away in the night. He looks forward to the
following days clash, especially the conclusion of his pursuit of Diomedes. But the coming
day will bring unpleasant surprises for Hector as well.

2. The watchfires
The book closes with one of the most famous descriptions, and similes, in Homer: the
Scamander plain lit up by a thousand watchfires like stars in a black sky, each one surrounded
by fifty warriors waiting for dawn and their opportunity to attack. Its an unsettling prospect
for the Greeks who until this morning occupied the plain themselves; and the night that
follows will be, in more senses than one, the longest in the poem.
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Iliad 912: The crisis

Now we go up to the midpoint of the poem, as the story enters its pivotal second act, which
will begin with the reintroduction of Achilles and culminate in the death of Patroclus. The
whole act, books 916, covers a single night and day from dusk to dusk; its the longest day
in the poem, dominated by the Trojan siege and invasion of the Greek camp itself in books
1116, with a sustained divine counterplot that reaches its climax in books 14 and 15. The
first and last books of this middle act are two of the greatest in the poem so much so that
the intervening books tend to get a bit neglected. But theres stunning material in these too,
from the sardonic farce of Dolon in book 10 to the divine comedy of Zeuss seduction in
book 14, as well as the most ambitious and complex battle narrative anywhere in Homer.
We left the story on a cliffhanger. At the end of book 8, we left the Greeks besieged in
their own camp and the Trojans occupying the whole Scamander plain. The fall of night
bought a postponement of Hectors plan to smash through into the camp, burn the Greek
ships, and drive the invaders into the sea; but both sides know that with the dawn will come
the attack that will determine the outcome of the war, and that the Trojans will begin the day
with a seemingly insuperable advantage. As night falls, it seems that only one thing can turn
the tide back again: the return of Achilles to the battle. But how, and by whom, can that now
be achieved?
In these four books, well see the first part of Hectors plan realised. The first two books
deal with events during the long night that intervenes before the battle. The great ninth book
tells of Agamemnons attempt to win Achilles back by apology and reparations, and why
Achilles is past the point where this, or anything, can seem enough. Book 10 then offers a
contrast in tone and action: a pair of daring night sorties between the two camps, and the
grimly farcical consequences when they meet. Only in book 11 does the longest days
fighting finally dawn, and the Greeks fears are swiftly realised as one by one their greatest
warriors are taken out of the battle. Then in the most ambitious multistranded narrative
sequence anywhere in Homer, the twelfth book reports the final Trojan assault on the Greek
fortifications, culminating with Hectors successful breakthrough to the Greek camp and
ships.

Book 9. Overtures to Achilles

For many, this is the greatest book in the Iliad, despite the fact that it doesnt seem to advance
the plot in any way at all. For seven books, Achilles has been conspicuous only by his
absence. Now we pick up on the hero and his reasons for continuing to stay out of the war a
process that begins as a simple diplomatic initiative to try and sell Agamemnons apology to
Achilles, but which ends with the entire system of values that sustains the war so taken apart
that it seems it can never be put back together.
The book is dominated by a single scene, the embassy to Achilles and the three pairs of
speeches which make up the negotiations. This is framed by meetings of the Greek
commanders to discuss the Achilles situation, and the crisis which faces them without him.

A. The assembly
As the first line suggests, the end of book 8 and the start of book 9 form a close pair,
contrasting the mood in the Trojan camp (end of 8) with that in the Greek camp at the start of
the new book. The previous book closed with the famous simile of the stars (8.55561), in
which the figure of the human observer was touched with joy. Now the wind simile, more
immediately and directly, describes the panic and restlessness in the hearts of the Greeks.
This will be, as well see, a sleepless night for many in the Greek camp, and a long one.

1. Agamemnon
Agamemnon calls an assembly of the army before the evening meal, and proposes exactly
what Hector predicted: abandoning the war, cutting their losses, and escaping back to Greece.
The remarkable thing about this speech is that its exactly the same words as his false speech
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in the earlier assembly at 2.11841, apart from the omission of a twenty-line passage in the
middle. But on that occasion we were explicitly told that he was only pretending and trying to
test the army. This time he seems to mean it; were given none of the cues from the narrator
that we had before, and even those who know him best take the speech at face value. As
elsewhere, the verbatim repetition of a passage with very different intentions is a powerful
ironic device, however it arose in the process of composition.

2. Diomedes
The silence is broken, as we might expect, by the one warrior whos shown himself most
reluctant to back away from a fight in the previous four books. Diomedes speech is a more
diplomatic performance than Achilles comparable critique of Agamemnon in book 1; notice,
for example, the careful lowering of the temperature in line 33. Nevertheless, the speech still
seethes with outrage and defiance, taking the opportunity to remind Agamemnon publicly of
his own accusation of cowardice on the part of Diomedes at 4.370ff., which at the time
Diomedes chose not to challenge and silenced Sthenelus when he did. Line 39 is an
especially direct dig, if not quite in the same league as Achilles wine sack with a dogs eyes
and a deers heart. The final lines throw down the gauntlet: if Agamemnon goes, Diomedes
and Sthenelus will stay to fight the war alone till they sack the city themselves.

3. Nestor
Nestor sees another book 1 developing, and knows that he must defuse the tensions before
they tear the army apart. In book 1, his intervention came too late in the debate to succeed in
cooling down the rivals anger. This time, hes more circumspect; he gently asserts his own
superior right of counsel over Diomedes on grounds of age this is the first passage to spell
out that Diomedes is the youngest of the major heroes while blandly commending his
argument. He urges unity, again without actually adjudicating between the two of them, and
then simply proposes that they end the assembly and get on with their supper. Only here does
he address Agamemnon directly at all, and his only tactical advice is to accept the best advice
offered: a hint at further discussion among a more select group later on.
Nestor is clearly holding something back, but his immediate plan is clear enough. A meal
will both boost morale, allow tempers time to cool, and give Nestor a chance to work on
Agamemnon privately over supper. He sees, as indeed does Diomedes, that Agamemnon is
especially sensitive to criticism in front of the assembled army; in private, hes much more
likely to take advice.

B. The inner council

Sure enough, Agamemnon invites the chief warlords to join him for supper in his own
shelter. Its an intimate scene, made more so by the suppression of any actual mention of
other named heroes apart from Agamemnon and Nestor themselves. Nestor waits until the
end of the meal provides a proper and opportune moment, and then finally makes his pitch.

1. Nestor spells it out

Nestor knows hes treading on eggshells here: the first seven lines are devoted to softening
Agamemnon up, and its more than halfway through the speech that he finally gets to the
point: they need to be able to speak the A-word, and as the only other voice to have spoken
up at the time, Nestor has a right to say told you so. But he doesnt rub it in: the climax of
the speech is to raise the question of what they can do now to undo the damage; and there the
ball is in Agamemnons court.

2. Agamemnons offer
Agamemnons reply is a brilliant exploration of the personality built up in the poem so far.
He concedes Nestors point immediately, but stops short of admitting full fault. His key word
is the verbal form of the noun ate, already used by Achilles at 1.412 to Thetis in summing up
Agamemnons behaviour. Its a much-discussed word, apparently denoting a kind of
temporary derangement of judgment attributed to the action of a god. And its the word that
Agamemnon will consistently use from this point on to describe his own error of judgment in
 67

taking Briseis and alienating Achilles. For Agamemnon, at least, its a way of hinting that
some outside force, rather than his own weakness of judgment and lack of self-control, was
responsible. Hell return to this theme at length in his great apology speech to Achilles
himself at 19.78144.
For now, Agamemnon thinks simply in terms of compensation. He reels off a catalogue
of treasures to be paid over now in addition to the return of Briseis, and a further catalogue of
promises to be delivered on after the city has fallen, with yet more to follow a successful
return to Greece. Its a magnificently constructed, jawdropping list, beginning modestly
enough with tripods and gold, and then moving up through the animal kingdom to its first
human climax in Briseis; then she in turn is surpassed by the promise of twenty more like her,
then marriage to Achilles pick of Agamemnons daughters, and seven cities out of
Agamemnons kingdom to rule over. Not a bad deal, given that all even Athene promised
only a 300% return (1.213). But its a nice touch, after all the concessions and grovelling, to
see the old Agamemnon flare up once more at the end with the final gruff insistence that
Achilles should acknowledge Agamemnons authority as both the older man and the bigger
king.
It all sounds great, if Achilles can be bought. Theres no reason why he shouldnt, over-
calculating though it may seem to us, because Homers is a culture founded on the principle
of reciprocity. Everything is understood to part of a vast system of barter; everything has its
price, so long as youre willing to haggle. Weve already seen that its possible to buy, or
ransom, your way out of death, and later in the book well see that a similar scheme of
material compensation exists for crimes up to and including murder. Agamemnons offer is
extravagant and generous, and it seems no warrior could refuse it.

3. Nestor appoints spokesmen

Nevertheless, as Agamemnons final lines have let slip, Agamemnon isnt his own best
ambassador. Instead, this is a job for the man who is; but surprisingly Odysseus isnt named
here as the leader, though hes clearly the de facto leader at 180 and 192 below. Instead, hes
named third, after the distinctly unpolitical Ajax, while the job of leading the embassy goes to
a character weve never even heard of until now: Achilles old tutor Phoenix, a Nestor-like
figure whose one speech in this book is not only his only utterance in the entire poem, but the
longest speech anywhere in Homer.
As if that wasnt bizarre enough, the role of Phoenix is part of what the great German
Homerist Wolfgang Schadewaldt called the greatest problem in the whole of the Iliad: the
fact that lines 18298 refer repeatedly to just two envoys, not three. Theres more of this in
the Greek than appears in Lattimores translation, which refers to two only at 182 and 192.
This is thanks to a feature of Greek that doesnt have a counterpart in English at all: the
existence of a grammatical number between singular and plural called the dual, which is used
optionally instead of the plural where just two people or things are being referred to. Thus in
the Greek text there are dual forms of verbs and adjectives as well as the pronoun forms in
182 and 192. Heres the text with the words translating Greek dual forms marked in bold:
So these two walked along the strand of the sea deep-thundering
with many prayers to the holder and shaker of the earth, that they
might readily persuade the great heart of Aiakides.
Now they came beside the shelters and ships of the Myrmidons 185
and they found Achilleus delighting his heart in a lyre, clear-sounding,
splendid and carefully wrought, with a bridge of silver upon it,
which he won out of the spoils when he ruined Etions city.
With this he was pleasuring his heart, and singing of mens fame,
as Patroklos was sitting over against him, alone, in silence, 190
watching Aiakides and the time he would leave off singing.
Now these two came forward, as brilliant Odysseus led them,
and stood in his presence. Achilleus rose to his feet in amazement
holding the lyre as it was, leaving the place where he was sitting.
In the same way Patroklos, when he saw the men come, stood up. 195
And in greeting Achilleus the swift of foot spoke to them:
Welcome. You are my friends who have come, and greatly I need you,
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who even to this my anger are dearest of all the Achaians.

This is one of these problems for which all solutions ever proposed are completely and
obviously batty. Heres a summary of the most prominent, based on the weary digest by
Griffin in his edition of book 9 (pp. 513):
duals refer to reasoning proposed by refuted by line(s)
Odysseus & Ajax Phoenix isnt a full envoy ancient 168
commentators
Odysseus & Ajax Phoenix has gone ahead ancient 1935
commentators
Odysseus & Ajax Phoenix is a later addition Bergk (1872) 1935
The two heralds Influence of 1.331ff. Segal (1968) 1978
Phoenix, and The duals refer to groups, Thornton (1978) 197
everyone else not individuals
Ajax & Phoenix Odysseus is an enemy of Nagy (1979) 1823, 1978, 204,
Achilles, and so ignored 5212
The heroes, & the The duals refer to groups, Gordesiani (1980) 197
heralds not individuals
For what its worth, Bergks suggestion has been far and away the most popular, though you
have to buy whole-heartedly into the analyst model in order to think it anything but absurd. If
youre going to argue the case on compositional grounds, I have a lot more for the argument
of Segal and others that the close verbal parallel with 1.331 argues for some kind of weird
misapplication of formulae here. Even Griffin, who cautiously endorses Bergks idea as the
least obviously ludicrous, has to admit that theres no way on earth you can unpick Phoenix
from the text as its come down to us hes far too tightly integrated. Ill now shut up about
this, at least till the composition seminar, and pretend the problem isnt worth worrying about
(which for most purposes it isnt).

C. The delegation to Achilles

The scene in Achilles shelter similarly centres around the evening meal. Theres an initial
phase of welcome and hospitality, before business begins in earnest after the meal is over.
This observance of heroic protocols, even on a mission of urgency, shows diplomatic skill on
both sides. Everybody knows this isnt just a friendly visit, but theyre playing the game by
the unspoken rules and deftly spinning out the suspense for the audience in the process.

1. Arrival and welcome

Our first glimpse of Achilles since the first book is unexpected, but full of significance. Hes
performing an epic song to the lyre as Ive earlier noted, the only hero ever seen doing so.
(In the Odyssey its a role filled by a professional class of bards.) Yet at the same time the
lyre is a grim memento of his warrior history, part of the booty from the notorious sack of
Thebe (the city of Etion) which at a single stroke scarred the lives of Briseis, Andromache,
and Chryseis.
Achilles breaks off at the arrival of the delegation, and welcomes them with unexpected
warmth; we remember his treatment of the heralds at 1.331ff., where he was at pains to show
that his quarrel was only with Agamemnon. If he senses their mission, hes not going to show
it here.
What follows is a display of the standard heroic protocol of hospitable welcome or xenia
which weve already seen in Agamemnons shelter earlier in the book, and which plays such
an important role in the Odyssey. Achilles welcomes his guests; pointedly asks no questions
ahead of the meal; finds them seats, and serves them with wine and food. Only after host and
guests are all satisfied does the business of the evening begin. Throughout this scene, were
delicately reminded of the presence of Patroclus and Achilles charioteer Automedon, though
neither speaks a word during the entire book.
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2. The negotiations
The famous scene that follows features each of the spokesmen in turn, with a reply to each by
Achilles. This is the longest conversation in the poem, half as long again as the assembly in
book 1, but its built around just six speeches. First comes Odysseus, who delivers
Agamemnons terms formally and is answered by Achilles famous analysis of the reasons
why he cannot accept. Then Phoenix delivers his vast Nestorian performance, to which
Achilles responds in terms that suggest hes wavering. Finally comes the short speech of
Ajax, which extracts a further small concession from Achilles but leaves his mind unchanged
on the major point.
(a) Odysseus speech
Odysseus speech leads off, apparently stealing the moment out from under Phoenixs nose.
Such, at least, is the usual interpretation of 222, where Ajax seems to be signalling to Phoenix
as leader of the delegation that its time for him to speak, but Odysseus gets in first. But
perhaps this is part of Nestors plan (180).
His speech falls into five main sections. He begins by sketching a stirring picture of the
Greeks present crisis; then he appeals explicitly to Achilles to help; then he plays on
Achilles most vulnerable point emotionally, his feelings for his father Peleus; and only then,
once Achilles has been softened up by these tactics of Odysseus own devising, does he
deliver Agamemnons original message. Even so, he closes with reasons for Achilles to rejoin
the fighting whether or not hes receptive to Agamemnons own offer. The effect is to
package Agamemnons terms as part of a larger appeal by Odysseus himself on behalf of the
army as a whole so that Achilles will find it difficult to use his personal quarrel with
Agamemnon as sufficient grounds to hold out.
the crisis Odysseus delineation of the crisis deftly draws a contrast between the
comforts of Achilles hospitality and the emergency facing the other
Greeks. Rather than putting the weight on the Greeks destruction,
Odysseus stresses Hectors and the Trojans arrogance trying to build
Hector up as a potential opponent whose present success is a personal
gesture of defiance and affront to the one man who could easily stop him.
the appeal The appeal itself is brief by comparison, delicately hinting that Achilles
reputation may actually suffer if he postpones his intervention any longer.
Peleus advice Now Odysseus goes for the emotional jugular: by letting down the Greeks
now, Achilles is betraying the advice of his father Peleus. It seems from
this passage as though Odysseus is just inventing Peleus words; its not
till 11.766 that we learn that both Odysseus and Nestor were there at the
time, a detail which hints that enlisting Achilles and Patroclus wasnt an
easy task.
Agamemnons So elegantly does Odysseus segue from Peleus advice to Agamemnons
terms terms that it makes the deal on offer sound like an afterthought. The key
thing is to avoid anger; and, as it happens, Agamemnon can offer some
very attractive rewards for sticking to this advice. The catalogue itself is
quoted verbatim from Agamemnons own words, but we notice that
Odysseus has quietly edited out the surrounding parts of Agamemnons
message particularly its two closing lines, 9.1601.
other Perhaps Odysseus senses that Agamemnons offer alone will not sway
considerations Achilles (300), because he now adds two clinching arguments of his own:
the sufferings of the other Greeks, who are no part of Achilles quarrel,
and the chance to win the glory of killing Hector, with whom hes never
before been able to close decisively and who now (Odysseus artfully
implies) thinks he could beat even Achilles.
(b) Achilles reply
Achilles response to this masterful performance is the most famous, most complext, and
most widely-discussed speech in the poem. Much less artfully structured than Odysseus, it
nevertheless falls similarly into five fairly clearly-distinct sections. First, Achilles tries to
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explain the nature of his disillusion with the war; then he announces his own plan, of sailing
home to Phthia the following day; then he responds formally, and negatively, to
Agamemnons offer; then he reveals the famous and somewhat problematic choice offered
him by Thetiss prophecy at his sailing; and finally he summarises his position, adding a
small codicil inviting Phoenix to join him, at least for this night.
Among the large literature on this speech, perhaps the best single treatment is D.B. Claus,
Aidos in the Language of Achilles, Transactions of the American Philological Association
105 (1975) 1328, which in turn develops some suggestions by Adam Parry, Language and
Characterisation in Homer, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 71 (1972) 122. A good
older article is D.E. Eicholz, The Propitiation of Achilles, American Journal of Philology
74 (1953) 13748, and see more recently Jasper Griffin, Homeric Words and Speakers,
Journal of Hellenic Studies 106 (1986) 3657.
the broken code The first phase of the speech is the longest, and the most important,
following six introductory lines on the importance of straight talking that
could (but neednt) be read as a subtle dig at the artful speech of
Odysseus. There are various ways of trying to explain Achilles argument
in 312ff., but the essential point is clear: Agamemnons action has broken
the fragile system of tacit understandings about honour and rewards that
make it worth Achilles while to risk his life in another mans war, and no
amount of material compensation can put that back together. By
uncoupling any pretence at a correlation between effort in the war and
share of the reward, Agamemnon has done much more than simply claim
more than his share of the spoils; he has forced Achilles to question the
reasons why he risks his life in the first place. The standard heroic system
of reward is explained by Sarpedon in book 12: heroes put their lives on
the line, and are rewarded with material and intangible tokens of respect.
The moment that system is destabilised, the warrior has no more reason to
fight.
By comparison with Odysseus speech, its a passionate, free-form
speech, with some fairly forced argument notably the comparison of
Briseis to Helen, when one is a slave and the other a fugitive queen. He
rejects Odysseus attempts to present the crisis as the Greeks as a whole,
not just Agamemnons, and shows hes been keeping a close eye on
developments the previous day. He agrees hes the only one who can stop
Hector; but he refuses.
home to Phthia Now comes his bombshell: not only is he sticking to his original oath, but
he is abandoning the war altogether. While Hector sacks the Greek camp
the following day, Achilles will be sailing home to Phthia. Is this a bluff?
He modifies the position in response first to Phoenix speech and then to
Ajax, but Odysseus at least seems to think hes in deadly earnest when
he reports his words back to Agamemnon (6823), though he witholds
judgment on whether Achilles will actually go ahead. Agamemnons
promises doesnt tempt him, because hes satisfied with his estate and
property at home.
Agamemnons This theme is then expanded in an open rejection of Agamemnons terms,
terms rejected which are taken apart in turn. Agamemnon cant buy his way out of this
one; Achilles is no longer willing to barter a price for his life or his
honour. Its no longer about Briseis, or a share of the spoils, or material
reward; its about what his death is worth. In any case, IOUs dont carry
much weight with Achilles, for reasons he now explains
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Thetis Unlike other heroes, Achilles has a goddess for a mother; and this has
prophecy given him unique prophetic insight into his career choices. According to
Thetis, Achilles has a straightforward choice: long life and obscurity, or
early death and everlasting glory. Up until now hes opted for the second,
and expects never to live to see Troy fall or Agamemnon deliver on his
promises. But now that Agamemnons actions have broken the link
between death and glory, there seems no longer any reason to shorten his
life for a reward that cant even be guaranteed. Achilles makes it clear,
though, that he sees this implication as affecting every warrior, not just
Achilles himself. Agamemnon has shattered the foundations of their
world, and there can be no going back.
conclusion And so, says Achilles in a surprisingly low-key conclusion, the Greek
commanders had better think of a plan B. As a sign of his resolve, he
offers Phoenix the chance to sail home with him. This is a cue for
Phoenix to respond, and perhaps a device to move the conversation away
from further debate with Odysseus. But Odysseus doesnt speak again; he
knows hes played his best hand, and lost.
(c) Phoenix speech
Now comes the longest speech in the Iliad, and one of the most ambitious. Phoenix is not
Odysseus kind of rhetorician; his approach is much more like Nestors, in using storytelling
and suggestion to plant seeds in his listeners mind. The speech, though sprawling, is much
more clearly structured than Achilles, with four distinct parts: Phoenixs autobiography; an
unusual Homeric dip into allegory, with the fable of the Litai or Prayers; the long story of the
wrath of Meleager, with its pointed parallels to Achilles story and options; and a final
section in which the appeals that round off all three of the foregoing are summarised in a last
plea to Achilles to relent.
He begins by responding positively but conditionally to Achilles closing invitation: he
wont stay behind if Achilles leaves, but the implication is that he doesnt yet see this as quite
the certainty Achilles presents it as. Phoenix has a job to do, not just for Achilles but for the
father who entrusted him with it (another carefully-timed appeal to Achilles emotional weak
spot); and he intends to see it through.
(1) Phoenixs story
Now Phoenix tells his remarkable life story: how he escaped from being a prisoner in his own
ancestral palace, following a lurid and convoluted series of family intrigues involving
adultery, estrangement, cuckoldry of his own father, paternal curses, and a feud that nearly
drove him to patricide. So Phoenix fled to become a man without family and country, only to
find both vicariously in Peleus Phthia. Only after hes reminded Achilles of all this does he
deliver his appeal couching it not in terms of Agamemnon, Hector, or the other Greeks, but
of Achilles own inner nature and struggle.
(2) the allegory of the Prayers
This is then supported by the celebrated fable of the personified Prayers (Greek Litai), and
the race they run with the personification of Ate (which Lattimore here translates Ruin, but
is the same word used by Agamemnon for his madness, and is elsewhere translated
Delusion). Its quite a complex parable, with Ruin both the force that the Prayers try to
prevent and the agent that punishes those who reject them. The rather tortuous logic seems to
be driven by the attempt at a detailed symbolic fit with the present situation: Agamemnon has
been smitten with Ate, but the present delegation has come along behind as Prayers. Achilles
can choose to accept the Prayers, and avoid further disaster, or reject them, triggering Ate on
himself in turn. The whole passage is very reminiscent of Hesiodic poetry; the nearest thing
elsewhere in Homer is the parable of Zeuss urns recounted by Achilles to Priam at 24.527
33.
(3) the story of Meleager
Now for the longest section of Phoenix speech, and the longest inset story in the poem. As
with the allegory of the Prayers, Phoenix develops a close and pointed set of parallels
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between the present situation and a story told with a moral; but now the story is not a parable
but an episode from a past generation of heroes. Meleager is best known in myth for his role
in the Calydonian boar-hunt, but this story deals more with an event in the aftermath: his
refusal to help his people, the Aetolians, during the siege of Calydon by the Curetes, owing to
an estrangement from his mother after he killed her brother in a dispute over the boars hide.
(That, at least, is how later tradition told the story; Homers version is bafflingly condensed
and cryptic on the motivation.) Eventually Meleager gives in when his wife Cleopatra adds
her voice to the supplication, and he saves his city but too late to take advantage of the
generous terms offered him if hed rejoined the battle when he was asked.
All this, of course, has very obvious parallels with Achilles own situation. To spell it out,
the correspondences work like this:
Meleager Achilles
siege of Calydon siege of Greek camp
Aetolians Greeks
Curetes Trojans
Althaea Agamemnon
Oeneus Phoenix
Cleopatra Patroclus
The story as told here is far from self-explanatory, and later versions were keen to fill in the
gaps. In what became the standard version, Meleagers life was linked to a piece of wood in
the fire, which Althaea saved from the fire and locked in a chest, but then threw on the fire
deliberately after her brothers murder. But if that version was known to Homer, its been
significantly altered, either by the poet or by Phoenix, to fit Achilles situation here.
Particularly striking is the transformation of Patroclus into a character whose name is simply
a reversal of the same elements in Greek; the stuff about her alternative name Alcyone is
presumably an oblique acknowledgment that everyone else called her by a different name.
This is the clincher for those who argue that this story cant possibly have existed before
Homer, but rather has been tailor-made, at least in this version, to fit the specific situation of
the Iliad.
(4) the point spelled out
Phoenix ends his speech by explaining the parallels between Meleagers story and Achilles,
just in case the hero hasnt got the point. Shrewdly, he shows that he at least believes that
Achilles wont carry out his promise to sail home; sooner or later hell rejoin the battle, but if
its later he risks losing a lot more than hell gain from the delay.
(d) Achilles reply to Phoenix
Phoenix speech has clearly shaken Achilles resolve, but Achilles can at least reply to the
final point: as hes explained, tokens of honour no longer mean anything to him. But hes
troubled by Phoenix willingness, even implicitly, to side with Agamemnon against him, and
he uses the invitation to spend the night as a way of physically separating him from the rest of
Agamemnons mission. Tellingly, though, his final lines make a significant concession: now
he talks merely of making a decision in the morning whether to sail home or to stay.
(e) Ajax speech
The preparations for bed have been a signal that the conversation is effectively at an end, but
Ajax now intercepts the body language between Achilles and Patroclus as Odysseus had
earlier intercepted his own signal to Phoenix, and takes the opportunity to speak his mind
before theyre formally dismissed. He begins, with clumsy but effective indirectness, by
pretending not to address Achilles at all. Well, Odysseus, he says, it looks like its the two of
us who will have to tell our comrades that Achilles doesnt care about them. I frankly dont
see his problem; people accept blood-price for murder, so why should Achilles reject a
sevenfold profit on Briseis in compensation for his own wounded pride? Though hes savvy
enough not to mention Agamemnon and to be careful to present the offer as that of an
unspecified we, hes drifted at the end from the third person to the second and a direct
appeal to Achilles to change his mind.
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(f) Achilles reply to Ajax

Ajax clearly doesnt get it, and has understood little of Achilles painful attempt to explain
himself to Odysseus. But he responds patiently, and explains again that despite Ajax
suggestions to the contrary his quarrel is solely with Agamemnon. He also makes a further
concession: in place of the talk of sailing home, he envisages the possibility of returning to
the fighting, but only when Hector begins to set fire to the ships or attacks the Myrmidon
section of the camp. This is Achilles final position, and he reminds Patroclus of these terms
at the start of book 16.

D. Odysseus reports back to Agamemnon

The book closes with a short debriefing back at Agamemnons shelter, and the gloomy
conclusion that the whole episode has just made things worse. In fact its clarified the
situation in a couple of subtle but important ways: Achilles has defined the terms on which
hell now consider returning to the fighting, and the silent figure of Patroclus has been drawn
into the dispute perhaps intentionally, through Phoenix veiled allusion to his potential role.
At any rate Nestor will make his move when the opportunity presents itself in book 11 to use
Patroclus softer heart as a way of getting at Achilles with ultimately devastating results.

1. Odysseus report
Surprisingly, Odysseus doesnt report these later softenings of Achilles position back to
Agamemnon, but dutifully quotes the key lines from Achilles original reply to
Agamemnons offer. This is the last of many moments in this book where critics of all camps
get rather excited and frankly desperate. Analysts suspect a conflation of two different
versions; psychologists argue tortuously for a motive for Odysseus to misrepresent Achilles,
or Achilles later statements to misrepresent himself; while mealy-mouthed moderates try to
evade the issue by arguing that there may be no conceivable motivation for Odysseus to say
this, but the plot requires him to in order to preserve the suspense. As usual, I try hard to be
neutral between these positions, but Ill just say that, while all three of these seem absolutely
hopeless, the third is the kind of thing that annoys me most as if somehow explaining that
the plot demands something is a substitute for its making any kind of sense on its own terms.
Thats not to say its wrong, and I wish I had a better solution of my own; but this seems to
me one of those problems to which all existing solutions have a whiff of desperation.

2. Diomedes response
At any rate there are no such problems with Diomedes response to this news. Theres still
tension between Diomedes and Agamemnon, and he was notably silent when Nestor
suggested his plan. His proposal, which everyone adopts in the absence of anything better, is
to forget all about Achilles and to do what they can without him. As usual, Diomedes is
irrepressibly gung-ho, and the book closes on a somewhat more optimistic note than it began.
But the night isnt over yet; and Diomedes himself is about to play a central part in the
remarkable adventure that follows.

Book 10. Night Interlude

The tenth book is a notorious oddity in the Iliad as a whole. According to the scholia (the
ancient commentary compiled from Hellenistic scholarship and transmitted in the margins of
the text in the manuscripts), it was originally a separate composition by Homer that was only
inserted into the text of the Iliad in the sixth century, as part of the Athenian tyrant
Pisistratus efforts to establish a standard text for rhapsodic recitals at the Athenian festival of
the Panathenaea. Its unclear whether this story rested on any actual evidence, but there are a
number of intriguing features of this book that make it the strongest of all candidates for a
late addition to the text. Key among these are two:
Theres an unusually high preponderance of late linguistic features, putting it stylistically
closer to the Odyssey than the Iliad.
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Theres no reference to the events of this book in any later episode, and indeed you could
cut it from the poem and not notice anything was missing between the end of 9 and the
start of 11.
At the same time, its clearly not an episode that could stand on its own, as the scholiast
seems to imply. The setting is specifically this night of the war, and the plot depends
essentially on the unique situation of the Trojans being camped out in the plain. Were
probably looking at an episode tailor-made for insertion into the Iliad itself, though
apparently based on a traditional story; later sources seem to know other versions of the story
of Rhesus in which he was killed under different circumstances.
The book is a little oddly-proportioned, with some longueurs in the early scenes, but with
a strong overall design: a pair of council scenes, as both the Greek and Trojan commanders
come up with plans for night expeditions, followed by a powerful and darkly farcical
encounter as the two parties clash in the night, and a gory scene of slaughter at the climax.

A. The Greek night council

The frankly overlong opening sequence begins with the fourth (1) council of the evening, as
one by one the Greek commanders find themselves unable to sleep and finally convene a
formal discussion. But it sets up a pattern thats going to be an important structural and ironic
device in the book as a whole: people doing similar things in different places, and then
bumping into one another.

1. Agamemnon
We begin with an unusually intimate view of Agamemnon, whose inner turmoil is conveyed
first with a storm-simile and then with a powerful piece of narrative focalisation, viewing the
sights and sounds of the Trojan camp as they strike Agamemnon, glancing back and forth
between the two camps. Notice that even here his emotional reaction is largely externalised:
we see him tearing his hair and gazing imploringly to the sky. His decision to seek out Nestor
builds effectively on the relationship weve already seen between these two: Agamemnon
relies consistently on Nestor as his key strategist, and now bitterly regrets the one time he
failed to take his advice. The lionskin he dons is both symbolic of his kingly status its not a
normal item of Greek nightwear and the first of an interesting series of costume alternatives
to armour (whose shine and clank would be no use for the clandestine moonlit meetings from
which this book is built).

2. Menelaus
But Menelaus is also sleepless, and the parallels and contrasts between the brothers are nicely
drawn:
Where Agamemnon is restlessly eyeing the defences, Menelaus is brooding on his own
responsibility for the war and the evils about to befall his comrades.
Where Agamemnon seeks out Nestor, Menelaus seeks out his brother.
Agamemnon is a lion, Menelaus a leopard.
Menelaus adds a bronze helmet. (Im not sure what this signifies! Theres debate over
what Agamemnons armour in 34 refers to some think its just a back-reference to the
lionskin and spear of 234. It would be weird if he put on armour over all this, and unclear
why he should want to wear full battle armour anyway.)
In the conversation that follows, its Menelaus who first plants the seed of the idea to send
out a spying party. Agamemnon doesnt take this on board at first, but he does now expand
his plans to the convening of a full council. Since all the tribal contingents are camped along
the beach in a line, this involves a fair bit of running around, and Menelaus is dispatched to
the farthest encampments, which are those of Ajax and Idomeneus. (Its actually possible to
draw up an approximate map of the beach encampments from information here and there in
the text. Heres the most convincing reconstruction of the order.)
Ajax son of
Ajax Idomeneus Menelaus Agamemnon Nestor Odysseus Eurypylus Diomedes Meges Menestheus Podarces Achilles
Oleus
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If there seems a rather leisurely dwelling on humdrum practicalities in this part of the book, it
may be partly to make some dramatic use of the unusual and challenging circumstances of
trying to convene a council in pitch darkness.

3. Nestor
The scene where Agamemnon wakes Nestor is another nice moment. Nestor, of course, is
unable to recognise his visitor, but runs shrewdly through a rapid series of possibilities before
Agamemnon speaks. Agamemnon still hasnt much of a plan, and we know hes hoping that
Nestor will come up with something. But he doesnt say so, merely proposing lamely that
they check on the guards together. Nestor, however, is ahead of him, and in another moment
of convergent coincidence proposes the very council that Agamemnon has just called. After
the cross-purposes are cleared up, Nestor chooses his own nightwear: wool rather than
leather, since hes no longer a warrior-predator in his own right.

4. Odysseus, Diomedes, and the rest

A short series of scene completes the roster, with a nice vignette in which the ferocious
Diomedes wrily envies the old man his superior energy. The remaining summonses are
swiftly summarised, with an elaborate three-way animal simile to round the sequence off. The
commanders are like watchdogs, the troops like the sheep they protect, and the Trojans like
an unseen beast crashing through the night outside.

5. the assembly
Now that theyre all gathered, its significantly Nestor who takes charge at once, without
even the formality of Agamemnon consulting him.
(a) Nestors plan
His proposal is an expansion of the idea originally floated by Menelaus. Although the
audience know Hectors plans from being allowed the eavesdrop on them at the end of book
8, the Greeks have no such privileged information. To find out what the Trojans intend,
however, would take an act of unprecedented boldness: to infiltrate the Trojan camp itself,
unseen. Its a high-risk mission, so Nestor proposes a reward for successful volunteers.
(b) the volunteers
Nobody, least of all the audience, is surprised that the irrepressible Diomedes is the first to
jump up; but he asks for a companion. As with Nestors last call for volunteers (for the duel
with Hector, at 7.1618), theres no shortage of willing candidates, and Diomedes is given his
pick. In a nice touch Agamemnon, who offers the choice, is as usual anxious for Menelaus,
and secretly nervous that Diomedes might pick him; but Odysseus is clearly the obvious
candidate, on the combined grounds of friendship, tactical ingenuity, and sharing the favour
of own Diomedes patron goddess Athene.

6. arming, prayers, and departure

As arming scenes go, this is a peculiarly fascinating one and not just from the choice of
non-reflective clothing and weapons (Diomedes borrowed sword is sheathed) so as to evade
detection at night. Meriones unusual boars-tusk helmet, which Odysseus borrows, is the
most remarkable Myceneaean survival in the text of Homer. Like Ajaxs full-body shield,
such helmets fell from use in the fifteenth century, two hundred years before the notional
setting of the poem. But while the poet doesnt seem to have a clear or consistent picture of
Ajaxs shield, the boars tusk helmet is described in extraordinarily specific detail. Any
argument, such as that sometimes encountered for the case of Ajaxs shield, that it might be a
very old survival in the formulaic repertoire is undermined by the absence of any obviously
early features in the language of the lines themeselves. In the absence of better suggestions,
its been widely suspected that the lines were based on an actual surviving specimen, though
it would have to have been some seven hundred years old at the time of the poems
composition (and nearly a thousand if the passage was a sixth-century addition!). That seems
pretty impressive for leather.
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Both heroes are Athenes favourites, and the goddess signals her unseen presence with a
bird-omen, to which both heroes astutely respond by offering a prayer and (in Odysseus
case) a vow. With confirmation to the audience that Athene is with them, the narrative now
leaves the Greek heroes in a dramatic cut to the other side of the story.

B. The Trojan council

Now it turns out that the scene just played out in the Greek camp has had a close parallel on
the other side of the wall.

1. Hectors plan
Hector, too, has seen the possibilities presented by the combination of the cover of darkness
and their proximity to the Greek camp. As we saw at 8.5106, Hector has if anything better
reason than Agamemnon to want to know his enemies plans, because hes concerned that
they might try to slip away by sea. Unaware of the parallels with the scene in the Greek
council, Hector too proposes a reward for a volunteer: the choice of any chariot and horses
from the Greek camp. (Notice his characteristic overconfidence that hell be able to deliver
on this offer.)

2. Dolon volunteers and sets out

Unfortunately, Hectors volunteer is of a rather different calibre to Diomedes and Odysseus.
Dolon son of Eumedes, neither of whom has hitherto been mentioned , is the only warrior
apart from Thersites to be specifically described as ugly: not a good sign. And Dolon sets his
sights breathtakingly high: he chooses the horses and chariot of Achilles himself, and
promises not merely to check the guarding of the ships (as Hector proposed) but to penetrate
the Greek camp to Agamemnons own shelter and there eavesdrop on the council of the
commanders.
If Hector raises an eyebrow at this, it doesnt show in the dark, nor in his tone. Perhaps he
too, infected with the same overconfidence, thinks Dolon can actually carry it off. But the
narrator knows better, and confirms the audiences suspicions as Dolon arms: Dolon will
never return from his rash mission.

C. The encounter in no-mans-land

Now follows the climax of the book, and a scene unusual in the Iliad for its sardonic
combination of savagery and farce, as the two storylines converge in the no-mans-land
between the two camps.

1. detection and pursuit

Now Diomedes choice of Odysseus as his companion pays off. Not only is Odysseus the
first to detect Dolon in the darkness, but in a characteristically Odyssean stroke of
forethought he realises that they need to ambush him rather than confront him, in order to cut
off his retreat to the Trojan camp and safety. This wouldnt be Diomedes way, but he falls
immediately in with the plan, and lets Dolon get between them and the Greek camp before
they alert him to their presence. As Odysseus evidently intended, Dolon interprets the
footsteps behind him to indicate that his pursuers have come from the Trojan camp, and only
breaks into a run when he finds out his error. But Odysseus has planned for this and briefed
Diomedes accordingly, and they cut him off and herd him towards the Greek camp instead.
Its the younger, faster Diomedes who actually catches him, and Dolon immediately gabbles
his plea for his life to be spared and ransomed.

2. Odysseus interrogation
Responding to this offer is a job for Odysseus, in the books most brilliant scene. Choosing
his opening words carefully to put Dolon at ease without actually agreeing to his request, he
questions him on his mission. To Dolons mention of Achilles horses as his reward,
Odysseus drily comments that hed probably have had his hands full trying to manage them.
But he immediately sees the real value of Dolon for their mission: he can tell them the layout
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and defences of the Trojan camp, and Hectors plans, without the original high-risk strategy
of positioning themselves to eavesdrop on the Trojan council themselves. Dolon spills the
beans, and in answering Odysseus question on the defences reveals a vulnerability: the
Thracian allies have arrived only recently, and arent enclosed in the main Trojan guard-
circle. (Quite where theyd be if the Trojans hadnt occupied the Scamander plain on the
previous day seems a question were not meant to ask.) Dolons evident eye for horses has
singled out the Thracian king Rhesus chariot and horses as especially enviable; surely this
information is ample payment to spare his life?

3. Dolons death
But Dolon has given away any bargaining power, and Diomedes sees straight to the ruthless
logic of the situation. They cant risk leaving him alive; and in a moment that recalls
Agamemnons execution of the suppliant Adrestus at 6.5265, he decapitates the hapless
Dolon at a single stroke (an unusual death in the Iliad) in the very act of trying to supplicate
him. They strip the corpse, and Odysseus has the presence of mind to offer the spoils as a
further token to Athene, as they move into the final and deadliest stage of their mission. A
very Odyssean touch is the thoughtful piece of foresight and improvisation: theyll need to
collect these spoils on the way back, so he improvises a marker to identify the spot in the
dark.

D. In the Trojan camp

Now comes the climax. Odysseus and Diomedes have the information they need, but need to
verify that Dolon was telling the truth; so they proceed into the Trojan camp, and test his
information about Rhesus and the Thracians for themselves.

1. slaughter of the Thracians

The challenge for Diomedes and Odysseus is to make away with a complete chariot and
horses from a camp of armed men without putting their own lives at risk. Once again,
Odysseus has a practical but brutal plan: one of them must silently untie the horses, while the
other creeps around the camp silently massacring the sleeping soldiers one-by-one in the
dark. Diomedes, unsurprisingly, chooses the second job, and is keen to keep going when
Odysseus whistles his signal that he has the chariot ready to go.

2. the horses of Rhesus

As in book 5, its only the direct intervention of Athene that convinces Diomedes to quit
while hes ahead. Hes just in time, because all hell breaks loose as the chariot rolls into
action. Apollo, his attention belatedly triggered by Athenes presence sounds the alarm; but
Diomedes and Odysseus have made their escape by chariot, so theres no chance of catching
them with a pursuit.

E. Return to the Greek camp

On the way back, they remember to pause to collect the spoils from Dolon which Odysseus
promised to Athene; and the book closes with their triumphant reception back in the camp of
the astonished Greeks.

Nestors welcome
Nestor shrewdly identifies the distant sound as that of an approaching chariot, and draws the
correct inference about its occupants while recognising it could be bad news too. But hes
quickly reassured by the arrival of the two heroes with their spectacular prize, and a quick
debriefing is followed by the promised dedication to Athene, followed by a relaxing bath and
meal. This will, however, be the last such exploit by either Diomedes or Odysseus in the
poem, as the following book will see both incapacitated from further fighting. Agamemnon,
meanwhile, is nowhere to be seen; perhaps because any boost to his morale here would
unbalance the book that follows, where he will have his finest hour as a warrior and his
darkest as a leader.
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Book 11. Achilles Takes Notice

Now the longest-anticipated dawn in Homer finally breaks, and with it the resumption of
pitched battle. In the two books that begin this long days fighting, 11 sees the Greek warriors
who have dominated the poem so far taken one by one out of the battle; while 12 shifts its
centre to the Trojan side, and follows the final attack on the Greek wall that will culminate at
the end of the book in Hectors breakthrough.
Book 11 itself has four main sections. First, battle is rejoined; then the Greeks score a
short-lived success with Agamemnons own aristeia; then five key Greek fighters in turn are
wounded in turn and eliminated from the fighting for the rest of the poem; and finally and
most fatefully, Patroclus becomes drawn into the sufferings of the Greeks, and Nestor makes
him a daring proposal whose repercussions will go further than either of them can imagine.
The books notable for a run of terrific animal similes, many of them unusually complex
and multi-angled, which become something of a leitmotif on the books poetic soundtrack.

A. Agamemnon arms
The dawning of this momentous day is seen first from the Greek side, with the remarkable
installation of the goddess of strife, Eris (rather unhappily translated Hate in Lattimore), on
Odysseus ship in the middle of the camp. Though the Greeks will go down this day, they
begin it at a peak of energy and defiance.
The first third of the book is dominated by Agamemnon, whom Diomedes urged at 9.709
to lead from the front in the coming days struggle. Now he comes to the fore with the second
of the poems four great arming scenes a famous example of a so-called type-scene, a
sequence that recurs in the same order of events each time. Weve already seen a much more
minimal version of this sequence at 3.3308, when Paris armed for the duel with Menelaus.
Comparison of the two passages shows where the main expansions sit in this version, and just
how much more elaborate and impressive Agamemnons war-gear is. The corselet is
magnificently decorated, and has its own history as a heroic object; the shield has weight both
physically through its construction and psychologically through its decoration. Though the
gods are still bound by Zeus prohibition on intervention, it doesnt stop Agamemnons main
divine patrons, Hera and Athene, signalling their support with a rumble of thunder. As the
warriors of both sides approach the trench, Agamemnon is already being singled out for what
will prove an awesome display of power.

B. The Trojans muster

Theres now a short roll-call of the leading Trojan warriors, though theyll have to wait for
the next few books to see their roles developed: Hector and Aeneas, the three sons of
Antenor, and a new name: the Trojan elder Panthos son Polydamas, who will take over
from Helenus from now on as Hectors key adviser and strategist. This list doesnt include
the allied leaders like Sarpedon and Glaucus, wholl emerge into the spotlight in the next
book.

C. Battle joined
The clash is marked with a simile and a glimpse of divine machinery: Eris and Zeus,
watching the battle from their vantage points on Odysseus ship and Mount Ida respectively,
with the other gods still banished to Olympus. The first impressions of the fighting are just
that, impressions; no individual combats are singled out until the camera turns to
Agamemnon.

D. Agamemnons aristeia
Now begins the kings own aristeia, which proceeds from single to multiple kills and briefly
pushes the Trojans back, before Agamemnon becomes the first of the days high-profile
casualties.
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1. two single kills

We begin with a rapid pair of spear-kills, the fighter and driver from a single Trojan chariot.

2. two paired kills

Next come two more charioteering pairs. The first are a pair of royal Trojan half-brothers,
previously captured and ransomed by Achilles, only to meet their deaths on their return to the
war: a pattern of events well see again. In a grim twist, Agamemnon singles them out
because he witnessed their previous ransoming and knows the value of their armour. Other
Trojans scatter: as the lion simile suggests, Agamemnon is the top predator now, and
everyone else is like deer.
The second pair are stranded in their chariot, and beg for ransom themselves, supplicating
Agamemnon for their lives. But their lives have been forfeited by the actions of their corrupt
father Antimachus, who accepted a bribe from Paris to oppose the return of Helen, and urged
the murder of Menelaus when he arrived on his mission with Odysseus (3.20524). Its not
clear how Agamemnon knows this last detail, but it means that his instinctive resistance to
suppliants (think of Chryses and Adrestus) is compounded by his obsessive concern for his
brothers safety, and the brothers are angrily dispatched.

3. the Trojans retreat and regroup

As Agamemnon continues his slaughter, the Trojans retreat across the plain, only regrouping
when they reach the familiar safe ground in front of the walls of the city. For a moment, it
looks as though Agamemnon has almost single-handedly regained the ground lost the
previous day.

4. Zeuss message to Hector

But Zeus has other plans. He sends a message to Hector to hold back until he sees
Agamemnon removed with a wound. That will be the signal that Hector can push forward for
the rest of the day, which will take him all the way to the ships. This is an important piece of
foreshadowing: not only is Agamemnons wounding now imminently expected, but we know
that once is down the Greeks early successes will be reversed and worse.

5. the Muse invoked

Our anticipation now hooked, the poet milks it for effect. Given that Hector is out of the
action for now, who will succeed in wounding the king of kings at the height of his killing
spree? Its a big job for a minor character; and the turning-point itself is sufficiently
momentous to be marked with an appeal to the muse.

6. Agamemnon kills Iphidamas

If the name of Iphidamas is unfamiliar (he hasnt been named before), his distinguished father
Antenors isnt; and the suspense is deftly protracted by the narration of this emigrant sons
rather convoluted family history, including marriage to his aunt. (Lattimores Kisseus,
incidentally, should be spelled without the u; hes also the father of the Trojan queen
Hecuba.) So this, we conclude, is the man who will draw Agamemnons blood. And when
Agamemnon, apparently forgetting the first rule of Homeric duelling, throws first and misses,
it seems as if Iphidamas spearthrust will deal the anticipated wound. But Homer is teasing
us: the thrust is turned by Agamemnons corselet, and with a sad necrology on his wasted
bride-price, Iphidamas is downed by the enraged kings sword.

7. Con wounds Agamemnon, and is killed

Instead its Iphidamas elder brother Con who now sneaks up on Agamemnon and stabs him
in the arm, then tries to retrieve his brothers stripped corpse. This is always a risky move,
and Agamemnon still has strength to disable him with a spearthrust, then hack off his head
with his sword.
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8. Agamemnons withdrawal
Agamemnon fights on for a while, but his wound (apparently in the left arm) catches up with
him, and eventually he has to retreat to camp in his chariot, with a parting exhortation to the
Greeks still fighting. This is a devastating blow; the days battle so far has been something of
a one-man show, with no other Greek warrior even named, and things are made worse by our
knowledge that Hector will see Agamemnons withdrawal as a signal to renew his attack.

E. The woundings of the Greeks

Now things fall apart fast. As predicted, Hector takes the initiative, and one by one the key
Greek warriors opposing him are similarly eliminated from the battle. Eventually only Ajax
will be left to hold back Hectors assault on the wall, camp, and ships, in a grim replay of the
duel in book 7.

1. Hector renews the assault

Hector sees his moment come, and a ferocious counter-attack now begins. If Agamemnon
was a lion, Hectors simile goes one better in casting him as the lion-killing human hunter.
He slaughters nine Greeks in three lines, and a second simile gives him the elemental force of
a storm that sweeps all before it.

2. Odysseus and Diomedes strike back

The next line of defence, as wed expect, is Diomedes, supported in this scene again by the
less powerful but still formidable Odysseus. Diomedes sees the tide of battle turning and the
hand of Zeus behind it, but joins Odysseus in a desperate fightback in which they together
score a string of early successes

3. Hector escapes Diomedes

But now Hector is drawn to their part of the fighting, and Diomedes sees the moment coming
for the clash with Hector hes sought for so long. Throwing first, he strikes Hector on the
helmet, and temporarily stuns him; but Hector escapes, and Diomedes angrily acknowledges
that Hector has eluded him one more time.

4. Paris wounds Diomedes

But in returning to strip the corpse Hector was trying to rescue, Diomedes exposes himself to
a surprise attack from another quarter: not from Hector, but from the archery of Paris. Like
Agamemnons wound, its a comparatively minor and recoverable injury that nevertheless
disables him from further fighting this day: in this case, an arrow through his foot. An
exchange of speeches follows, Paris at once gloating over his hit and regretting it wasnt
more serious, and Diomedes delivering the poems definitive diatribe on the cowardice of
archery as an alternative to face-to-face heroic combat. With Odysseus at hand, hes at no
further risk, and like Agamemnon is swiftly charioted out of the battle; but this leaves
Odysseus to hold off the Trojans alone.

5. Odysseus at bay
Odysseus is given to deliberative soliloquies, particularly in the Odyssey; its in his nature,
when caught alone at a moment of crisis, to mull over his alternatives aloud. Here he runs
through a classic example of the form: two options, here flight or a lone stand against the
overwhelming might of the Trojans. But Odysseus instinct for self-preservation doesnt yet
override his conditioning as a warrior, and he chooses to stand his ground and die like a hero.
Its an important moment: this is the Odysseus well see gradually retrained by the Odysseys
vastly more complex post-heroic world in a different set of priorities and survival skills.
Odysseus stand, like those of Agamemnon and Diomedes before him, begins well; he
scores five kills in quick succession. But the arrival of his last victims brother raises ominous
echoes of Iphidamas and Con, which turn out to be all too accurate.
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6. Socus wounds Odysseus, and is killed

Socus comes on with a desperate speech of defiance, and makes the first thrust with his spear.
Shield, corselet, and flesh are pierced, in another of those slow-motion weapon penetrations
before Athene stops the point before it does mortal damage. Applying his intelligence as
usual, he makes a snap diagnosis, and sees that the wound is incapacitating rather than
mortal; and as Socus tries to escape out of range, he catches him with a mortal spear-throw in
the back, and only then pausing to pull the spear out of his own body and shield. But this
makes his wound even more apparent to the Trojans, who now press home the attack on an
Odysseus no longer able to sustain it alone.

7. Menelaus and Ajax

Odysseus is perceptive enough to see how things stand, and calls out for support to any of his
comrades in earshot. Menelaus picks up the call, and passes the news to Ajax; and together
they fight their way through to the rescue. Another in the series of complex animal similes
casts Odysseus as a wounded stag, the Trojans as the lesser predators who close in for the kill
as his strength, and Menelaus and Ajax as the lion who arrives to scare them off and then
eats the stag, a striking collapse of the parallel. Menelaus takes care of Odysseus, leaving
Ajax, the great defender, to take over Odysseus stand in fighting off the Trojans: a role hell
continue to play right up to the crisis at the ships in book 16. With the formidable Ajax now
in play, the pressure eases, and the Trojans begin to give way in this zone of the battle.

8. Paris wounds Machaon

But this is not yet the time for a renewed confrontation between Ajax and Hector. Hector has
now now drifted far off to the (Greek) left, where he finds himself up against Idomeneus and
Nestor. Here hes joined by Paris, who now destabilises the Greek resistance by shooting not
one of the leaders but the warrior physician Machaon, last seen successfully treating
Menelaus wound from Pandarus arrow (4.192219). This latest victim may not be of the
military importance as Agamemnon, Diomedes, or even Odysseus, but he still needs ferrying
out of the battle; and the obvious person to do it is Nestor, who cant fight but can still drive
an impressive chariot. But as with Odysseus wounding, this has the effect of removing two
Greek leaders for the price of one, and Idomeneus is left to face Hector on his own.

9. Ajax at bay
Hector, however, sees a better opportunity. His charioteer Cebriones has spotted Ajax routing
the Trojans in the area of the field recently vacated by Hector, and the two of them fight their
way across to confront Hector and stem the local retreat. Hes rightly wary of closing with
Ajax himself; but Zeus opens a way for him by undermining Ajax concentration and spirit
himself. A pair of brilliant animal similes describe the unprecedented moment of Ajaxs slow,
hard-fought retreat.

10. Paris wounds Eurypylus

Ajax desperate fight now draws in yet another warrior in support: Eurypylus, a high-ranking
name in the Greek roll-calls of leading warriors, but largely invisible in the actual fighting so
far. His intervention is short-lived, as a third arrow from Paris scores the fifth major wound of
the book, and all he can do is call on the other Greeks to help Ajax at the centre of the
resistance. This has the temporary effect of taking the pressure off Ajax himself, and for the
rest of the book we leave the fighting entirely to track the movements of the wounded heroes
as they arrive back in the Greek camp.

F. Achilles and Patroclus drawn in

Now begins an initially low-key subplot which will take on decisive importance in the books
to come. The one major warrior still in the camp is of course Achilles, and the arrivals of the
wounded naturally attract his attention. He cant show this, so he sends Patroclus to
investigate for him leading by degrees to Patroclus own fateful entanglement in the
Greeks suffering and resistance.
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1. At Achilles camp
First we cut to Achilles own view of Nestors arrival with Machaon. He recognises Nestors
chariot, of course; but who is the wounded man it carries? Despite his resolve to stay out of
the battle, Achilles curiosity gets the better of him: will this defeat bring a renewed appeal
for his help? In a remarkable intervention, the narrator points out this moment as the
beginning of Patroclus doom: clearly were meant to keep an eye on this subplot as it
unfolds in the books to come.

2. Nestor and Patroclus

Patroclus sprints off to Nestors shelter, where hes taken the wounded Machaon. (See the
map of the Greek camp for their respective locations.) In the scene of the warriors reception,
we have another glimpse of Achilles raiding expeditions and their enduring legacy: Nestor,
like Agamemnon, has a slave woman allocated him as a share from Achilles spoils, though
clearly the old man can have played no direct part in the sack of her island of Tenedos. We
also meet the famous description of Nestors cup, another apparently Mycenaean artifact: a
cup corresponding suspiciously to this description was found in a shaft grave in Mycenae,
though it seems to have been used for libations rather than drinking. (This cup is also, by an
odd irony, the subject of the earliest written line of Greek poetry to survive: a hexameter
inscription on an eighth-century skyphos from Ischia claiming to be Nestors cup.)
Patroclus arrival leads into a game of cat-and-mouse with Nestor, who seeks to detain
him with the full expansive treatment due an honoured guest. Patroclus tries to wriggle out,
protesting that he was just popping his head inside the door to check that Nestors passenger
was indeed Machaon, and that Achilles needs him to report straight back. But Patroclus is no
match for the old mans wiles

3. Nestors big speech

Nestor now launches into his longest and greatest speech in the poem. He begins by hooking
Patroclus attention with the news of the other Greek woundings, framing the list in a
disingenuous query as to why Achilles should care. Patroclus, of course, has not Achilles
grounds for hardening his heart, and its Patroclus Nestor is really working on driving a
wedge between Patroclus and his steely-hearted friend.
a) the tale of the cattle raid
Now he launches into one of his old mans reminiscences, on the standard excuse that he
wishes he still had the strength to perform as he did then. Its a sprawling, complex tale of a
simmering feud between Nestors Pylos and their neighbours in Elis, following the
weakening of Pylos after Heracles attack, which had killed all eleven of Nestors brothers.
(This may or may not be the campaign mentioned by Dione to the wounded Aphrodite at
5.392402.) The feud comes to the boil when Nestor launches a raid on the Eleans cattle by
way of forced compensation for Elean depredations (including the appropriation of Nestors
father Neleus sports chariot and horses by King Augeas of Elis), and the Eleans in their turn
send an army to retaliate. This Elean army besieges the Pylian border town of Thryoessa; but
Nestor leads a Pylian army against the besiegers, and in a personal aristeia slaughters over a
hundred Eleans himself.
Its all a fairly transparent parallel-with-a-point to the present situation: what Homerists
call a paradeigma. The arrogant Eleans correspond to the the Trojans, and the Pylians to the
Greeks; the siege of Thryoessa to that of the Greek camp; and the elaborate business over the
allocation of spoils from the raid make the point that Nestor, unlike Achilles, was happy to
recognise the claims of other, higher authorities to a share in the fruits of his own warfare.
But Achilles, alas, has failed to live up to the young Nestors example planting the seed of a
thought, whether deliberately or unconsciously, in Patroclus mind that someone else might
rise to the challenge instead.
b) Peleus and Achilles
Now Nestor makes his move. Odysseus had reminded Achilles the previous night of his
father Peleus advice; now Nestor, closely echoing the phraseology, reminds Patroclus of his
advice from his own father Menoetius on the same occasion. As the elder of the two (this is
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the first time this is said), Patroclus has a duty to use his own better wisdom to influence
Achilles judgment.
c) Nestors plan for Patroclus
So Nestor proposes a two-level plan. Plan A, obviously, is that Patroclus speak to Achilles to
try and influence him where others have failed. If that doesnt work, perhaps because of
something Achilles knows from his goddess mother, Nestor proposes a fallback: that
Patroclus himself go out to battle in Achilles armour, and scare off the Trojans with the
pretence that Achilles is back in action. That belief alone could be sufficient to drive the
Trojans all the way back to the city. The hint of a prophecy from Thetis looks like an allusion
to Achilles words at 9.4106: does Nestor know about this from a previous occasion, or has
he been debriefed by Odysseus during the night, or is he simply making a shrewd guess that
theres more at stake than just the feud with Agamemnon?

4. Patroclus delays with Eurypylus

Patroclus, significantly, makes no reply, but runs to report back to Achilles. Here, however,
the layout of the Greek camp (see map) is against him, because Achilles zone is right at the
end and he has to pass the ships of Odysseus and Eurypylus next door to Nestor. Patroclus
greeting shows his deep sympathy for the Greeks sufferings a weakness Nestor has already
begun to exploit and his concern for the battle to come. Eurypylus diagnosis is bleak; and
with Pariss arrowhead still lodged in his wound, hes in urgent need of someone to treat his
wound now that Machaon the healer is himself out of action. Patroclus hesitates, but the
appeal is one his sympathetic nature cant hold out against, and he stays to help. This delay
will put paid at a stroke to Nestors plan A; by the time Patroclus finally makes it back to
Achilles, events will have reached a crisis of their own that will leave no time for leisurely
persuasion.

Book 12. Hector Storms the Wall

The short twelfth book now takes us back to the battlefield. Where book 11 has largely
followed the Greek warriors progress, we now follow the battle primarily from the Trojan
perspective as they push home their advantage in an all-out assault on the Greek wall. Its an
ambitiously structured book, with no fewer than five centres of fighting under separate Trojan
commanders, and an intense, sustained siege narrative moving from one spot to another until
Hector finally makes the fateful breakthrough.

A. Flashforward: the fate of Nestors wall

The book opens boldly, with the poems most vertiginous glimpse into a future outside the
poem. In single a huge narrative sweep, were taken from the intimate scene of Patroclus
tending Eurypylus to the battle raging out on the plain, to a time beyond all this when the city
is taken, the Greeks are departed, and the last monument of all this fighting is the Greek wall
standing against its final promised onslaught by the gods and elements. All this was foreseen
in 7.44263 at the moment of the walls creation; but the vivid narration of that destruction
here is the single boldest time-jump in the poem, and has an eerie effect of taking us far into
the future and then abruptly back to the human storm now raging around the wall. This daring
narrative device marks the central role of the wall itself as the focus of the intense, continuous
fighting that occupies this entire book.

B. Hector presses the attack

With Ajax driven back, Hector now dominates the fighting, having now regained the plain
and driven the Greeks back behind the protection of their ditch and wall. But as the simile of
the beat at bay conveys, Hector is unable to make the final breakthrough; the chariots cant
cross the ditch, and the footsoldiers cant press through.
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C. Polydamas plan: the fivefold attack

Now comes the first of a series of scenes with Polydamas, who emerges now as Hectors
chief adviser on tactics. Unlike the relationship between Agamemnon and Nestor, however,
its a volatile interaction; Hector is as likely to disregard Polydamas advice as to take it,
especially when Polydamas more cautious recommendations disagree with Hectors own
instincts. And sometimes, as well see, Polydamas seem in the short term to be wrong and
Hector right.
Here, however, Polydamas analyses the problem astutely, and Hector gratefully adopts
his advice. They need to abandon the attempt to get the chariots across the ditch; if they
penetrated the Greek camp, it will be by an assault on foot. Because of the length of the wall,
the assault is organised in five divisions a rare demonstration of military organisation on the
Trojan side which will attack the wall at five different points. Three of these points will
become the key locations in the multi-stranded narrative that follows.
Hector First is Hectors own team, which includes Polydamas himself and Hectors
former charioteer Cebriones (who here dismounts to fight beside him on foot).
Paris The next two divisions are led by Hectors brothers Paris and Helenus. Perhaps
unsurprisingly, Paris is one of the two divisions of which no more is heard
though after the breakthrough his fellow commander Alcathous will be among
the victims of Idomeneus aristeia. Agenor is one of the sons of Antenor,
named among the Trojan leaders in 11.5660.
Helenus Two more of Hectors full brothers, Helenus and Dephobus, lead the third
group, but the man to watch is Asius originally introduced in the Trojan
catalogue at 2.8359, where hes leader of the Hellespontine allies.
Aeneas Aeneas leads the fourth group with two more of Antenors large but
diminishing brood (including Acamas from the list at the start of the previous
book, 11.5660). These three are the leaders of the Dardanian branch of the
Trojans in the catalogue at 2.81923. Like Paris, this group is not heard from
again in this book.
Sarpedon Last comes the one group to be led by a non-Trojan: the allies under Sarpedon
and Glaucus (the Lycian commanders) and the Paeonian Asteropaeus,
apparently chosen by Sarpedon over his peoples catalogue leader Pyraechmes
(2.84850). Sarpedon is now more clearly singled out as a different calibre of
warrior from the rest: part of his increasing prominence over the next five
books, ending up as the highest-ranking victim of Patroclus aristeia.
D. The assault on the wall
Now the attack itself begins. The structure tracks three of the five points of assault in turn:
first Helenus division, where Asius will make an ill-judged and unsuccessful attempt to
storm his way through; then Hectors first assault, bringing him once again into confrontation
with Ajax; then the allied division, with a famous speech by Sarpedon on the raison dtre of
the warriors life; and finally Hector again, who breaks the general stalemate and opens the
way for the battle in the Greek camp that follows.

1. Asius charge repelled

Asius assault is doubly marked for failure by his disregard of Polydamas advice and by the
narrators own extended nepios-statement in 1137. At first it seems as though his promised
death at the hands of Idomeneus is imminent in this scene. But its a decoy ruse to build up
suspense; Idomeneus makes no appearance in this book, and Asius doom must wait its turn.
For now, he tries to charge one of the gates in the wall (with a route across the ditch) in his
chariot, but is met by the Lapith contingent under Polypoetes and Leonteus (introduced in the
Lapiths catalogue entry at 2.73847). They hold off the assault by defending the gate from in
front with missiles, and Asius is forced to give up with a speech of defeat unusual for its
inclusion of one of the few similes put into the mouth of a character. As the parting lines
make clear, however, this is Hectors day of glory, not his.
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The narrator lapses briefly into the first person at 176, in a line recalling his similar
comment in the introduction to the catalogue of ships at 2. 48890. Theres no appeal to the
muse here, though, and it may be an apology for failing to follow through the overambitious
project of keeping all five storylines in play. Instead, we stay with the Lapith gate as the
brothers enjoy a miniature aristeia, before moving on to the gate where the breakthrough will
ultimately be made.
At 177 we have our first glimpse of the fire that will become a key feature of the attack on
the Greek ships following the breakthrough

2. Hector and Polydamas

The Lapiths having decisively thwarted the first of the five attacks, we turn now to Hector
and Polydamas. This book offers one of the best illustrations in Homer of whats come to be
called Zielinskis First Law, after the turn-of-the-century German scholar who first
formulated the principle. Simultaneous plotlines are common in Homer, but theres a
consistent avoidance of actual narrative regression. That is to say, the narrative clock can be
stopped but not turned back. When the narrative switches from the attack on one gate to
another, the narrator wont go back and tell us whats been happening at the other gate in the
meantime; instead hell go straight to whats happening now at the other gate. Sometimes
this can result in strange skips over action that took place while the narrative camera was
pointing somewhere else. Alternatively, as here, the action is oddly frozen at one point until
the moment when the narrator is free to take it up. In this case, Hector and Polydamas still
havent attacked the central gate, despite being the most aggressive contingent of all. No
reason is given, though if we like we can argue that Asius experience shows the difficulty of
breaking through any of the gates by storm.
a) the omen
Their hesitation is then compounded by an omen from Zeus. Like the one reported by
Odysseus from the start of the war (2.30130), its a bizarre and unsettling scene involving
birds and snakes, which turns out to have a detailed allegorical significance for the war.
b) Polydamas advice rejected
Polydamas reads the omen correctly as indicating that the attempt will fail, and only result in
the slaughter of more Trojans in their inevitable retreat.But Hector rejects the advice, which
seems to contradict the other signs that Zeus has sent him. What he doesnt realise, of course,
is that Zeus support will last only until the moment he torches the ships; and with that
moment, the slaughter will begin. Hectors dismissal of omens here is a dangerous sign: he
shows himself unwilling to read the gods signals when they contradict the message he wants
to hear. Its a further sign of the erratic judgment that will ultimately contribute to his doom,
as he makes the fateful decision to press on with the attack on the main gate.
c) Ajax & Ajax defend
The defence of the wall is coordinated by the two Ajaxes, who range from one gate to another
and urge on the defenders at each. This allows a momentary wide shot of the battle raging all
up and down the length of the wall, as we pull back from the focus on Hectors gate to a
simile describing the hail of missiles like snow.

3. Sarpedon & Glaucus

Now comes the books climactic, and most artful, piece of multistranded plotting. What will
finally enable Hector and Polydamas to break through is not something they do, but an event
at another gate entirely. In another odd little Zielinski moment, Sarpedon only now launches
his own attack, which will draw the key Greek defenders away from the central gate and
allow Hector his chance.
Its our first close-up of Sarpedon in action as a fighter, and he gets a lion simile of his
own to mark his elevation now to the first rank of Homers star warriors.
His first speech in the poem is one of the most famous in the Iliad. Its often seen as the
definitive formulation of the rationale of the heros lifestyle.
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What drives heroes to risk their lives in battle is, paradoxically, the certainty of their own
mortality.
Given that they must die, they devote their lives to the competition for glory, Greek
kleos: fame, reputation, the way youre talked about and remembered.
For the successful warrior, this takes the form of honours both tangible and intangible from
his people.
Even, as here, when hes fighting in anothers war, this heroic system of kleos and time, glory
and honour still drives the warrior on to fight. This is precisely the system that Achilles can
no longer believe in; but here, now, in what will prove to be the last hours of his life, it makes
complete sense to Sarpedon.
a) Menestheus summons Ajax
Sarpedons gate is defended by the Athenian leader Menestheus: a minor hero, here
hopelessly outclassed. His only chance is to call for reinforcements from elsewhere on the
wall, and theres the usual relaying of a message verbatim from sender to recipient. Big
Ajax is now presented with a dilemma: any redeployment of key fighters from the central
gate will weaken defences there. In the end he leaves the lesser Ajax to manage the defence
against Hector, while he himself and his brother Teucer go to Menestheus aid against
Sarpedon. Its a risky move, but at first it seems to pay off.
b) Ajax defends the wall
With the arrival of Ajax and Teucer, the Lycians assault is stemmed. First Ajax kills his man
with a characteristic strongman display, by dropping a boulder on top of him.
c) Teucer wounds Glaucus
Then Teucers bow scores a major success by wounding Sarpedons co-commander Glaucus.
Glaucus withdraws surreptitiously from the fighting, keen to minimise any gift of glory to the
Greeks in the light of Sarpedons earlier homily. Sarpedon notices, but presses home his own
attack to the point where he actually destroys a section of wall and closes in on the brothers
hand-to-hand. An arrow from Teucer and a spearthrust from Ajax are both kept from
Sarpedons flesh by his father Zeus, playing the role that other gods have in protecting their
favourites in earlier books. For the moment Sarpedon is stalemated, unable to break through
but unwilling to give ground.

4. stalemate
Now for a second time the narrative camera pulls back and shows the same stalemate holding
all along the wall. A pair of unusual and fascinating similes from everyday human life gives
us two vignettes of the audiences world, and leave briefly behind the predator-centred
animal similes of the previous book.

5. Hector breaks through

But all this, of course, has been preparation for the moment when Hector breaks the
stalemate. The moment is marked as a turning-point by the involvement of Zeus, and the
stone and the gate are each described in detail in the moments before the decisive impact. The
book closes on the image of Hector standing in the smashed gateway as he now appears to
the Greeks on the other side: an image of terror, unstoppable, triumphant. His path to the
Greek ships now seems open; but the gods have one more twist in store before that turning-
point is reached.
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Books 1316: Hectors day

In books 1112, we saw the plotlines set in motion that will culminate in the momentous
events of book 16. The day of the Trojans fightback has dawned, and the major Greek
warriors apart from Ajax dismissed from the battle with wounds. Zeus continues to support
the Trojans, and to hold the other gods from intervention in the battle on either side. Hector
has finally broken through Nestors wall, exposing the Greek camp and ships to his attack.
Achilles has not, as threatened, sailed home to Phthia, but is watching and waiting, ready for
the moment when Trojan fire touches the Greek ships themselves. And Patroclus has found
himself drawn increasingly into the story, tending Eurypylus wound in the heart of the camp,
and pondering the seed of a daring plan that Nestor has sown in his mind.
Books 1316 are the climax of Hectors day of triumph, but in the first half of this
sequence its a triumph repeatedly blocked and frustrated. At the end of 12, we seemed
moments away from the long-anticipated crisis, when Hector will burn the ships, Achilles
will rise up, and Zeus will drop his support for the Trojan attack. But the passage of the wall
will be bitterly contested; and now too come the first stirrings among the gods of a challenge
to Zeuss interdict. In books 1314 both Hector and Zeus will become entangled in
unexpected opposition. Hectors advance into and through the Greek camp will resisted by
gods and men, and only at the start of book 15 will Zeus resume control over the fulfilment of
his plan. But in books 1516, events move swiftly to their crisis. By the time Patroclus makes
his way back to Achilles at the start of book 16, it will be too late for talk.
These four long books take the story from Hectors attack on the Greek camp to
Patroclus aristeia and death. The climax of this sequence is the great sixteenth book: the
pivotal moment of the poem, where the consequences of Zeuss plan and Achilles choices
finally take shape. Its the culmination not just of the poems middle act the Trojan
fightback, the Patroclus story but of the longer storylines of Achilles wrath and Zeuss
promise to Thetis. By the end, well have seen the story of the future unfolded by Zeus, and
the new direction the poem will now take with the devastating return of Achilles to the centre
of the story. Well also see the gods re-enter the story in an unexpected and dramatic way,
and for the first time see the limitations of Zeuss own nature and power.
The magnificent sixteenth book can easily seem to overshadow its neighbours here. But
these books also include the most celebrated divine escapade in Homer, the seduction of Zeus
that forms the centrepiece of book 14. These are also the books in which the battle narrative
reaches its peak of intensity, with first the Trojans and then the Greeks coming close to
ending the war in the space of a single book. Though well see even greater slaughter in
Achilles aristeia to come, its far more of a one-man war, and the stakes for the rest of the
army are never so high as here.

Book 13. The Battle at the Ships

Book 13 is dominated by two warriors: Hector, leading the Trojan assault, and the Cretan
warlord Idomeneus, whose aristeia dominates the middle of the book. But the major
development is the emergence of a new force on the supernatural plane: Zeuss brother
Poseidon, the most powerful of the gods after Zeus himself. Deliberately sidelined until now
in favour of Hera and Athene, Poseidon will spend the next two books undermining his
brothers battle plan, covertly at first, but more openly as his Olympian co-conspirators find a
way at last to neutralise Zeus.
The book has five main sections. First comes the arrival of Poseidon on the scene, and his
rallying of the Greek resistance; then we return to Hector, and his own attempt to press
through into the Greek camp; then the focus switches to the Greek side again with the aristeia
of Idomeneus; a phase of pitched battle ensues; and the final section centres again on Hector,
as he once more confronts his nemesis Ajax.

A. Enter Poseidon
Poseidon has been kept in reserve for this moment: the most powerful of all the Olympians
after his brother Zeus, with whom he has a somewhat tense sibling relationship. He was
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glimpsed among the major Olympian supporters of the Greeks at 8.198211, where Hera
failed to persuade him to join her in challenging Zeus ban on battlefield intervention. The
brief scene there summed up the contrast between him and his sister Hera. Where Hera is
constantly seeking ways to challenge or sidestep Zeuss authority, Poseidon is much warier,
less impulsive, and reluctant to confront the power of Zeus head-on, aware that he cant stand
up to his brother in a contest of power. A solitary, independent figure among the major
Olympians, weve seen his capacity for brooding resentment at 7.44263, when he grudged
the Greeks the achievement of Nestors wall. Now, well see the same quality turned
increasingly against the power of Zeus himself.

1. Zeus withdraws
Like the audience, Zeus sees Hectors breach of the wall as the collapse of Greek resistance.
It seems nothing now stands between Hector and his goal, and so Zeus makes the fatal
mistake of relaxing his vigilance over the battlefield. Instead he turns his gaze to affairs in the
far north of the known world, confident that neither Hera nor Athene will dare to defy his
edict. In that, of course, hes right; but hes forgotten about his brother, precisely because
Poseidon has avoided direct confrontation so far.

2. Poseidon moves in
Just as Zeus has a vantage point on the summit of Mount Ida, Poseidon has his own mountain
sanctuary and watchtower, on the northern Aegean island of Samothrace, surrounded by his
element the ocean. Its there that he sees for the first time the extraordinary reversal of the
Greeks fortunes, and in an immediate demonstration of power crosses the ocean to his
sanctuary of Aegae (on the Greek mainland) in just three steps. There follows a version of the
divine chariot sequence we saw in its HeraAthene version at 8.381ff.; but Poseidon is a
solitary god, and needs no charioteer to drive him. Particularly magnificent is the glimpse of
the creatures of his domain the sea rising up to pay homage as he passes. In contrast to the
setting-out of Hera and Athene, we have a sense of an elemental force stirring. Hiding his
chariot in a cave, he moves in secretly on the battle.

3. Poseidon rallies the Ajaxes

Poseidon arrives at the very moment the Trojans are pouring into Hectors breach of the wall.
Rather than join openly in the battle, he begins with the familiar tactic of divine disguise,
exhortation, and invigoration taking the form of Calchas the seer, and singling out the
Ajaxes, who were so successful in delaying Hectors breakthrough in the previous book, to
marshall the resistance.
his Poseidons speech singles out Hector as the principal threat: all the other Trojans
speech can be held, but Hector needs to be met by the best the Greeks can send against
him. Having delivered his message in character, he then (perhaps surprisingly,
but this is a common pattern in such scenes) blows his cover by turning to bird
form and flying off, having first put strength in them with a touch of his divine
staff.
their The Ajaxes realise what has just happened, and feel the new strength coursing
speeches through them. In the case of the greater Ajax, this manifests especially in an
overwhelming compulsion to confront his nemesis Hector.

4. Poseidon rallies the other Greeks

Poseidon, meanwhile, has moved on to muster a collection of lesser Greek warriors,
including Teucer, Meriones, and Nestors son Antilochus. If were wondering what happened
to Idomeneus, who was the other key fighter in book 11, our question will soon be
spectacularly answered. The collapse of Greek morale is vividly evoked in an unusually
sustained passage of psychological description by the narrator; but Poseidons intervention
will turn their spirits around.
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his speech Where Poseidons speech to the Ajaxes focussed on their own power as
warriors, his speech to the lesser fighters uses a different tactic, playing to
their sense of shame at letting the Trojans run rings around them. The Trojans
havent changed, he argues; the present crisis is entirely the result of failures
on the Greek side, for which Achilles cant be singled out.
the Greeks The speech has its effect: the lesser heroes rally around the Ajaxes, and they
stand firm brace to meet Hectors charge.

B. Hectors attack
As the assault begins, we switch from the Greeks perspective to the Trojans for the actual
clash.
Hectors Sure enough, Hectors charge begins with a forceful nature-simile, but breaks
charge itself on the Greek resistance. Hector calls on the other Trojans to back him up
stopped as he attempts to push through, and the narrative moves to a series of solo
encounters.
Meriones First to support Hector is his brother Dephobus in an inconclusive encounter
repels with Meriones, who loses his spear to Dephobus shield and withdraws before
Dephobus Dephobus can strike back. At the time, this looks a rather uninteresting result;
but Meriones return to camp in search of a replacement spear is part of the
books longer-term plotting.
Teucer The next encounter results in a kill, and a Greek one: a turning-point marked
kills with both a necrology and a simile. Teucer is here fighting with spear in close
combat rather than his more distinctive weapon of the bow.
Hector Teucer goes in to strip the corpse, exposing himself to a spear-throw as often at
kills such moments; but Hectors spear misses, and kills a high-ranking Greek
warrior instead. Amphimachus was introduced as one of the Elean leaders in
the catalogue at 2.620; but were about to find out that he has a more signficant
status still, because his father Cteatus was a son of Poseidon himself.
Ajax Hector now tries to strip the corpse, but Ajax now closes in for the first time in
blocks the book, and Hector is forced to give way
Hector
the allowing the Greeks possession of both the Trojan and the Greek corpses. In
corpses a rare gesture evidently marking the intensity of his divinely-assisted battle-
retrieved fury, the lesser Ajax gratuitously mutilates the Trojan corpse as he strips it,
with the gruesome touch of the severed head landing at Hectors feet.

C. Idomeneus aristeia
The killing of his mortal grandson Amphimachus sends Poseidon in search of the last
available major hero, the elderly Cretan warlord Idomeneus, who now gets a full-blown
aristeia of his own.

1. The entry to battle

First we learn why Idomeneus has been so mysteriously invisible in this book so far: like
Nestor in the previous book, hes had to rescue a comrade and deliver him to safety in the
Greek camp.
(a) Poseidon rallies Idomeneus
Poseidon adopts the disguise of Thoas, a warrior we know is safely out of the way on the
battlefield, and in that character rebukes Idomeneus for hanging back simply because he
realises Zeus is against them. Idomeneus calls the bluff of Thoas, reasonably wondering
why hes in the camp too if he feels that way, and Poseidon agrees to rejoin the battle
together. In the event, however, Thoas will be forgotten as Idomeneus encounters a much
closer companion.
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(b) Idomeneus and Meriones (5 speeches)

Idomeneus is surprise to bump into his own second-in-command Meriones, and there follows
a notorious scene on which critics divide down by now predictable lines. For analyst critics,
the clonking awkwardness of this protracted exchange is a sign that this passage was inserted
in the Iliad by a later, inferior poet. For psychologists, on the other hand, its a scene of subtle
humour, as two warriors try anxiously to justify to one another the fact that neither is out
there on the battlefield where they should be. This sounds like the universal last-ditch literary
defence that anything that cant be made sense of any other way is meant to be funny, but it
does get some support from the preceding exchange between Idomeneus and Thoas, which
dealt more openly with the guilty self-consciousness of two able-bodied warriors bumping
into one another in camp when they ought to be fighting. On the other hand, its hard to find
any parallel for poking gentle fun at a hero whos about to have a major aristeia.
On any reading, though, the exchange is packed with subtle touches of point-scoring.
Idomeneus is surprised to see Meriones, who explains his spear problem, and Idomeneus
offers his own supply if needed, which Meriones at first declines evidently sensing that the
conversation has become a subtle competition about eachs need to reassert his martial spirit
to the other, in spite of his presence behind the lines. Idomeneus longer final speech then
defuses this tension by acknowledging his comrades spirit rather than protesting his own
the element thats been missing in the conversation so far. Meriones is then able to accept the
renewed offer of a spear without needing to feel hes losing a subtle contest of manhood.
After he emerges, theres an unusual simile comparing the heroes at length to a pair of
gods, Ares and his henchman Terror (Phobos). This is followed by exchange about tactics
mainly for the audiences benefit, to explain why Idomeneus aristeia isnt going to involve a
clash with Hector. Idomeneus analysis is that Ajax is a match for Hector on his own, and
with the arrival of most of the other minor heroes in his support the weak points are likely to
be those away from the centre where Greek defences are concentrated. The effect of this is to
allow Idomeneus adventure to develop as an independent thread of the narrative, separate
from the Hector thread weve been following exclusively so far.
(c) into the battle
The pairs entrance to the fighting is a particularly powerful version of the familiar pattern of
general battle description with simile that precedes a sequence of close-up narrations of
individual kills. Its especially notable for the unusual and vivid description of the blinding
glare of bronze in sunlight, and its psychological impact on those who have to fight under it.

2. Interlude: comment on Poseidon and Zeus

Now more than ever, at least since Ares rampage in book 5, the human battle is being driven
by the unseen divine machinery as now spelled out in an unusually extended assessment in
the narrators voice. What until now has been hinted at is now spelled out: the relationship
between Zeus and Poseidon is an unequal one, so that Poseidon is limited to operating in
mortal disguise rather than the more open (if unseen) assistance given by the gods in the fifth
book.
The aside to the audience closes with a striking but rather cryptic metaphor which was
already causing puzzlement among ancient commentators. Its not clear what were meant to
picture the rope as doing, though he general idea seems to be that the gods have tied the two
armies together, with secondary implications of a kind of tug-of-war between either the
armies or (perhaps more likely, as Janko argues in his commentary, arguing for alternately
they pulled taut as the sense of the words Lattimore translates as these two had looped)
between the two gods, holding the ends.

3. The aristeia
Now comes Idomeneus aristeia itself, whose high point is the death of the major Trojan
warrior Asius, before culminating in an abortive encounter with Aeneas. A relatively brief
aristeia, its notable for the tightly-plotted connections between kills, with each leading
directly into the next by one or other of the standard segue techniques of revenge attacks or
followup kills. The sequence is made the more interesting from the outset by the casual
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information that Idomeneus is one of the oldest of the heroes still active. Idomeneus is an
experienced fighter, but he is no Diomedes.
(a) Idomeneus kills Othryoneus
First comes a minor kill, with a necrology and a boasting speech from Idomeneus marked by
the grim irony that particularly characterises such speeches by warriors in the grip of an
aristeia.
(b) Idomeneus kills Asius
Next comes Asius, whom we remember both from the Trojan catalogue (13.389) and more
recently from his ill-judged attempt in the previous book to break through the wall by forcing
the gate in his chariot. As with Pandarus in book 4, such a serious tactical error marks him
out for an imminent exit, and its just been a question of when and at whose hands his death
would come.
(c) Antilochus kills Asius charioteer
Antilochus now becomes the first of the original group of lesser Greek warriors to join
Idomeneus new second front in the defence. Over the coming books, Antilochus will
gradually emerge to a prominence he hasnt borne in the poem so far. Here he moves swiftly
enough in to kill Asius luckless charioteer and capture the chariot that dared to attack the
Greek wall.
(d) Deiphobus kills Hypsenor
Now a Trojan counterpart is also drawn in from the fighting around Hector. Dephobus,
whose shield earlier deprived Meriones of his spear, now throws at Idomeneus, misses, and
instead takes down the minor warrior Hypsenor. (This is one of those confusingly generic
names that gets used for characters on either side; Eurypylus killed a Trojan Hypsenor at
5.7683.) The lines describing the retrieval of Hypsenors corpse by Mecisteus and Alastor
seem to have been lifted from the rescue of Teucer at 8.3324 even down to the groaning,
though the Greek makes it clear that Hypsenor is already dead.
(e) Idomeneus kills Alcathous
Idomeneus next victim Alcathous is the most hauntingly described: in his poignant
necrology, his fatal moment of divinely-instigated battle shock, and his slow and painful
death after the spear has penetrated. (This is unusual in Homer, for whom spear-deaths are
nearly always instant.)
(f) Idomeneus challenges Deiphobus
Idomeneus boasting-speech over Alcathous is effectively a challenge to his main antagonist
Dephobus, responding to Dephobus boast over Hypsenor with a reminder of the tally on
either side.
(g) Deiphobus recruits Aeneas
Dephobus is aware that hes outmatched by Idomeneus, and will need the support of
someone more in Idomeneus class. Aeneas vanished from the narrative in the previous book,
and his mysteriously protracted absence is now explained: there is a tension between his
Dardanian branch of the royal family and the house of Priam, which has apparently flared up
in the course of the morning. Its the first weve heard or seen of any such feud, though there
are hints of rivalry at various points in book 20. Dephobus appeal sensibly hedges its
chances by appealing to the family bond in both directions: to himself and the Priamids, or if
that fails to the fallen Alcathous.
The approach of this first equal-ranking opponent to Idomeneus is signalled as a turning-
point both by the simile (boar versus hunters) and the speech of appeal to the other Greek
warriors, in which Idomeneus realistically assesses his rival as a serious match. But the
Trojans now rally behind Aeneas similarly, and the scene is set for one of the closest-matched
encounters in the poem.
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(h) Three spearcasts

The combat itself is conducted in a rapid exchange of spears, which will give Idomeneus his
last success but also put an end to his aristeia by disarming him.
Aeneas Aeneas throws first, but Idomeneus dodges. Aeneas is now temporarily
(misses) spearless, though he evidently retrieves it during the confusion that follows.
Idomeneus Idomeneus returns with a throw apparently not at Aeneas but at a minor
(kills warrior, Oenomaus. But with so many leading Trojans targeting him, he now
Oenomaus; has a problem: not only is he unable to strip Oenomaus armour, but the
withdraws) pressure of missiles is such that he cant retrieve his spear. Since all his kills
so far have been with the spear, and his opponents are still well equipped
with theirs, he is forced to withdraw.
Deiphobus But Dephobus sees the opportunity for one more cast at Idomeneus as he
(missed retreats. Though he misses Idomeneus, he does strike another Greek
Idomeneus, catalogue hero: Ascalaphus son of Ares (2.511), around whose body the next
kills phase of the struggle will coalesce. The narrator takes this opportunity to
Ascalaphus) remind us of Zeuss interdict, which binds Ares in Olympus so that even his
own sons death is witheld from him by now.

D. The battle after Idomeneus

With Idomeneus suddenly removed, the other warriors rush to fill the vacuum in what turns
into a fast-moving free-for-all.
Meriones Dephobus begins to strip Ascalaphus armour, but is caught in his window of
wounds vulnerability by Idomeneus lieutenant Meriones and wounded in the arm. Both
Deiphobus withdraw: Dephobus for the rest of the battle, Meriones for a pause before his
next attack.
Aeneas With Idomeneus out of the way, Aeneas is now in a strong position to strike,
and at once makes a spear-kill of his own.
Antilochus Antilochus quickly counters with an anatomically far-fetched kill of his own,
and then moves in to strip the corpse.
Meriones Now for a typical Meriones moment, catching one of Antilochus would-be
kills attackers with a particularly horrible and painful gut-wound. Adamas death
Adamas agonies are graphically evoked with a simile comparing the struggles of a
roped bull. Coming mere minutes after the death of his father Asius, this is a
particularly poignant and disturbing kill.
Helenus Now another Trojan prince is drawn to the struggle: Helenus, armed not with
kills spear but with the unusual combination of sword and bow. Here he makes the
Deipyrus books first sword kill.
Menelaus This in turn attracts the pity of Menelaus, who now makes his first appearance
wounds in this days battle with a counter-attack. The simultaneous exchange of spear
Helenus against arrow is a novel pattern of duel, and its the more powerful and heroic
spear that prevails wounding Helenus in the hand so that he too must
withdraw to be tended by his comrades.
Menelaus Pressing home his advantage, Menelaus goes the full two rounds with his next
kills victim, Pisander: first an inconclusive exchange of spears, and then a hand-to-
Pisander hand combat with his sword against Pisanders hand-axe. In the most
improbably gruesome splatter kill anywhere in Homer, Menelaus knocks
Pisanders eyes literally out of his head. A bitter speech follows over the
corpse, in which Menelaus reasserts his confidence that Zeus will eventually
avenge the offence done him as the warden god of xenia, and that the Trojans
present run of success is just one more demonstration that they dont know
where to draw the line.
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Meriones Now comes a famous Homeric nod. Menelaus in turn is attacked by the son
kills of one of his previous victims, the Paphlagonian leader Pylaemenes (5.5769),
Harpalion but its a doomed attempt. Not only can Harpalion not even penetrate
Menelaus shield, but he exposes himself to an arrow from Meriones bow,
which strikes him in another painful lower-body wound. So far, nothing
particular untoward. But look who turns up to transport the body away:
Harpalions father Pylaemenes, who was killed eight books ago. Hes not
named here, but the reference to Paphlagonians show its clearly the same man.
Theres a couple of even more glaring examples of this coming up in book 15,
but on the whole the surprising thing is perhaps that it doesnt happen more
often.
Paris kills Paris avenges the killing of his friend with an arrow, and his victim has one of
Euchenor the poems finest necrologies. Son of a seer, Euchenor is in the same position
as Achilles with his goddess mother: he has the unenviable foreknowledge that
if he goes to Troy he will die. But in Euchenors case, the choice is simplified
by the alternative if he stays at home: death anyway, but by a painful, lingering
illness. Its a beautifully-crafted little story, a tragedy in miniature that echoes
the poems big themes and choices about death and the hero.

E. Hector at the breach

All this close-fought action has been gripping enough on its own terms, but its a detour from
the main story of Hectors own struggle with the main Greek defence at the original point of
the breach. Now we return to that fiercest part of the fighting, in a sequence developing
further the themes and relationships seen in the previous book between Hector and his closest
friends and foes.

1. The catalogue of defenders

After the recap comes a kind of catalogue in miniature of the main Greek contingents
opposing Hector at this point. Theres nothing quite like this elsewhere in the poem, but its a
useful way to help the audience keep track of just whos up against whom at this complex
stage of the narrative. Particularly interesting to historians is the reference to the Athenians as
Ionians: the one reference in Homer to the Athenian origins of the Ionian Greeks whose
ninth-century diaspora settled much of the western coast of Asia Minor. Theres an oddity in
the inclusing of Phthians in the list, as Phthia is elsewhere spoken of as belonging to Achilles
(as in the original catalogue at 2.683). But the political geography of Thessaly is both
complex and vague in Homer.

2. The Ajaxes and their contingents

But the key defenders, of course, are the Ajaxes, here reintroduced with a powerful simile
describing their tight double-act. Its followed by a fascinating and unique passage
contrasting the different local styles of warfare practised by their respective troops. The
Salaminians (led by big Ajax, son of Telamon) are traditional heavy-armed warriors fighting
in a band around their leader. But the Locrians (under little Ajax, son of Oleus) are archers
and slingers, who play no part in close combat but instead support their leader with covering
fire from the rear. Its the only mention in Homer of such a tactic, and indeed of light-armed
troops of any kind.

3. Polydamas advice accepted

Hectors chief tactician Polydamas has been at his side throughout, and now offers his third
speech of advice: to break the stalemate by regrouping the Trojans, who as this books
narrative has demonstrated are fragmented into clusters of isolated fighting while others hang
uncertainly back. On the previous occasions Hector has taken Polydamas advice once and
rejected it once, but this time he immediately sees the sense of it. Leaving Polydamas in
charge, he ranging up and down the battlefield in search of those who drifted off to the cluster
of fighting around Idomeneus.
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4. Hector finds Paris

Unfortunately for Hector, none of the names on his list is to be found. As Paris explains,
Asius, Adamas, and Othryoneus are dead; his brothers Dephobus and Helenus are both
wounded; and the only prince left on that side of the battlefield is Paris, though as usual with
Hector he seems keen to appear gung-ho.

5. Hector returns to the breach

So Hector and Paris return together to the centre, and there follows a miniature Trojan
catalogue to balance the earlier Greek one. Most of these names are minor ones; Aeneas
seems to have melted away again, and theres no sign yet of the sons of Antenor or the major
allies. Nevertheless, Hector presses forward strongly, recovering something of the impetus he
had when he first broke through.

6. Ajax and Hector

But Hector is still stalemated by Ajax, and for the first time since their duel in book 7 they
exchange speeches of defiance. Both are characteristic. Ajax talks bluntly but effectively of
the Greeks defensive strength, while minimising the Trojans achievement and prospects,
with a powerful close on the reversal that must soon come. Hector responds to Ajaxs
reference to Zeus with a typically overconfident, and near-blasphemous, combination of
direct insult with assertion of his self-assurance. The formulation if only I could be so sure
of thing x [contrary to fact, and impossible] as I am of thing y [also contrary to fact, but
promised] is one peculiarly characteristic of Hector, and always a dangerous hostage to
fortune. The same holds in the Odyssey, where Odysseus lapses into this same formulation
for his fatal boast to the Cyclops.

Book 14. Zeus Outmanoeuvred

If Poseidon has faded from sight in these later sequences, were about to be dramatically
reminded of his presence at the back of the renewed Greek resistance to Hectors assault. In
book 14, the divine intrigue escalates into a full-blown subplot, leaving the battlefield
temporarily behind for the celebrated episode of Heras seduction of Zeus. With Zeus
narcotised, Poseidon will be free to intervene openly in the Greeks support threatening not
just Zeuss plan but the entire plot of the poem. But can he complete his rout of the Trojans
before the inevitable reckoning when Zeus awakens?
The book falls into three parts. We begin with another visit to the Greek camp, this time
to catch up with the major characters wounded in book 11. Then comes the divine interlude
that takes up the centre of the book; and finally we rejoin the fighting to witness the
consequences on the battlefield itself.

A. In the Greek camp

The last two books have deliberately kept the major Greek heroes offstage, allowing lesser
figures to claim their moment in the spotlight. But the presence together in the Greek camp of
the four key voices of Greek strategy presents an opportunity to bring them together, for a
highly-charged debate at this moment of deepening crisis and frustration.

1. Nestor leaves Machaon

We begin with Nestor, whom we last saw interrupting his care of the wounded healer
Machaon to buttonhole Patroclus with his plan. Now his attention is caught by the yelling
described in the final lines of 13, which signals a new intensification of the fighting.
Typically of Nestor, he looks first to the comfort of his guest; then picks up his shield to go
and see for himself.
Nestors been in his shelter for the last two books, so this is his first realisation that the
wall has been breached. A simile of decision follows, as he weighs up two courses of action
and chooses the second checking his impulse to throw himself into the fighting, in favour of
consulting first on the strategic decision with his neighbour Agamemnon.
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2. The wounded
Its at this moment that the other wounded leaders come limping to meet Nestor, apparently
also drawn by the shouting, using their spears as improvised crutches. The unexpected
flashback on the arrangement of the ships, around the bay in rows several deep, is perhaps
included here to prepare the audience with a fuller picture of the setting of the battleground of
the next two books. Certainly its needed to understand Agamemnons escape plan a few
lines later. Nestors presence in camp comes as a surprise, of course, since he was still on the
battlefield when all three were wounded, and the obvious inference is that he too has been
injured.

3. The debate
Now comes an impromptu council of war in which Agamemnon has to be talked by the
others out of playing into Hectors hands. All four contribute highly characteristic speeches,
arranged in three pairs each composed of a speech by Agamemnon and a response by one of
the others in turn.
(a) Agamemnons speech
Its immediately apparent that Agamemnon is back in his defeatist mode. He is somehow
aware of Hectors boast to the Trojans at 8.526ff., though there were no Greeks present, and
sees (correctly) that Hector is in the process of delivering on his threat. His own authority is
collapsing; now that Achilles has shrugged off his command, whats to stop everyone else
doing the same?
(b) Nestors response
Nestor concedes that things look bad, and the failure of the wall is a personal blow. But
where Agamemnon is doomy, Nestor is constructive: here, after all, are the four key
strategists in the Greek high command, so its up to the four of them to come up with
something and something, Nestor perceptively adds, which doesnt involve all the wounded
heroes charging straight back into the fighting as their instinct suggests.
(c) Agamemnons proposal
Agamemnon comes up with a plan at once: give up and go home. This is the third time hes
suggested this, and the second time hes meant it seriously. The problem is that, with the
ships drawn up several deep on the beach, they cant launch the entire fleet, but he has the
bright idea that enough can escape out to sea from the first rank to be able to come back and
retrieve the rest after nightfall.
As plans go, this one comes close to farce. (Quite apart from the outrageous suggestion of
quitting and the obvious flaw pointed out by Odysseus, whats to stop the Trojans coming
after them in the other ships, or burning the ones that are left behind?) Its easy to imagine the
exchange of glances between the other three, and certainly Odysseus response comes with
one of the darkest looks in the poem.
(d) Odysseus rebuke
This is too much even for Odysseus, well used though he is to patiently cleaning up
Agamemnons messes. As he angrily points out, such an abdication of responsibility is
unworthy of a warchief, and if anyone but the three of them had overheard this moment of
weakness then Agamemnons rule would be over. Second, the plan has a hole in it you could
sail a warship through: once the Greeks holding the line see Agamemnon and his team
preparing to flee, theyll try and flee too.
(e) Agamemnons response
As often with these three (but no others), Agamemnon is willing to admit that his proposal
may not be the best idea hes ever had; but if anyone has a better plan, he wants to hear it.
(f) Diomedes proposal
Once again its Diomedes who speaks up, evidently picking up the hint in young or old that
Agamemnon is looking especially at him and at Nestor. Cautiously, aware that hes the baby
of the foursome, Diomedes states his credentials to be taken seriously, before revealing his
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proposal: that they return to the battle, out of range, and contribute what they can to the
troops morale by making a show of their commitment and authority in person.

4. Poseidon and Agamemnon

Poseidon now cautiously re-emerges from his recent narrative invisibility for a mysterious
and effective little scene with Agamemnon. Still hiding behind mortal disguise, he appears
privately to the king and promises him that Achilles may be laughing now, but the time will
indeed come when they drive the Trojans out of the camp and plain back within their walls.
Then, much to our surprise, he throws off concealment and does an Ares: letting out a great
war-yell audible right through the army.

B. The beguiling of Zeus

Zeus is apparently still intent on northern affairs, as even this doesnt stir his attention. But it
evidently alarms Hera, who perhaps sees that at this rate Poseidon will be detected and
stopped before he can turn the tide back in the Greeks favour. All it needs is for Zeus to be
distracted a bit longer and Poseidon given a free hand. Open defiance, shes learned, is not
going to work; she needs to use other skills.

1. Heras plan and preparations

Heras plan is outlined succinctly in five lines: join Zeus on Mount Ida, seduce him, and trap
him in a divinely-assisted post-coital sleep. To achieve this, she needs to arm herself with all
the sexual and soporific charms she can muster. The first phase is a magnificently sensual
description of the goddess washing, oiling, and perfuming her body, then combing and
styling her hair, and then decking herself out in her finest clothes and jewellery. But this is
only the start

2. Aphrodites girdle
Aphrodite is normally sympathetic to the Trojans, so needs some careful handling; but luckily
shes not the smartest of goddesses, and is readily taken in by Heras cover story of trying to
reconcile her mutually estranged foster parents. (The perfume and jewellery dont seem to
raise her suspicions.) The incongruously domestic vision of marital disharmony among these
primeval cosmic and elemental forces makes for a piquant combination, exploitingly the
weirdly dual nature of the Homeric gods as vast, ancient powers who are nevertheless
radically anthropomorphic. The story itself is a fabrication, of course, but its enough to
persuade Aphrodite to hand over her enchanted sex thong, with an unwittingly more
meaningful parting line than she herself is aware.

3. To Lemnos: Sleep
Now for phase three: enlisting the god of sleep himself to deepen and protract Zeuss post-
coital slumbers. (Quite why this encounter takes place in Hephaestus island of Lemnos,
where Sleep had no particular cult, was a puzzle to the ancient commentators as well as to
us.) Sleep, however, still remembers the last time he did Hera this particular favour, and was
one of the few gods to manage to hide from Zeuss fury when he awoke. (Well hear more of
what he did to the rest in the next book, at 15.1830.) The actual story of Heras
shipwrecking of Heracles is another of those that looks made up for the occasion, but its
interesting to us to see that epic tales of stormy returns from Troy didnt begin with the
generation of Odysseus.
Hera eventually wins Sleep round with a combination of dubious persuasion and sexual
bribery. Sleep doesnt even respond to the first, but the prospect of a Grace as his wife seems
to overcome all his doubts, and after securing the deal with an oath from Hera he joins her on
her expedition to Ida, hiding in the trees in bird form while she puts her own part of the plan
into action.
On the wonderful 285, Janko comments: It is a sadder world that no longer sees invisible
gods footsteps in the trembling of misty tree-tops.
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4. Hera and Zeus

Now Hera appears before Zeus, and a scene follows that comes closer to the Odyssey than to
anything else in the Iliad in its presentation of two master manipulators trying to outplay one
another while trying not to reveal what we know is in their thoughts. Were told that Zeus is
instantly smitten with desire and not only that, but the kind of infatuated first desire that
takes him back to their first clandestine fumblings together. (Given that they were brother and
sister, you can see why it might have been good to keep it from the parents.) But he keeps his
cool, and outwardly asks her only what shes doing there and (cannily) why she isnt riding
her chariot as usual.
Hera sticks to the cover story that worked on Aphrodite: shes on her way to reconcile her
foster parents at the edge of the world, and (a neat improvisation) has just stopped off to ask
Zeuss permission. Zeuss response recalls nothing so much as Pariss when he in his turn
was confronted with the raw power of Aphrodite at 3.4426, except that Zeus reels off a
catalogue of his infidelities with mortals and immortals that strikes modern sensibilities, and
some ancient commentators, as a masterpiece of tactlessness. His point is that all these past
dalliances are eclipsed by his present infatuation, but its a point that could have been better
put, and perhaps (as some commentators suggest) Hera is having to bite her tongue in her
reply.
Hera teases Zeus with the proposal that they withdraw to her chamber on Olympus, which
would take Zeus even farther from his vantage over the battle; but if shed thought he was
seriously likely to succumb shed have planted Sleep there rather than up a nearby tree. Zeus
promises to protect their privacy with a cloud of invisibility instead, and in another of the
episodes brilliant touches of baroque fantasy the earth itself breaks out in flower as they lie
down.
If this whole episode has a rather familiar ring, it may be because we looked in the first-
year Greek Literature course at the somewhat later Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, whose close
parallels with this whole scene suggest a common origin in a standard divine-seduction
episode type in the shared epic tradition lying behind both poems.

5. Sleep and Poseidon

Oddly, Sleeps own intervention in the scene is barely mentioned, and only confirmed when
he slips away to Troy and reports Zeus unconsciousness to Poseidon.

6. Poseidon rallies the Greeks

Immediately Poseidon springs openly into action. Were not even told what mortal form, if
any, he takes; he certainly doesnt sound like an old man any more, and perhaps threw off
that guise with the great war-yell that first prompted Hera to her plan. Who do they think is
speaking? Do they recognise him as a god? What form does he take as he leads them into
battle? The whole sequence from here to the end of the book moves forward so swiftly now
that such questions dont really get a chance to be asked.

C. The battle rejoined

Now things move quickly. The clash of the two sides under their immortal and mortal leaders
is conveyed in a unique and brilliant triple simile, each element of which is dismissed as
inadequate to the occasion. The pattern is one we immediately recognise: this is the prelude
to a series of individual combats, as we plunge back into battle narrative with the Greeks now
invincibly led.

1. Ajax stuns Hector

Now comes another clash between Hector and Ajax. Hector throws his spear true, and is
unlucky to hit the one double thickness of leather; he then has to withdraw, as he cant fight
spearless. But Ajax is too fast for him, and stuns Hector with a thrown boulder. Immediately
Hector is down, both sides mass around him, but the Trojans manage to cover his rescue.
(Glaucus is a surprise appearance here, as he was wounded by Teucer at 12.387ff. and is
certainly still out of action at 16.508ff. he may have got accidentally dragged in by this
standard like pairing him with Sarpedon, who also hasnt been heard of for a while.) Hector is
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towed to a place on the open plain where he can get his senses and his breath back, but he
wont fight again in this book.

2. The Greeks strike back

With Hector neutralised, the Greeks can strike back in earnest. In the series of kills that
follows alternates Greek and Trojan kills, accompanied by a series of interlinked boasts and
counter-boasts over the corpses.
Ajax II kills First comes a kill from Locrian Ajax, who alone of this sequence resists the
Satnius urge to vaunt over the corpse.
Polydamas followed by a counter-kill by Polydamas (Trojan), whose victim is the
kills Boeotian chieftain Prothonor mentioned at 2.495 among the very first
Prothoenor names in the Catalogue of Ships. This is Polydamas first kill in his own
right, and prompts him to a crude boasting-speech which only provokes the
Greeks further.
Ajax misses Ajax throws at Polydamas, who ducks, only for the spear to pass on and kill
Polydamas, a son of Agenor instead, in one of the more gruesome and anatomically far-
kills fetched death-blows in the poem. Its the standard splatter-movie clich
Archelochus where a head is sliced cleanly off and the rest of the body is left standing,
then slowly topples. (If this seems pretty gross, be warned theres worse
coming up at the climax of this sequence.) Ajax responds to Polydamas
boast with a counter-call of his own: he may have missed Polydamas, but a
son of Antenor is still fair compensation for a Boeotian chieflet.
Acamas kills Archelochus brother Acamas now defends the corpse and kills a minor
Promachus Boeotian, presumably part of the late Prothonors war band, striking back
against Ajaxs vaunt with a boasting-speech of his own. Another Boeotian
chief, Peneleus (2.494), is provoked to respond, and Acamas quickly melts
away
Peneleus leaving Peneleus to thrust his spear instead into the head of the hapless
kills Ilioneus Ilioneus, poking out his eyeball on the end of his spear and then decapitating
him with his sword as he falls. Peneleus gets the last word in the series of
exchanges over the corpses; and from this point on the Trojans collapse
completely.

3. The Greeks rout the Trojans

Now the Trojan mood changes to one of general panic and flight, and the sequence that closes
the book is an unbroken series of Greek kills.
invocation to the Muses
The beginning of the rout is marked with an appeal to the Muse. The implication for the
audience is that this is one of those huge catalogues where the bard needs some divine
assistance to get all the names in order though (perhaps mercifully) its a lot shorter and
swifter than the Catalogue of Ships.
individual kills
As the violence reaches a crescendo, we begin to revert to the multiple kills that have hitherto
been mostly limited to individual warriors at the height of an aristeia. This is one of the most
rapid-fire victim lists outside an aristeia sequence; most of the victims are strangers, though
two (Phalces and Morys) turned up in the miniature Trojan catalogue at 13.7902, and
Hippotion was named as Morys father.
Ajax First comes a single kill from Ajax
Antilochus (2) then a double from Antilochus;
Meriones (2) and from Meriones,
Teucer (2) and also from Teucer.
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Menelaus Menelaus victim Hyperenor is hitherto unknown, but theres a curious

passage at 17.1928 where Menelaus talks of being taunted by this man
(who turns out to be a brother of Polydamas) before killing him. It was
suggested in antiquity, not entirely nonsensically, that the speech is to be
imagined as having taken place at this point, where however the frenzied
pace of the narrative doesnt allow room for its reporting.
Ajax II The Muse seems to have lost her checklist, however, when it comes to
(many) Locrian Ajax. As well see in the games in book 23, the son of Oleus is the
fastest of the Greek heroes on his feet, which makes him a key fighter in a
rout and pursuit. Clearly the Trojans are on the verge of losing everything
theyve gained; but what will happen when Zeus awakens?

Book 15. The Achaeans at Bay

The events of book 14 are the last time Zeuss authority and plan will be challenged. In book
15, we see him forcefully reassert his control over Hera, Poseidon, and the progress of the
battle, leading directly to Hectors long-awaited aristeia and the final Trojan push through the
Greek camp to the ships. There, at the Greeks last line of defence, hell confront Ajax one
more time, but now with Zeus driving him on, while Patroclus begins the process of
implementing Nestors plan before its too late.
This is the climax of the struggle that began in book 11, with the Greeks forced back by
degrees as each stand they make is broken in its turn. Its culmination, the burning of
Protesilaus ship, is held off till the next book, because it needs to be tightly synchronised
with the AchillesPatroclus plotline. But Zeus now reveals the full extent of his plan for the
books to come, and for the first time we see in detail how the events of this day will
ultimately determine the outcome of the war itself.

A. Zeus resumes control

The Trojans have now been driven out of the Greek camp entirely, though they still possess
the Scamander plain. But this is the moment when Zeus snaps out of his slumber, and
immediately reimposes his authority over Poseidon and Hera in the poems most forceful
display of his power and menace. Now at last the full plot, or most of it, is revealed, in an
important passage that foretells the story to come and its consequences for the rest of the war.

1. Zeus and Hera

The scene opens with a bravura montage of key images summarising the whole state of the
battle, as seen through the all-seeing eyes of Zeus: the Trojans routed; Poseidon leading the
Greeks; a battered Hector coughing blood. He sees at once that Hera is behind this, and gives
a glimpse of the vengeful, violent Zeus that so terrorised Sleep. As Sleep correctly foresaw,
Zeus will see this is a repeat of the offence against Heracles, and on that occasion he
suspended Hera from the sky with weights (in the Greek world, a brutal form of slave-
torture). Any attempt to free her would see the rebel hurled physically headlong out of the
sky, as Hephaestus painfully recalled at 1.5904 (perhaps a different occasion, but he does
refer to trying to help Hera).
Heras reply is a magnificently disingenuous attempt to throw the blame on to Poseidon.
What she swears to is of course true: Poseidon did choose to support the Greeks on his own
initiative, without prompting by Hera, and she has in fact been shrewd enough to avoid any
communication with him during the whole episode. (It was Sleep who passed the news on to
Poseidon that Zeus was taken care of apparently on his own initiative, though he clearly
understood himself to be fulfilling Heras wishes.) This successfully deflects Zeuss attention
to the immediate problem of the Trojan rout, and he orders Hera herself to mobilise his divine
messengers to set the situation right.

2. Zeus foretells the story

Now comes a key passage. Until this point, weve had very little sense of how the poem
would continue beyond Achilles return to the battle. The fullest account so far has been
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Zeuss prophecy at 8.4736, spoken to Hera on the occasion of her previous abortive attempt
to defy his will. From that we know that Zeus support for Hector will cease once Achilles
returns to the fighting, at which point Zeus will regard his promise to Thetis as fulfilled; that
Achilles and Hector will fight; and that the trigger will be the death of Patroclus. But that
passage also gave what turn out to be two false pointers: that the duel will take place over
Patroclus corpse itself, and that the location will be at the ships. And we still had no clear
idea how the story would progress from the duel, what the outcome would be, or how the
poem would end.
Now at last the sequence is foretold in detail:
Apollo will revive Hector, and drive his aristeia;
Hector will drive the Greeks back to the ships, their last line of defence;
Achilles will be prompted by the emergency to send Patroclus out to battle;
Patroclus will kill Zeus own son Sarpedon;
Hector will kill Patroclus not at the ships, but under the walls of Troy, implying that the
Trojans have been driven out of the Greek camp;
Achilles will kill Hector to avenge Patroclus;
with Hector dead, the Trojans will lose the war.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of things were still not told here. From this account, wed expect
the poem to end either with the death of Hector or with the sack of Troy itself; theres no hint
yet of the events of book 24. Nor is it clear how and by whom Troy will be taken, or what
will happen to Achilles, whose death at Troy has already been predicted in Thetis prophecy
and we might well expect to be part of the poem. In a way, of course, it is but thats just one
of the surprises the poem is keeping back for now.
Zeus closes by renewing his interdict on any further assistance to the Greeks. After
Achilles return to the battle, this ban will finally be lifted, and a second divine free-for-all
break out. For now, only the Trojans have gods on their side.

3. Hera, Themis, and Ares

Hera teleports herself back to Olympus, cowed but still seething, to carry out Zeuss
instructions, but still trying to undermine them by devious manipulation of the other gods,
who know nothing of what has passed on the battlefield or on Ida. Hera ignores their
welcome, and hints darkly to Themis that Zeus is up to something that will cause
consternation to some at least there present. The speech is evidently designed to be
overheard, because all the other gods tune anxiously in, and her second speech is addressed to
them all together.
On the face of it, its a warning that Zeus has the power to enforce whatever he wants,
and the rest of them will just have to bear it. But its couched in ways that deliberately
heighten tensions and resentment, and at the climax Hera plays her trump card: the revelation
that Ares son Ascalaphus has been killed (by Dephobus, at 13.516ff.), as part of the
fulfilment of Zeuss plan.

4. Athene halts Ares

Ares has normally been a supporter of the Trojans, but the death of his Greek son Ascalaphus
overrides that. As Hera correctly intuits, hes still smarting from Zeuss outburst at 5.88998,
and as an impulsive, slow-witted brute is easily manipulated by the news into open defiance.
It takes the far more thoughtful Athene, herself otherwise the most interventionist of the gods
in the Greeks support, to argue the folly of such a course. Though she knows nothing herself
of the events of the previous two books, she has a good sense of the form and power of
Zeuss anger, and that if any of them defies him now his wrath will be indiscriminate against
them all. In any case, she adds as a heartless afterthought, there are too many mortal sons of
gods to bother trying to save them all. Its neither the first nor the last time she has to control
her fellow war-god by her superior capacity for intelligence and planning; we saw this on
Ares first appearance when Athene made her pact with him at 5.2938.
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5. Zeus sends down orders

Now Hera passes on her orders from Zeus in a private meeting with Apollo and Iris, rather
than publicly among the assembled gods. Summoned to Ida, theyre now briefed in turn with
the messages they need to relay to the combatants on earth.
(a) Iris to Poseidon
The first priority is Iris mission to Poseidon, with orders to withdraw now or face the
consequences. Unlike with Hera, Zeus avoids specific threats; he merely reminds Poseidon
that he is elder and stronger, and invites Poseidon to use his own imagination to envisage
what will happen if he continues to defy him. Iris relays this (verbatim, as usual) to Poseidon
on the battlefield; but Poseidons deep-held sibling grudge rises up at this blunt combination
of order and threat, and at first he refuses outright, spilling out his resentment at the way Zeus
has turned a relationship of equality between brothers into one of peremptory dominion. Iris,
however, discreetly asks whether hes sure thats the message he wants taken back to Zeus,
adding the most delicate of hints as to the consequences in her final line about the Furies, and
Poseidon sees sense enough to back down for now, so long as Zeus doesnt extend his
sympathy for the Trojans to the point of sparing the city. That would mean open revolt
indeed.
(b) Apollo to Hector
Thanks more to Zielinskis first law than to any tactical considerations, Zeus has held back
from doing anything about the Trojans until Poseidon has responded. Interestingly, Iris
doesnt in fact report back: Zeus seems to have witnessed the entire conversation, and
comments gruffly on Poseidons sensible avoidance of conflict. But once Poseidon has
withdrawn he dispatches Apollo to stir up Hector, though setting a strict terminus to his
assistance at the moment he reaches the ships.
This is clearly not a moment for the verbatim reporting of messages usually practised (as
by Iris to Poseidon), and Apollo plays the scene with Hector his own way, witholding Zeuss
warning of a limit to his support. Apparently the mere fact of Zeuss goodwill has revived
Hector to the point where hes able to recognise the god, who appears undisguised and to his
eyes alone (as opposed to the other kind of epiphany involving a mortal disguise and
visibility to others). Theres no mention of Poseidon, and Hector seems unaware that a god
was behind the Greeks rally; but Apollo does tell him that his present support is authorised
by Zeus himself, and promises to be with him in the battle.

B. Hectors aristeia
Apollos boost to his strength triggers Hectors own aristeia, which in turn becomes the focus
for a rally by the other Trojan chiefs.

1. Hector returns to battle

Hectors return is marked with a pair of similes, one of which is actually a repeat: 6.50611
used the escaped-stallion simile of his brother Paris, also on the occasion of a return to battle,
and the lines fit well in both contexts. (There are half-a-dozen other repeated similes in the
Iliad, but only one in the less simile-intense Odyssey.) The lion simile, however, is a new
one, and reminiscent of the three-way animal similes of book 11. Lion similes are usually a
signal of an aristeia.

2. Thoas urges retreat

For a man last seen coughing up blood, Hector is looking disquietingly fit, and Thoas (a new
voice, though hes been turning up in lists of the major fighters since 7.168) diagnoses the
hand of a god in his recovery, and Zeus himself at the back of it. He proposes a tactical
withdrawal: the leading Greek fighters will try to hold off Hector while the rest of the army
retreats to the ships. Five of the six major warriors left in the battle join him (Locrian Ajax is
presumably still running round after Trojan stragglers), and the scene is set for the first phase
of Hectors assault.
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3. Apollo with Hector

As promised, Apollo accompanies Hector, apparently invisible to the Greeks but still
perceptible as a presence. The aegis of Zeus strikes terror, despite the mist of invisibility
surrounding him, and hes able to strike fear by looking them in the eye, though all they
perceive clearly is the sound of his war-cry. As often, the simile is attached to the
impressionistic general description of a phase of the fighting that is then illustrated by a series
of individual encounters.
Hector kills 2 Hector is in aristeia mode, killing in pairs
Aeneas kills 2 but his success rubs off on his comrades as well, with second-ranking
Trojan warrior Aeneas also making a double kill
kills by and three other Trojan leaders killing in the space of two lines,
Polydamas, culminating in a further kill by Paris of a fleeing Greek fighgting at close
Polites, range with a spear for once, instead of the arrows with which most of his
Agenor, Paris kills are scored. That even Paris can kill in this way is a sign of how rapidly
the Greeks resistance is collapsing.

C. The battle for the ships

Such is the speed and panic of the Greek rout that theyre now trapped by their own defences
as they try to escape from the open plain to the camp. The one thing that gives them any kind
of breathing space is that the Trojans now have the leisure to strip the corpses of armour.

1. Hector targets the ships

Like Nestor at 6.6871, Hector sees that this is blunting the force of the Trojan attack, but his
own way of discouraging this says much about the difference between the veteran tactician
and diplomat and the impetuous, often arrogant young warrior.

2. The Trojans cross the ditch

With Apollos help, the Trojans now manage something they were unable to achieve in their
original breakthrough in books 1112: a bridge across the Greek ditch that allows masses of
men, and even chariots, to cross where before only individual warriors were able to fight their
way through the breach. The great simile of Apollo as a boy kicking over sandcastles recalls
the earlier famous simile of divine effortlessness, Athene brushing away the arrow from
Menelaus flesh like a mother brushing a fly off a child at 4.1303.

3. Nestors prayer to Zeus

From the ships, Nestor sees his wall destroyed, and like Thoas diagnoses the hand of Zeus.
Where Thoas from the thick of the fighting formulated a battlefield response, Nestor from the
sidelines is able to pause and offer a prayer to Zeus for mercy.

4. the Trojan charge

But though the prayer is heeded, the Trojans interpret Zeuss thunder of approval as support
for their own attack. Their charge through the camp is compared in a simile to waves lashing
a ship, as the focus of the fighting now moves from the wall to the Greek ships themselves.

5. Patroclus leaves Eurypylus

Now at last we rejoin Patroclus, last seen tending the wounded Eurypylus at the end of book
11, and find out what hes been doing all this while. (This is as close as we ever get to a
breach of Zielinskis first law about not backtracking in time.) But the Trojan approach to the
ships is an emergency he cant ignore. Characteristically, he feels guilt at having to leave
Eurypylus in the care of his attendant, but his quotation of Nestors words at the end of the
speech show that hes aware that the window for plan A is closing swiftly, and he sets out in
haste for Achilles base at the far end of the beach.
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6. Hector and Ajax

Now we return to the battlefield, where Hector is finally approaching the ships, but is once
again tangling with Ajax. Whereas in the past Ajax has outmatched Hector, Apollos support
balances the odds, though Hector still has a difficult fight on his hands. Nevertheless, the
proximity of Trojan fire to the Greek ships is a sign that the battle aims have moved on: the
fight is now over the fate of the ships themselves.
(a) Ajax kills Caletor
Ajax spots a Trojan approaching with a flaming torch, and kills him with a spearcast. Hector
calls for reinforcements, perhaps using the threat to the corpse as a pretext; its hard to
imagine Ajax stopping to strip armour at a time like this.
(b) Hector kills Lycophron
Hectors return throw at Ajax kills one of his lieutenants instead, prompting Ajax to call on
Teucer and his arrows to avenge their fallen kinsman.
(c) Teucer kills Clitus
At first the tactic pays off, with a charioteer felled and his chariot nearly captured but for
Polydamas vigilance and speed.
(d) Teucers bowstring breaks
But a successful Greek fightback is not part of Zeuss plan, and he engineers an accident that
Teucer recognises as the work of a god. With a broken string, Teucers primary weapon is
useless, and with it the long-range advantage it gave the Greeks at this point. Now hell have
to fight with the spear at close range like everyone else.
(e) Hectors speech to the Trojans
Hector sees this, and correctly reads it as a further sign that Zeus is with Troy this day. His
speech of exhortation to the Trojans is one of his strongest performances, making the most of
the evidence of Zeuss support and the incentives to risk everything to push the Greeks back
into the sea. As Hector points out, this is a cause worth dying for, if it means the salvation of
their city and their loved ones.
(f) Ajaxs speech to the Greeks
Ajax counters with a parallel speech of exhortation to his own side. He cant match Hectors
appeal to defence of country and family, but he makes the most of the stakes for the Greeks in
terms of both shame and survival. He also reasserts the intrinsic inferiority of the Trojans,
already implicitly acknowledged by Hector in his own remarks about the Greeks present
debility.

7. The standoff
Now comes a sequence of close combat at the fiercest point of Greek resistance, as Hector
tries to get close enough to the nearest ships to burn them.
(a) More kills
A rapid series of connected kills kicks off the sequence.
Hector First comes a pair of kills by the principal antagonists: Hector first
Ajax immediately followed by Ajax.
Polydamas Polydamas disregards Hectors prohibition on stripping the corpse of his own
victim, exposing him to a spearthrust from
Meges Meges, who instead kills a minor warrior in his place. Normally this kind of
substitute kill happens with spear throws, not thrusts. Despite the desperate
state of the Greek defence, Meges also pauses to strip the armour from his
victim, and duly attracts an attack of his own, though hes protected from the
initial thrust by his quality corselet (marked by the relating of its history, as so
often with treasured or significant objects). Meges counter-strike is similarly
inconclusive
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Menelaus but Menelaus gets Meges attacker in the back, and they stop to strip their
victims armour together. The persistent willingness of heroes to put this prize
before the survival of their people says much about heroic priorities, but also
perhaps about the extraordinary preciousness of bronze armour.
(b) Hector rebukes Melanippus
A further pair of exhortation speeches follow, with Hector picking on a kinsman of the fallen
Dolops whose very obscurity pretty much guarantees his imminent doom.
(c) Ajax calls on the Greeks
In contrast, Ajax appeals to the Greeks as a whole, couching his own speech in more
collective and soldierly terms of shame, discipline, and mutual responsibility. As the others
respond to the call, Menelaus singles out Nestors son Antilochus with Locrian Ajax, one of
the two speediest Greeks on his feet as one who stands the best chance of a counter-attack,
which will have to be lightning-fast to succeed.
(d) Antilochus kills Melanippus
Antilochus darts out and kills the hapless Melanippus, but any attempt to stop and strip
armour is thwarted by Hectors swift approach. The pair of three-way animal similes here, as
often, set up a tiered relationship between the three warriors being ranked: in the first, deer,
dog, and hunter; in the second, domestic animals, wild predator, and humans.

8. The Trojans reach the ships

Now the Trojan attack catches up with Hector and his vanguard of warriors, and the threat of
fire to the ships becomes increasingly immediate.
Zeus supports Hector
As the turning-point approaches, the narrator pulls back to give us a gods-eye view of the
battle, entering further into Zeuss mind than weve so far penetrated on the basis of his
words alone. Were now told explicitly that his support for the Trojans extends only the
moment when the first ship catches light, and that Athene will play a part in Hectors
increasingly imminent death. But this is more than just a foreshadowing of the imminent
climax; its framed in terms of the intentions and sympathies first of Zeus and then of Hector,
as the gods perspective on the battle gives way to his human agents.
A cascade of similes conveys the force of Hectors onslaught and the Greeks resistance
at this, the climax of his aristeia. The Greeks are a sea-cliff; Hector is a sea-storm crashing,
and a lion attacking a herd.
Hector kills Periphetes
Most of the Greeks, however, are running rather than being killed, and Periphetes unusual
death is a piece of sombre slapstick. Like Ajax, he has a body-shield, and Periphetes trips on
the lower rim, to slaughtered by Hector as he lies helpless on the ground.
Nestors appeal
Now the Greeks have retreated to the first line of ships, which youll remember we were told
at 14.1303 are drawn up along the beach in several rows. Theyre driven back from the ships
themselves, but make a stand at the row of shelters behind them. This is where Nestor has
been positioned, and he takes charge of the rally with an emotive speech of his own.
The mist of battle now cleared away by Athene hasnt been mentioned before, but well
see other examples of such fogs of war in later books. Theyre a supernatural and
psychological blurring of the senses rather than any physical dust-cloud. Presumably Athene
is acting on Zeuss authority, clarifying perceptions as the battle approaches its climax.
Ajax defends the ships
Ajax now adopts a new and striking tactic, defending the ships from above and leaping from
deck to deck. An ordinary spear or sword wouldnt be able to strike at men on the ground, so
hes armed himself with a double-length pike. In a fascinating simile, hes compared to a
horsebreaker who apparently jumps from one horse to another at a gallop: an impressive stunt
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that is evidently meant not to seem fantastic to the audience. But Hector has his eye on one of
the ships, and Ajax cant defend them all. The narrator pulls back once more to a strongly-
viewpointed general view of both sides, tautening the suspense further in the process, before
contact is finally made.
Hector reaches Protesilaus ship
The ship Hector latches on to is the ship of Protesilaus, who was the first to land so his ship
will be furthest up the beach, and the easiest for Hector to reach. As we learned at 2.695710,
Protesilaus himself was killed during the landing, and his forty ships of troops from Phylace
have passed to the command of Podarces. As it happens, this is the adjacent encampment to
Achilles own, so that Achilles himself will be able to witness the climactic struggle. There
he clings, calling for the torchbearers to join him and burn the vessel. His reference to the
cowardice of advisers may be a dig at Polydamas, who has consistently (12.21050, 13.723
7) advised against risking an attack on the ships.
Ajax holds off the fire-bearers
Ajax, meanwhile, is feeling the pressure. Though he can stab with his pike, hes vulnerable to
Trojan missiles, and all he can do is fend off the torchbearers by stabbing them from the deck
as they approach (as they need to do to set the wood alight). As he urges to his comrades in a
final rallying-speech, this is the last line of defence. Theres nowhere else to fall back to, and
unless something dramatic happens to turn the battle around then even Ajax wont be able to
put out the flames. The Greeks are looking destruction in the face, and even Ajax knows it.
What he cant know is what we know, thanks to the foreshadowings in this book, about what
else that fire will bring.

Book 16. Patroclus Fights and Dies

Everything thats gone before has been leading up to this book: Zeuss promise to Thetis;
Achilles rejection of Agamemnons compensation; Hectors attack on the Greek camp and
ships; Nestors plan for Patroclus; and the timing and topography of the action on this pivotal
day of battle itself. But this climax to the poems second movement will also propel the story
into its final phase, transforming it from an epic struggle between two armies to a personal
tragedy of actions and consequences, guilt, vengeance, and loss. Its in this book above all
that the story pattern later termed tragic was invented: a pattern in which choices lead to
terrible consequences, foreseen by the audience but not by the characters, which they would
have done anything to prevent.
The book begins with Patroclus arrival back at Achilles shelter, against the background
of Hectors assault on the ships. As the two plotlines converge and the fire goes up from the
ships, Patroclus is sent out to do Achilles work, routing the Trojans in an aristeia that
culminates in his killing of Zeuss own son Sarpedon. But Patroclus subsequent disregard of
Achilles instructions will have fatal consequences for himself, for Hector, and ultimately for
Achilles.

A. Patroclus and Achilles

The book opens with a major dialogue scene: the exchange between Achilles and Patroclus in
the light of Nestors advice and the present crisis. Its a subtle, at times elusive, presentation
of their personalities and their relationship, culminating in another of Achilles long, complex
attempts to articulate his conflicting feelings.

1. Achilles question
Patroclus intense sympathy for his comrades suffering is powerfully conveyed by the image
presented in the opening lines: weeping (highlighted by a famous and unusual simile), and
apparently unable to speak. Though were told Achilles is sympathetic, his speech is
disingenuously framed. The tone of his simile of the little girl is hard to judge; its probably
not as dismissive as it sounds to us. But it recognises that Patroclus is implicitly appealing to
Achilles (as the girl to her mother) for some kind of support. He lists three possible things to
get upset about, of which the first two (the deaths of their respective fathers) can be ruled out.
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The third, which he evidently intuits as the real cause, he refuses to view sympathetically
continuing to blame Agamemnons own wilfulness, which he here attributes to the army as a
whole.

2. Patroclus reply
Patroclus speech is a combination of quotations from Nestors speech at 11.655ff. (247 =
11.65862, 3645 = 11.794803) with material of Patroclus own (213, 2935). He
carefully doesnt mention Nestor or his visit to him at all, but the additions are clearly his
attempt to carry out Nestors suggestion at 11.78992 to try and use his own influence over
Achilles to persuade him from his anger. Its a powerful performance: beginning by trying to
defuse Achilles resistance to his own sympathy for the Greeks suffering by listing named
individuals and wounds; drawing a rhetorical contrast between their healing and the
incurability of Achilles emotional wound; and culminating in the famous lines about his
inhuman hardness of heart. Perhaps he knows that hes not getting through, though, because
he then goes straight into Nestors plan B in Nestors own words: that Patroclus be allowed to
fight in Achilles armour. As the narrator now adds, this is a moment of heavy irony: what
Patroclus is begging for is his own death.

3. Achilles instructions
Achilles reply is typically troubled and difficult in places to unravel. He immediately rejects
the allusion to Thetis prophecy, in terms that have struck many analyst critics as so forceful
as to be incompatible with the original statement at 9.4106 which would imply that the
embassy in book 9 was a later addition to the poem. Psychological critics have no difficulty
wriggling out of this one: it could be just a forceful protestation that the prophecy isnt a
factor, or he could even have been making it up. But it remains a curious fact that the speech
makes only one reference to the events of book 9, and at times seems to talk as if
Agamemnons offer had never been made.
At any rate Achilles makes it clear that what keeps him from helping now is still anger
rather than fear of death. But now for the first time he talks openly of ending his anger, with
the problem now being that he promised Ajax at 9.6503 that hed do nothing till the
Myrmidon ships themselves were threatened with burning. He therefore gives Patroclus
permission to put plan B into action, but makes it all to clear how difficult hes finding it to
keep out of the battle himself. Despite his claimed indifference to the Greeks suffering, hes
clearly been listening closely, and has picked up Hectors voice and the absence of
Diomedes or Agamemnons.
Achilles sets a condition on Patroclus fighting: he can repel the threat to the ships, but no
more. The reason given is that hell be encroaching on what should be Achilles achievement,
and if Patroclus shows that he can do what it was thought only Achilles could, therell be no
reason left for Agamemnon to come grovelling to Achilles. But its not just a matter of his
own honour; theres real danger in pursuing the Trojans too aggressively. Apollo is out there,
leading them on, and is a lethal god to provoke too strongly. His wistful closing fantasy is a
powerful distillation of his feelings for war, for Patroclus, and implicitly for the deaths that
await them both before Troy will ever be sacked.

B. The burning of the ships

At this crucial juncture, the signal weve been waiting for goes up: Hector finally succeeds in
driving Ajax back and igniting the timbers of Protesilaus ship.

1. Ajax at bay
First comes a vivid evocation of the beleaguered Ajaxs weariness under the bombardment:
one of the most intense descriptions in Homer of the physical toll taken by the sustained
pressure of fighting in heavy armour, and all the more eloquent for being attached to the most
seemingly tireless of all the warriors. Notice the way the description moves progressively
from external to internal: the bombardment, the weight of his shield, his breath, his sweat, his
state of mind.
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2. Invocation to the Muses

As at other pivotal moments in the action, the narrator breaks off and addresses the Muse
directly. Its a brief but highly effective touch of dramatic emphasis, marking the scene that
follows as one of the great turning-points of the action.

3. Hectors triumph
Now the narrative cuts swiftly back and forth between Ajax and Hector. First, Hector slashes
at Ajaxs pike (here described as a spear, but a spear would be too short to stab from the deck
of a ship); then, in a brilliant cut, we see Ajax staring at the broken shaft and understanding
what it means. Now he can do nothing but retreat, and immediately the ship goes up in flames
behind him.

4. Achilles dispatches Patroclus

In the adjacent camp, this is the signal Achilles has been awaiting. The Myrmidons ships
will be next; Patroclus must go now or never, and Achilles himself will help to the extent of
mustering the Myrmidons while Patroclus arms.

C. Patroclus goes to war

Now we follow each in turn as they prepare for the Myrmidons relief of the ships.

1. Patroclus arms
First comes the third of the poems four variations on the arming type-scene. As with Paris
(3.308) and Agamemnon (11.15ff.), the order is the standard one of greaves, corselet, sword,
shield, helmet, spears; but the variations are once again significant. In this case, Patroclus is
wearing another mans armour, and so he has to leave behind the spear, which is too heavy
for him; ironically, this will be the one item of Achilles armour not to be captured by Hector,
and indeed this is the spear that will eventually kill him.
Once hes armed, theres an additional sequence further describing the chariot-horses
Rhesus was so fatally keen on. Well see more of their significance later, and in one
extraordinary moment even hear their words. Did you spot that the trace-horse was yet
another prize from Achilles sack of Andromaches home city of Thebe?

2. The Myrmidon muster and catalogue

Now we rejoin Achilles as he organises the Myrmidons for battle. First comes a magnificent
predator-simile comparing the spirit of the contingent as a whole to a thirsty wolf-pack
massing to drink. Then follows a catalogue in miniature, of the five divisions (actually lines
of ships as drawn up on the beach) and their leaders, including a final cameo for old Phoenix.
The first two commanders are divine bastards, and the catalogue is enlivened with the story
of their birth. Notice, by the way, that Achilles ships, though numerous, are unusually small
only fifty men in each, the same total as the minimum figure in the original Catalogue at
2.179. The Myrmidon contingent numbers 2500 men in all.
Achilles sends his men out with a revealing speech that shows his attitude has been a
source of tension with his own people as well as with Patroclus whose accusations are
tellingly echoed here. The Myrmidons respond by assembling into a disciplined, close-
packed formation of the kind that was becoming increasingly important in the warfare of
Homers own time; lines 2157 are repeated from 13.1313, but the simile here is new.

3. Achilles prayer and Zeus response

While the troops are assembling, Achilles leaves them for a highly-charged private moment,
in which his anxieties and hopes are expressed in a prayer to Zeus. The prayer is led up to
with a circumstantial description of the libation goblet and ritual purification involved, but we
know that Zeus, who has already announced Patroclus doom, may not be the most
sympathetic recipient of this prayer. He asks for two things: success for Patroclus in the
battle, and a safe return at the end. But like Athene in response to Hecubas prayer at 6.311,
Zeus has plans of his own that cant be overruled. These moments of foreshadowing, where
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we glimpse the events stretching before us locked into a divine plan, are growing particularly
frequent as the climax approaches: an effect that later ages will come to associate particularly
with tragedy.

4. Into battle
A famous simile accompanies the Myrmidons advance in their wasp-like swarm, and
Patroclus delivers a battle-speech notable for its egoless focus on Achilles as their true leader
and the true beneficiary of the glory they win this day. Though he cant know it, its another
piece of heavy dramatic irony that his final lines are a direct quotation from Achilles own
words in his request to Thetis at 1.4112. That request is about to be fulfilled, but not at all in
the way Achilles imagined.

D. Patroclus aristeia and death

So begins Patroclus aristeia. To begin with the Trojans do indeed mistake Patroclus for
Achilles, as Nestor originally intended. But this is the last we hear of such a confusion, and at
some point it becomes apparent to all that this is Patroclus rather than Achilles. That may
seem to modern taste like an opportunity thrown away; but its important to the poem that
Patroclus success should due to his own force of arms, not to any delusion on the part of the
Trojans.

1. The first kill

Patroclus heads straight for the burning ship and the centre of the battle, and his first kill is a
major one: Pyraechmes, the Paeonian leader from the Trojan catalogue (2.848). But this is no
one-on-one combat between warriors; he also routs the warband Pyraechmes was leading and
puts out the fire on Protesilaus burning ship. This is effectively the end of Hectors plan. No
more ships will be touched by Trojan fire, and the Trojans themselves are about to be driven
from the Greek camp entirely.

2. The Greeks strike back (9 kills)

Now follows a series of individual kills led by Patroclus, but showing the other Greeks now
rallying behind his success.
Patroclus These are ferocious deaths, described in rapid succession and violent detail.
Patroclus begins with a spear-throw
Menelaus followed by Menelaus and others with a thrust. (Menelaus victim Thoas
isnt to be confused with the Greek leader Thoas, of course. Recycling of
Greek names for minor Trojans is fairly frequent, though its unusual for
such a comparatively major name to be so used.)
Meges Meges too makes a stabbing kill. These leg wounds by Patroclus and
Meges dont sound to us like the sort of thing that would bring the instant
deaths described, but Homer notoriously likes to avoid lingering deaths or
merely disabling wounds.
Antilochus Antilochus victim is a Lycian, the first indication of the prominence of
Sarpedon and his troops as Patroclus most formidable resistance.
Thrasymedes Thrasymedes, meanwhile, takes down the brother of the previous victim.
The unusual names of Atymnnius, Maris, and their father Amisodarus are
genuine Lycian names, and the family connection to the Chimera links
them to the family and legend recounted at such length by the Lycian co-
commander Glaucus to Diomedes at 6.144210.
Ajax II Locrian Ajax, the swiftest Greek warrior on his feet, is actually able to
overtake a fleeing Trojan and kill him with a sword-stroke rather than a
stab of the spear.
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Peneleus Peneleus duel with Lycon also comes to blows with swords, but in this
case because the spears of both have missed. Peneleus takes a helmet-blow,
but his Lycons sword breaks and Peneleus is able to strike back with a
gruesome decapitation.
Meriones Meriones victim is running away, which is why hes stabbed from behind
with a spear in the shoulder.
Idomeneus But the most violent blow is struck by Meriones comrade Idomeneus, the
most powerful of the Greeks in this sequence after Patroclus: an especially
violent and graphic spear-thrust that effectively explodes his victims head.

3. the rout of the Trojans

Now the camera pulls back for a more general impression of the Trojan rout, with a simile
now comparing not just the Myrmidons but the Greeks en masse to wolves.
(a) Ajax and Hector
And what, we must be wondering, of the antagonists of the previous book in all this? Ajax
has now jumped down from the ships and is fighting conventionally on ground level with his
normal spear. Its Hector whos now on the defensive, and under pressure not just from his
opponent but from the hail of missiles coming at him from the other Greeks. He holds Ajax
off long enough for the others to get away, but its clear to him that hell have to give up the
struggle.
(b) Hectors retreat
Hectors chariot has been waiting, and he nimbly makes his escape across Apollos chariot-
bridge over the ditch, out of the camp, and on to the comparative safety of the plain. Other
Trojan charioteers arent so lucky: theres only one exit for chariots from the camp, and
Patroclus is pursuing them with the best chariot-team on the field. Now Polydamas warning
from 12.2237 is starting to be fulfilled, as many Trojan chariots get caught in the ditch and
their horses break free to leave their warriors stranded.
(c) Patroclus pursuit (12 kills)
Patroclus, however, seems able to bound straight across the ditch in Achilles legendary
chariot. He comes on like a torrential storm, in a simile that combines Zeuss traditional role
as weather-god with a highly unusual function as punisher of human transgressions a
concept far more in tune with the Odysseys more ethically-grounded theology. Then he turns
back, to trap the remaining Trojans in the camp with his chariot and slaughter them there.
Three single kills of escalating violence begin this sequence, which culminates in a fantastic
tally of nine in the space of three lines.

3. The death of Sarpedon

Patroclus has yet to clash with a major opponent; but that moment now comes as Sarpedon
rallies the Lycian allies in resistance. This is a key episode in the book, with repercussions in
heaven as well as for the rest of the days fighting on earth.
(a) the encounter
Sarpedon doesnt yet know this is Patroclus, but is pretty clear it isnt Achilles in his armour.
The only way to find out is to challenge him. Both jump down from their chariots for a
formal duel, and as a simile marks the moment of their clash, we leave the battlefield entirely
for a dramatic reversion to the world of the gods overseeing this momentous clash.
(b) Zeus and Hera debate the outcome
What follows is probably the most hotly-debated episode in Homer. The problem is a
theological one: is fate something separate from the will of Zeus? If so, who or what makes
it? Sarpedons fate, Zeus tells us here, is to be killed by Patroclus; but he nevertheless
ponders aloud to Hera whether he can, or should, defy that fate and teleport Sarpedon to
safety instead. Its possible, of course, that Zeus is merely teasing Hera, though his grief at
Sarpedons death is clearly real enough from the tears of blood he weeps at the end of the
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scene. Hera at least seems to take seriously the possibility that Sarpedons fate could indeed
be overthrown, and argues against it that
(i) itll diminish Zeuss credibility in the eyes of the other gods;
(ii) itll set a dangerous precedent for the other gods, who as Athene pointed out to Ares in
the previous book have sons all over the battlefield.
She proposes a compromise: allow him to be killed as fated, but teleport his corpse to Lycia
for the proper funeral rites, rather than leaving it to be fought over on the battlefield. Zeus
accepts this, and in a famous image weeps tears of blood that fall on the human world like
rain.
The question of Zeuss relationship with fate is really one for the seminar on the gods
later on, but the competing views can be quickly summarised here. One school of thought
argues that fate is indeed a separate force from Zeus, at least in the Iliad, and that other
details such as the scales of destiny can be read as confirming this. Others argue that
everything Zeus and Hera say here is consistent with the assumption that fate is simply what
Zeus has himself earlier decreed as, indeed, hes earlier announced Sarpedons death at
15.67. The latter may seem the simpler solution, but it then raises the question of why on
earth Zeus should gratuitously sacrifice his own son Sarpedon, causing himself such grief in
the process, rather than a more expendable antagonist for Patroclus moment of glory. Not
surprisingly, others again say were asking the wrong question here in expecting theological
coherence in what is clearly a scene motivated by dramatic rather than metaphysical logic;
but that seems to make all the talk of fate in the Iliad look dangerously close to meaningless.
For now, well have to leave it there.
(c) the duel
Each warrior has two spears, allowing the duel to open with an unusual preliminary exchange
in which Patroclus first throw kills one of Sarpedons men, and Sarpedons kills Patroclus
trace-horse. This threatens to send Patroclus chariot out of control, but Automedon his
charioteer still has the reins, and cuts the dying horse free while getting the main pair under
control.
In the second spear exchange, its Sarpedon who throws first the familiar losers move
and misses. Patroclus throw, however, strikes home, and Sarpedons fall merits a double
simile as well as the poems first death-speech: something reserved for the death of major
heroes, and first in a trilogy with the eerie dying prophecies of Patroclus and Hector
themselves.
(d) Sarpedons dying appeal to Glaucus
Sarpedon calls on his fellow Lycian commander Glaucus to defend his corpse against the
Greeks attempts to strip his armour. Though Glaucus is in earshot, Patroclus gets in first, and
retrieves his spear in a gruesome move that brings part of Sarpedons innards with it.

4. The battle over Sarpedons corpse

Sarpedons body now becomes the focus of the most intense clash over a corpse and its
armour yet seen in the poem. We know from Zeuss prediction that Sarpedons corpse will in
fact be ultimately spirited away, but the struggle over the corpse begins a sequence that
continues with the still more bitterly-fought battle over Patroclus body that will take up the
next book.
(a) Glaucus prayer to Apollo
Glaucus is still nursing his wound from Teucers arrow earlier in the day (12.387ff.), though
he seemed mysteriously recovered at 14.4256. He prays to Apollo, who is still monitoring
the battlefield, and is strengthened to carry out his comrades dying wish.
(b) Glaucus rallies Lycians and Trojans
First Glaucus mobilises the Lycians in immediate defence of the corpse; then he ranges
farther afield to involve the major Trojan fighters themselves, to whom Sarpedons death is
news. By this stage Glaucus has identified Patroclus, presumably because of their proximity
during the duel (when Glaucus was in earshot and Patroclus the first to the corpse). The news
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is devastating to the Trojans: this was the star warrior among the allies, and Glaucus appeal
hints once again at the tensions with the allies if the Trojans dont acknowledge their
contribution. This is the beginning of a process that will draw Hector back in as Patroclus
nemesis.
(c) Patroclus rallies the Greeks
But Patroclus is far from finished with Sarpedon himself. He in his turn appeals to the Ajaxes
to help him strip the corpse, and what was a rout turns now into a close-fought struggle
between the leading warriors on both sides.
(d) the clash
Now follows a series of alternating kills, Trojan and Greek, to indicate the closely-fought
state of the battle.
Hector The first kill is Hectors first Myrmidon victim, his head improbably split in two
kills by a stone to the helmet.
Patroclus Patroclus, characteristically moved by his comrades fate despite his own battle-
kills fury, moves in for revenge, but is unable to close with Hector and kills a Lycian
instead with a stone-throw of his own.
Glaucus Now its Glaucus turn to strike back with his renewed strength for the Lycians.
kills
Meriones But Meriones counters with a Trojan kill, narrowly dodging in his turn
kills
Aeneas the spear of Aeneas, leading to an exchange of bluster between the two which
misses Patroclus curtails by urging Meriones to the task in hand of gaining possession
Meriones of the corpse.
the battle After this series of individual close-ups, we pull back to the perspective first of
for the the narrator and then of Zeus himself. A pair of similes convey first the sound
corpse and then the sight of the battle, as Sarpedons corpse disappears under the
continues fighting.

5. The death of Patroclus

Now the deadly endgame begins, with Zeus reentering the narrative and fine-tuning the
course of events as the moment approaches.
(a) Zeuss policy
Until this moment, its been looking as if Patroclus and Hector will meet in the clash over the
corpse. But this would be an anticlimax, not least because Patroclus isnt yet in sufficiently
serious breach of Achilles warning. Before he dies, Patroclus needs to go much further than
trying to strip the corpse of a Trojan ally. Zeus weighs up the options, and decides on a
scenario which is now summarised briefly in advance of its full-scale narration: Patroclus will
drive the Trojans back across the plain.
(b) Hector flees
First Hector needs to be cleared out of the way, so Zeus affects him with a loss of nerve that
sends him scurring off in his chariot. The Lycians now scatter as well, leaving Patroclus to
strip the armour and move on.
(c) Apollo uplifts Sarpedon
Only now does Zeus sanction Apollo to remove the corpse itself to Sarpedons native Lycia
for burial. Sarpedons own people, dont witness this, leading to some confusion in the next
book when they think the corpse is still in need of rescue.
(d) Patroclus disobeys Achilles
Now Patroclus cross the line of no return, as the narrator emphatically signals. This is the
moment of choice, and with his judgment clouded in the heat of battle, Patroclus chooses
wrong. From here on the tragic sense of self-wrought doom becomes ever more insistent.
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(e) Patroclus penultimate 9 kills

Patroclus aristeia continues for now with his final cascade of kills: a typical catalogue
slaughter with nine victims names packed into three lines of Greek. But as the narrator tells
us, each kill takes him closer to his own death.
(f) Apollo checks Patroclus attack on the walls
Now Patroclus overreaches himself to the point of attacking the walls of Troy itself. This
final arrogance draws Apollo in to defend his city, which is not yet destined to fall, and in the
process to become the agent of Patroclus destruction. The famous threefold attack, followed
by a warning of destruction on the fourth, is a pattern weve seen before: at 5.43642, when
Diomedes charged at the wounded Aeneas whom Apollo was bent on rescuing. Like
Diomedes, Patroclus backs off at the warning; but his next charge will be his last.
(g) Apollo urges Hector
With Patroclus momentarily checked, the narrative cuts to Hector, still hesitating between
retreat and counter-attack as Apollo appears to him in mortal disguise. (As the genealogy
explains, Apollos assumed identity is a different Asius from the one who got killed in book
13.) His decision made for him, Hector readies his chariot with his longest-surviving driver
Cebriones, while Apollo returns to the battlefield to prepare for Hectors assault.
(h) Patroclus last kill
As the chariots charge at one another, Patroclus opts for a surprise tactic. He does a stunt leap
from his moving chariot, grabs a stone, and hurls it with bone-smashing force at Cebriones,
for the second time in the poem (see 13.617) knocking the eyes clean out of the skull. The
boasting-speech over the corpse that follows is, as so often with such speeches over men
already dead, a danger sign of arrogance running out of control, and a provocation to the dead
mans comrades in this case Hector himself.
(i) the duel over Cebriones
Cebriones body now becomes the object of a tug-of-war between Patroclus and Hector, his
killer and his kinsman, for the armour and the corpse respectively: the second in a trio of such
struggles that began with Sarpedon and will culminate with Patroclus himself. Both armies
get drawn in, and the protracted struggle is finally broken when the Greeks gain possession of
the corpse to strip the armour. Now Patroclus is free to attack Hector himself.
(j) Patroclus death
The narrative of the next few seconds is one of the most breathtaking sequences in Homer,
with eerie, disorienting shifts of viewpoint and narrative perspective.
(1) Apollo strikes
First comes a replay of the three-times-and-then-a-fourth pattern but this time the fourth
charge triggers not a warning but the real thing. On the fourth charge, Apollo is waiting
unseen for Patroclus attack, and stuns and disarms him with a swift pair of blows. In a
brilliant piece of narrative cinematography, we follow the helmet in long closeup as Achilles
unconquered helmet rolls through the dust and away, with flashforward to the moment when
it will adorn Hectors brows instead. Then one by one the other components of his armour
follows: his spear breaks, his shield falls, and his corselet tumbles off him, while his mind
and muscles are paralysed.
(2) Euphorbus strikes
We feel the spear strike before we see it thrown. The audience is taken aback as much as
Patroclus is, because it comes from a literally unforeseen hand. Weve never even heard of
Euphorbus until this moment, though hes now revealed to be an expert spearsman and
brother to Polydamas. But he throws, hits, retrieves the spear, and runs, leaving Patroclus
staggering but not down, and Hector frustratingly upstaged.
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(3) Hector strikes

Even so, Patroclus nearly escapes: the only moment in Homer when a wound from a thrown
spear doesnt bring a man down. But Hector closes in with a fatal belly-thrust, and the boar
goes down to the lion.
(4) Hectors boast
Hector delivers a vaunt over the dying man that shows his characteristic overconfidence
breaking out into fatal arrogance. About the one thing he gets right is that Patroclus did, at the
height of his battle-frenzy, see himself sacking the city. But the promise that the corpse will
be left out for the vultures is offensive to heroic funeral codes, and his version of Achilles
advice to Patroclus is about as wrong as its possible to get.
(5) Patroclus prophecy
But Patroclus isnt yet dead, and responds with a chilling final word. Now that hes dying, he
not only understands whats happened with uncanny clarity, but has a more than human
perception of events to come. He knows that the will of Zeus, the hand of Apollo, and the
spear of Euphorbus were all there before Hector came in for the kill; and hes able to foresee
Hectors own imminent death at Achilles hands the next day, when this whole scene death
speeches and all will be replayed with Hector as the victim. Particularly powerful is the
image, which seems more than merely metaphorical, of death and fate standing unseen at
Hectors side. The lines describing his moment of death will be heard again at the same point
in Hectors death scene the next day: 22.3614.
After such a speech, Hectors response sounds peculiarly hollow bravura. We know the
chances of Hector killing Achilles have always been nil, and that either he is spooked and in
denial or his confidence is once more running away with him, as it always does in the flush of
success. In a final vivid gesture, he pulls out the spear and kicks the corpse away, then tries a
throw at Automedon as he retreats in Achilles chariot, leaving Hector standing. Its an
evocative final image for the book, as Hector now faces the consequences of this moment of
triumph once news gets back to Achilles.
Weve now reached the Iliads major turning-point, the climax of the long second act, and
seen the threads of the poem so far come together in the single decisive event of Patroclus
death. The tide of battle has turned for the last time, marking the beginning of the end for the
war and for Troy. But from this point on the course of the war is not the poems main
concern. The Iliad will become much more specifically Achilles story, playing out the tragic
pattern that has emerged so strongly to view in book 16, and leading him into confrontations
first with Hector and ultimately with his own ghosts. For now, as the news of Patroclus death
filters back to the camp and ships, Hector has had his day.
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Iliad 1720: The return of Achilles

With Patroclus dead, the Iliad becomes the story of Achilles revenge. These four books
show the transformation of Achilles original feud with Agamemnon into a new kind of anger
against Hector. But it wont be an easy process. Achilles will have to face up to his own
mistakes, his grief and guilt for Patroclus, and the questions about the meaning and value of
his own life that hes been wrestling with during the quarrel.
The first pair of books conclude the long day of battle that began with the dawn in book
11, and wrap up the storylines that have driven the poem so far: Achilles feud with
Agamemnon, Zeuss promise to Thetis, and the Trojans day of glory under Hector. The
battle for the Greek ships is over; but the repercussions of Patroclus death are still to come.
In purely military terms, Patroclus fall is not the end of the battle but the start of a new
intensification, with the corpse fought desperately over by both sides; and the fighting has
now moved up to the walls of Troy itself, so that communications with the Greek camp and
Myrmidon ships are too stretched for Achilles even to learn what has happened.
Book 17 deals with events on the battlefield, and 18 with events in the camp:
respectively, the ferocious struggle that now develops over both sides attempts to gain
possession of Patroclus body, and Achilles own long-anticipated response to the news. Then
books 1920 deal with Achilles own return to the battle: in book 19, the settlement of his
quarrel with Agamemnon, and in book 20 the beginning of the three-book aristeia that will
culminate in the climactic confrontation with Hector.
The great books in this sequence are 18 and 19, the two books set not on the battlefield at
all but in the Greek camp and the world of the gods. Book 18 is the poems last great divine
interlude, the forging of Achilles replacement armour, and culminates in the great
description of the artwork on his shield. Book 19, by contrast, deals with the human
repercussions of Patroclus death, with two of the poems greatest speeches: Agamemnons
apology to Achilles, and Briseis lament over the corpse.

Book 17. The Struggle over Patroclus

This is the last book of the kind of pitched battle thats characterised this days fighting, with
a large number of second-rank warriors involved in a complex struggle from which the gods
remain excluded. When the battle resumes the next day in book 20, itll be a very different
kind of warfare: one dominated overwhelmingly by a single hero, Achilles, and with the gods
at last let loose on the battlefield in full force.
Though long and at times confusing, the book is one of the most strongly unified in the
poem. The entire book is about a single massive fight at one point on the battlefield: the
attempt by both sides to recover the corpse of Patroclus. Its a powerful finale to the Iliads
great central day of battle, in which the characters whove dominated the last four books are
drawn together for a last great struggle, before the next days dawn brings Achilles re-entry
to the battle and the other Greek warriors largely drop from sight. But its also a pivotal
moment in the plotting, because the rest of the poem hangs on which side obtains the crucial
bargaining power which possession of this corpse will bring. In the end, its Hectors loss of
the corpse of Patroclus that leaves the Trojans with nothing to offer Achilles in return for
Hectors own corpse leading to the crisis of the final book and its resolution in a wholly
unforeseen way.
The hero of this book is Menelaus: the most complex and thoughtful of the Greek
warriors still in play, and a character kept largely in reserve until now. We know him by
know as a risk-taker, a middleweight fighter whose impulsive spirit, empathy for comrades,
and sense of responsibility for the war drive him into situations beyond his physical strength.
Usually other warriors have protected him, knowing that on his survival depends the basis for
continuing the war for Helen. His brother Agamemnon, in particular, tends to be
simultaneously protective and dominating. But Agamemnon is back in camp with a wound,
and now is the time for Menelaus to emerge from behind his brothers shield. But the stakes
remain high; if Menelaus goes down, the war goes down with him; and this time his big
brother isnt around to protect him.
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The whole book is an adroit piece of suspense-building, deferring as long as possible the
moment when Achilles finds out about Patroclus. His absence is more insistent here than in
any other book, and when at last the news penetrates back to the Myrmidon camp we know it
will unleash a grief, anger, and power beyond anything yet imagined.

A. The battle for the armour

Before the pitched battle over the corpse itself, theres an important preliminary sequence
dealing with two immediate items of fallout from Patroclus death: the fates of his original
killer Euphorbus, and of Achilles armour in which Patroclus kitted himself out for battle. Its
here that Menelaus emerges as the key figure in this book and the fighting that follows.

1. Menelaus versus Euphorbus

Of the high-ranking warriors, Menelaus is closest to the scene as Patroclus falls, and seizes
the opportunity provided by Hectors decision to pursue Automedon rather than strip
Patroclus armour on the spot. Straddling the corpse, he readies himself to defend it as a
mother heifer her (living) calf a kind of simile used elsewhere, including of Ajax a little
later, but particularly apt for both Menelaus and Patroclus unusually tender, empathetic
characters.
Very different is Euphorbus, who now challenges Menelaus in a speech of breathtaking
arrogance and overconfidence. He announces himself as Patroclus primary killer; lays claim
to the spoils (which we remember is the armour of Achilles himself); and orders Menelaus to
withdraw or die. Menelaus reply is defiant, reminding Euphorbus that he earlier (14.5169)
killed a man now revealed as Euphorbus brother, and claiming that Hyperenor had died after
a boasting-speech on similar lines not reported in the narrative at the time. Hyperenors claim
of Menelaus weakness as a warrior is an interesting touch, suggesting that the charge (if ever
made) was at least close enough to the truth to be made (you wouldnt say this to Diomedes,
for example), and to rankle with Menelaus himself. At the same time, its a useful reminder to
the audience that the star of this book, for all his courage and conscience, is far from
invincible and will need luck as well as support to succeed.
Euphorbus should take this speech as a warning, but instead treats it only as further
provocation, and sets his sights on Menelaus armour as well. The fight, of course, is over
after a couple of spearthrusts, with a lingering simile on the pathos of Euphorbus young
death. The avenging of Patroclus is under way.

2. Apollo recalls Hector

With his first kill over the corpse, Menelaus becomes like a hero in his aristeia, the lion in a
complex three-way simile that casts Euphorbus as prey and the other Trojan attackers as
nervous bystanders. Now its Menelaus who moves in to strip the armour from Euphorbus,
apparently confident enough of the safety of Patroclus corpse to feel able to take on this
extra task. But Apollo, who helped Euphorbus and Hector to bring down Patroclus, now
brings Hector back into the fight. In setting his sights on Achilles horses and chariot rather
than his armour, Hector is making Dolons mistake underlined by Apollos verbatim
quotation of Odysseus wry comment at 10.4024. In pursuing this unrealistic aspiration, hes
allowed Euphorbus to be killed and Patroclus corpse to be defended against attempts to strip
its armour.

3. Menelaus withdraws to fetch Ajax

Hectors advance puts Menelaus in an impossible position, which he articulates in one of the
Iliads rare soliloquies. As we saw in book 7, Menelaus is no match for Hector, and to
himself at least hes prepared to admit it though its couched in terms of divine favour
rather than innate prowess. Its a painful decision for a Homeric warrior, aware that any kind
of retreat is bad for his kleos. But Menelaus calculates that, while he on his own cannot
defend the corpse effectively, he and Ajax could. He retreats, fighting as he goes with an
intensity conveyed by a second lion-simile, and reports to Ajax (having apparently reckoned
this into his decision) that Hector will by now have stripped the corpse of Achilles armour,
but the body itself is still defensible.
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4. Hector strips the corpse

Ajax is just in time. Hector has indeed finished stripping the armour and, in a brutal moment
intends to mutilate and expose the corpse. As well as foreshadowing, and to some extent
excusing, his own treatment by Achilles, this gives a powerful sense of just how much is at
stake in the retrieval of this corpse for Achilles, as Menelaus has reminded us in his speech
to Ajax.

5. Ajax defends the corpse

Now its Ajaxs turn for a lion-simile, as he takes over the primary defence of the corpse. But
Menelaus is still the emotional centre of the scene, as the final line here indicates.

B. The Trojans regroup

Seeing his old enemy installed as defender of the corpse, Hector can be forgiven for being
reluctant to go up against him yet again, and taking satisfaction instead from having at least
got his hands on Achilles armour. But theres another loose end from book 16 which now
returns to haunt him

1. Glaucus and Hector

The last time a struggle of this intensity raged over a fallen hero was over Sarpedons corpse
in book 16. At 16.67683, Apollo teleported Sarpedons corpse to his native Lycia for safe
burial; but Sarpedons close comrade Glaucus doesnt know this, and pins his hopes on the
recovery of Patroclus body to trade for Sarpedons, which he assumes the Greeks now have
in custody. As Glaucus points out, the stakes for Hector are high: the Lycians are their most
important allies, and if they withdraw now then the impact on the defence of Troy will be
devastating. Patroclus corpse is a valuable commodity to Achilles, and the Greeks can
probably be persuaded to go beyond a simple exchange of bodies and surrender even the
armour stripped from the fallen Sarpedon as part of the bargain. To rub it home, Glaucus
charges Hector directly with being afraid to face Ajax again in battle.
Hector is stung to action. But first, he makes a fateful gesture whose immediate purpose
is a little hard to interpret: hes going to go into battle wearing the armour of Achilles
himself.

2. Hector dons Achilles armour

This is a dangerous moment. Weve already been reminded that Achilles horses are fatal for
others to aspire to; now, were told even his armour is divinely made, an heirloom from his
father Peleus originally presented by the gods themselves. Even Achilles, the narrator
prompts us, is doomed to an early death; as Hector now dons this ominous armour, we
already sense that hes hastening his own demise.

3. Zeus promise
The significance of this moment is underlined by a dramatic shift of perspective, as though
the narrative camera pulls back to reveal that the scene just described is what Zeus is
watching on his live video feed on Mount Ida. Putting on the armour seals Hectors fate, to
the point where Zeus will actually grant him one last surge of strength to enable him to go out
in glory. Zeuss closing lines are a slight piece of misdirection: Hector will in fact come home
for one last night in Troy, before his duel with Achilles the following day.

4. Hector calls on the allies

Aware that he needs to repair relations with the Trojan allies, Hector delivers a speech which
interestingly shows how he himself views the relationship. Despite Sarpedons claims to be
fighting merely for glory, we now learn that the allies are heavily subsidised by the Trojans.
Now, says Hector, its now time for them to earn their keep. Its perhaps not the most
diplomatic of speeches, but he evidently believes that the language they understand best is
that of material reward so he offers a 50% cut of the spoils to anyone who can fight Ajax
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off and recover the corpse. Its a tall order, perhaps another moment of Hectors characteristic
overconfidence; Hectors possession of Achilles armour is unlikely to have to be divided.
The miniature catalogue of ten allied leaders includes six from the dwindling list of
survivors from the original Trojan catalogue: Mesthles (2.864), Glaucus (2.876), Hippothous
(2.840), Phorcys (2.862), Chromius or Chromis and Ennomus (both 2.858). Two of these will
meet their own doom in the following scene, and two more after Achilles returns to the
fighting.

C. The battle for the corpse

The scene has been carefully set for the major combat set piece that takes up the rest of the
book. Ajax and Menelaus have possession of the corpse, but are far from the Greek lines
(remember Patroclus was killed close to the walls of Troy) and stand no chance of fighting
their way back to the camp with it as things stand. Hector, meanwhile, has Zeus on his side
and the allies for once wholeheartedly behind him. Whichever side wins knows that the
stakes are high, both for the absent Achilles and the fate of other corpses. In the first phase of
the narrative, more and more A-list warriors get drawn into the struggle; then the deadlock is
broken by Automedon; the gods intervene on both sides; and Hector finally puts the Greeks
to flight, only to lose the corpse to them in the final lines of the book.

1. Ajax and Menelaus call for reinforcements

First we return to Ajax and Menelaus. For the second time this day, Ajax recognises an attack
beyond even his powers to resist without further aid. As Hectors rallied the Trojan allies, so
Ajax and Menelaus need to rally further Greek support if theyre to match them. Menelaus
duly calls out for reinforcements, in a speech which pointedly avoids the brusque contempt
that coloured Hectors parallel speech. Instead, he reminds anyone within earshot that they
need to earn their status, in terms that closely recall Sarpedons famous speech to Glaucus at
12.31028, and that shame alone (rather than the cut of the profits Hector has to offer) should
be sufficient to motivate them.

2. Ajax II, Idomeneus, Meriones, &c.

Reinforcements duly arrive, led by the three principal Greek warriors still in the battle but not
yet active in this book. The heroes of the last few books are now for the first time all engaged
in a single collective battle. But Zeus, who has previously indicated his support for Hector, is
also unwilling to allow the mutilation of Patroclus corpse, and now brings on the eerie mist
that will characterise the most intense fighting in this book. Theres a brief Greek retreat, as
the Trojans and their allies drive Ajaxs team away from the corpse; but this is just a
temporary setback, and now that the Trojans have the defensive position the Greeks can strike
back at them.

3. Ajax (twice) and Hector kill

The first casualty on the Trojan side is one of the catalogue leaders, Hippothous of the
Pelasgians (2.840), who has been fatally tempted by Hectors reward and exposes himself to
Ajaxs spear in the act of trying to recover the corpse. Hector then tries to strike back at Ajax,
but in a familiar pattern misses with his throw and kills a lesser warrior instead. Then Ajax
strikes a second time, and kills the Phrygian leader Phorcys (2.862). The Trojan catalogue is
now two more heroes down.

4. Apollo and Aeneas

Clearly the Greeks have regained the upper hand, and were surprisingly told the Trojans are
on the verge of abandoning not just the corpse but the whole battlefield. But now for the
second time in this book a disguised Apollo steps in with a shaming prompt to a key Trojan
warrior. Unlike Hector, Aeneas sees through the divine disguise the first mortal to do so
since Helen with Aphrodite at 3.396 enabling him to pass on this sign of divine support in
his rallying call to the Trojans.
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5. Aeneas kills
With even Zeus helping both sides, the fight over Patroclus is renewed with still greater
intensity. Aeneas makes the first strike of the Trojan rally

6. Lycomedes reciprocates
but his kill is immediately balanced out by one of his victims comrades.

7. deadlock
Further Trojan counterstrikes are now blocked by a new tactic. Ajax coordinates the
defenders to create a shield-wall around Patroclus, suppressing the familiar patterns of
individual attacks for a more coordinated and defensive combat. This is one of the scenes
which shows an awareness of the importance of massed troops in disciplined ranks under a
commander: perhaps a sign of eighth-century awareness of the emergence of an early
prototype of hoplite warfare.
As deadlock is reached, the narrative camera pulls out to give a more impressionistic view
of the battle, no longer focussed on individual kills, but instead offering first a visual longshot
and then a powerful description of the fatigue and struggle as felt by the fighters themselves,
with a striking but notoriously obscure simile comparing what is now an actual tug-of-war
over the corpse to a crude technique of stretching a new-flayed hide. Nestors sons are
excluded by name from the scene, an aside which turns out to be a preparation for the later
arrival and involvement of Antilochus as a crucial link between the fighting and the camp.
Achilles unknowing
But of course the hero most pointedly absent from this fight is Achilles himself. Thanks to
Menelaus and then Ajaxs rallying-calls, all the Greek heroes within reach on the battlefield
have been drawn further away from the camp and ships and into the struggle over the corpse
itself. This means that all the movement between the battle and the camp is outward, and
likely to remain so until the deadlock over the corpse is broken. Achilles, the narrator now
tells us, continues to think Patroclus is simply fighting around the walls, having never been
informed of his doom even by Thetis. This is new information, but retrospectively consistent
both with Achilles decision to let Patroclus fight and with his wistful fantasy at 16.99100 of
the two of them sacking Troy together. That, Achilles knows, can never be; but hes always
thought it was because he himself was doomed to die before the citys fall, not because
Patroclus was similarly doomed.

8. Automedon joins in
Meanwhile, the stalemate under the walls of Troy continues, with a pair of speeches summing
up the collective attitude of both sides. But now were reminded of a thread of the plot left
carefully dangling when Hector abandoned the pursuit of Achilles chariot to return and strip
Patroclus corpse instead.
(a) the horses of Achilles
We learned in the previous book that Achilles horses, so coveted by Dolon and more
recently Hector, were actually immortal, a gift from the gods to his father Peleus (16.3801,
16.8667). Now they refuse to be driven away from their masters corpse. This explains why
Automedon, who was last seen driving the chariot back to camp with Hector in pursuit, has
been unable to complete the journey that would have brought the news to Achilles.
(b) Zeus takes pity
The uncanny sight of the horses weeping human tears is the cue for another cut to Zeuss
viewpoint on the action, and a speech of sympathy for the predicament of these immortal
creatures trapped in a world of men. In whats effectively a further piece of foreshadowing
for the audiences benefit, he promises that, though the Trojans success will continue till that
days sunset, Automedon will succeed in returning to the ships. The implication is that hell
return with the corpse, but thats carefully not spelled out as yet.
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(c) Automedon and Alcimedon

A limitation of Homeric chariot warfare is that its not possible to manage a chariot and fight
at the same time, which is why chariots are normally manned by a team of two. Automedon
can retreat on his own, but to attack he needs someone else to take over the reins. As luck has
it, one of the other Myrmidon sub-commanders, Alcimedon (16.197), catches up with the
chariot and volunteers himself for the role. With the chariot in safe hands and stationed on the
edge of the fight, Alcimedon is able to dismount with the aim of adding his support to the
struggle for the corpse.
(d) Hector and Aeneas meet the attack
But the approach of Achilles chariot reawakens Hectors eagerness to capture the divine
horses, and he proposes to Aeneas that the two of them together could easily defeat
Automedon and seize the horses from Alcimedon themselves. With two companions, they
leave the corpse and advance against this greater prize. Seeing the Trojans two most
formidable warriors bearing down on him, Automedon calls for the chariot to be kept close in
case he needs to escape at speed. Hes not optimistic of surviving the coming encounter; as
the syntax of his final sentence makes clear, the possibility that he might actually kill Hector
is at best an afterthought. But if Menelaus and the Ajaxes can leave the corpse long enough to
support him, he has the balance of advantage back on his side.
(e) Automedon kills Aretus
But Hectors group moved off first, and are too close now to intercept; Automedon has to
take his chances, and throws his spear. This takes Hectors companion Aretus in the belly,
and Automedon successfully dodges Hectors counter-throw. By this time the Ajaxes have
caught up, and Hector and companions have to abandon their attempt on Achilles chariot-
team, leaving Automedon to strip Aretus armour as some small personal compensation for
Patroclus.

9. the gods step in

The deadlock now resumes as the fighting reverts to the struggle for possession of Patroclus
body. Since antiquity the two lines about Zeus sending Athene have been thought suspect,
since in the following scene Zeus is clearly sticking to his policy of favouring the Trojans
until sunset. But her arrival marks the beginning of the final and decisive phase of the battle
over the corpse, as for the first time the Greeks have a divinity from their own team playing
the role that until now has been monopolised by Apollo.
(a) Athene fortifies Menelaus
First, Athene disguises herself as Phoenix and urges Menelaus on using the now-familiar
pattern of shaming-speech that has been a leitmotif in this book. Menelaus fortuitously
responds with a wish that Athene (whom he doesnt realise is standing in front of him) could
just give him the strength, and the goddess inspires him with the energy he needs to break the
deadlock.
(b) Apollo rebukes Hector
But Athenes involvement is immediately countered by Apollo, who makes a similar
appearance and speech to Hector. With a god behind each of them, Hector is once again the
far superior fighter.

10. the Greek flight

Now at last the deadlock is broken, and its the Greeks who crumble first. The cue is a
terrifying display from Zeus on Ida, which gives the Greeks their clearest sign yet that the
Trojans still have his favour.
(a) Polydamas wounds Peneleus
Menelaus support is collapsing as one by one the lesser warriors are forced to flee back to
camp, beginning with the very first names in the Greek catalogue: the Boeotian leaders
Peneleus and Letus (2.494ff.). Peneleus is first, wounded in the shoulder by Polydamas
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(b) Hector wounds Letus, kills Coeranus

and his comrade in the hand by Hector, who moves in for the kill but is saved by a throw
at Hector from Idomeneus. Countering this, Hector misses Idomeneus but his throw kills
Meriones charioteer Coeranus as he rides to the chariotless Idomeneus rescue with his
fellow Cretan commanders chariot. Coeranus gruesome death nevertheless saves
Idomeneus life: Meriones himself catches the chariot, and gives it to Idomeneus to escape in.
(c) Ajax and Menelaus
Now is the time for hard decisions. Ajax and Menelaus both see that the Greeks will not be
able to hold out, and that if the body is to be rescued itll require the suppression of all their
heroic instincts to stand and fight. Ajax has a particularly strong sense of when the battle is
turning against him, and here again hes the first to note the signs that Zeus is with the
Trojans. Their only chance is to get a message back to Achilles himself; but that will mean
one of them abandoning the corpse. He does, however, pray successfully to Zeus to lift the
eerie mist surrounding the fight; and this gives Menelaus a chance to go in search of the
famously swift-footed Antilochus, who stands the best chance of getting the message back to
Achilles in time.
(d) Menelaus seeks out Antilochus
Menelaus very reluctantly leaves, finds Antilochus, and gives him his message. But perhaps
as he speaks the words he realises the flaw in the plan: Patroclus had Achilles armour, and
now Hector has stripped the corpse. Antilochus nevertheless runs back to the camp with the
message, knowing as we do that the delivery of the message will mean a terrifying new phase
to the story.

11. the Greeks retrieve the corpse

Menelaus quick resumes his position with the Ajaxes and Meriones, the last of all the Greek
heroes to make their stand, and explains why he doesnt think Achilles will be able to
intervene. Its going to be up to the four of them to retrieve the body; and Ajax immediately
sees what must be done. He and the other Ajax, the two strongest fighters, will keep the
Trojans away from the body long enough for Menelaus and Meriones to lift it, and will then
cover their retreat all the way back to the ships.
A series of five mighty similes accompanies this final desperate manoeuvre: the greatest
accumulation of similes since the prelude to the Catalogue at 2.45583. The Trojans attack
the Ajaxes like dogs at a wounded boar; the fight over the retreat flares like a city on fire; but
Menelaus and Meriones press on like mules dragging logs down a mountain, while the
Ajaxes stem the attack like a dam, and the other Greeks flee before Hector and Aeneas like a
flock of birds scattering. The camp lies a long way off, and every inch of the way must be
fought for. How can they possibly make it?

Book 18. Armour for Achilles

Now comes the payoff to all the elaborate preparation in the plotting of the last two books.
Patroclus was killed under the walls of Troy, far from the Greek camp, and all available
warriors were drawn into the fighting for possession of the corpse. As a result, there was
nobody available to carry the news back to Achilles. Ajax had the idea of releasing Menelaus
long enough to find the fleet-footed Antilochus and send him back to the camp with the news,
but as Menelaus pointed out Achilles would be unable to help them without his armour,
which was loaned to Patroclus and then stripped by Hector. That prompted Ajaxs desperate
plan of trying to fight their way back to the camp, with the two Ajaxes covering Menelaus
and Meriones as they carry the corpse between them. Now, as news of Patroclus death
finally reaches Achilles, the plotlines finally converge.
Weve spent the whole of the previous book as far from Achilles as the topography of the
battlefield allows. Now, at last, we cut back to the scene in the Myrmidon camp as
Antilochus arrives with the news of Patroclus death. Achilles reaction is the emotional and
motivational turning-point of the poem, but in a masterstroke of plotting his drive to avenge
Patroclus thwarted by the loss of his armour. The return of Thetis to the story, however,
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opens up a new and extraordinary possibility: the overnight forging of a new set of armour by
the gods themselves. What comes out of this at the climax of the book is one of the greatest
sequences in Homer: the bravura montage of scenes depicted on Hephaestus miraculous
shield.

A. Antilochus brings the news to Achilles

Antilochus arrival is narrated with considerable subtlety. The opening lines briefly report his
arrival, and the state in which Antilochus finds Achilles; but this is then dramatised at length
with a powerful soliloquy from Achilles before the actual meeting and breaking of the news
is narrated in detail. Achilles forebodings are prompted by his own observation of the Greek
retreat just reported, which stirs the ominous memory of a further prophecy of Thetis we
havent heard of before: that the best of the Myrmidons (Lattimore translates bravest, but
its the usual word aristos) would predecease him. Since Achilles is the best of the
Myrmidons, this must have been something of a riddle; but in Achilles absence, Patroclus
qualifies, as he now belatedly realises.
Antilochus reports his message, condensing Menelaus original words (17.68593) to the
three key points: Patroclus is dead; Hector has the armour; and the corpse is being fought
over. (Antilochus of course knows nothing yet of the desperate retreat.) Achilles response is
beyond words: a superb single line of emotional comment by the narrator, and then a series of
ritualised gestures of uncontrolled grief and mourning, with a chorus of captive women
joining in. In a fine touch, Antilochus has the presence of mind to hold Achilles hands for
fear he may attempt suicide.

B. Thetis and Achilles

Achilles wail catches the divinely-attuned hearing of Thetis, far off though she is in her cave
at the bottom of the ocean, and a magnificent scene follows in this fantastic undersea domain
before she joins Achilles on land for their second great scene together.

1. Thetis lament with the Nereids

Thetis recreates the scene just described, but with ocean-nymphs in her underwater grotto:
like Achilles, she assumes the role of chief mourner, while her nymphs provide a chorus. The
virtuoso catalogue of Nereid names is an unexpected touch, but exotic and effective. Its
clearly indebted to the Hesiodic tradition of catalogue poetry, and indeed many of the names
overlap with a catalogue of Nereids in Hesiods Theogony, prompting ancient editors to
suspect that it may be a later addition. But it has a wonderful kind of ritual music to it here,
and most readers would be sorry to lose it.
Its unclear, perhaps deliberately so, whether Thetis knows why Achilles is lamenting.
Her grief is not for Patroclus, but for Achilles himself: one of a series of foreshadowings of
his own death that are particularly prominent in this book. But in a spectacular procession,
she takes her chorus of sea-nymphs with her for this second visit to the dry-land world of the
beach and camp.

2. Thetis question to Achilles

Antilochus vanishes from the scene as Thetis arrives: perhaps the entire manifestation is
perceptible only to Achilles himself. Though her gesture of cradling his head is one of
powerful sympathy and grief, her speech betrays her poignant omniscience: she seems to
know the answer to her question as she poses it, and that everything that the Greeks are now
suffering is the direct result of Achilles own request to her on their previous meeting.

3. Achilles vow
Now at last Achilles finds words, in the speech of decision that marks the turning-point of his
story. He acknowledges that she has delivered, through Zeus on his request; but the
satisfaction he expected has been eclipsed by the loss of Patroclus. Even the divine armour, a
wedding present to Peleus from the gods, has been lost, as Achilles himself must soon be; the
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one thing keeping him alive (Antilochus was right to suspect suicidal impulses) is the urge to
kill Hector before he goes.

4. Thetis prophecy
Thetis reply is short and devastating: the final piece of the prophetic jigsaw, completing the
picture partly assembled by Zeus (15.6871), Apollo (16.709), and Achilles himself (17.406
7). For the first time, its revealed that Hectors death is inextricably tied to Achilles own:
that killing Hector will seal Achilles own doom. This is the moment when Achilles must
make the choice presented to him at 9.4106, between a long life and a short one.

5. Achilles acceptance
Achilles makes his choice: his life is worth nothing to him with Patroclus dead. Now at last
he sees the story of the Iliad in its dreadful entirety: the deadly consequences of his quarrel
with Agamemnon, which he now formally renounces. He will return to the fighting, kill
Hector, and accept his death when it comes.

6. Thetis promises armour

But as Thetis now points out, its not that simple. Hector is wearing Achilles own divine
armour, which protects him and leaves Achilles without arms to fight him. For tonight, at
least, Achilles vengeance must wait, while Thetis makes one last trip to Olympus to arrange
a replacement.

C. Achilles shows himself

Achilles now knows of Patroclus death, but he doesnt yet know about the desperate attempt
by the Ajaxes, Menelaus and Meriones to fight their way back to camp with the body; and as
Menelaus predicted, Achilles will in any case be unable to come to their rescue, because he
cant face Hector without divine armour of his own. How is all this to be resolved?

1. the corpse-carriers harried

Out on the plain, the team with the body are finding it harder and harder to keep Hector from
regaining possession of the corpse. This is still Hectors day of Zeus-sent strength and glory,
and the three-way lion simile (predator, carcass, human opponents) shows that he is still a
formidable force.

2. Iris rouses Achilles

In the end its Hera, riskily defying Zeuss ban, who intervenes to prevent Hectors seemingly
inevitable triumph. She sends Iris to Achilles, reporting the situation and urging him to
intervene. Achilles is instantly suspicious, having just been told by Thetis on no account to go
into the battle, and Iris has to admit that this is Heras initiative rather than Zeuss. Achilles
duly points out Thetiss objection: he has no armour, and no suitable replacement until the
morning. The only other warrior whose armour will even fit him is Ajax, and Ajaxs armour
is very much in use at the moment. (The ancient commentators tied themselves into knots
over the obvious question: Why cant he just wear Patroclus armour? If his armour fits
Patroclus, then surely Patroclus will fit Achilles. Were clearly just not meant to think of that
option.)
Iris proposes a compromise. He can keep his promise to Thetis by simply showing
himself to the Trojans, armour or no armour. The Trojans have now been cleared from the
Greek camp; he can go as far as Nestors ditch without risk, and the unmistakable sight of the
real Achilles will be enough in itself to frighten the Trojans off.

3. Achilles scares off the Trojans

Achilles puts the plan into action, with the secret assistance of Athene, who boosts his impact
with a supernatural light around his head and shoulders, and adds her voice to his as he gives
out his great war-yell. The result is instant Trojan rout; we dont hear about Hector, but hes
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evidently unable to sustain his attempt in the general chaos, and the Greeks are able to get the
corpse on to a stretcher and back to the camp.
With the last and toughest fight finally resolved, night falls at last on this longest of days. But
even this is Heras doing, not Zeuss, and we can expect a further confrontation on Olympus
on his return.

D. The Trojan council

The night that follows is taken up with three storylines in turn. First, we join the Trojans as
they regroup for a council of war on the plain; then we rejoin Achilles, alone with the corpse
of Patroclus; and finally comes the great Olympian scene that culminates in the forging of the
armour.

1. Polydamas strategy
The ever-cautious Polydamas sees, as usual, that the extraordinary successes of this day are
short-term gains only. Already theyve lost ground since the previous evening, when they
occupied the whole plain up to Nestors wall; now only the night stands between them and
the return of Achilles, whose absence made the past two days possible. If they camp in the
plain a second night, theyll expose themselves to Achilles attack in the morning; but if they
retreat now into the city, theyll be impregnable.

2. Hector rejects the plan

This is the fourth time Polydamas has urged Hector to caution, and hes losing patience. But
despite his characteristic overconfidence, its not hard to sympathise with his point of view.
For the first time in the war, the Trojans have had the Greeks on the ropes, and Polydamas
advice would mean abandoning not only their gains of the last two days but all prospect of
ending the siege, at a time when all the signs are that Zeus is favouring their cause. And as he
points out, maintaining the vast contingents of allies is an expensive business, and cant be
sustained indefinitely; Hector would rather chance all on a confrontation with Achilles.
Its one of Hectors strongest analyses, and about as wrong as he could possibly be. Zeus
is no longer favouring the Trojans; Hector has no chance of defeating Achilles; and
Polydamas is absolutely right that his plan will lead only to slaughter. That the council
approves Hectors plan overwhelmingly is a fatal decision for Troy, as the narrator points out
with heavy dramatic irony. In due course Hector will remember this moment, and bitterly
regret his choice.

E. Achilles tends the corpse

Now the narrative cuts to the Greek camp, where a very different scene is in progress: the
wake for Patroclus, led by Achilles with his Myrmidons joining in a chorus of lament. The
three-way lion simile casts Achilles as the lion, the Trojans as the hunters, and Patroclus as
his lost cubs: a powerful distillation of his grief, vengeance, and sense of purpose.

1. Achilles lament and vow

Achilles speech has two parts. In his lament, he recalls his broken promise to Patroclus
father that he would bring him home safely, enriched with the spoils of Troy; and he contrasts
this with the grim reality that neither of them will even live to see the spoils, let alone their
homes and families. The second half is a vow to the dead Patroclus: that he will bring to his
funeral both the body of slain Hector and a human sacrifice of twelve Trojan prisoners,
something unparalleled in Homer and clearly meant to seem exceptional. (Incidentally,
behead is a mistranslation: the Greek refers to slitting their throats, which is indeed what
happens. He does declare his intention to cut off Hectors head, but in the event this plan is
modified.)
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2. the washing of the corpse

So the funeral cant take place till the following evening at the earliest, and for now all that
can be done is to clean and mourn the body. Given everything this corpse has been through,
its a tender and surprisingly delicate close to the day.
Some advocates of a three-act Iliad make this the end of the second act. Certainly the
transition to the next scene is unusually abrupt for Homer, and would fit the hypothesis that
the Olympian scene begins a new days recitation rather than continuing straight on from the
previous lines. It also makes for a nice parallel to the close of the final act at 24.804, and
allows the new days performance to begin with a major Olympian scene.

F. In Olympus
The rest of this book takes place in Olympus, and centres on the fulfilment of Thetis promise
to Achilles. After a brief but charged scene between Zeus and Hera, the narrative follows
Thetis on her mission to persuade Hephaestus to forge a new set of armour overnight, and
culminates in the great extended description of the arms themselves principally the scenes
from life that decorate the shield.

1. Zeus and Hera

Zeus makes it known to Hera that her intervention (against his orders) has not gone
unnoticed. But hes no longer confrontational: all this is compatible with his original plan,
and so Hera has unwittingly been aiding rather than resisting his own plan. Zeuss support for
Hector is finished, and with it the grounds for Heras defiance. From here on, the divine
antagonisms will be limited to the lesser gods. Hera, at least, is unapologetic; gods have their
natures as much as mortals, and when youre an all-powerful divinity theres all the more
reason to follow it.

2. Thetis and Hephaestus

On this second visit Thetis doesnt need to consult Zeus, as caused such problems last time
around. Her business is with the smith-god Hephaestus, whom we last saw cutting a faintly
comic figure at the end of the first book, but who now is seen in his true nature and
environment. As well see, Hephaestus handiwork resembles that of mortal craftsmen, but
with magical twists, particularly in the area of robotics: the tripods hes now forging have
wheels and the power to propel themselves around unassisted.
(a) Charis welcomes the goddess
While Hephaestus is busy in his workshop, theres a piquantly domestic scene of welcome as
his wife looks after their visitor until hes ready. This is a version of the Homeric xenia
sequence as seen most fully at 9.185ff.: welcome, seating, food (omitted here), conversation,
in that order. In the Odyssey and elsewhere Hephaestus wife is Aphrodite, but that tradition
may not yet be established at the time of the Iliad; Charis means Grace, and Hesiods
Theogony similarly has Hephaestus married to one of the (normally plural) Charites or
Graces.
(b) Hephaestus debt
Like Zeus, Hephaestus owes Thetis a favour. He seems to have a particularly unfortunate run
of luck with Zeus and Hera, having been thrown bodily out of heaven not once but twice,
once by each parent. But like the Sintians of Lemnos at 1.5904 who looked after him when
Zeus threw him out, Thetis tended Hephaestus after Hera did the same. (The order of these
isnt clear; it may be that Hephaestus was lamed by the first, which would put Heras later,
but they look like variant versions of what was originally a single episode.) To her he owes
the years he spent perfecting his crafts in secret, so he willingly puts his work aside to
welcome her to his home on such an infrequent visit, and to offer his services. The golden
android attendants are an inspired touch of fantasy background colour but also give a
foretaste of the kind of work hes about to undertake for Thetis and Achilles.
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(c) Thetis request

Thetis now tells the story of the Iliad so far in her own words, and filtered through her own
distinctive viewpoint as the divine mother of a mortal. Thus, for example, shes clear that
Patroclus killer was Apollo, not Euphorbus or Hector. Hephaestus readily agrees, in a speech
in the familiar pattern of a wish that something impossible was as assured as the promise now
made.
(d) the forging of the armour
Now comes a famous set piece: Hephaestus miraculous smithy at work producing the
armour, with the god directing a twenty-strong team of sentient bellows as they forge the
metal, and he contributes the divine craftsmanship that turns the raw materials into a work of
war and of art. Chief among these items is the extraordinary shield, which is decorated with
an amazing gallery of scenes in metal inlay whose description occupies the rest of the book.

G. The shield of Achilles

The shield is circular, with a raised boss at the centre, and the most plausible reconstruction
of its layout has the scenes arranged in a circular design outward from the centre. (Willcock
has a nice diagram of the reconstruction, which you can also find online at
http://home.att.net/~a.a.major/shdiagram.jpg.) The eight main scenes fall into three main
groups: a pair of cities, one at peace and one at war; three scenes from the agricultural world;
and three miscellaneous scenes Ive called pastoral and festive. Theyre each described in
turn, using a fascinating and brilliant descriptive technique that spawned a whole tradition of
imitations in later classical literature.
Though the scenes are static works of two-dimensional art wrought in inlaid metalwork,
the description does two things that helps to animate them into an illusion of motion and life.
First, the descriptions include details of sounds and movements that couldnt possibly be
represented in a static image as though the narrator is able to step through the metalwork
into the actual scene itself, like Alice going through the looking-glass. Second, the very fact
of having to describe a visual image in words forces the narrator to build up scenes an
element at a time, in an artfully chosen sequence. The result is an effect like the technique of
rostrum camera widely used in documentaries, where a camera tracks over a static image to
create an illusion of movement and reveal details in a programmed order. In the same kind of
way, the narrative camera moves over each image on the shield revealing things one-by-one,
and at times allowing a little story to unfold through the order in which the elements of the
scene are described.
The scenes themselves are drawn from everyday life. Theyre extended journeys into the
world glimpsed in the similes, a world remote from the heroic battlefield and close to the
experience of Homers eighth-century audience. Some, at least, seem to reflect consciously or
otherwise on episodes in the Iliad itself. But theyre also a reminder of the larger world
beyond the battlefield that we otherwise see so little of until we get to the Odyssey: a world of
normal human lives in all their diversity and complexity, much like Troy must once have
been.

1. the boss: sea and sky

The central boss is decorated with a semi-abstract design of the cosmos: earth, sky, sea, sun,
moon, and stars, even including recognisable constellations. Already its getting hard to
remember that all this is rendered in three-colour metalwork (bronze, silver, and gold).

2. the two cities

Next come the two cities, which are introduced in a way that clearly indicates they form a
pair. These are probably the most detailed and resonant of the scenes in both descriptive
technique and narrative complexity, and its very hard not to see them as having symbolic
implications for the main plot of the poem.
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(a) the city at peace

First is the complex, composite scene of a city going about its normal peacetime business.
There are actually two scenes here, apparently merging into one another. The first is a
multiple wedding procession, perhaps recalling to us the numerous young warriors in the
poem whose necrologies remind us of brides theyll never come home to. Its full of
movement and acoustic and psychological details that all go beyond what can strictly be
represented in a frozen scene.
But more intriguing still is the second part of the scene, which shows a dispute and
arbitration over the blood price for a murder. Once again were here let in on information that
couldnt easily be shown in a purely visual tableau: the nature of the case, the attitudes of the
two parties. As well as being a fascinating piece of social history, it seems to reflect directly
on the fatal quarrel in the Iliad itself, with its public dispute and its offer of compensation
refused. In the peacetime world, however, theres a procedure for dealing with such disputes:
the case goes to arbitration before a council of elders, with both sides depositing a fee. There
are many uncertainties about the actual procedure here, but it seems clear that were being
given a picture of how the real world deals with, and resolves, the kind of situation that
Agamemnon and Achilles have dug themselves into in books 1 and 9.
(b) the city at war
The second city is the subject of a tableau with even more direct relevance to the events of
the poem. Its a city, like Troy, under siege; and the defenders have apparently offered terms
of surrender, which the attacking army is debating whether to accept. In the meantime,
however, the defenders themselves are going on the offensive: theyve set an ambush to
intercept the armys supply train, which then turns into a pitched battle as part of the
attacking army comes to the relief.
Its an extremely complex scene, using the rostrum camera technique to tell a complete
mini-epic while still theoretically describing parts of a single scene though its a bit hard to
see how the image could depict the herdsmen both playing innocently on their pipes and
being slaughtered in the subsequent ambush. The view is very much that of the epic audience,
with the gods Ares and Athene visible amongst the battle alongside such personifications as
Hate, Confusion, and Death. Now and again there are reminders that we are indeed listening
to a description of a scene in metal: the gold for the gods and their clothing, and the different
sizes of their figures. But there are also many sounds, movements, and colours (such as the
blood on Deaths garment) that go far beyond even a gods power to represent in hammered
metal.
Clearly, this is a scene both like and unlike the siege in the poem. There is a sortie, with
the non-combatants watching from the walls; but it takes advantage of tactical indecision on
the part of the attackers, not (as will shortly happen) that of the besieged. Meanwhile, the
actual outcome of the battle is frozen in time, never resolved: the one certainty is slaughter.

3. three agricultural scenes

Now to the second group, which comprise much more idyllic scenes of rural activity
untouched by the violence and disputes of the urban scenes. All three are characterised by a
consistent emphasis on communal activity and purpose, with the whole community involved
collectively in work to the benefit of all. Its a world we see little of in the Iliad, but which
will take on greater reality in the Odyssey as an ideal of peacetime living to which the
survivors of the Iliads world are striving to return.
(a) the ploughmen
First is what seems to be a communal field, being ploughed by different farmers, each
apparently in his own allocated strip. Here again the description balances the illusion of
movement with a reminder that all this is merely a scene in metal, however brilliantly
wrought.
(b) the reapers
Next comes a harvest scene, whose many components are united by the common purpose of
all the different workers under a single overlord, here seen supervising the harvest on his
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estate in person. Again the rostrum camera technique assembles a timeline out of the different
elements: reaping, binding, collection, preparing a feast and meanwhile feeding the workers.
(c) the vintage
The third scene is a tour de force of descriptive technique, beginning with a detailed account
of the rendering of different highlights in contrasting colours of metal, and then gradually
introducing more and more life, sound, and movement, climaxing in the figure of the bard
himself leading the whole community in a joyous swirl of dancing and song. The whole
effect is of a picture coming vibrantly to life before our eyes.

4. three pastoral & festive scenes

The final group are a less obviously unified group, but both their content and their sequence
help to draw together the themes of the shield as a whole: the juxtaposition of peace and
violence; the harmony of the community; the image of festivity as the opposite pole to war.
(a) cattle and lions
First is perhaps the most brilliant of all the scenes on the shield: an extended voyage into the
world of the animal similes, describing what starts out as an idyllic pastoral scene of cattle
being herded. But as the camera travels further over the scene, and the initially metallic
descriptions of materials and colours are left behind for more vivid and direct description of
the scene itself, two lions come into frame attacking the front of the herd, and it turns out that
the herdsmen and dogs were coming to the rescue, only for the dogs to be held at bay. Its a
familiar situation from the similes, and the sudden explosion of violence into the pastoral
world is a reminder of how closely the experience of the Iliad is replayed in everyday life.
(b) the sheep-meadow
The second scene in this trio is the briefest, and the only one to have no narrative element at
all. But the very stillness of this brief scene after the violence of its predecessor evokes a
sense of calm and relief, like waking suddenly from a nightmare.
(c) the dancers
The final scene returns to the shields dominant theme of communal festivity,with the most
idyllic scene of all: young men and girls dancing in elaborate (and slightly obscure)
formation, all in their delicate finery, with professional dancers and singers leading the whole
festivity. Some ancient texts, puzzled by the lack of reference to any musician, pasted in two
lines from the Odyssey here to include a bard, rounding the whole great panorama off with a
little self-portrait by Homer himself. Its a nice idea, but probably wrong.

5. the rim: Ocean

Finally, the outside of the shield, like the world itself, is rimmed with a representation of the
all-encircling Ocean: an inspired and symbolically apt piece of design for what has seemed
almost a representation of the whole world in its full variety and brilliance.
After the long description of the shield, the other items of armour are briefly itemised, and
the book closes swiftly and wordlessly with Hephaestus presentation of his handiwork to
Thetis, who bears it down to earth for the scene with Achilles that will open the next book.

Book 19. The Feud is Ended

This is a short but important book, dominated as it is by the last and decisive assembly scene
in the poem. This is the book in which the quarrel of book 1 will be formally laid to rest, and
Achilles and Agamemnon resolve the outstanding issues between them including, most
movingly, the fate of Briseis herself, whose voice is heard for the first and last time in this
book. More generally, the book begins the poems last and most extraordinary day of
fighting: the day that will culminate in Hectors death. But the battle itself, and the supreme
aristeia that runs over the next three books, is still to come; this book is more concerned with
the human preparations for Achilles return, culminating in its final lines with Achilles riding
out to battle for the day he knows will seal the fates of Hector, of Troy, and of himself.
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A. Thetis and Achilles

The dawn that now breaks is the start of the poems last long day, extending through to the
first part of book 23. As promised, Thetis returns to Achilles at dawn, and in a poignant
tableau finds him still clinging to Patroclus corpse, from which she has gently to draw his
attention to the armour. Once more its unclear whether shes visible to anyone but Achilles,
but the armour certainly is; and the reaction of the watching Myrmidons, unable even to look
at it, makes a powerful contrast to the new spirit of purpose, warfare, and vengeance that
enters Achilles at the sight.
Achilles one remaining concern at leaving Patroclus is the decay of the body during the
day he has vowed to postpone its funeral. But Thetis promises to protect it from the ravages
of nature, which she does by using the food of the gods (ambrosia and nectar) as a kind of
supernatural preservative. But she urges Achilles to do one more thing before he puts on his
new armour: he must call one last assembly, and publicly renounce his quarrel with
Agamemnon.

B. The assembly
Echoes of the first assembly now come thick and fast. Both are called by Achilles, who
accordingly is the first speaker; Agamemnon is drawn in, and the tensions between them
crackle; and then a third voice steps in to urge compromise and reason. Then it was Nestor,
and here its Odysseus, who had a somewhat different role in book 1 (as leader of the mission
to Chryse), but here builds directly on the work he did in book 9. Then the assembly closes
with Agamemnons return of the slave captive at the centre of the dispute.
But even as the assembly gathers, were reminded of how much has changed since the
last one. Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus are all limping from their previous days
wounds; none of them will be in a state to fight again in the poem, though Diomedes and
Odysseus will have recovered sufficiently to take part in the funeral games the following day.
One effect of this will be to eliminate competition on this day of Achilles glory: Diomedes
and Agamemnon are the two attack fighters closest to Achilles in power, and clearing them
off the scene allows Achilles a clearer run in what will be essentially a one-man war.

1. Achilles speech
If wed been expecting an irrational, impassioned Achilles half-deranged by grief and
vengeance, his speech comes as a surprise. Hes diplomatic, magnanimous, and conciliatory,
though the terseness of his speech suggests an impatience to be doing rather than talking. He
doesnt once mention Patroclus perhaps we sense its too painful and speaks only of the
consequences of the quarrel for the Greeks as a whole. He accepts an equal share of
responsibility for the quarrel, but unilaterally and unconditionally renounces his own anger,
with no mention of compensation. And he indicates his need for Agamemnons role as
commander-in-chief, to mobilise the rest of the army so that Achilles can have a battle to go
out into.

2. Agamemnons speech
Agamemnons response is much longer, and one of the poems supreme displays of
characterisation in speech. It builds masterfully on the complex, difficult personality weve
come to recognise: tense, volatile, uneasy in his own judgment, hes a clumsy reader of
others mood, painfully aware of the fragile underpinnings of his authority, and not a man to
whom admission of fault, let alone apology, comes easily. Now he finds himself in front of
the assembled Greek army, with no script from Nestor or Odysseus to help him through the
scene, and having to match Achilles apology with a suitably magnanimous concession of his
own, all without losing face.
He begins hesitantly, apparently impaired by his wound; the Greek of line 77 is
ambiguous, and may mean that he doesnt stand up at all, or just that he stands up and makes
his speech from where hes been sitting rather than moving out into the centre. When he
finally gets to the point, its to elaborate vastly on his private analysis of his error to Nestor at
9.11520. There, we could see him fastening on the idea of Ate, Madness or Delusion, as
an external force that clouds judgment disastrously on Zeuss orders. This displaces
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responsibility from Agamemnon himself to an outside agent, and even flatters himself by
claiming the personal attention of Zeus. This peculiar private mythology, which doesnt seem
to be shared by anyone else, is now developed as a full-blown paradeigma, mixing allegory
and storytelling in the manner of Phoenix to Achilles.
the story of Ate (Delusion)
Like Phoenixs Prayers at 9.502ff., Delusion is given both an allegorical physical form and a
divine pedigree as child of Zeus. To deflect any sense that a visitation by Delusion might
reflect badly on himself, Agamemnon immediately points out that not only is the goddess a
senior daughter of Zeus, but Zeus himself has fallen under her power in the past. This then
leads into the engaging and Hesiodic just-so story of why humans make mistakes: because
Zeus threw Delusion out of heaven after she worked with Hera against him to ensure
Heracles subservience to Eurystheus.
The story itself is engagingly told, with Zeus set up as the victim in the opening summary,
and Hera as the trickster were told will outwit him. Then the detailed narrative begins, with
Zeus making his announcement of Heracles birth in direct speech, and Hera trapping him
into sealing his words with an oath that fatally fails to name the child to be born that day.
Then we follow Hera to Argos, where she induces the premature birth of Sthenelus so that he
rather than Heracles fulfils the oath leading, as the audience would know, to Heracles
subservience to Eurystheus, who set him his labours. Zeus doesnt respond, but has one of his
throwing rages (as with the luckless Hephaestus at 1.591 and 15.234) and whirls the goddess
round by her hair before hurling her to earth. Curiously, the goddess hasnt been mentioned
in the body of the story itself, and this final little Hesiodic touch of parable looks like a bit of
an addition by Agamemnon himself.
Having made it as clear as he can that he doesnt accept any real blame for his gargantuan
blunder, Agamemnon can now proceed to make one of his ostentatiously magnanimous
pseudo-apologies (as at 9.1601). He renews his offer of compensation which would have
been hard to withdraw, despite the Phoenixs warning at 9.6025 but adds a characteristic
swipe at the end, implying that Achilles might be more interested in the gifts than in the
fighting. These are the only lines in which Agamemnon addresses Achilles directly; many
commentators read this as a sign of continuing resentment.
Incidentally, yesterday in 141 isnt a slip. Greek days began at sunset, so two evenings
ago from this morning was actually the beginning of the previous day. (Youll probably
have to read that a couple more times before it begins to make sense.)

3. Achilles reply
Achilles response is pointedly minimal. He responds to the barbed closing lines by
disavowing any interest in Agamemnons gifts, and disdains to waste any more time talking
when they could be fighting. There may be an implicit criticism here of the length of
Agamemnons speech. But Achilles main concern is to get the battle started, and as
Agamemnon still hasnt given the order, he urges the army to action on his own account. So
now hes first snubbed Agamemnon, and now tries to bypass him completely.

4. Odysseus proposals
Odysseus sees at once that this wont do. Far from being publicly reconciled, Agamemnon
and Achilles are barely communicating at all, and their words seem charged with rising
tension and mutual contempt. But Odysseus presents his intervention as a purely practical
one: Achilles called the assembly at dawn, so nobody has had any breakfast yet. If Achilles
wants an army at his back, hell have to behave like a member of that army and wait for the
rest of them to be properly fed. Achilles may be their best fighter, but hes not their
commander.
Then he turns to Agamemnon, and we see why he need to buy the time that preparing a
meal will bring. The vague, offhand proposal of delivering the gifts to Achilles ship is not
enough to demonstrate their reconciliation. If Agamemnon wants to show hes renouncing
the quarrel as Achilles has, he needs to make as public a demonstration of it as possible.
Odysseus insists on holding Agamemnon to his original deal, in full and now also in public.
That means a public ceremony of handing over the gifts, the return of Briseis (though neither
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party has even mentioned her this time around), and the oath that Agamemnon originally
offered to swear that he has not slept with her. Achilles, for his part, needs to signal his
reconciliation by sitting down to Agamemnons hospitality. His closing lines are masterly: an
apology, properly made, can actually be a kingly gesture in itself whereas nobody is going
to swallow Agamemnons protestations that he wasnt primarily to blame for the quarrel.

5. Agamemnons assent
One of Agamemnons stronger points is recognising good advice when its given. He readily
agrees to all Odysseus recommendations, and gives orders accordingly, putting Odysseus in
charge of the practical arrangements. He may be enjoying Achilles frustration more than he
should be; certainly he shows no more eagerness than he did before to address Achilles
directly.

6. Achilles vows fast

But now its Achilles turn to dig in his heels. He chafes at the delay, and finds the thought of
sitting down to a leisurely breakfastand a big handover ritual faintly indecent when he has a
vow of vengeance to fulfil. He sticks to his guns: he will continue to fast until Patroclus is
avenged, and he insists that the rest of the army do the same.

7. Odysseus stands firm

Achilles addressed himself to Agamemnon, but Odysseus deftly interposes himself. He
softens Achilles up by freely conceding him the greater warrior; but this is one occasion when
Odysseus superior age, experience, and human understanding will not be gainsaid.
Historionic gestures like fasting are not appropriate in war. Morale, as the unusual extended
metaphor of the reaping explains, is volatile, and the work of fighting needs to be properly
fuelled with food. But let nobody make any mistake about whats being proposed: after this
meal, they go straight to war.

C. The return of Briseis

Odysseus has stood up to both Achilles and Agamemnon, and won. His is the last word, and
is immediately put into action. A requisition squad of younger warriors go straight to
Agamemnons tent and, under Odysseus direction, fulfil the list of compensation items he
has memorised from two evenings back. Then they bring everything back to the assembly,
and Agamemnon swears his oath in front of the whole army.

1. Agamemnons oath
The last time we saw a ceremony like this was the oaths of truce at the duel of Menelaus and
Paris (3.267ff.). Here, as there, we have an act of sacrifice with Agamemnon, as officiant,
pronouncing the terms of the oath as he makes the sacrificial cut. But this time the oath is
about Agamemnons own past actions, and the ritual gesture has the effect of publicly
solemnising Agamemnons apology to Achilles.

2. Achilles speech
Achilles, for his part, shows himself more willing than before to play his part. He publicly
accepts the apology in the terms that Agamemnon himself has cast it: a visitation of Delusion,
from Zeus, as part of a master plan in which Agamemnon and himself are merely
instruments. And he concludes with an invitation to the army to go ahead with their meal,
though he makes it clear he sees all this as merely a preliminary to battle.

3. Briseis lament
Now comes an entirely unexpected scene, and one of the most moving in the poem. Weve
been thinking of Briseis, and Chryseis before her, as little more than an exchange of pawns,
and certainly Agamemnon and Odysseus have been bracketing her, and the other slave
women, with tripods and cauldrons. No slave speaks elsewhere in the Iliad, and weve no
reason to expect it here. But on being confronted with the corpse of Patroclus, Briseis gives a
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voice to the experience of the wars most voiceless victims: the enslaved survivors of
Achilles massacres, who prefigure the fate of Troy itself.
Briseis, we now learn, has a story very like Andromaches, except that her husband was
himself one of the victims of Achilles Phrygian raids, and she has had to endure being the
slave of her familys killer. Though its not spelled out, ancient commentators assumed that
Mynes, the king of Lyrnessus slain by Achilles, was Briseis husband, and she therefore a
former queen. And yet, despite all shes lost, Patroclus offered her a future of sorts:
promising to induce Achilles to marry her formally when they got back to Greece. How much
of this is true, and how much fond deception by Patroclus, Briseis, or both, is impossible to
gauge. But the impression weve had throughout of Patroclus sympathetic nature is more
vividly reinforced here than at any time during his life.
After she finishes, two famous lines brilliantly generalise from her own speech to the
universal experience of all the other slave women. Their role, as slaves of Achilles, is to join
in the mourning; but each has private sorrows of her own that, as in Briseis case, are the real
subject of lament. Such moments, where the narrator tells us explicitly of a secret thought
behind the public words, are more characteristic of the Odyssey than the Iliad; but in antiquity
this was the most famous of them all.

D. Achilles prepares for war

Meanwhile, everyone but Achilles is breakfasting. The final section of the book deals with
Achilles final preparations before battle is joined: his fast, his farewell to Patroclus, his
arming, and an unexpected and eerie manifestation of his doom.

1. Achilles fast and lament

The senior heroes, Agamemnon included, are with Achilles (having presumably accompanied
Briseis, though this isnt spelled out), but he continues to refuse food. Instead, he delivers his
own version of Briseis speech: a moving lament for all he has lost or has now given up for
lost. As increasingly, his thoughts turn to his father Peleus, whom he now knows for a
certainty he will never see again. But for the first time he also names his son Neoptolemus,
growing up without him on the Aegean island of Scyros. Lost poems in the epic cycle
explained how Achilles was stranded on Scyros by a storm and there married the kings
daughter Dedameia, and how after Achilles death Neoptolemus himself came to Troy to
play a decisive role in the sack. That seems to be the version alluded to here; to judge from
Odysseus version at 9.2529 and Nestors at 11.76988, Homer doesnt seem to know the
standard later story that had Achilles hidden by Thetis in Scyros, disguised as a girl, to
prevent him going to his doom at Troy. (9.3678 referred to a sack of Scyros by Achilles
himself an event otherwise unknown, and already a puzzle to the ancient commentators.)
As the slave women hide their own sorrows in the general lamentation, so, poignantly, do
the senior warriors (all of whom have left children at home) hear their own sorrows echoed in
Achilles words, and grieve accordingly.

2. Athene nourishes Achilles

Then we pull back to see Zeus watching this scene from Olympus. Himself moved by
Achilles lament, but perhaps with a sense of military realities closer to Odysseus, Zeus
sends Athene down to nourish Achilles secretly with the same divine foods, nectar and
ambrosia, used earlier as supernatural preservatives for Patroclus corpse. It may seem a
rather pointless episode, but its important to the next few books that we understand that
Achilles is operating at full strength, fast or no fast.

3. Achilles arms
Now the army musters, and Achilles is the subject of the poems fourth and final arming
scene. Its the most simile-rich of the quartet, with special emphasis on the gleam from his
armour (which is not only divine, but also brand new) in the similes that accompany each
item as he dons them. Only the spear is old, a family heirloom with a history of its own; we
remember that this was the one item Patroclus had to leave behind because he couldnt lift it
(16.1404, quoted again here).
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4. the horses speak

The final phase of Achilles arming is the harnessing of his divine horses to his chariot. But
here were treated to one of the strangest scenes in Homer: the horse Xanthus is briefly given
the power of speech by Hera, to prophesy Achilles own imminent death. Weve heard of this
many times, but Xanthus adds three more details to the picture formed so far:
(i) itll be violent;
(ii) itll be at the hands of a god and a mortal (well learn their names in book 22)
(iii) though itll be soon, it wont be today.
This is all closely reminiscent of the dying Patroclus prophecy to Hector. But where Hector
dismissed the prediction, Achilles accepts it, and merely reaffirms his resolve: until the day
comes, he will fight. And with that, he rides out to the poems final and most extraordinary
battle.

Book 20. The Gods Go to War

This book sees the resumption of battle and the beginning of Achilles aristeia, which will
extend over three books and culminate in the showdown with Hector. But it also introduces a
remarkable counter-plot that will make this days fighting different from all those weve seen
so far: the wholesale involvement of the gods on the battlefield, not just with the mortal
armies but with each other as well. The big payoff to all this is really in the next book, but it
allows the battle to open with all the major characters in play, divine as well as mortal, as
Achilles now takes over the war almost single-handed.
The actual fighting in the book is built around two inconclusive duels between Achilles
and the key Trojan defenders: first Aeneas, and then Hector himself. But its the Aeneas
scene that forms the centrepiece of the book: the most expansive, detailed duel in the poem so
far, and a dramatic rehearsal for the decisive duel with Hector.

A. Council in Olympus
To begin this momentous final phase of the action, Zeus summons a full, formal conclave on
Olympus of all the gods, right down to the lowliest meadow-nymph. For the first time, the
full weight of the available divine machinery is brought to bear on the narrative, after Zeuss
promise to Thetis (now fulfilled) drove him to impose an ever-tighter ban on divine activity.

1. Zeus rescinds his edict

Poseidon, as the senior divinity next to Zeus himself, speaks first on behalf of the assembled
gods. Something momentous is up, and sure enough Zeus reveals a new plan of battle.
Before, he stationed himself in an observation post on the Ida ridge and forbade the other
gods to intervene in any way in the battle, on pain of being thrown bodily out of heaven.
Now, with his promise to Thetis fulfilled and Achilles back in action, he reverses his policy
180 degrees. Left unchecked in his present fury, Achilles is in danger of sacking Troy single-
handed, which cant be allowed to happen. Zeus, for once, will sit the battle out on Olympus;
but the other gods have carte blanche to intervene on either side as they please.

2. The gods join the battle

Now we have a kind of catalogue of the gods as they descend to their stations on either side.
The Greeks are supported by Hera, Athene, Poseidon, Hermes, and Hephaestus, while the
Trojans have six to the Greeks five: Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Leto (mother of
Apollo and Artemis), and the river-god Xanthus (god of the Scamander river, and not to be
confused with Achilles talking horse of the same name).
Meanwhile on earth, the Trojans have their first sight of Achilles coming out to battle,
from their position in the plain where theyve pitched their camp overnight. Left to
themselves, they might turn and flee or be slaughtered by Achilles as Polydamas predicted.
But the coming of the gods to battle supersedes all that. While Athene positions herself at the
Nestors ditch and gives the war-yell for the Greeks, Ares does the same from the citadel of
Troy (where he manifests, evocatively, as a dark stormcloud). Above, the sky thunders at
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Zeuss command; below, the earth trembles at Poseidons; and down in hell, Hades fears that
the kingdom of the dead will be broken open. Its an awesome, apocalyptic moment. Its
going to be a day to remember.

B. The gods square off

Obviously, if the gods do all the fighting then even Achilles is going to be fairly redundant.
But the fact that there are gods on both sides of the battle means that they can duel one
another while the mortals take care of themselves. The gods swiftly fall into five duelling
pairs, whose decisive encounters will actually come in the next book. Aphrodite isnt named
here, but well later see she backs up Ares against Athene, who has of course already clashed
with both of them in book 5. The one to watch is the final pair, Hephaestus versus Xanthus;
this elemental duel of fire against water will become a fantastic set piece in the next book.
for Greeks for Trojans
Poseidon versus Apollo
Athene versus Ares (+ Aphrodite)
Hera versus Artemis
Hermes versus Leto
Hephaestus versus Xanthus

C. Aeneas v Achilles
With the gods distracted with one another, the mortal action can proceed pretty much as
normal; but the gods can and will break off their combat to intervene at any suitable moment,
as we see in the great duel that dominates the book. Achilles, of course, has no interest in
anyone but Hector in his sights. But as well see, hell have a fight on his hands to get to that
point, because the first to cross his path is the scarcely less formidable Aeneas.

1. Apollo (as Lycaon) urges Aeneas against Achilles

Apollo leaves off his confrontation with Poseidon to take human disguise (well meet the real
Lycaon in a memorable scene in the next book) and admonish Aeneas in familiar terms of
shame and duty, with particular emphasis on his own past boasting. (Compare Poseidon to
Idomeneus at 13.21920). Aeneas is stung, but remembers only too vividly his last encounter
with Achilles, which well hear a lot about in this book. It took place during the now-
notorious Lyrnessus raid on which Briseis was captured, which was located in the Phrygian
coastal area south of the Mount Ida ridge. (I couldnt make room for a map here, but check
out http://www.tejones.net/images/maps/Troad_Map.jpg for Walter Leafs map of the region,
or http://www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Temples/Troy/Troad-Phrygia_map.gif for a
slightly clearer, but less detailed, modern version. Pedasus hasnt been mentioned before
now; the Leleges named below are its people.) Now it transpires that Achilles targeted
Aeneas family herds as part of that campaign, and that Aeneas had to run from him to save
himself. Achilles, he is convinced, enjoys such divine favour as to make him invincible.
What Aeneas doesnt realise is that he is even more invincible than Achilles, for reasons
the audience may be aware of but which arent spelled out just yet. For now, Apollo merely
points out that Aeneas also has a goddess for a mother, and a considerably more high-ranking
and powerful one than Thetis, so that if anyone is likely to be protected by the gods in this
encounter itll be him. He inspires him with his power, and supports him as he goes to face
Achilles.

2. the gods withdraw

Now the gods on the Greek side see the duel developing, with Apollo aiding Aeneas and
nobody to balance him on Achilles side. Hera proposes throwing the weight of herself,
Poseidon, and Athene in on Achilles side: a dramatic and dangerous escalation of the divine
conflict. Its not in the poems interests for this to happen, of course, as it would detract
disastrously from the heroics of the human characters; and Poseidons counter-proposal is
instead that all the gods, including Apollo, sit this one out and let the duel go whichever way
it will. This voluntary truce proves acceptable, and Aeneas is left to face Achilles on his own.
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The story of Heracles alluded to here is part of the same cycle of the heros Trojan
adventures as his sack of Troy in the reign of Laomedon (5.63842) and his stormy
homeward journey thanks to Heras intrigues (14.24959, 15.2630). Poseidon and Apollo
had built the walls of Troy for Laomedon, who then refused to pay them; Poseidon then sent
a sea-monster, to which the Trojans were required to sacrifice Laomedons daughter (and
Priams sister) Hesione. Laomedon offered his horses as a reward to Heracles if he killed the
sea-monster and saved Hesione, but then welshed on this bargain too, whereupon Heracles
killed Laomedon and sacked Troy for the first time.

3. the duel
Now the two approach for the duel, and its pretty clear from the lion simile which of them
has the advantage. Theres a bit of a Glaucus-and-Diomedes quality to this encounter, with its
long genealogical speech from the weaker antagonist putting off a very unequal combat, only
for the episode to end with a twist that takes both parties by surprise.
(a) Achilles challenge
Achilles goads Aeneas expertly. First, he rakes up the tensions between Aeneas branch of
the family and the royal house of Priam (13.45961). Ironically, well shortly learn that
Aeneas is indeed destined to inherit from Priam, though neither of them can possibly know
this at the time.
Next he reminds him of their encounter on Mount Ida, of which more details now emerge:
it was Aeneas flight from Achilles to refuge in Lyrnessus that led to Achilles sack of that
entire city, the capture of Briseis and the slaughter of her family. Aeneas, clearly, was lucky
to escape; if he doesnt run again now, hes unlikely to be so fortunate this time.
(b) Aeneas reply
Like Glaucus even longer speech to Diomedes, Aeneas reply sounds like nervous
genealogising to put off a combat he can only lose. Unlike Glaucus, he doesnt even have the
excuse of having been asked. But hes evidently developing the idea planted by Apollo, that
at least in terms of divine parentage Aeneas can trump Achilles ancestry with ease. There
may also be a hint of defensiveness against Achilles dig at the status of his family line
relative to Priams, since he now gives a detailed and, it has to be admitted, fascinating
account of the Zeus
entire family tree
by branch and Dardanus
generation. It looks
like this adding in Erichthonius
the names of
Priams nephews
Tros
from book 15,
where all three
were killed, and the Ilus Assaracus Ganymede
hero of the later
epic A e t h i o p i s, Laomedon Capys
Memnon, who isnt
mentioned in the Tithonus Priam Lampus Clytius Hicetaon Anchises
Iliad.
Memnon Hector Dolops Caletor Melanippus Aeneas
(&c.)

Aeneas is thus Hectors third cousin, from the younger branch of the house of Tros, but far
outside the line of inheritance. The methodical genealogy is enlivened with glorious little
snippets of family history embedded: the love of the North Wind for Erichthonius mares; the
abduction of Ganymede to heaven. Despite the sense of temporising, theres a defiant feeling
of beat that to the whole virtuoso recitation.
Aeneas closes with an amusingly protracted expression of disdain for protracted speech.
But hes aware that he needs to end the conversation and get on with the fight, and he doesnt
give Achilles a chance to respond.
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(c) the exchange of spearcasts

At last the combat begins, with Aeneas in fact making a formidable first throw. Now comes a
finely-observed moment: Achilles immediately realises that this is a throw of shield-piercing
force, and for an instant believes that his number is up. But hes forgotten that today hes
fighting with no ordinary shield, and even Aeneas best shot can only achieve 40%
penetration.
Achilles now has a chance to return the throw, and Aeneas merely mortal shield is
shredded, though a quick goalkeeper duck from Aeneas means the spear misses his flesh as it
comes through. Now that both spears have been thrown, the duel proceeds to the next round:
Achilles charges with the sword, but Aeneas aims to get in first with a stone-throw.
(d) Poseidons prophecy
Now comes a remarkable stroke of counterfactual narrative, following what didnt happen
next: Aeneas throw hits armour and fails to do damage, leaving Achilles clear to attack with
the sword and kill him. But this future is intercepted by Poseidon, a supporter of the Greeks
since Laomedons day, but also a god who thinks and feels more deeply than his fellows.
Poseidon feels that the gods (specifically Apollo) got Aeneas into this mess, and they
shouldnt just abandon him to his fate. Poseidons quarrel is specifically with the house of
Laomedon, and Aeneas had done nothing to deserve his wrath. And the clincher: Aeneas,
were suddenly told, is destined to survive the war, and to carry on the line of Dardanus
through his branch.
This is a fascinating revelation, and its unclear what we should make of it. It used to be
thought that an aristocratic clan in Phrygia claimed descent from Aeneas, and was being
flattered both here and in the version of this tradition alluded to in the Homeric Hymn to
Aphrodite (which tells the story of Aeneas conception, and ends with Aphrodites prophecy
of the greatness of his descendants). Were now more cautious about this, and it remains
possible that Aeneas survival was invented in this passage. But it becomes a standard
element in later versions, eventually crystallising in the tradition of Aeneas escape to the
west to found Rome the story given its definitive form in Virgils Aeneid.
Hera and Athene refuse to have anything to do with this: unlike Poseidons, their quarrel
is with Troy itself. But though they dont approve, they wont and cant stand in his way.
(e) the rescue of Aeneas
Aeneas has been divinely rescued once already (by his mother, Aphrodite) at 5.3118, and
this scene uses a similar manoeuvre. Poseidon cloaks the scene in a mist of invisibility and
teleports Aeneas out of the battle, taking care to detach Achilles spear (which will be needed
later) behind. As he sets him down, he issues a firm warning: there is to be no combat
between Aeneas and Achilles, who is the one Greek capable of killing him. In other words,
we can expect this to be be Aeneas last appearance in the poem; this is not his story, and its
time to step aside for the main event.
(f) Achilles reaction
Achilles is left, like Menelaus after Paris similar teleportation by Aphrodite at 3.44854,
staring at empty air. But hes sharper than Menelaus, and realises what has happened, and
that Aeneas claim to divine genealogy was more pertinent than he gave it credit for at the
time. He at once sees that nothings to be gained by going after Aeneas again; its time to turn
his attention to his original target, Hector.

D. Achilles and Hector

With Achilles return to the main battle, a decisive showdown with Hector seems inevitable.
But one of the things that the Aeneas episode has demonstrated is that the course of battle
becomes far less predictable when the gods are given free rein.
1. Achilles rallies the Greeks
The clash begins with a pair of speeches by the leaders, which bring out their contrasting
personalities and qualities well. Achilles keeps his personal fixation with Hector out of his
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speech, and instead frames his appeal in terms of his own relationship of mutual support with
the other soldiers. He needs them, and they can count on him.
2. Hector rallies the Trojans
Hector, in contrast, speaks only of Achilles, and makes dealing with him his business. But his
vague promise of partial victory and his formidable closing description dont sound like the
sentiments of a man likely to win such an encounter.
3. Apollo warns Hector off
Apollo is the first to spot the parallels with Aeneas near-fatal challenge, and sees that a
formal duel would be disastrous for his champion. Hectors best chance is to meet Achilles in
the general mele, with others around them.
4. Achilles aristeia begins
So begins Achilles slaughter, which will gather pace over the course of this book and the
next until the Trojans are completely routed and Hector alone left to face him. The first
sequence sees four kills in quick succession, which together give us our first glimpse of what
differentiates Achilles from his peers as a killing machine.
Iphition The first kill is a spearthrust of extraordinary power and violence that splits
his victims head in two. We did see the same effect once before, from
Patroclus at 16.412 but that was from a stone, whereas this one comes
solely from a stab of the spear. Its followed up with a Lie there pattern
of boasting-speech thats reserved for Achilles in his aristeia, and which
conveys a sense of the emotional energy Achilles invests in each kill, which
often needs to be discharged with a speech over the body. An unusual and
grisly touch of pathos comes with the final glimpse of the corpse
disappearing under the wheels of the chariots.
Demoleon Achilles second victim similarly dies from a skull-splitting spear-thrust
Hippodamas and his third gets one in the back as he tries to escape, with a poignant
simile comparing his dying screams to a bull being sacrificed. Now the
Trojans are running.
Polydorus Achilles top-scoring kill, though, is a son of Priam himself, with an
especially ironic and poignant story. Hes the baby of the family and Priams
favourite, and has joined the battle against his fathers orders. Polydorus,
like Hippodamas, is running away; but Achilles now throws his spear,
disembowelling him gruesomely from behind.
5. Achilles v Hector: the abortive duel
This is the sight that stings Hector into action, in defiance of Apollos instructions. Achilles is
galvanised by his approach, and things move fast now.
(a) the challenges
Achilles challenge is terse, minimal, grim. He has no words for Hector, but only the point of
his spear.
Hector responds with an inadvertent echo of Aeneas opening words at 2002 a little
signal to the audience of the artful parallels between these two duels, and thus of the
imminent outcome. He doesnt make rash boasts on this occasion; on the contrary, he frankly
admits that Achilles outclasses him, but is willing to take his chance anyway.
(b) the gods interfere
But no duel between these two can reach a conclusion while the gods are able to interpose
themselves freely. First Athene deflects Hectors spear from Achilles, and then, when
Achilles charges, Apollo swathes Hector in a protective mist. Achilles four charges recall
Patroclus three charges at the walls of Troy, his rebuff by Apollo, and his final assault on the
Trojan ranks that led to his death on the fourth attack. But unlike Patroclus, Achilles sees
when to back off, even though hes only a spears length away from the vengeance he craves.
As with Aeneas, he sees the handiwork of a god here, and that he wont be able to take
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Hector without clear divine backing of his own. How and when that will happen now
becomes a matter of suspense and conjecture for the audience, as Achilles finds himself
driven again to the slaughter of minor figures instead.

E. Achilles aristeia continues

The book closes with a resumption of Achilles rampage through the Trojan ranks. This
section is closely continuous with the opening of 21, which is the real payoff to this sequence,
but it still gives a powerful sense of the force and fury of Achilles battle-frenzy. Though the
text doesnt make this clear until the end, Achilles is in his chariot throughout this sequence.
Dryops Thus the first kills come at speed: first a spear-thrust
Demuchus and then apparently a throw of the same spear to bring down his next
victim, who is then finished off with his sword.
Dardanus & Then comes a chariot kill, two at a swoop: one with a spearthrow and one at
Laogonus close quarters with the sword.
Tros Next comes Achilles first supplicant, prefiguring the great scene with
Lycaon in the next book. As the narrators grim nepios-statement makes
clear, though, Achilles is in no mood for mercy, and dispatches Tros with a
blow to the belly before he can open his mouth to plead.
Mulius Next comes another of Achilles horrific head-thrusts with his spear
Echeclus and a head sliced in half with his sword
Deucalion followed by a bold and shocking coup of narrative camerawork, as his
next victim is disabled and we watch his death-blow approach through the
victims eyes, and then suddenly cut to the scene of the head being severed
and going flying. You wont see that shot in Kill Bill.
Rhigmus & The sequence is rounded off with a second double, another chariot-kill of
Arethous both occupants. Notice that he lets the horses go; at no point during this book
has Achilles shown the slightest interest in the profitable distractions of
stripping armour, taking prisoners, or capturing horses and chariots.
the double simile
The book closes with a pair of similes that leave the predator-similes of previous heroes
behind. Achilles is now beyond lions and boars; hes a force of nature, and his chariot as
ruthless and unstoppable as an agricultural machine. The only power that can stand up to him,
as weve already seen, is that of the gods; and in a battlefield now awash with gods, that clash
has now displaced Hector as the next great collision we can expect.
Were now deep into the poems final phase, and the threads of Act II have been wound up.
Achilles has made his peace with Agamemnon, has rejoined the battle, and has embarked on
his own aristeia: a sustained one-man exhibition of force and fury that puts earlier battle
sequences in the shade. The ground is now cleared for the decisive duel between Achilles and
Hector, with only the massed gods on either side still standing in the way. The next book will
deal with that seismic collision of mortal and god, leaving Achilles and Hector to face one
another alone. But Achilles has still to learn that repaying death with death is not going to lay
his demons to rest, and that neither Hectors death nor his own will resolve his story as it
needs.
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Iliad 2124: Endgame

The four closing books are the most powerful such sequence in the whole poem. This
instalment includes two of the poems five key books (1, 9, 16, 22, 24), and the other two
books are among the finest in the rest of the poem.
At the end of book 20, two major plot strands were under way. One was Achilles
revenge, with his aristeia dominating the battle to such an extent that no other Greek warrior
was so much as named in the whole book. The other was the war of the gods, unleashed at
last by Zeus to descend en masse to the battlefield and throw themselves into the fighting
without restriction. Well see these strands wrapped up in the first pair of books, which close
the Iliads final and most decisive day of fighting: the day of Achilles aristeia and revenge,
on which the ultimate fate of Troy will finally be determined.
But all this will turn out to be a false ending to the poems real story, as the two great
books which close the poem reveal that Achilles moment of revenge is far from the
resolution he craves. Book 21 completes Achilles rout of the Trojans and recapture of the
Scamander plain, and interweaves this story with the climax of the battle of the gods begun in
the previous book. This clears the field of gods and men for the decisive showdown between
Achilles and Hector in book 22. Book 23s funeral games for Patroclus then provide a
curtain-call for the other major heroes on the Greek side, none of whom has been involved in
the climactic days fighting; and the magnificent final book returns to Achilles for a moving
and unexpected close to the story.

Book 21. Achilles Fights the River

The events and concerns of this book follow especially closely on from book 20. In that book,
the main plot of Achilles revenge was already interlacing with the story of the war of the
gods. By the end of the book, the two strands were already beginning to converge with
Achilles finding himself increasingly caught up in the gods war, as his attempt to force a
showdown with Hector found itself frustrated by Apollo. Now, the action moves
progressively from the human plane to the divine, beginning with the most savage phase of
Achilles mortal aristeia and gradually escalating into a conflict of man with god and
ultimately of god with god. The tone of the conflict shifts along with these metaphysical
realignments, from brutal pathos to baroque fantasy and finally to supernatural knockabout
farce. Youll remember that in book 20 the gods lined up against one another in pairs. In this
book, all five divine duels reach their climax, and we learn why the gods have been held back
from this kind of combat until now.
Most of the action of the book is set in and around the river Scamander, which has been a
background feature of the landscape throughout but only now takes a role in the action. Its
the book which shows Achilles at his most ferocious and merciless but also paradoxically at
his most vulnerable, as the greatest of killers finds himself suddenly helpless in the face of
even the least of his divine opponents. Well also see the clearest emergence of a theme thats
going to be central to the final books: Achilles attitude to death and the traditional rights of
his victims to ransom and burial.
One of the key functions of this book is to clear the battlefield for the showdown with
Hector which takes up the whole of the next book. At the start of the book, we rejoin the
battle with the Trojans already in flight; by the end, Achilles will have single-handedly
recaptured the Scamander plain and driven all the Trojans but one back into the protection of
the city. That one, of course, will be Hector. Though he plays no part at all in this book, his
moment is about to come.

A. The rout of the Trojans

The opening sequence continues directly from the end of 20, where Achilles had temporarily
abandoned the pursuit of Hector after Apollos rescue, and had turned to the slaughter and
rout of the rest of the Trojan army. Now the action comes into focus around the Scamander
river, which will play a dramatic and spectacular role in the central events of the book. This is
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part of a more general increase in attention to landscape and detail as the climax under the
walls of Troy approaches.

1. the slaughter in the river

Achilles pursuit splits the Trojans into two separate routs. One group escapes across the open
plain towards the city, and well catch up with them at the end of the book (which is why they
need to be slowed down here by Heras intervention). But Achilles himself goes after the
second group, whove trapped themselves by trying to flee across the river Scamander
(Xanthus). The river crossing slows them down enough for Achilles to leap into the river and
slaughter at his leisure.

2. the prisoners for sacrifice

But Achilles isnt so far gone as to forget his vow at 19.3367 of human sacrifices on
Patroclus funeral pyre. He pauses the slaughter to take the twelve prisoners promised, and
well see the grisly fulfilment of his promise at 23.1757. This pause also allows some other
Trojans time to escape from the currents, among whom is the luckless hero of the celebrated
scene that follows.

B. Lycaon
The Lycaon episode is the centrepiece of Achilles aristeia: a grimly magnificent
demonstration of Achilles new attitude to warfare and death in the light of Patroclus loss,
his own quest for vengeance, and the newly-sealed certainty of his own doom.

1. his story
We havent met Lycaon in person before, though Paris borrowed some of his armour at 3.333
for the duel with Menelaus. Now, the narrative is paused while we learn his story: captured
from one of Priams orchards where he was working during a night raid by Achilles, and sold
as a slave on Lemnos to the Trojans main supplier Euneus son of Jason (7.46775). Later we
learn more about this deal (23.7409): Achilles agent in the sale of Lycaon to Euneus was
none other than Patroclus himself. Euneus then sold Lycaon on to an island ally of Priams,
Etion of Imbros, who returned him to his father via Arisbe on the Hellespont a roundabout
route perhaps devised to keep him out of Greek clutches. Hes only been home in Troy
twelve days, meaning that he must have arrived back during the early days of Achilles two-
week sulk (in 1.48892), so its not surprising that Achilles hasnt seen him since his return.
If this all seems pretty convoluted, heres a diagram which tries to explain what happened.
1
Priam Achilles
5

100 oxen and/or

4 2
cup

Etion Euneus
of 3 of
Imbros Lemnos
300 oxen

Lycaon
price
2. Achilles soliloquy
Achilles immediately recognises Lycaon because hes taken off his helmet to lighten him in
his escape from the river. The speech is presented as a (rare) soliloquy, but most
commentators read it as sardonic joking, presumably intended for Lycaons and other ears.
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As we learn in a moment from his own mouth, Lycaon is an extremely valuable captive: the
hundred oxen Achilles received for him is the value of Glaucus complete set of golden
armour at 6.236, and Euneus himself received three times that amount from Etion. That
Achilles is no longer interested in cashing in his value as a living prisoner speaks volumes
about how much has changed since their last encounter.

3. the supplication
Lycaon succeeds better than the hapless Tros (20.463ff.), who similarly made a dash at
Achilles to assume a suppliant posture, but was stabbed before he could make contact.
Lycaon manages to dodge the spear and get into position to deliver his speech, at the same
time restraining Achilles spear with his free hand. Having assumed the suppliant posture, as
he immediately explains, he has a right to be heard. First he reminds Achilles of the price he
fetched as a prisoner, and reveals the even greater price he could have fetched if Achilles had
sold him directly to Etion. Then, perhaps sensing that Achilles is not in a mood for financial
incentives, he tries to appeal to his pity for the mother whose other son he has already killed
(at 20.40718); and he tries to exclude himself from Achilles revenge by pleading that hes
only the half-brother, not a full brother, of Patroclus killer.

4. Achilles reply
But none of this cuts any ice with the new Achilles. His reply, and its followup, are among
the poems great speeches: a grim summary of how his world has been changed by the events
of the last 24 hours. The old Achilles would have happily ransomed his captive; but that was
before Patroclus death and Achilles decision to accept his own as the price to be paid for
vengeance. Patroclus is dead, and soon he will be too; if even such as these can die, in
Achilles case willingly, then nobody else has a right to make a fuss about it.

5. the death blow

The blow itself is described in graphic, lingering detail almost a slow-motion effect, as
Lycaon releases the spear to make a final gesture of appeal, and Achilles instead of using the
spear drives his sword down into Lycaons exposed throat before tossing the corpse casually
into the river. This is a further intimation of Achilles new disdain for the niceties of funeral
rites and the normal entitlement of the dead to proper disposal. At the moment, this seems
merely a marker of the intensity of Achilles fury, and his new indifference to human
attempts to blunt the raw reality of death with social rituals of closure. But as the time of his
vengeance comes, well see that its a crucial part of the final phase of his story.

6. Achilles speech over the corpse

Another superb speech follows, the greatest of all the poems boasts over a slain warrior.
Achilles spells out his open rejection of civilised niceties: hes deliberately denying Lycaon
and his mother the normal rites of burial, and instead gruesomely imagines the body being
slowly nibbled away by fish. Then the speech opens up to promise a similar fate to every
other Trojan: only that might begin to compensate for the death of Patroclus. Clearly,
Achilles guilt and vengefulness are unlikely to be satisfied by the death even of Hector:
another sign of developments to come.
In the meantime, however, Achilles speech triggers a much more immediate
development. As well as expressing contempt for the rights of the dead, Achilles slights the
power of the river-god himself claiming that none of the sacrifices the Trojans have offered
the river will be enough to save them. This is the same kind of dangerous deprecation of a
gods power that proves so disastrous for the hero of the Odyssey when he takes Poseidons
name in vain in his boast to the Cyclops.

C. The wrath of Xanthus/Scamander

Sure enough, the river-god begins to plan a response. These three deft lines establish the god
as an unseen witness of the scene that follows, allowing us to imagine the anger described
here building still further until the moment it spectacularly erupts.
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1. Asteropaeus
The gods first response is to present Achilles with his first serious opponent since Aeneas in
the previous book. Asteropaeus first appeared at 12.102 as the Paeonian leader of the allied
attack on the Greek wall, alongside the Lycian commanders Sarpedon and Glaucus. He seems
to have taken over the leadership of his contingent after their original catalogue leader
Pyraechmes (2.848) was killed by Patroclus at 16.287. Now, the river-god pits him as his
divinely-supported champion against Achilles: the beginnings of the books escalation of the
action from the mortal plane to the divine. Hes an apt choice of champion, as Asteropaeus is
himself descended from a river-god a fact that will prove crucial in what follows.
(a) the challenges
Achilles doesnt recognise Asteropaeus, and we quickly learn why: hes another figure whos
only arrived on the scene of battle during Achilles period on strike. Achilles terse challenge
and question carries the usual warning of certain death for any who stands against him; but
Asteropaeus doesnt flinch, and explains his genealogy (which Achilles needs to know for the
sequel) before advancing to meet the challenge.
(b) the exchance of spearcasts
Because Achilles hasnt encountered Asteropaeus before, hes unaware of the trick that
makes him especially formidable, which takes Achilles by suprise as much as it does the
audience. Though its quite common for a warrior to carry two spears, Asteropaeus is able to
throw them simultaneously instead of in succession, because he can throw with both hands
rather than just with his right. Its impossible for even Achilles to dodge more than one spear
at a time, and Asteropaeus is the one Trojan to succeed in drawing blood from him while
Achilles misses entirely with his counter-throw.
(c) the sword of Achilles
Unfortunately for Asteropaeus, hes thrown both his spears and now faces an Achilles
charging in for the second phase of the duel close combat with the sword, where Achilles is
unbeatable. Asteropaeus one hope is to throw Achilles spear back at him; but as we saw at
16.13944, Achilles spear is so heavy that even Patroclus couldnt lift it. The familiar three
times and then on the fourth pattern is powerfully used here to heighten the tension as
Achilles closes in and his sword makes its the inevitable strike.
This is the only time in this book that Achilles pauses in his killing to strip one of his
victims armour. His motive for doing so now is only apparent two books later: Asteropaeus
armour is destined to be part of the prizes awarded at Patroclus funeral games (23.5602,
23.8078).
(d) Achilles boast
Achilles now delivers his second boasting-speech of the book, using Asteropaeus boast of
his own river-god ancestry to compare lineages, further disparaging not just Asteropaeus
ancestor but the river-god watching this whole episode, whose power is now slighted for the
second time. This time were not told explicitly of the gods reaction, which can be
sufficiently imagined from the state of his anger even before this episode.

2. the river strikes back

Achilles retrieves his spear effortlessly, and contemptuously leaves Asteropaeus where he
fell, half in and half out of the water. Having killed their leader, he now proceeds to the
slaughter of Asteropaeus Paeonian comrades. But the death of his champion leaves the river-
god no option but to intervene directly, in one of the poems rare flights of bizarre but
brilliant fantasy.
(a) seven more kills
Achilles now establishes the Iliads record for the highest concentration of named kills per
line: seven in just two lines, beating the previous record of nine in three lines. This is the peak
of his aristeia, and the moment calls for more than mortal resistance.
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(b) the river-gods plea to Achilles

Though angry, the god is remarkably polite in his initial request. Despite his pro-Trojan
sympathies, he neither attacks nor even threatens, merely asking Achilles to do his killing
somewhere else.
(c) Achilles reply
Achilles initially seems to agree readily to the gods request: he wont give up his slaughter,
but he agrees to continue it on dry land. Its not clear why this apparent compromise fails, or
why Achilles subsequently jumps into the river anyway. Ive yet to see a convincing solution
to this one analyst critics, as usual, fall back on the familiar all-purpose claims of multiple
strata of composition. But as problems go its a fairly minor one, and what follows is amazing
stuff.
(d) the river attacks
The river-god calls on Apollo, accusing him of neglecting not only his duty but Zeuss
command rather overstating the mandate issued at 20.235, perhaps in deliberate
exaggeration. In the event, Apollo doesnt respond to this call, and the river-god is driven to
take action himself.
Achilles jump into the river is apparently meant to drive the Trojans out rather than to
kill them there, and its possible the god simply misunderstands the action. But placing
himself in the gods domain is a rash move, and immediately triggers an extraordinary attack
from the river itself. The first surge sweeps Achilles away; he tries to find a hold on the bank,
but its torn away.
(e) Achilles flight, and the pursuit
At last Achilles manages to find his feet, and tries to climb out; but now the river wont let
him go. A desperate chase now follows along the bed of the river itself, with Achilles pursued
by wave after immense wave, which he can neither fight not outrun. Its a timely reminder of
the helplessness of even the mightiest of mortals in the face of the elemental forces now lined
up on either side of the war of which the river-god is just one, and the least of all, yet even
he can effortlessly overwhelm Achilles even at his peak.

3. the battle of the elements

As always in Homer, for a mortal to stand up against the attack of a god needs the support of
another god. We saw this the last time gods and mortals came into conflict, in Diomedes
encounters with Ares and Aphrodite in book 5; and the logic of the pairings of divine
combatants in the previous book now becomes apparent.
(a) Achilles calls on Zeus
Achilles has been plunged from seeming invincibility to utter helplessness, and one of the
most galling things is that its such an unheroic way to die. (Well see Odysseus express
similar thoughts when threatened with drowning in Odyssey 6.) Not only that, but it flatly
contradicts what Thetis has apparently told him: that hes destined to be killed under the
walls of Troy by Apollos arrows. Both of these further details about Achilles imminent
death are news to us, though well hear more in the next book.
(b) Poseidon & Athene
Though Achilles appeal was addressed to Zeus, he has supporters closer at hand. The
decisive intervention will come shortly from Hera and Hephaestus; for now, theres a strange
little scene instead with Poseidon and Athene, who take oddly unspecified mortal shape (in
the middle of the river in spate!) and then render the disguise pointless by announcing
themselves as gods. Rather than do anything, they simply instruct him that (i) the river will be
stopped before it kills him and (ii) he should continue to press the Trojans until he can kill
Hector as planned. None of this advances the action, but it does stiffen Achilles resistance,
and Athene also boosts his physical strength against the rivers onslaught, as it starts to throw
not just water against him but corpses and armour as well.
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(c) the river-gods threat

But now the god of the Scamander calls on its tributary Simois, the second river of the Trojan
plain, to reinforce the attack, in a fantastic version of a warriors rallying-speech. An
especially powerful touch is the threat to render Achilles body graveless and anonymous
the very reverse of the glory he craves as the price for his life, and a taste of the fate that
Achilles himself has been so casually calling down on Lycaon and Asteropaeus. Simois
doesnt actually seem to respond, but Achilles finally loses his footing anyway, and is swept
away to what seems like certain death.
(d) Hera sends in Hephaestus
But now at last Hera herself intervenes, partnered by her son Hephaestus. Hephaestus was of
course the god who squared off against Xanthus/Scamander at 20.73, and Heras plan is to pit
Hephaestus element of fire against the river-gods water, while she whips up a storm-wind in
support.
(e) fire and water
In a fantastic set piece, Hephaestus begins with the dry land around the river, setting first
corpses and then vegetation on fire as he closes in on the river, which boils and evaporates
under the flame, so that the fish themselves try to throw themselves out of the water to escape
the heat.
(f) divine truce and withdrawal
The river-god quickly concedes, and appeals in desperation to Hera to call off her sons
attack promising never to support the Trojans again until the city is fallen. This is a major
concession, and the first round in what now escalates into a series of one-on-one divine duels
which leave Achilles and his revenge entirely forgotten. Now that god has pitted himself
against god, the mortal battle is left behind; for the first time in the poem, the gods are
fighting against one another directly, without human intermediaries or instruments of any
kind.
Hephaestus and Xanthus both withdraw, on Heras instructions; but this merely clears the
field for all the other gods to fight it out in a series of duels that will have the elegantly
unexpected effect of clearing the gods from the scene for the poems climax.

D. The other divine duels

At the very beginning of this days fighting, the gods lined up in duelling pairs at 20.6774.
The last of those pairs has now fought its duel and won, but in the course of Achilles
struggle with the river a series of other gods have been drawn in as well. What now follows is
a series of four further duels of god against god, in the course of which it becomes all too
clear why this kind of thing has been avoided in the poem hitherto, and why this days
unfettered divine intervention cant be allowed to continue. As Zeuss quiet amusement
underlines, its a sequence more farcical than terrifying, with only those gods emerging with
their dignity intact who avoid getting into such fisticuffs in the first place.

1. Athene fells Ares & Aphrodite

We begin with the second of the divine duels originally announced (at 20.69): the old
enemies Ares and Athene, who now resume their clash from book 5 in what is effectively a
parody of a heroic duel. Ares spear-thrust is stopped (but by Athenes famous aegis rather
than a mortal shield or armour), and she strikes back with a stone-throw that fells him where
he stands. Then she delivers a version of a mortal warriors boasting-speech, accusing him of
unfilial disloyalty in supporting the Trojans against his own mother Hera.
Aphrodite, in Homer always closely linked with Ares, is on hand to play the scene where
a comrade escorts the injured warrior out of the battle, and is attacked in turn. Hera, seeing
her, delivers a version of the speech of comradely exhortation so often heard at similar
moments on the mortal battlefield; and Athene duly goes into action against Aphrodite as
well, felling her with a frontal blow of the hand and delivering a boasting-speech over her
two fallen victims like a mortal warrior in his aristeia. But the whole episode has been a
travesty that only serves to measure the gulf that separates mortal combat from immortal.
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Athenes indestructible victims are humbled but not damaged, and the juxtaposition of this
scene with the merciless and terrifying aristeia of the mortal Achilles highlights the essential
triviality of all such clashes between god and god.

2. Poseidon challenges Apollo, who refuses

The first pairing listed at 20.67 pitted Apollo against Poseidon, a potentially much more
serious combat. Whereas Ares and Aphrodite are treated with contempt throughout the poem,
both Poseidon and Apollo are figures of power, respect, and dignity. Since Poseidon outranks
Apollo in generation and status, its also an unbalanced conflict: if Poseidon wins, its
bullying, and if he loses, its a dangerous diminution of his status and seriousness. The puzzle
for the audience is thus how the poem will extricate itself from the apparent no-win conflict
that Poseidons challenge here invites.
Poseidons speech makes it clear that his own superior age and wisdom makes it
inappropriate for him to strike first, and invites Apollo to land the first blow. But most of his
speech is far from belligerent, simply rebuking Apollo for siding with the Trojans against him
when he was equally slighted by Laomedon. Apollo, however, refuses to take the bait at all:
its beneath his dignity and Poseidons to fight over anything as insignificant as mortals,
whom in a wonderful simile he compares to the fleeting generations of leaves.

3. Hera humbles Artemis

Apollos sister Artemis was originally lined up against Hera (20.70), making for a neat three-
way scene which begins with her rebuking Apollo for conceding his duel without a blow
struck. Apollo again shows proper restraint in refusing to dignify her intemperate outburst
with a reply; but Hera pounces on the implication that its all right, in Artemiss eyes, for the
younger gods to challenge their elders, and promptly calls her bluff by effortlessly disarming
her and casually boxing her ears.

4. Hermes concedes to Leto

The remaining pair, Hermes and Leto (20.72), are quickly disposed of. Hermes plays only a
limited role in Homer his big scene in this poem isnt till the final book but is generally
treated with dignity and certainly doesnt intend to get into a punch-up with a thoroughly
unwarlike goddess with whom he has no personal quarrel anyway. He goes farther even than
Apollo, conceding the encounter openly and giving her permission (since all the other divine
witnesses have now left) to claim that she beat him fair and square. In an oddly effective if
enigmatic close, Leto (who alone of these gods never speaks in the Iliad at all) doesnt
respond, but merely picks up the arrows her daughter Artemis had left, and departs for
Olympus.

5. Artemis complains to Zeus

The sequence closes with a brief Olympian scene which briefly and more light-heartedly
replays the scenes in book 5 between the wounded Aphrodite and Dione, and between the
wounded Ares and Zeus. This time, however, Zeus is merely amused: its impossible for gods
to do one another serious damage, and the only casualties have been those gods who lowered
themselves to the level of mortals and challenged their fellow divinities to battle in imitation
of mortals. The gods have learned their lesson, as Zeus no doubt intended; and from here on
theyll temper their involvement in the battle, leaving Achilles and his opponents to fight it
out for themselves. The war of the gods is finally over.

E. The flight into the city

The one god to remain on the battlefield is Apollo mindful of Zeuss original reasons for
sending the gods into battle at 20.30, which was to prevent Troy from falling prematurely to
the power of Achilles onslaught. Freed from the river, Achilles has now resumed the
slaughter, and is drawing close to the city of Troy itself. So distracted have the gods been by
their own petty tussles that theyve neglected the endgame taking shape just outside the walls.
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1. Priam opens the gates

In the first of a series of views from the walls of Troy, we rejoin Priam for the first time since
book 7, watching the terrifying sight of Achilles drawing near to the walls. He goes down and
orders the gates to be held open long enough for the fugitives to escape into Troy but its a
risky strategy, because if Achilles himself is fast enough to get inside the walls then the city
is doomed. This, however, is where Apollo can give the fleeing Trojans a breathing-space.

2. Agenors stand
Apollos strategy is a replay of the river-gods with Asteropaeus: he finds himself an
appropriate champion to send into action against Achilles. His choice is a Trojan commander
whos been frequently glimpsed in the thick of the action, but has so far been denied a
starring role: Agenor, the most powerful of the Trojan elder Antenors large if now decimated
brood of sons. Apollo both infuses Agenor with courage and conceals himself invisibly
nearby; but the parallels with the Asteropaeus episode still lead us to wonder whether even
this will be enough to save Agenor from a similar fate.
(a) Agenors soliloquy
Despite Apollos injection of valour, Agenor has doubts about facing Achilles. He expresses
his conflict of impulses in a soliloquy that closely prefigures Hectors great soliloquy in the
next book. For Agenor, in contrast to Hector, its not primarily a decision about honour.
Agenor would happily run if he thought hed be likely to survive, but he realises that merely
running for the city with the rest of them would simply identify him as a high-status target,
while running away from the city might attract Achilles attention with even less hope of
escape. His best chance is to stand and fight; and so, a leopard against spear-wielding hunters,
he advances to the duel. As well see, however, the speculations about the consequences of
running away are more than just a calculation of odds; all this has more of a part in Apollos
plan than we so far suspect.
(b) Agenor challenges Achilles
Agenors stand seems doomed, but his speech of challenge is a spirited display of defiance,
and his spear-throw is only deflected by Achilles impenetrable divine armour.
(c) Apollo draws Achilles off
But now Apollos plan becomes clear. Having caught Achilles attention with the challenge
and duel, he whisks the real Agenor invisibly away and takes his place in mortal disguise.
Then he promptly turns tail and runs away from the city and out into the plain as fast as
Achilles can pursue. Meanwhile, the remnants of the Trojan and allied army escapes
unscathed into the city gates, while Achilles is left chasing a decoy farther and farther from
the city. Only one Trojan warrior remains behind on the plain: the one whos been so
conspicuously absent from this book, but whose moment of truth is now come.

Book 22. The Death of Hector

This is the climax of the Iliad, a short, tightly-constructed book built almost entirely around
the poems longest and greatest duel. Theres a preliminary phase of encounter and pursuit,
followed by the duel itself and an aftermath that reveals for the first time that the fulfilment of
Achilles revenge is only the beginning of a new and deadly phase of the story.

A. Achilles approach
Apollos ruse at the end of the previous book has lured Achilles away from his slaughter of
the fleeing Trojans, giving them time to escape into the city. Now we see the consequences of
this at four different points of the action in rapid succession.
Inside the city, the Trojans saved by Apollos action relax at last.
Outside on the plain, the Greek army reoccupies the battlefield and advances towards the
walls. So intense was the focus on Achilles in the previous book that the presence of the
rest of the army was barely acknowledged at all.
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Immediately outside the Scaean gates, Hector stands alone, ready to face Achilles to the
death.
And what, meanwhile, of Achilles himself?

1. Apollo disabuses Achilles

Now that the Trojan army is safe, Apollo finally drops his disguise as Agenor, and explains
his trick to Achilles who has been duped into pursuing one who cant be caught and trying
to kill one who cant be killed. For a moment, were back in the world of book 21, where
Achilles unstoppable power against mortal opponents is effortlessly frustrated by the
substitution of a divine antagonist. In a moment, well see this scene played out again
between mortal and mortal, with a very different outcome one of several anticipatory
echoes of the final duel in the Agenor episode.

2. Priam watches
As Achilles charges back towards the city, the camera angle changes: were back with Priam,
watching from his position on the battlements as the deadly figure approaches in the distance.
The famous simile compares the glitter from his armour to the light of Sirius rising the
brightest star in the sky, but also the star whose rising heralded the onset of the dog days of
high summer with their unbearable heat (and heatstroke, which may be the origin of Sirius
traditional association in Greek folk medicine with fever).

3. Priams appeal to Hector

From his vantage-point on the battlements, Priam is in earshot of Hector standing in front of
the gate below, and delivers a powerful speech of entreaty in the same vein as the pleas of
Hecuba and Andromache in book 6. He reminds Hector that Achilles is far more powerful: a
fact that the audience need to be reminded of, to appreciate why this duel is so pitifully
mismatched from the start. Then comes a key passage on Priams own violent hostility
towards Achilles, the destroyer of his sons: as a subtle piece of preparation for the moment in
book 24 when he will have to suppress these feelings to place himself voluntarily at Achilles
mercy. As it happens, we already know (and Priam now suspects) that two further sons have
been killed on this day, and that Priams half-hearted hopes of ransoming them alive are
cruelly ironic particularly in light of the treatment of Lycaon.
Now he comes to his main point: Lycaon and Polydorus were valuable to Priam, but
Hector is valuable to everyone, as Troys principal defender. Troy needs him alive; and Priam
spells out exactly what he and his family can look forward to if Hector allows himself to be
killed now. Its a grim catalogue: his sons slaughtered, his daughters raped and enslaved, his
grandchildren massacred, and Priam himself become carrion for his own dogs. The climactic
contrast between the death of a hero and the death of an old man is a reminder to Hector that
he cant simply go out in a blaze of glory; his death means countless others, which will be
anything but glorious, and Hector will have them on his hands.

4. Hecubas appeal
Hector stands firm, and doesnt respond; well be taken into his actual thoughts in a moment.
But first his mother Hecuba now adds her own appeal, in a celebrated scene much imitated in
later literature. Her appeal is primarily emotional, using her own motherhood as a lever on
Hectors feelings. But in speaking on behalf of the women of the family, she picks up an
important theme from Priams speech: if Hector allows himself to be killed by Achilles,
Hector himself will suffer the fate Priam has just pictured for his own corpse. The women
will be denied even their rights of mourning; as weve already seen, the new Achilles is
beyond the niceties of releasing corpses back to their families for proper funeral rites.
Hector again makes no response, but merely waits for Achilles like a snake waiting to
strike. Whats going on in his mind? Why is he making a stand now?

5. Hectors soliloquy
Now at last we see into Hectors thoughts, and what impels him to face Achilles this day. We
saw a soliloquy very like this in the previous book when Agenor decided to make his own
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stand against Achilles. But he had Apollos support, and Apollo has so far been conspicuous
in this scene by his absence.
As Hector sees it, he has three options:
(i) Take refuge in Troy with the others, as his parents are urging. But weve seen all along
how reluctant Hector has been to throw away the advantage he won on the previous two
days. He recognises now that Polydamas was right to advise retreat into the city the
previous evening (18.254ff.); but if he does so now, hell have to live not only with the
final abandonment of the Scamander plain to the Greeks, but with the additional guilt of
having exposed his people to the slaughter and rout theyve suffered this day from
Achilles.
(ii) Try to negotiate a surrender: the return of Helen and the handover of all the treasures of
Troy, in exchange for the lives of his people. But Achilles is only interested in killing
Hector, and would hardly be likely to negotiate with Hector of all people, even if Helen
or Troy meant anything to him any more, and the result would only be the least heroic
death of all. A particularly fine touch is the wrily incongruous simile of a pair of lovers
billing and cooing: as Hector observes, Achilles isnt really in the mood for that kind of
conversation.
(iii) Stand and fight. Hectors instinct, and his fatal weakness, is that hed rather gamble and
lose than throw a chance away. He knows that sooner or later hell have to face Achilles
in combat, and he doesnt know, as Achilles does, that the outcome is predetermined. If
he has to take his chance, it may as well be now.

B. The pursuit
But as Achilles approaches, Hector does none of these things. The demonic blaze of light that
Priam first saw from the battlements is now seen again, this time through Hectors eyes,with
just the helmet and the colossal spear distinguishable against the glare.

1. Hector breaks and runs

Now Hector makes his final mistake. Rather than escape into the city, he runs away from the
gates around the walls. Now begins a grim replay of the inescapable divine pursuits of the
previous book: the river-gods pursuit of Achilles, and Achilles own pursuit of the disguised
Apollo. But this time the pursuer and quarry are both mortal, like the predator and prey of the
hawk-and-dove simile that marks the onset of the chase.

2. the springs
The landscape around the city has been taking increasingly vivid and specific shape as the
battle moves closer to the walls. The fig tree was mentioned by Andromache (6.433) and
turned up in the topography of Agamemnons aristeia at 11.167. Now new landmarks join it:
a lookout point, a cart-track, and a remarkable pair of hot and cold springs. These famous
lines are one of the poems boldest moments of flashback. The narrative stops, lingers on the
springs, and fades briefly into an image from another time: the kind of innocent peacetime
activity now obliterated from the landscape around Troy. Then we suddenly snap back to the
present, and the narrator goes under the skin of the scene in an unusual structure of double
simile in which the comparison is introduced first as a negative (this was no ordinary
footrace) and then varied as a formal simile (it was like a chariot-race at a funeral games the
very event which forms the centrepiece of the next book). Finally, in a grand narrative coup,
the camera pulls back to reveal the whole scene being witnessed by all the gods on Olympus.

3. Zeus and Athene

We linger with the gods, as Zeus recalls the doomed Hectors piety, and consults the other
gods as to whether this is the moment for a rescue. Its a replay of the scene over Sarpedon
with Hera at 16.433ff., and raises the same issues over who made this destiny and what
powers Zeus has to alter it. Athenes response, however, is an exact quotation of the opening
lines of Heras at 16.4413, and Zeus gives her permission to move in for the kill.
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4. the fourth circuit and the scales

Now we rejoin the chase, holding close on Hectors point of view. First comes the simile of
the hunted fawn, followed a glimpse inside Hectors head, as his strategy of getting within
range of covering fire from the walls is repeatedly frustrated by Achilles. Then comes an
eerie simile completely unique in the Iliad: the pursuit takes on the quality of a dream, unable
to reach a resolution except that in this case a resolution is all too imminent. The narrator
stands back a bit, allowing a rare venture into a reflective counterfactual in the form of a
rhetorical question, and giving us a glimpse of Apollo still there with his champion to the
end. And the Greek army is also glimpsed, fleetingly, in the background, forbidden for their
part to intervene.
Now, however, the chase completes its fourth circuit of the city walls that ominous
number weve seen on so many other occasions, including Patroclus own death. Theres one
final, swift cut to Olympus, as for the second time in the poem Zeus whips out his golden
scales last seen at the first great turning-point when he began to turn the tide of battle
against the Greeks at 8.6970, though theyre also mentioned by mortal characters at 16.658
and 19.223. These scales are only ever used to give physical expression a decision already
made by Zeus, and always on the outcome of a battle between armies or individuals. With
Hectors doom outweighing Achilles, its the signal for Apollo to clear the scene, leaving
Hector not only at Achilles mercy but also at Athenes.

C. The endgame
From this point on, Hetor doesnt stand a chance. It would have been easy enough to give
Hector a heroic last stand in which he does the Hollywood thing and nearly succeeds in
overcoming the odds against him. Significantly, thats not how Homer plays it. Like
Patroclus at the moment of his death, Hector is completely overwhelmed from the start, and
the drama lies not in any defiance of his doom but in his failure to realise whats happening to
him.
The duel itself follows the familiar type-scene pattern of challenge, spearcasts, close
combat, and boasting-speech by the victim. But the pattern is enlivened by some artful
surprises which work unexpected variations on a sequence we think of as almost
mechanically predictable.

1. Athene encourages Achilles

Athenes first move is to appear to Achilles directly, undisguised but invisible to all other
eyes, for only the second time in the poem. (The first was the famous episode back at 1.193ff.
where she interposed herself in mid-assembly to prevent him from killing Agamemnon.) She
explains her intention to force a decisive duel, and leaves Achilles to prepare himself while
she takes care of Hector.

2. and dupes Hector

Athenes manifestation to Hector is the reverse of her appearance to Achilles: duplicitous,
disguised, under a false identity and with false information and destructive intent. She takes
the form of Hectors favourite brother Dephobus, who was an important figure in the
previous days attack on the Greek wall until his wounding by Meriones at 13.52739. Hector
doesnt question Dephobus mysterious appearance at his side, and even concocts a
convenient rationalisation: that he must have slipped out of the gates while Hector was too
distracted to notice. Athene cheerfully goes along with this, making up a tearful scene of
entreaty from both parents: an unsettlingly casual reworking of their deeply moving appeals
to Hector himself.

3. Hectors challenge
Hector is evidently the only one able to perceive the figure of Dephobus, who he thinks is
standing behind him as he stands to face Achilles at last and issue his final challenge. This
will be a duel to the death, but Hector proposes that they first agree to a deal on the outcome:
the winner is permitted to strip the victims armour, but swears to return the corpse to his
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people for burial. Hector offers this unilaterally, but asks for Achilles oath that he will do the
same: perhaps a sign that Hecubas warning has struck home.

4. Achilles response
Achilles refusal to agree is the clearest sign yet that the fate of Hectors corpse will be an
issue in need of further action to resolve it, whatever the outcome of the duel. But its worth
noting that he doesnt say anything about the specifics of Hectors proposal; his objection is
simply to the idea of any agreement between himself and his bitterest enemy. As his
memorable simile put it, it would be like men doing a deal with lions, or wolves with lambs.
Theyre different species, they cant communicate, and irreconcilable enmity is built into
their very natures. What Achilles will need to learn by the end of the poem is that the killing
of men is not like the killing of animals, and that in animalising their relationship as one of
predator to prey hes in a state of denial about basic realities of being human.

5. Achilles spearcast (returned by Athene)

Now comes a brilliant variation on a narrative pattern weve seen so many times it seems
incapable of surprise. The normal rule in Homer is that he who throws the first spear loses, so
the moment Achilles throws his spear and misses has us instantly on alert. Hector certainly
grasps at once the implications of whats just happened. Unlike some warriors, Achilles only
ever carries one spear, and now that hes thrown it hes effectively at Hectors mercy unless
Hector also fails with his own throw. What Hector doesnt see, of course, is the detail
revealed directly to the audience by the narrator: that Athene has invisibly teleported
Achilles spear back to him, so that he will have a second chance after Hector thinks him
disarmed.
Hectors speech has a feeling of incredulous relief and late-surging confidence about it, as
well as trying to explain away his own earlier flight as the result of their intimidating
conversation on their last encounter at 20.42637. Theres no chance now of Hector dying
from Achilles spear in the back, and his curious invitation to him to try and stab him in the
front as he charges may be sarcastic, as hes hardly likely to have forgotten already that
Achilles has been disarmed.

6. Hectors spearcast and realisation

Hector throws, but like Aeneas (20.26772) and Asteropaeus (21.1645) before him is unable
to penetrate Achilles divine shield. The score is nil-all, but Hector is only momentarily
downcast, because he believes he still has an advantage Achilles hasnt: a brother willing to
stand by him. He calls on Dephobus to provide him with his own spear so that he can take a
second shot; but theres no trace of Dephobus anywhere within sight.
Now at last Hector sees the moment with clarity. He instantly realises what happened:
that the Dephobus he saw wasnt his brother, but a divine disguise, and that the culprit must
be Athene. That in turn means hes faced by Achilles and Athene in alliance, and that this
therefore is the moment Zeus has chosen for him to die. He could turn and run again, but this
is a fate that cant be outrun. His only option now is to go out like a hero.

7. the charge and death-blow

Hector immediately proceeds to what would normally be the next phase of the type-scene: a
sword-charge and single combat, which is only triggered when both warriors have thrown
and lost their spears. The narrative camera zips back and forth between them during this long
slow-motion charge: first Hector, with a final predator-simile at this last moment of heroism,
and then Achilles, with a vivid description of the apparition of shield and helmet he presents
to Hector. Then were inside Hectors head, as too late he catches sight for the first time of
Achilles spear, its tip glinting with another ominous flash of simile starlight. Then suddenly
were looking through Achilles eyes, searching the armour he knows so well for a place
where it doesnt quite fit its new occupant, and seeing a momentary glimpse of unprotected
flesh at the throat. Before Hectors sword can come close, the spear thrusts in. The swordfight
is over before its begun.
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8. the speeches
The pointed parallels with the scene of Patroclus death continue now with a final exchange
of speeches, culminating in an eerie prophecy by the dying victim of his killers own death in
return.
(a) Achilles boast
Achilles delivers a coarse and brutal boasting-speech over the corpse, just as Hector had over
Patroclus. Now that the moment of his vengeance has come, it still isnt enough. Not content
with killing Hector, he promises to leave his body for wild creatures to feed on, whereas
Patroclus will receive a heros burial. Now we see the full significance of the hard-fought
recovery of Patroclus body in books 1718. If the Trojans had captured the corpse, theyd
have something to trade for Hector, and perhaps Hector himself would have escaped with his
life. Now, the Trojans have nothing to barter, and revenge has done nothing to dilute
Achilles anger, grief, and guilt, which will continue to play out in brutal disregard for normal
human standards of conduct towards the dead.
(b) Hectors plea
Hector makes one final attempt. He cant assume a suppliant posture, obviously, but he
activates the protocol and adds an appeal to Achilles known emotional weak spot for his
parents: accept a ransom for the corpse, and allow it a proper funeral, just as Patroclus will
have.
(c) Achilles refusal
Achilles is only enraged further by the appeal, and dismisses it in his most brutal and
vehement terms yet. Consciously or not, he reverts to the terms in which he rejected
Agamemnons compensation at 9.379ff. the clearest sign yet that Achilles present rage
hasnt tamed itself at all, but merely been redirected from one target to another. Now, at the
moment of what should be its end, all he can think about is further outlets for his seemingly
limitless reserves of fury, which will now be turned from the living Hector to his corpse.
(d) Hectors prophecy
Hector responds with the same kind of uncanny prophetic vision in the moment of his death
that we saw from Patroclus at 16.84454. His words are ambiguous in the Greek as in the
translation, so that its not clear whether the curse Hector speaks of is Achilles death or
some consequence thereof. But either way theres an implication that Achilles may still have
had a chance to defer his own death if hed accepted Hectors proposal, and that in spurning it
hes sealed his own fate.
Now, for the first time, Achilles is told precisely where and by whom hell be killed: in
the very gates where Hector made his own stand, and by the combination of Hectors brother
Paris and Apollo, in a scene pointedly reminiscent of the combination of divine and human
action that killed Patroclus. We already knew some of this from the divine horse Xanthus
prophecy at 19.417 (which merely specified a god and a mortal as Achilles slayers) and
21.2778 (where Achilles reported a prophecy of Thetis that hed die under Troys
battlements from the arrows of Apollo). But the naming of Paris and the Scaean gates are
both new. In the lost epic sequel the Aethiopis, Hectors prediction was fulfilled: Achilles
attempted to storm Troy and was shot down in the gateway by Paris and Apollo.
(e) Achilles response
Even Hector hasnt told him the most important information about his death, namely its
timing; but Achilles tersely accepts the consequences of his actions, and the inextricable
connection of his own death to Hectors. All this, however, only serves to underline the gap
between Achilles readiness to face his own death and his inability to deal with the
consequences of others.

D. The aftermath
Patroclus died in the thick of battle, with armies ready on either side to fight it out first for his
armour and then for the recovery of his corpse. But the Trojans have all fled back into the
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shelter of the walls, leaving Achilles possession of Hectors body unchallenged exactly as
Hecuba foresaw. Achilles accordingly strips his armour back off the corpse; but then hes
able to do what could never happen in a normal days battle, and turns the body over to his
troops for mutilation and abuse. A ghastly vignette follows of the Greek army trooping past
Hectors body to work out their own grievances against the dead man, who came so close
only the day before to destroying their camp, burning their fleet, and slaughtering the
survivors.

1. Achilles speech
An unusual speech follows from Achilles, proposing a followup plan and then abruptly
retracting it in mid-speech. But it works well as a psychological presentation of Achilles
divided instincts at this moment. The warlord in him knows that this is a pivotal moment in
the war, and that they ought to follow it up with an assault on the city; but he remembers his
vow to Patroclus, which for him must take priority, and proposes instead that they return to
camp for the promised funeral, satisfied with todays achievement.

2. the mutilation of the corpse

Achilles sense of theatre will be amply demonstrated in the next book, but we get a famous
foretaste here. Rather than simply load the corpse on to his chariot, he pierces holes in the
ankles and tethers the corpse to drag behind it in the dust. All this takes place in full view not
just of the Greek army as they follow back to the ships, but of the Trojan royal family
watching from the battlements as their princes corpse disappears from view in a cloud of
receding dust.

3. Priams reaction
This sight is the trigger for a sequence of intense scenes of reaction in Troy itself. During the
actual combat, weve heard no more of Priam and Hecuba, but now each erupts in grief.
Priam, in particular, descends to the gates and babbles about throwing himself on Achilles
mercy to plead for the return of his sons corpse. At the time, this seems like a bereaved old
mans suicidal impulse; but for all his apparent derangement he already has an astute grasp of
how Achilles will need to be dealt with, if at all. As Hector found, he cant be bargained with;
but something might be done with his lingering emotional vulnerability on the subject of his
father, and Priam immediately realises that the only man who stands a chance of success is
himself.

4. Hecubas reaction
Now the spotlight turns on Hecuba, who as the matriarch of the family leads the formal
mourning. Her obituary speech for Hector here is a trailer for the full-scale send-off hell get
in the final scene of the poem.

5. Andromache learns the news

The one key member of Hectors family not yet glimpsed in this book is Andromache, who
as were reminded here was last seen being ordered by Hector himself to give up her vigil on
the battlements and keep to her house in future (6.4903). Now the elaborate investment in
this characters first appearance pays off, as she becomes the focus for the books emotional
climax.
(a) in Hectors house
We first see Andromache poignantly going about her everyday domestic routine: continuing
with her weaving, and preparing a bath for Hector on the return were reminded, with heavy
narratorial irony and pathos, will never now come.
(b) her fears
Now the sound from the walls breaks in, and Andromaches physical reaction of shock and
fear is finely observed in the gesture of dropping the shuttle at her loom. She recognises
Hecubas voice, so has reason to suspect Hector is involved; but still her worst fear is that
Achilles has Hector cut off from the city, not that theyve already fought to the death.
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(c) the view from the walls

Andromaches emotional state established, the scene skips swiftly to Andromaches arrival at
a vantage-point on the battlements, and we see the shocking picture that now meets her eyes:
Achilles chariot disappearing towards the ships with her husbands corpse dragging behind
it. She does a beautifully-described slow-motion faint, with a haunting narrative closeup on
the heavily symbolic head-dress (Lattimores circlet is more of a veil) given to her by
Aphrodite herself on the day of her marriage, and which now falls off (or possibly, as
Lattimores translation suggests, is torn off) as she collapses.
(d) her lament
Andromache recovers enough to assume the role of lead mourner that must now be hers, and
again anticipates her part in the formal funeral laments that close the poem. The main focus
of her lament here is not Hector himself but the son hes left behind, whose fatherless future
is now set out in a magnificent series of acutely-observed vignettes that contrast poignantly
with the princely life hes led while his father was alive. (Later tradition about Astyanax fate
in fact took its cue from her later, grimmer projection of his fate 24.7356.) The repetition of
the childs name, and the reminder of its meaning, brings her back to the father for whom he
was named, and the present reality: that she will never even dress the corpse for its funeral.
These are important words to have ringing in our ears as we enter the poems final phase: the
books of funeral, with the grimly contrasting yet intertwined fates of the bodies of Patroclus
and of Hector.

Book 23. The Funeral and the Games

This wonderful book negotiates a brilliant and unexpected shift in both the tone and the scope
of the action, as we pass from the intense, brooding episode of Patroclus funeral to the
dazzling narrative of the funeral games the following day, which take up the final two-thirds
of the book. The games are a self-contained set piece ingeniously contrived to serve a number
of important functions in the poems close:
a curtain-call for all the major Greek heroes other than Achilles, who have been displaced
entirely from the action of the final days fighting, but now return for a great ensemble
display of their individual characters, specialities, and prowess;
an interlude of light and harmony between the darker books on either side;
an extravagant display of the epic worlds farewell to its heroes, making a pointed
contrast with the denial of all such ceremonial to Hector;
a demonstration of Achilles reintegration into the community of his peers, and his skills
of management and diplomacy in handling the fragile egos of the other warlords;
a final showstopping action sequence, making up for the lack of battlefield business in
these last two books;
a closing celebration of the Iliads aristocratic value system, in the Greek worlds earliest
surviving showcase and analysis of the culture of excellence through competition that was
already starting to find its definitive expression in the great athletic and artistic festivals
which traced their origins back to Homers time.
As well see, however, even this most spectacular display of the heroic worlds social
machinery for coping with the death of beloved heroes fails to lay Achilles real ghosts to
rest, and the next book will have to deal with some glaringly unfinished business.

A. The funeral of Patroclus

Before we come to the games themselves, however, Achilles has still to carry out his promise
to Patroclus, whose funeral was deferred until after the revenge on Hector. This is the first of
a pair of immense heroic funerals, the second of which will close the poem. The ceremony is
in three phases:
a tribute to the corpse following the Myrmidons return to camp that evening, followed by
a ceremonial feast;
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the main ceremony of the funeral pyre the following day;

the collection of the bones the following morning for disposal, after the pyre has burned
itself out.

1. that evening
The first phase of the ceremonies is the business of Achilles and Patroclus Myrmidons,
rather than of the army as a whole. Achilles plays his part in this, but remains somewhat
detached, having committed himself to break his fast not with them but with Agamemnon.
(a) the salute to the corpse
First, by Achilles order, comes a chariot procession around the bier on which Patroclus
body is laid out with Achilles chariot still dragging Hectors corpse, as he indicates in his
speech. He delivers a speech formally announcing the fulfilment of his vow at 18.3347: the
body of Hector, and the delivery for human sacrifice of twelve Trojan captives. Hectors
corpse is then roughly deposited in the dirt as an offering.
(b) the feast
Next, Achilles lays on a huge funeral feast for the Myrmidons from animals slaughtered in
some kind of blood ritual in the dead mans honour. The actual details of the ritual, and
especially of what is done with the blood, remain rather mysterious and debated. But Achilles
doesnt join in the feast, because he has unfinished business with Agamemnon.
(c) Achilles refuses to bathe
Achilles is now free to break his own fast on the terms originally proposed by Odysseus
(19.17980): a private feast laid on by Agamemnon, as part of the terms of their
reconciliation. Were told at the outset that Achilles is reluctant, and throughout the scene
Achilles demonstrates that his thoughts are still back there in the Myrmidon camp. The meal
begins awkwardly with Achilles refusal to wash, and thus to signal his full reintegration into
the group, until the formal process of the funeral is complete. And though he sits down to the
feast, hes already ordering Agamemnon about with instructions for the building of the pyre
to begin at dawn. This time, Agamemnon raises no protest, and its possible the task is
understood as something of an honour.
(d) the ghost appears in the night
After an uneasy meal, Achilles makes his way back, but instead of sleeping in his own shelter
he lays himself down on the open beach near the corpse. Now comes a famous scene: the
apparition of Patroclus ghost in his dreams to plead for a quick burial and a common urn and
grave-mound for their remains. Achilles postponement of the funeral may have been
intended as a gesture of respect, but for the dead it only delays the process of closure, as
without the proper rites the soul of the dead cannot cross over the underworld river to rest.
This idea, which also turns up in Odyssey 11, has of course implications for Hector if his
body is denied proper burial so the stakes are being subtly raised.
A moving touch here is the revelation, for the first time, of how Patroclus came to be
raised with Achilles. Weve heard tales of other refugees taken in by Peleus following
killings or near-killings at home (Phoenix at 9.47882, Epeigeus at 16.5706); but this is the
only one to have happened in childhood, and this posthumous tale of the young Patroclus
dark secret gives unexpected depth and resonance to his life-history.
Patroclus too knows now of Achilles imminent death and its destined circumstances,
prompting his request that they be buried together as theyre going to die so close together.
This is a powerful touch; it reminds us that, as Achilles prepares the remains of Patroclus for
burial, hes also knowingly preparing his own grave.
The scene closes with a famous moment, as Achilles tries to embrace the ghost in his
dream, only for it to melt away at his touch. Well see a repeat of this haunting image of
bereavement, a living man trying and failing to embrace a ghost, when Odysseus encounters
his dead mother in the underworld in Odyssey 11. There the sense of loss and frustration is
uppermost; here Achilles seems almost cheered in contrast by the encounter, though even he
doesnt take much consolation from the image of an afterlife presented.
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2. the next day

Now comes the day of the funeral itself. As in the poems earlier funeral scene in book 7, this
involves a cremation on a monumental pyre; but whereas the pyre in book 7 was built for the
mass funeral of a whole days dead, here the effort is all for the honour of one man.
(a) timber for the pyre
The first stage is to collect the wood, as mandated to Agamemnon the previous evening. Here
another of the heroes of earlier books re-emerges into the spotlight, as Meriones presides over
a rare scene of organised troop activity off the battlefield. As the timbers from Mount Ida are
delivered to the site of the pyre, were reminded yet again that Achilles is building the site of
his own grave as well as Patroclus.
(b) the funeral
Now begins the funeral ceremony proper.
the The first phase is a huge chariot and infantry procession to escort the corpse to
procession the site of the pyre, with Achilles taking pride of place as lead mourner and
holding the corpses head as they process. With the exception of Achilles
himself, each mourner cuts off a lock of hair and lays it on the corpse, leading
to the vivid image of the body completely carpeted in locks.
Once the corpse has arrived at the site, the pyre itself is constructed from
the timber already gathered.
Achilles Only when the initial construction of the pyre is complete does Achilles offer
lock his own lock of hair: the same lock hes been growing in fulfilment of an
offering vowed to the local river-god of his home as thanksgiving for a return
he now knows he will never live to see. Its a further recollection of his fathers
doomed hopes for his return, and yet another disturbing reminder that
throughout this book Achilles is marking his own death as well as that of
Patroclus.
the pyre Now Achilles has Agamemnon send all the troops under his command back to
and their ships for their meal, while the Myrmidons alone take over the final stages
offerings of preparing and igniting the pyre. Patroclus body is placed at the top, and the
bodies of sacrificed animals placed around. Then come the sacrifices on the
pyre, which are all of creatures not elsewhere offered in sacrifice: four horses,
two dogs, and the twelve human prisoners promised at 18.3367. Clearly this is
meant to seem an exceptional occasion demanding exceptional kinds of
offering, and Achilles speech now makes it clear that his determination to
deny Hector burial is linked to the promised human sacrifices themselves. Not
only will Hector not have this kind of funeral; he wont even be joining his
countrymen on Patroclus pyre. That, in Achilles eyes, is his final gift of
revenge to Patroclus memory.
the gods Now comes an important development: the gods show the first sign of
preserve resistance to Achilles plan. Initially its two of the Trojans staunchest
Hectors supporters, Aphrodite and Apollo, who preserve Hectors corpse from its
corpse numerous dangers: Aphrodite shoos off the dogs and lubricates his body
against damage from being dragged in the dust, while Apollo uses one of the
gods light-impermeable mists to keep the sun from dehydrating the body.
the Winds Back at the pyre, which is stubbornly refusing to catch, Achilles is praying to
ignite the the gods of the north and west wind to help the fire on its way. In a strange
pyre little divine comic interlude, the wind-gods themselves are too busy feasting to
hear, so Iris has to deliver the prayer in person. But this is followed by the
memorable description of the winds arrival to keep the pyre alight through to
dawn, while Achilles holds his wake alongside.
the At last the flame dies, a little before dawn, and the winds depart again over the
morning sea. Now all that remains is the gathering of the bones for eventual burial in an
after urn in the site of the designated grave-mound.
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(c) gathering the bones

Achilles snatches a little sleep, but is soon woken by the return of Agamemnons party now
that the Myrmidon ceremony is over. Achilles issues his instructions for the final phase:
douse the remaining flames ritually with wine, recover the bones of Patroclus, and put them
in an urn awaiting burial. The grave-mound itself can be modest for now, because Achilles
intends and expects the urn to have to be recovered shortly for the promised burial of his own
remains along with Patroclus. As throughout this book, he coolly makes these arrangements
for his own funeral with the matter-of-factness of a terminal patient. After hes dead, he adds,
they can make the mound as big as they like.
The instructions are carried out, and it seems as if the ceremonies are over. In fact, as
Achilles now reveals to the gathered warriors, the most spectacular event of all is still to
come.

B. The funeral games

Now, in mid-line, Achilles reveals his surprise. Instead of letting his visitors go back to their
camp, Achilles announces a lavish programme of athletic events in Patroclus memory, with
prizes offered from his own treasure-hoard.

1. the prizes
First, all the prizes for the entire games are set out: an impressive personal display of wealth
and lavishness, but also an incentive to the assembled warriors to try their skill and prowess
against one another.

2. the events
There are eight events in total, of which the longest by far taking up nearly half the book in
itself is the first, the spectacular and dramatic chariot race. Thats followed by seven further
events: boxing, wrestling, footrace, combat, shot-put, archery, and javelin. All involve the
demonstration of essentially martial skills and techniques in a friendly competitive
framework, though with winners and losers just as in the real-life warfare on which the events
are based. This allows the characters whove been excluded from the battle narrative of the
past three books to return for one final demonstration of their prowess, both individually and
in competition with one another. As well as a brilliant display of narrative virtuosity in its
own right this is without question the most influential passage of sports writing in literature
the whole scene is a celebration of the competitive culture of the emerging world of archaic
and classical Greece, and the continuity it claimed with the military world both contemporary
and mythical.
(a) the chariot race
First up is the chariot race, a massive event with no fewer than five prizes on offer. It has
pride of place in the programme not just because its the most spectacular (and risky) event,
but because its the event that Patroclus himself would have been associated with in his
original capacity as Achilles own charioteer though of course we never had a chance to see
him in that role in the Iliad itself. For the same reason, though, Achilles himself wont be
competing, in this or in any other event; and with his unbeatable divine horses out of the
running, the field is suddenly wide open.
(1) the five contestants
The roll-call of contestants is something of a test of how much attention the audience has
been paying in earlier books. Who was Eumelus, where did we hear of him before, and why
is he the first to be named in this event? (A. At 2.7617 Eumelus was singled out by the
Muse at the end of the Catalogue of Ships as the owner of the best horses after Achilles
own.) Next to claim a place is Diomedes, using not his own chariot and horses but ones he
captured from Aeneas; which book was this in? (A. He captured the horses in 5.31927, and
later showed them off to the old connoisseur Nestor in his daredevil rescue at 8.1058.
Clearly Diomedes is very pleased with his capture, and keen to try them out in competition.
Notice that, like all the heroes wounded three days earlier, he seems to have recovered
sufficiently to take part in the events of this book.)
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The other three contestants are Menelaus (who borrows one of his horses from his brother
Agamemnon), Antilochus, and Meriones. A bookmaker would probably see Eumelus and
Diomedes as the odds-on favourites, with the others some way behind. Eumelus has the
Muses endorsement for quality of horses, while Diomedes has treated us to some spectacular
chariot action as both passenger and driver in earlier books and is described below as the
most skilful charioteer by a wide margin. But one of the other contestants has an advantage
that may yet cause an upset
Nestors advice to Antilochus
The acknowledged guru of Homeric charioteering is the veteran Nestor, who is too old to
drive in a race, but can give his son Antilochus the benefit of his long experience. Nestors
analysis of the lineup is frank and astute: Antilochus has the slowest horses of the five, but a
chariot race is only partly about speed, and if he can plan for a tight and tricky manoeuvre
hugging the turning-post, he can make up in tactics what he lacks in intrinsic speed. One of
the clever things about this speech is that it dramatises the race ahead of the actual event: we
go into it with a map of the course and someone a little unexpected to root for: a victory for
Antilochus will be a vindication for Nestor as well.
(2) the race
The contestants draw lots (shaken out of a helmet) for lanes, and Antilochus wins pole
position. This actually makes Nestors advice largely irrelevant, as he now needs do nothing
but hold his lane in order to make the tight turn advised. But Diomedes, who is now
confirmed by the narrator as the clear favourite, draws the outer lane: a significant handicap
that helps to compensate for his overwhelming advantage in skill. Achilles finds another
cameo role for Phoenix as a track official positioned at the turning-post, and the race gets
under way.
The out-run proceeds without drama, and if we were expecting a fracas at the turning-post
it doesnt in the event materialise. But as they approach the home stretch Eumelus advantage
in speed starts to tell, with only Diomedes keeping close behind him. It looks as though the
first two places are secure.
Apollo obstructs Diomedes
But weve forgotten that the gods like their favourites to win, and this turns out to apply in
the pseudo-combat of the racetrack as much as on the real battlefield. Apollo is no friend to
Diomedes, where as 2.7667 let slip that Eumelus legendary horses were bred by Apollo
himself. So Apollo introduces one of those divinely-instigated accidents that befell Teucer
and Ajax in book 15: he knocks the whip from Diomedes hand, allowing Eumelus to pull far
ahead.
Athene thwarts Eumelus
But as weve seen on the battlefield, one gods intervention is liable to provoke anothers;
and so it is here, as Diomedes patron Athene intervenes on his behalf to reverse Apollos
action (by returning Diomedes his whip) and countering with a move of her own against
Eumelus which even Apollo will be unable to reverse. By breaking the yoke that holds
Eumelus horses together as a pair, she uncouples his horses abruptly from the chariot so that
the pole strikes the ground with a sudden braking effect, precipitating a violent crash from
which Eumelus is lucky to emerge with only superficial injuries.
With Eumelus out of the race, it looks like a clear win for Diomedes, and Menelaus,
Antilochus, and Meriones a good way behind in that order. But there are more surprises in
store
Antilochus applies Nestors tactics
Antilochus realises that Diomedes is out of reach, but still has his eye on second place, if only
he can pull past Menelaus. As it happens, Nestors tactical advice about getting through on
the inside will turn out to be the key not, as Nestor himself anticipated, at the turning-post,
but as they come into the home stretch. First, however, Antilochus delivers a hugely
entertaining speech of exhortation and threat to the horses: (a) dont let a mare beat you, and
(b) if you lose, my father will have you slaughtered.
This, or his tone, is enough to spur the horses to catch Menelaus up; and now Antilochus
uses Nestors trick of eyeing up the terrain in advance to spot a moment to apply his
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manoeuvre. Menelaus steers to avoid a dip in the road, and Antilochus accelerates alongside
him, forcing Menelaus to give way as the road narrows. Its a dangerous manoeuvre, but
Antilochus has rightly gambled on Menelaus being the one to give way. A furious Menelaus
is left in third place, but vows to take the matter up with the referee at the end of the race.
the home stretch
Now we cut from the racers to the spectators at the finishing-line, who have seen nothing of
all this apart from clouds of dust in the distance. But now Idomeneus identifies the nearest
chariots driver as Diomedes, from a combination of his distantly-audible voice and the
distinctive colouring of his horses.
Idomeneus Idomeneus now gives the worlds earliest surviving sports commentary, as he
& Ajax II correctly concludes that Diomedes is in the lead and that Eumelus (who was
leading when the chariots were last distinguishable on the out-run) must have
suffered an accident. He invites others to corroborate, only to be challenged by
Locrian Ajax: how can Idomeneus ageing eyes make out so much at this
distance? In fact, as we know, Idomeneus has used a combination of visual
clues, hearing, and astute deduction to arrive at his conclusion, and is angered
by Ajaxs scepticism to the point of offering a wager on the accuracy of his
prediction. (This would be the first bet on a horse in western history, if it
werent for what happens next.)
Achilles Achilles sees the quarrel developing, and for the first of several times in this
makes book he steps in to ease tensions with his own considerable skills of
peace diplomacy. This is an Achilles we havent seen since the assembly he called in
book 1, only to be drawn personally into Agamemnons quarrel himself. Now,
however, he deftly defuses the rising tensions between these two other
warriors. Such quarrelling is beneath their dignity, and theyll find out soon
enough which of them was right about the winners identity.
the result
Now the chariots come in one by one, vindicating Idomeneus but presenting a further
challenge for Achilles as referee.
1. Diomedes First across the line, as expected, is Diomedes. A nice touch is that hes
greeted at the finish by his old chariot-mate Sthenelus, who served him so
well in his chariot-based aristeia in books 56.
2. Antilochus Next is Antilochus; but were reminded he owes his placing to tactics rather
than speed, and that a dispute is imminent over the manoeuvre.
3. Menelaus Menelaus, meanwhile, is so close behind that hes on the verge of regaining
his place as they cross the finish.
4. Meriones Meriones, on the other hand, has made no impression at all in this race, and
comes in well behind
5. Eumelus leaving the unlucky Eumelus to limp in on foot.
the award of the prizes
Now comes a further round of delicate umpiring by Achilles. He has to decide how to treat
Eumelus accident, and how to deal with the dispute over second place between Menelaus
and Antilochus all without rubbing any of these volatile egos the wrong way. How will he
manage it?
consolation prize for Eumelus
Achilles first proposal is generous but flawed: to award Eumelus, the clear favourite, the
prize of second place after Diomedes. Since he would have won but for his accident (which
we know was entirely the result of partisan divine meddling which backfired), this seems
eminently fair except that it pushes all the other finishers down a place.
Antilochus disputes
Antilochus, who has made the best showing in this event, challenges the proposal, in terms
that cant help stirring uneasy echoes in our memories. The word here translated prize
(aethlon) isnt actually the same as the word used at 1.118 (geras) and throughout the ensuing
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quarrel, but the very notion of taking one mans reward away from him without his
agreement to compensate another threatens a repeat of the original quarrel. Like
Agamemnon, but more so, Antilochus flatly refuses to give up his prize; if Achilles wants to
find a prize for Eumelus, hell have to come up with an extra one.
Achilles makes good
Another warrior might think twice before challenging Achilles in these terms; but Antilochus
has built up a good relationship with Achilles, and the two of them have bonded further over
the traumatic episode of reporting Patroclus death. Achilles cheerfully adopts Antilochus
proposal, and proposes as Eumelus prize part of the spoils from his recent days killing: the
armour he stripped two days earlier from Asteropaeus (21.183), which will also contribute a
prize to the combat event later on in the book.
Menelaus challenges Antilochus foul
But though Eumelus and Antilochus are now happy, Menelaus has his own grievance to raise.
In a further ominous echo of the quarrel in book 1, Menelaus instigates a formal assembly
with a herald and a staff for the speaker: this is to be a much more serious and formal
complaint. In the absence of witnesses, Menelaus cant use direct proof; but he calls on
Antilochus to swear in front of all the assembled witnesses that he didnt owe his placing to a
foul.
Antilochus yields the prize
This is a tense moment, but Antilochus handles it brilliantly. Were expecting him to stand up
to Menelaus as he did to Achilles, but he does exactly the opposite: deferring to Menelaus
age and status, and voluntarily yielding the second prize he fought for so doggedly a moment
ago with Achilles, without even getting into a discussion of what happened during the race.
In the end, a horse is just a horse; what matters among comrades at arms is mutual respect
and concord.
Its a generous gesture, and while Antilochus is wise not to get on the wrong side of
Agamemnons closely-protected brother, were clearly meant to take it at face value.
Menelaus returns it
Menelaus is caught completely offguard by the unexpected generosity of Antilochus
response, and immediately (and characteristically) softens. In another of the books reminders
of earlier action, he remembers all the times in the poem when he and Antilochus have
depended closely on one another most recently in getting word of Patroclus death to
Achilles in books 1718, but also in earlier books. At 5.56172 Antilochus saved Menelaus
life by supporting him when he went to face Aeneas alone; while at 15.56891 Menelaus
alerted Antilochus to an opportunity to use his speed effectively in the Greeks darkest hour.
Moved he acknowledges the gesture, and then trumps it by handing the mare back to
Antilochus in exchange for the third-prize cauldron.
the spare prize awarded to Nestor
All this has made for an engaging and instructive display of how status disputes among
Homeric warriors should be resolved. But theres a loose end left over: Achilles production
of a sixth prize has left the original prize for last place unclaimed. This is the opportunity for
an inspired coup of diplomacy from Achilles: he awards the prize on his own initiative to the
master charioteer whose expertise contributed so much to the race, unable though he is to
compete directly in this or any other event.
Achilles presentation speech to Nestor is ingeniously framed, if a little contorted. These
games commemorate Patroclus, a man none of them will see again; so its only fitting that the
athletic achievements of Nestor, which will likewise never be witnessed again by living man,
be rewarded as part of that commemoration.
Nestors speech of thanks
Nestor replies, of course, with a speech: his last in the poem, and a beautiful valedictory
performance. As usual, it uses the old mans pose of rambling reminiscence on his youthful
exploits to cloak some pertinent observations on the present situation. The tale is of a funeral
contest comparable to this one, with a core of five of the same events (chariot, boxing,
wrestling, footrace, javelin). The parallel is even closer if, as has been widely suspected, the
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other three events in this book (combat, shot-put, archery) are a later addition to the text. On
that occasion, Nestor won four out of five events, and was only pushed into second place by
an unfair (though far from clearly expressed) advantage on the part of the victors, who were
twins Siamese twins, according to later sources! The message for Menelaus and Antilochus
is clear enough: things like this happen in chariot races, and therell always be other events
for the loser to excel in instead. They should be grateful theyre of an age to take part, and
remember that the games are not about them but about Patroclus, his honour, and his
memory.
(b) the boxing
The main event over, the games continue with a rapid, action-packed series of lesser events,
beginning with the two major Greek contact sports of boxing and wrestling. The prizes for
these are less valuable than those for the chariot-race, and the events themselves offer a
parade of old and new characters. The boxing perhaps comes first in the sequence because
its the one sport in which both contestants are new to us, as well as the most light-hearted
and amusing event of the sequence.
(1) Epeius challenge
Epeius response to Achilles appeal for contestants is an entertaining and strangely modern-
sounding pre-match statement. He declares himself the champion, by default if need be, and
promises pulverisation for his opponent. If were wondering why we havent heard of this
character until now, he cheerfully clues us in: its because hes a far better boxer than he is a
warrior. In fact Epeius does have a moment of glory coming, as we learn in Odyssey 8 hes
the builder of the Trojan Horse.
(2) Euryalus responds
Epeius challenger Euryalus had a cameo in the Catalogue of Ships at 2.565 as Diomedes
third-in-command after Sthenelus, but this is his only appearance in the action of the poem.
He has an impressive record as a boxer, though, and as a joint contingent leader is a far more
senior figure than the obscure Epeius. Diomedes himself takes the role of trainer and second,
so we take this challenger seriously.
(3) a win by a knockout
Once he gets into the ring, though, its another story. The very first blow lands Epeius a win
by a knockout that lifts his opponent bodily into the air like a jumping fish, before (a nice
touch) Epeius himself catches him to prevent him from falling.
(c) the wrestling
The wrestling has a more valuable prize, and accordingly attracts a pair of major warriors
who havent so far put in an appearance in this book.
(1) Ajax v Odysseus
As the initial descriptions indicate, this will be a contest of brawn versus brain. Ajax is
colossal in build and strength, but Odysseus (whom we remember from 3.1934 is stockily
built himself) has the advantage in strategy. This is borne out by their tactics, where Ajax
tries to win by sheer force throughout, whereas Odysseus operates by trying to unbalance his
opponent.
Greek wrestling was about trying to force your opponent to the ground, and initially the
pair of them are deadlocked. Ajax then proposes that the fight goes to whoever can lift his
opponent, but on both attempts they both end up on the ground.
(2) the prize shared
Achilles steps in to pronounce a draw at this point, perhaps sensing (as does the audience)
that for either of this pair to defeat the other would be a slightly uncomfortable outcome, and
leaving the audience to make up its mind whether Odysseus plays did him credit or the
opposite. His proposal that they share the prizes (1 tripod and 1 slave woman) must have
caused a bit of puzzlement, though unusually were told the value of each in oxens worth
perhaps to allow us to assume something could be worked out.
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(d) the footrace

Now out comes another of Achilles prizes with a disquieting connection to his recent
slaughter: the silver bowl he received from Euneus in payment or part-payment for Lycaon,
who returned to Troy only to be killed by him on their second encounter. (See the diagram on
page 122.) Lycaon himself claimed at 21.79 that his price was a hundred oxen, but he may
simply be converting the value of the mixing-bowl into the universal exchange-rate base of
oxens worth, though a hundred oxen is a huge value for a silver bowl. (Glaucus entire set of
golden armour was worth this much at 6.236.)
(1) the contestants
There are three prizes, and though this could be an open event the expectation is apparently
that therell be as many competitors as prizes. Locrian Ajax and Antilochus are predictable
entrants here, having already made their mark on the battlefield as the fastest of the Greeks on
the feet next to Achilles. But the older, stockier Odysseus is a surprise, and after his tactics in
the wrestling we anticipate something interesting to happen.
(2) and theyre off
Ajax should be the favourite here, but Odysseus is running him close as elaborated in yet
another of the books unusual and imaginative similes.
(3) Athene helps Odysseus
Now plays his trump card: he prays to his patron goddess Athene, who not only boosts
Odysseus performance but engineers another divine accident for the leader by causing the
hapless Ajax to slip in a cowpat left over from the oxen sacrificed to Patroclus. Its a nicely-
judged combination of realism, farce, and poetic justice for Ajaxs coarse, wrong-headed
quarrel with Idomeneus over the climax of the chariot-race. Ajax grumpily diagnoses the
truth, but meets only with laughter.
(4) Antilochus comment and reward
Antilochus has been nowhere in this race (a little surprisingly), but makes up for it with
another beautifully-judged performance at the prizegiving. In the space of a single speech, he
manages to accept defeat gracefully, flatter the winner, and introduce a gratuitous
compliment to the patron of the games himself. Achilles, who seems highly susceptible to
Antilochus easy charm, promptly rewards him with the days second bonus prize. This is
how heroes ought to treat the competition for glory: as a game in which individualism is
always tempered by respect for the status and experience of elders, as Antilochus has shown
to both Menelaus and Odysseus, and now to Achilles himself.
(e) the combat
As Ive already noted, the next three events have often been suspected as a later addition to
the book, being neither canonical in Greek athletic festivals nor included in Nestors
catalogue of events from the games of his youth. The armed combat is a particularly uneasy
inclusion, as the rules seem to specify that the victor actually has to wound his opponent
making for an alarming scene when two major heroes on the same team stand up to compete.
But combat sports were a very ancient feature of classical athletic culture, especially in
Rome, and the poem may be trying to establish a conscious link with a known ancient
tradition.
(1) the prizes
Aptly in view of the event, the prizes on offer are again a reminder of key combats in recent
books of the poem: Sarpedons armour (as stripped by Patroclus at 16.6635) for the two to
share, plus Asteropaeus captured sword for the winner. An intriguing additional touch is the
promise of a feast (of reconciliation?) for both combatants at Achilles expense.
(2) Ajax v Diomedes
Alarmingly, the contestants are Ajax and Diomedes: major warriors both, and neither the
spectators nor the audience are keen to see either damaged. Ajax gets a few blows in on
Diomedes shield, but interestingly its Diomedes who comes closest to doing real damage.
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(3) contest stopped; prize shared

The fight is stopped by the spectators rather than Achilles, but he rejects their call to declare a
draw adjudicating the contest on points to Diomedes as the more aggressive fighter overall.
(f) the shot-put
This is a cross between a shot-put and the discus-throwing we see as part of the events in
Odyssey 8. In a novel twist, the throwing-weight (which seems anything but discus-shaped) is
also the prize for the furthest throw. Its also the most prominent appearance of metallic iron
in the main narrative (as opposed to the similes, which reflect the audiences world rather
than the bronze age), which makes it all the more interesting that Achilles describes its
usefulness purely in terms of farming implements, not combat weapons. Like so many of the
other prizes it has an unsettling history: you may remember that Etion, from whom Achilles
boasts of having captured the weight, was Andromaches father, killed by his own hand with
all her brothers during Achilles notorious raid on Thebe (6.41424).
(1) the contestants
Unlike other events, this one has no prizes for anything but first place. Ajax and Epeius now
volunteer themselves, for their third and second event respectively; but the jokers in the pack
are the Lapith leaders Leonteus and Polyphoetes (2.73847), whose moment of glory in the
main narrative was defending Nestors wall against Asius at 12.12794.
(2) Polypoetes victory
Epeius goes first, and evidently makes a mess of his throw bearing out his boast that boxing
is his primary skill. Leonteus does better, but Ajax is the favourite in this event and seems at
last to have found the event in which hes unbeatable only for the outsider Polypoetes to
surpass him, with another attractive and unusual simile, and push him into second place for
the third time in the games. This time, sadly, theres no prize for coming second.
(g) the archery
Now comes the archery, where theres a clear favourite if ever there was: Teucer, the master
bowman whose terrifying accuracy and power was put to such effective use in book 15. His
opponent Meriones has already failed to impress in the chariot-race, and most spectators will
have written him off. But we know by this stage in the games that upsets are most to be
expected when they seem least likely.
(1) Teucers shot
Teucer makes one fatal mistake: he doesnt pray to the archers patron god Apollo before
letting fly, and accordingly misses the actual target. But he does achieve the if anything more
impressive-looking feat of severing the string that attaches the target (a live dove) to its post,
leaving Meriones apparently with no chance of making the shot at all.
(2) Meriones shot
But Meriones, acts fast, grabbing the bow and promising Apollo the sacrifice he craves if
only he can make the shot. The dove is now in full flight, but in a Robin Hood moment
Meriones manages to hit it as it escapes and snatch the first prize that seemed all but engraved
with Teucers name.
(h) the javelin
The final event is the javelin, and Meriones (on a roll now) volunteers again. But now a
surprise: the other contestant to offer himself is none other than Agamemnon himself.
a prize for Agamemnon
This is a tricky moment. If he lets Agamemnon compete and Meriones beats him,
Agamemnons fragile dignity could produce another flare-up. Since Meriones already has a
prize, however, Achilles has the inspiration of awarding first prize to Agamemnon by default,
with a gracious tribute that publicly confirms, in their final scene together, that Achilles has
indeed put the quarrel between them firmly and permanently behind them.

Book 24. Priam and Achilles

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The funeral and games have done an impressive job of tying up many of the poems loose
ends. Weve seen an Achilles apparently reconciled with his peers andonce more at ease in
their world. Hes paid all the debt to Patroclus he can, and reconciled himself to the
inevitability of his own imminent death. But as in his feud with Agamemnon, no amount of
public display can eradicate the anger that continues to gnaw at him, and which finds its
lasting symbol in the unburied corpse of Hector, still lying there in the sand. Achilles
vengeance isnt over, even after theres nobody left to avenge himself on. Achilles needs
somehow to move beyond vengeance, beyond anger; but how, and to what?
The previous book has taken us away from the scenes of mourning in Troy, but this book
returns to the city and its grief as the principal outstanding problem that needs to be resolved.
After the large cast and expansive action of book 23, the bulk of this book is almost a two-
hander between the very different men whose dangerous meeting is its dramatic and
emotional climax.
The books famous for its echoes of book 1, though as I indicated in the Structure
handout we should probably be cautious of reading in elaborate correspondences and
parallels. Many of the connections are of a kind wed expect in a book which seeks to round
off the story that first book set in motion: an opening divine scene; the mediation of Thetis; a
further act of supplication and ransom that restores the balance disrupted in the poems first
scenes.

A. The gods take thought

We begin with the poems last and decisive Olympian scene, and Zeuss final initiative to
break the deadlock. As Thetis set the story in motion with a demand from Achilles to Zeus,
now Zeus will redress the balance by using Thetis to make a counter-demand on Achilles.

1. Achilles grief and Hectors corpse

The book opens, however, with a striking transition from 23. After the massed action and
easy social manners of the previous book, Achilles is suddenly alone again with his grief, and
finds that none of the days ceremonial has done anything to take the edge off. He spends the
sleepless night tossing and pacing, tormented by a montage of memories from his life
together with Patroclus. Finally dawn breaks, and he reverts to his old attempt to cope with
his inner pain by directing his feelings against the corpse of Hector harnessing it again
behind his chariot, and towing it now around the tomb in an increasingly futile and demented
gesture of unreconciled grief and guilt.

2. Divine debate
Once again we find ourselves watching the scene just described on a monitor in Olympus,
where the massed gods are increasingly ill at ease with Achilles conduct. A miraculous
teleportation, as with the body of Sarpedon, would be easy enough, and Hermes (=
Argephontes, his title Slayer of Argus) would be just the god to do it. But theres still the
implacable trio of Hera, Poseidon, and Athene, whose loathing for Troy is now partly
explained by the brief and cryptic reference to the story that in later versions became the
judgment of Paris.
(a) Apollos proposal
As Hectors consistent champion, its Apollo also the god who started things off in book 1
who puts the case most strongly. Nine more days have passed since the day of the funeral,
and Achilles is still pacing the cage of his grief, rage, and obsession. Hector has been
consistently pious and dutiful; hes done nothing to deserve such literally inhuman treatment.
Nor is Achilles doing anything to warrant their continuing support: on the contrary, hes
behaving like an animal rather than a human being, and abandoning the civilising human
qualities of pity and respect (aidos, translated by Lattimore shame). As Apollo points out,
dragging the corpse round and round the tomb isnt actually making things any better; on the
contrary, its just losing Achilles honour in comparison with the consistently humane and
pious Hector.
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(b) Heras objection

Hera responds with a crude sophistry, that Achilles and Hector shouldnt have similar rights
as one was born of a goddess and the other wasnt. The logic is clumsy and absurd: it would
imply that anyone else not born of a goddess should be denied burial as well, including
Patroclus. As Apollo has made clear, this is an issue of basic human dignity and civilised
behaviour, and the more Achilles rejects these the less worthy he is of their support.
(c) Zeuss verdict
Zeus makes his decision: Apollo is right that the situation cant continue, and that Hectors
body must be returned for burial. His reasons for rejecting the proposal to spirit it away are
curiously unconvincing, and it may be that were meant to see a subtler reading of the
situation underlying it. In Zeuss plan, which he now explains, its not enough for Achilles to
lose the body; he needs to let it go willingly.
Zeus now outlines the action of the rest of the book: hell summon Thetis, and have her
relay an order to Achilles to accept a ransom from Priam in exchange for the release of the
corpse. What were not told, of course, is that the encounter between the killer and his
victims father will resolve the situation in subtler ways as well.

3. Thetis brought in
Now comes the poems final episode with Thetis, which reverses the order of proceedings in
book 1 where a conversation with Achilles was followed by a journey to Olympus and
scene with Zeus. Here, shes summoned to Olympus first to relay Zeuss command back to
her son.
(a) Iris summons
Iris takes on the task of delivering Zeuss summons to Thetis, in a wonderful imaginative set
piece describing her plunging journey from air into ocean, with another of the unusual and
arresting similes that cluster especially in these final books.
In a telling touch, Thetis is already mourning Achilles, though he isnt yet dead (and in
later tradition survived the events of the Iliad by months rather than days). But Achilles spent
a good part of book 23 arranging his own funeral, so we dont need to take refuge in the
elaborate theories of the neoanalyst school well see more of in the Composition seminar.
(b) Thetis and Zeus
After a brief and reassuring scene of divine xenia, Zeus presents an executive summary of the
situation and mission. He says nothing of the disagreements among the other gods, and makes
no mention of Apollo or Hera. Instead, he diplomatically if questionably presents their failure
to intervene earlier as motivated by his own regard for Achilles and for Thetis herself. But
now its time to finish: let her take his command direct to Achilles, while (a new and
dramatic revelation) Iris instructs Priam to go in person to Achilles camp to negotiate the
ransom directly.
(c) Thetis and Achilles
As usual in Homer when such parallel missions are announced, theyre actually executed in
sequence; only when Thetis has finished with Achilles does Iris set out for her scene with
Priam. Like other divinities, Thetis appears to Achilles eyes and ears alone despite the
surrounding crowd and bustle. She arrives at a breakfast in which Achilles is pointedly not
taking part, which is what prompts her opening remarks.
her Thetis opens not with Zeuss command, but with a demonstration of motherly
speech concern that nevertheless manages to circle around and up to the point of her
mission. Achilles is treating himself like a dead man, denying himself the basic
human comforts of food, sleep, and sex. This isnt the way to spend his last days
on earth, and one of the things well see happen by the end of the book is
Achilles reconciliation to an acceptance of these simple reminders of his
humanity. But more to the point, Thetis reveals, Zeus is beginning to lose
patience. Achilles must accept a ransom for the body, or accept the consequences
of the gods anger.
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his Achilles response is terse, and as at other unexpectedly laconic moments there
response seems an invitation to read strong emotion into the words. But is it resentment?
relief? resignation? weariness? indifference? The reference to a He is rather
cryptic, as Thetis has said nothing at all about wholl bring the ransom, and
Achilles can hardly expect Priam to come in person. Commentators try to find a
way of making the expression indefinite, though its quite hard to get the Greek
to mean this.

B. Priams mission
Now the scene switches to the other side of the story, as we rejoin the scene in Troy twelve
days on from where we left it at the end of 22. Its Priam and the Trojans, rather than Achilles
himself, who from here on are the emotional centre of the action, and here that well fetch up
again for the poems moving finale.

1. Zeus sends Iris to Troy

Zeus now dispatches Iris with fuller instructions, which flesh out the plan with more detail.
Priam is to go alone (in his chariot, though this isnt spelled out here) apart from a single
assistant later identified as the veteran Trojan herald Idaeus from books 3 and 7, wholl
follow him with a mule-cart to carry the ransom out and the corpse back again. Hermes will
have a role after all, as a divine protective escort for the most perilous stretch of the journey;
and the seemingly suicidal strategy of presenting himself as a suppliant in Achilles own
shelter will have the effect of stimulating Achilles dormant instincts of reason and civilised
conduct.

2. Iris appears to Priam

Iris arrives to the scene we left at the end of 22, but twelve days further on in grief. While
Achilles has been staging his lavish funeral and games, followed by a self-indulgent period of
immersion in private rituals of anger and grief, Troy has had to deal with the fact that (i)
theyve lost their last hope and the heir to the throne and (ii) they dont even have a body to
bury. The image from 12.12794 has twelve more days filth accumulated, while
Andromaches mourning continues with the whole family joining in the chorus.
Like Thetis with Achilles, Iris appears privately to Priam alone, despite the crowd and
noise surrounding him: a pointed parallel between the two scenes, which also has the effect of
contrasting the two communities. Patroclus people have held a funeral, honoured his
memory, and come to terms with their loss; Hectors people, denied a funeral, are still in the
raw shock of mourning.
Iris delivers her message, as usual, in Zeuss own words as closely as possible; and Priam
is immediately galvanised. Suddenly hes giving orders, making preparations, and bustling
with energy and purpose.

3. Priam and Hecuba

But as he goes to collect the ransom goods for loading, he runs into Hecuba. With little
choice but to take her into his confidence, he explains what he proposes to do and why, and
asks for her approval and support. Hecuba, understandably, remembers his original impulse at
22.41522, and thinks hes finally lost his senses. Hecuba cannot conceive of a civilised side
to Achilles: for her, hes a psychopathic killer and Priams proposal is a suicide mission. As
far as shes concerned, Hectors body will never come home, and theyll have to be content
with wishing Achilles all the evil they can imagine, which in Hecubas case starts by eating
his liver raw.
But Priam wont be stopped. Its her voice against that of a god, experienced at first-hand;
and if the gods mean him to die then hell die they way they intend, with the consolation that
hell at least see his sons body one last time first.

4. the ransom
Now we stay with Priam as he solemnly gathers the treasures for the ransom. Its hard not to
be reminded of the parade of treasures Achilles brought out to be the prizes at Patroclus
 165

games: another point of connection and contrast between the two books, and the two dead
men at their centres. The confrontation with Hecuba has evidently put him in a tense, volatile
mood yelling at his people to leave him alone in his grief, and driving them out of his
presence with an old mans anger (and stick). Its a side of Priam we havent seen before, as
he faces this deadly mission entirely alone.

5. Priam rebukes his sons

Particular venom is reserved for his surviving sons, of whom most of here are strangers to us.
Only Paris, Helenus, Dephobus and Polites have been seen on the battlefield at all; the other
five names are entirely unfamiliar, which seems to bear out Priams dismissal of them as a
worthless waste of space and champions only on the dancefloor. He orders them to prepare
the cart for him themselves, in an amusing but effective demonstration of the power of
authority he can still command.
The names of Mestor and Troilus are unfamiliar in the Iliad, and were evidently to
understand them as earlier victims of Achilles. Later tradition had Mestor as one of the
victims of Achilles raid on Mount Ida during the Lyrnessus campaign, killed in the fight
from which Aeneas escaped (20.906, 20.18794). Troilus is best known nowadays from the
medieval story that linked him with Chryseis (whose name was garbled via Chaucers
Criseyde into Shakespeares Cressida), but in the early Greek epic and tragic tradition he
was killed by Achilles in a famous encounter in the early stages of the war.

6. the wagon made ready

Now comes the passage I always used to dread in the years when I taught this book as a
Greek set text. Its a horribly technical description, though fascinating in its way, of the
mechanics of yoking an early Greek mule-wagon. Dont worry about the details, whose
precise mechanical interpretation has been endlessly disputed; the key thing is to appreciate
the reason for the detail within the scene as a whole, which is to build up a scene of activity
and purpose around the preparations for this immensely important journey. The horses at the
end of the passage are for Priams chariot, which like so many Homeric chariots is rather
invisible in the text and has to be inferred from the details around it.

7. Hecubas libation and Priams prayer

Hecuba now emerges in more conciliatory mood, having had time to get over her horrified
first reaction to the plan. Priams metaphor of a bird of omen at 219 seems to have planted the
seed of an idea: she now proposes that he at least verify his divine mandate by praying to
Zeus for an unmistakable bird-omen confirming his support and guarantee of Priams safety.
Priam sees the sense of this, and performs the libation shes prepared and the accompanying
prayer she suggests.

8. the omen of the eagle

Zeus obliges at once with a magnificent spectacle: a gigantic eagle (with another bold and
striking simile to convey a sense of its wingspan). Unlike Priams earlier visitation, this is a
public display of Zeuss support, and the tension weve seen building between Priam and his
people is dissipated. For all the danger, he goes with his peoples support.

C. Priams journey
Now they set out on their perilous journey across the plain of battle and into the heart of the
Greek camp, with the faithful Idaeus driving the mule-cart in front and Priam riding his
chariot behind. Notwithstanding the eagle omen, however, Priams own family continue to
view this as a suicide mission; and even the audience must be wondering how on earth it can
be safely completed.

1. into the plain

As they emerge on to the Scamander plain, the procession that has been accompanying Priam
and Idaeus to this point can go no further, and returns to the protection of the city. For the rest
of their journey, the two of them are truly alone.
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2. Zeus sends in Hermes

Zeus, however, has a promise to keep. He told Priam hed send Hermes as an escort, and now
its further revealed that one of Hermes duties will be to keep Priam invisible during the
whole journey into and through the camp, which explains how he can make the journey
without misadventure. Hermes is a suitable choice for the job on several grounds: hes the
trickster god of thieves and skullduggery, but also the god who escorts and guides the dead
on their final journey. The symbolism of that for this episode has often been commented on.

3. the king and the stranger (9 speeches)

The long scene which follows is a bit of a surprise, and has more in common with the
elaborate conversational mindgames of the later books of the Odyssey. Though Priams been
told Hermes is coming, Hermes opts to appear in mortal disguise as a young Myrmidon
soldier, a role he continues to play until his task is done, and Priam and Idaeus fail to make
the connection with Zeuss promise until he unmasks.
By they time the pause on the bank of the Scamander to water their animals its already
night, giving the whole episode a feeling of mystery and danger, and when Idaeus (in front,
remember) now sees a figure ahead he suspects the worst. This is the first test of Priams
resolve and his faith in Zeuss promise, and if he stays his ground its less from courage than
because hes paralysed with terror. But Hermes approaches unthreateningly, and his opening
speech promises no harm, comparing Priam to a father. Lattimores odd-sounding translation
is trying to bring out a delicate ambiguity in the Greek: the characters own father, or
Hectors? The fatherson motif is used with great sensitivity in this whole episode, and
ultimately will provide the basis for Priams crucial appeal to Achilles. As Priam reminds the
stranger of his own father, so the stranger reminds Priam of Hector.
With more irony than he can know, Priam senses the hand of a god in this encounter, and
is further astonished when the stranger speaks of Hector with deep respect. Its all the more
surprising when he identifies himself as one of Achilles Myrmidons, qualifying him to fill
Priam in on the current location and state of the corpse. Here too the news is encouraging,
and Priam (again with dramatic irony) diagnoses the hand of the gods in all this. He offers
Hermes the precious Thracian goblet from 2337 as a fee for escorting him to Achilles
shelter, but the god offers his services for free.

4. into the camp

Now Hermes takes over Priams reins to steer them into the camp, using his powers to
anaesthetise the guards, and for the first time we get a full description of Achilles shelter: no
mere tent or hut, but a full-scale timber hall with a properly thatched roof and its own
courtyard and gate. Hermes lets them into the yard and parks the mule-cart and chariot there.

5. Hermes unmasks
Only now does he reveal his true identity, as his own role in the mission is fulfilled and he
leaves for Olympus. His protection wont continue inside, though gods do occasionally
accept mortal hospitality (in disguise) in the Odyssey. For the final and most dangerous phase
of his mission, Priam is on his own.

D. Priam and Achilles

Idaeus stays with the animals, and Priam goes in alone. The great scene that follows is the
emotional and thematic climax of the book, and the final turning-point of the poem. Its the
scene which finally persuades Achilles to let go of his obsession and rejoin the human race in
the ways Thetis has begged him, thanks to its powerful demonstration that the experience of
Achilles victims and their families are no different from his own, and that the recognition of
this common bond of human suffering transcends the enmities of war and revenge to the
point where they become virtually meaningless.

1. the supplication
Weve already seen Priams tactics sketched out: hes going to use the approach of formal
supplication to try to induce Achilles to accept the ransom hes brought and release the corpse
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to come home. We have some idea of the cards he can play: already at 22.41822 he was
thinking about playing on the fatherson relationship, and Hermes has suggested mentioning
his mother and son as well. But while we have a sense of where Achilles weak spots are,
Priam has never met him, and will have to rely on his native powers of oratory like no-one
else in the poem.
(a) the suppliant at the feast
Its the evening meal; Achilles has perhaps taken Thetis advice, as he seems to be dining
with the rest. Quite how Priam manages to slip past two alert young warriors and grab hold of
their commanders knees is wisely unexplained, but the climax is the famous line about
kissing the killers hands. On this image as Richardson comments on this line, the most
dramatic moment in the whole of the Iliad the narrative holds and freezes for a long,
suspenseful moment, as the situation is expanded in the Iliads most daring reverse simile.
Within the analogous situation of an unexpected and troubling arrival, Priam is remapped on
to the figure of the killer and Achilles on to the king; and the confounding of roles is picked
up as we cut rapidly between the viewpoints of each in turn as he gazes on the other with the
same complex mixture of astonished feelings.
(b) Priams speech
Now at last comes the great speech of supplication. He begins, as expected, with Achilles
father, and astutely expands on the troubles he must now be suffering without a son around to
protect him. Then he holds on the picture but switches himself into Peleus role and Hector
into Achilles, as his fathers last protector now permanently removed. The climax of the
appeal brackets the gods and Peleus, the two most forceful arguments he has, together, with a
brilliant finale on the reason why Priam deserves even more pity than Achilles must feel for
his own father. (In time it may be possible to think of these famous lines without a watery-
eyed Peter OToole delivering them to a bemused-looking Brad Pitt.)
Achilles is initially unable to respond in words at all. He breaks the suppliant contact, but
his body language makes it clear his feelings are of grief rather than violence, and the
narrative holds on the scene of the two of them momentarily united in mourning.
(c) Achilles speech
At last Achilles finds words, unknowingly quoting Hecuba at 2035 in his comment on
Priams iron resolve, and spelling out the connection Priam has left tactfully inexplicit about
exactly who killed the sons referred to. Crucially, he offers Priam hospitality, as he agrees to
try to move together beyond the futility of lamentation, drawing on the famous parable of
Zeuss urns.
the urns of This Hesiodic-style allegory recalls the parable of the Prayers used by Achilles
blessing old tutor Phoenix in book 9. The point of the parable is that nobody gets a life
and composed entirely of blessings; its either sorrows with a few blessings thrown
sorrow in, or sorrows without any blessings at all.
Peleus and Peleus has had a mixture from the two urns: a wealthy kingdom and a goddess
Priam for wife, but a single short-lived son. And Priam, he now sees, is the same: a
great king once, now facing the death of his people and the doom of his
kingdom. His advice to Priam is the lesson hes been needing to recognise for
himself: mourning has to stop, because it wont bring the dead back. But more
important still is the recognition of a fundamental likeness between himself and
Hector, Peleus and Priam: a common experience of loss that unites killer and
victim in a single, universal humanity.
(d) Priams reply
Priam notes, in all this, that Achilles has said nothing about Hectors body and the ransom,
and is uneasy at the invitation to hospitality. At best it looks like a delaying tactic, and at
worst a brush-off to his request and a trap that puts him in mounting danger. He needs an
answer to his request before he can accept.
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(e) Achilles warning

This is a dangerous provocation to Achilles, who flares up now; we see how close to the wind
Priam has been sailing, and how close to violence Achilles is even now. But it was a
necessary risk to take, and Achilles grudgingly announces his intention to accede to the
request making it clear, however, that its not his idea but Zeuss orders, and that he sees
Priams arrival unscathed as further sign that the gods are keeping a careful eye on the
outcome. But Priam needs to tread very, very carefully, or Achilles could still be pushed over
the edge into violence.

2. the exchange of corpse and ransom

Achilles chief lieutenants take care of the practicalities, and invite Idaeus in to join his
master, while Achilles has the corpse surreptitiously cleaned out of sight. The motivation for
this is telling: if Priam sees the state of the body, his own outrage is likely to set Achilles off,
and give him that dangerous final push of anger that will trigger the appalling act of
murdering an unarmed suppliant and guest, and one whom Zeus has specifically ordered
unharmed. Achilles joins in the loading, with a moving and finely-observed moment of
asking forgiveness from Patroclus ghost for breaking his promise: the crucial sign that
Achilles is at last cutting loose from Patroclus memory.

3. Achilles hospitality
The arrangements are made, and Priam could ride away into the night; but its important to
cement the deal by following through the invitation to hospitality. This is the final
demonstration of mutual acceptance and trust, even if Priam is no keener to linger with
Achilles than Achilles was to sit down to Agamemnons meal in the previous book. Ironically
but importantly, its Achilles himself who now lectures Priam on the point made earlier by
Thetis, the need for even the grieving to accept food.
(a) Achilles story of Niobe
The point is made through the story of Niobe, who in later versions turned to stone from grief
after her children were killed by Apollo and Artemis in punishment for her boast. Its usually
reckoned that the standard version was already current in Homers time, but has here been
adapted to create detailed parallels with Priams situation in the poem the nine days
mourning, the funeral, the breaking of the fast, all of which are actually incompatible with the
usual version. Willcocks famous 1964 article on mythological paradeigma argued that this is
Homers normal practice, and that this retooling of myth to fit the present situation can also
be seen in other major mythological parallels such as Phoenixs story of Meleager. The four
closing lines of the story are especially evocative and haunting.
(b) the meal
The sequence that follows is a common one in the peacetime setting of the Odyssey, but
relatively rare in the Iliad, where leisurely meals and the associated rituals of hospitality
between strangers have little opportunity to arise. In an oddly cinematic effect, the soundtrack
is turned off; were not told what passed between the two of them in their conversation, but
merely see the looks they exchange, or rather the way theyre seen through one anothers
eyes.
(c) Priam asks to retire
The meal has brought the two of them together in another way as well: Priam has now taken
the sleep and food that Thetis originally urged on Achilles to close his period of mourning,
though his request to turn in for the night may already be part of a covert plan to escape
before dawn.
(d) Achilles response
Achilles, at least, seems to understand what is about to happen, and what he needs to do to
make it possible. He offers a bed for Priam out in the porch, away from other eyes, and
invents a plausible reason why this might seem a good idea. But its clear that he knows this
 169

will be their farewell, and takes the opportunity to agree a truce for the duration of Hectors
funeral, which he guarantees himself on Agamemnons behalf.
The tone of this speech is difficult to pin down, but Lattimore is wrong to translate the
difficult Greek word epikertomeon as sarcastic. It ought to mean provoking, but
commentators have difficulty agreeing on what kind of provocation is being offered:
nervousness about being caught by Agamemnon and the other Greeks, so that Priam will flee
in the night? teasing irony about the charade, with which both play along, that hell stay the
whole night?
(e) the truce
Priam asks for nine days and two of funeral, exactly as weve had earlier in the book for
Patroclus; see the chronology. These two nine-day gaps correspond intriguingly to the similar
pair in the first book, though Ive suggested in the Structure handout that we should be wary
of grandiose claims of ring-compositional symmetry here.
With the truce agreed and shaken on, their business is concluded. Priams put to bed
outside as agreed, but now we see the last element of Thetis advice put into action, as for the
first time in nearly a month Achilles goes to bed with Briseis at his side. Its our last view of
him in the poem, and one chosen to symbolise the closure of the story that began with their
separation.

E. The return to Troy

The final phase of the book follows Priam back to Troy, and the fulfilment of the truce at the
Trojan end. As we may have already gathered from Achilles hints, theres no expectation
that Priam will stay until dawn; his business with Achilles is closed, and if anyone else
catches him in the Greek camp even Achilles wont be able to guarantee his safety.

1. Hermes prompts Priam to leave

Hermes now re-enters the narrative, appearing to Priam in a way that recalls the dream
manifestations of books 2 and 23. But this is no dream: Hermes is back in person, and after
stirring Priam into action by reminding him of what he can expect if hes still in his enemies
stronghold at daybreak, he again takes the reins of his chariot to drive them out of the camp
in secret. He leaves them at dawn, at the same point where he appeared the previous sunset:
the bank of the Scamander by the ford.

2. Cassandra
Its here that theyre spotted by the princess Cassandra, in her only appearance in the poem
(apart a mention in connection with the killing of one of her suitors at 13.3657). Theres no
sign yet in Homer of the later tradition about her prophetic skills, though that doesnt mean
they werent already part of her story. But her function here, in a scene that echoes
Idomeneus chariot-spotting in the previous book, is to whip up anticipation and relief at
Priams return.

3. Priams reception
The moment of the kings return with Hectors corpse is a powerful one for his family and
city, and Priam has to revert to his old commanding self to clear a way through even to get
the cart into the city at all. Its only with the entry to the city that the present informal
lamentation can give way to the formal family ritual of farewell which will give the poem its
great closing scene.

4. the mourning for Hector

As usual in Greek funerary ritual, the mourning is led by the womenfolk of the family, with
lead voices soloing and the other women providing a kind of chorus. In Hectors case, his
wife and mother go first and second, as wed expect; but theres a twist in the surprising
identity of the third and climactic voice.
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(a) Andromaches lament

Andromaches second lament for Hector again presents the widows view, but in a bleaker
version than her lament in 22. Again she contemplates her own future and that of her child,
but now against the backdrop of the grim certainty of the citys fall now that Hector is dead.
Astyanax will never experience the bullying of his peers imagined in 22, because as she now
realises hell be either enslaved or dead. (Later tradition followed up the hint in 735 and had
him thrown to his death from a tower after the citys sack.) As with other anticipations of
future events in these closing books, its a way of bringing the key events outside the poems
timespan imaginatively into the plot as an inevitable extension of the story. Only with her
final lines does she revert to her own situation, and the war widows pain of losing a husband
far away in battle without the opportunity to exchange goodbyes.
(b) Hecubas lament
Hecuba now offers the bereaved mothers perspective to complement the widows. Her own
earlier bitterness has been eased by the retrieval of the body; she takes a grim satisfaction in
the furious grief that Hector was able to inflict on his killer through the death of Patroclus,
and in having the body back in such a divinely-preserved state of beauty.
(c) Helens lament
Helen seems to be a deliberate surprise; she hasnt been glimpsed in the background of either
22 or 24, but she delivers a moving tribute to the man who had most cause to hate her, but
who always treated with a kindness others didnt show and which she least deserved. We saw
some of this in their one scene together at 6.342ff. but its a brilliant stroke to reintroduce
the relationship here, as a final comment on the sufferings shes caused and the meaning of
Hectors loss to those he protected in small ways as well as great.

5. the funeral of Hector

After this three-part emotional climax, the funeral itself is briefly recounted; weve already
seen an identical sequence in the detailed account of Patroclus funeral, and another here
would dilute the impact of the previous scene. The pyre is built, the body burned, and the
remains collected and buried in a grave-mound; and the rest of the last day of the truce is
spent in the funeral feast. Troy has said its farewells to Hector; and on the next day, the war
will begin again, with a conclusion now inevitable.
So the Iliad ends, in a series of scenes that have brought killer and victims together in a
common experience of suffering. Over the course of these last four books weve seen
Achilles transformed from a berserk killing machine to a man capable of rising above the
process of war altogether, taking the enemy leader under his protection in the midst of an
armed camp of 100,000 foes, and binding the whole army to a truce for the sake of the man
whose corpse he vowed to throw to the dogs. Achilles has made his peace with Patroclus
ghost, with Agamemnon and the army, with his own death, and with the anger that has driven
his every action since the quarrel. If at one stage we expected the poem to end with Achilles
death or the fall of Troy, weve now seen that the real story of the Iliad is the story of the
tragic choices that make those events inevitable. We know what happens next, and why, and
how bad it will be. But for one last night, the city of Troy and the Myrmidon camp are at
peace.
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C h r o n o l o g y o f I l i a d ( cf. Taplin 1992:14-19)

Days No. Events Reference Lines

1-9 9 plague I.8-53 46
10 1 assembly; return of Chryseis; gods in Aethiopia I.54-476 423
11 1 return from Chryse I.477-87 11
12-20 9 Achilles sulks I.488-92 5
21 1 council of gods (+ night) I.493-II .47 166
22 1 fighting II .48-VII.380 3653
23 1 truce VII.381-432 52
24 1 funeral VII.433-82 50
25 1 fighting (+ night) VIII.1-X.579 1857
26 1 fighting (+ night) XI .1-XVIII.616 5667
27 1 fighting (+ night) XIX.1-XXIII.108 2161
28 1 funeral XXIII.109-225 117
29 1 games XXIII.226-XXIV.21 693
30-38 9 mutilation of corpse XXIV.22-30 9
39 1 ransom (+ night) XXIV.31-694 664
40-48 9 truce XXIV.695-784 90
49 1 funeral XXIV.785-8 4
50 1 burial XXIV.788-804 17
15685
172

Speakers and speeches in the Iliad

Speaking character Speeches Lines Average First Longest
Greeks Achilles 87 965 11.09 I 122
Agamemnon 43 445 10.35 I 67
Ajax 17 129 7.59 VII 19
Ajax II 3 24 8 XIII 9
Alcimedon* 1 5 5 XVII 5
Antilochus 5 35 7 XVIII 14
Automedon* 4 22 5.5 XVII 8
Briseis* 1 14 14 XIX 14
Calchas* 2 19 8.5 I 9
Cebriones* 1 8 8 XI 8
Diomedes 27 239 8.85 IV 23
Epeius* 1 9 9 XXIII 9
Eurypylus* 2 19 9.5 XI 14
Idomeneus 12 115 9.58 IV 20
Menelaus 22 152 6.91 III 16
Menestheus* 1 8 8 XII 8
Meriones 5 23 4.6 XIII 7
Nestor 31 489 15.77 I 148
Odysseus 26 342 13.15 I 82
Patroclus 11 83 7.55 XI 15
Peneleus* 1 5 5 XIV 5
Phoenix* 1 172 172 IX 172
Sthenelus* 2 15 7.5 IV 8
Talthybius* 1 4 4 IV 4
Teucer 2 11 5.5 VIII 7
Thersites* 1 18 18 II 18
Thoas* 1 14 14 XV 14
Thootes* 1 10 10 XII 10
Tlepolemus* 1 14 14 V 14
Trojans and allies Acamas* 1 5 5 XIV 5
Aeneas 6 104 17.33 V 59
Agenor* 2 15 7.5 XXI 8
Andromache 4 102 25.5 VI 38
Antenor* 2 25 12.5 III 21
Asius* 1 10 10 XII 10
Asteropaeus* 1 8 8 XXI 8
Cassandra* 1 3 3 XXIV 3
Deiphobus* 2 8 4 XIII 5
Dolon* 5 51 10.2 X 19
Euphorbus* 2 15 7.5 XVII 9
Glaucus 4 117 29.25 VI 67
Hector 50 530 10.6 III 45
Hecuba 6 63 10.5 VI 16
Helen 7 78 11.14 III 15
Helenus* 2 32 16 VI 25
housekeeper* 1 8 8 VI 8
Idaeus 4 30 7.5 III 14
Lycaon* 1 13 13 XXI 13
Pandarus* 4 51 12.75 V 37
Paris 7 62 8.86 III 17
Pisander & Hippolochus* 1 5 5 XI 5
Priam 25 213 8.52 III 39
Polydamas 4 90 22.5 XII 30
Sarpedon 7 70 10 V 21
Socus* 1 4 4 XI 4
Theano* 1 6 6 VI 6
Gods Aphrodite 7 26 3.71 III 5
Apollo 18 111 6.17 IV 22
Ares 4 32 8 V 16
Artemis* 2 8 4 XXI 6
Athene 20 159 7.95 I 23
Charis* 2 4 2 XVIII 3
Dione* 2 36 18 V 34
dream* 1 12 12 II 12
Hephaestus 5 45 9 I 16
Hera 29 238 8.21 I 18
Hermes 8 81 10.125 XXI 15
Hypnos* 3 30 10 XIV 20
Iris 13 103 7.92 II 17
Poseidon 16 158 9.875 VII 30
Scamander* 5 40 8 XXI 16
Themis* 1 2 2 XV 2
Thetis 13 116 8.92 I 33
Zeus 37 337 9.11 I 29
Others Chryses* 3 17 5.67 I 6
Xanthus* 1 10 10 XIX 10
anonymi 10 38 3.8 II 6
666 6729 10.10

* = speeches confined to a single book.