Zeus may have gone to bed, but he can't sleep. Tossing and turning, he tries to come up with a way to help the Trojans and hence "give honor to Achilles." Finally, he sends a dream to Agamemnon. In the dream a vision in the form of "wise" Nestor (more on that later) comes to Agamemnon and tells him that if he launches a major attack on the Trojans right now, he will win. When he wakes up, he rounds up his troops for this attack. But, inexplicably, he decides to test their resolve by announcing that he wants to return to Greece and end the war.
Weary from years of battle, the Achaeans take him up on the offer! Hera gets wind of this and is not pleased; she sends Athena to inspire Odysseus, who in turn "inspires" the Achaeans to stay and see the war through. I put "inspires" in quotes, because what he really does is insult their honor, shaming them into staying. And it works, for all but one guy: Thersites.
Thersites is made out to be a sniveling wimp, but I sympathize with him as the sole voice of reason. We are told Nestor is wise, but he actually encourages people to take seriously something that Agamemnon was told in a dream! Thersites, on the other hand, is making sense. He points out that Agamemnon has lots of loot and women. Does he really need more? He calls him out for humiliating their best warrior (Achilles), and implores the Achaeans to leave Agamemnon there and just go home.
Do the Achaeans go with him? Not so much... they "despise [him] in their hearts" and Odysseus berates him and beats him with his scepter until he bleeds and cries, while the Achaeans ("though discontent") watch and laugh. So, that's what being reasonable gets you.
After some more chest-pounding, some prayer, and some hand-wringing over the fate of poor Helen, we get to a litany of soldiers as Agamemnon sorts them into clans. Zeus then sends Iris as a messanger to the Trojans, alerting them to the forthcoming assault, and we hear a litany of their soldiers as they are made ready for war. Honestly, it's a snoozefest.
Summary, Book 3:
Book 3 starts with the Trojans marching out. Paris, who really started this whole thing by snatching Helen from her husband, Menelaus, darts out and demands hand to hand combat with any of the Achaean warriors. Menelaus obligingly steps forward, and Paris sort of slinks back into the ranks. Um... did he not consider that Menelaus might volunteer to fight the guy who stole his wife? Does he realize how cowardly this makes him look?
His brother, Hector, realizes it and really lets him have it.
"And can you now
not face Menelaus? If so, you’d learn
the kind of man he is whose wife you took.
You’d get no help then from your lyre, long hair,
good looks—Aphrodite’s gifts—once face down,
lying in the dirt. Trojans must be timid men.
If not, for all the evil things you’ve done
by now you’d wear a garment made of stones."
Ah, brotherly love. Anyway, Paris agrees with Hector and changes his mind. He and Menelaus will fight.
Now this part confuses me. First of all, we finally get to meet Helen! Iris appears to her in a vision, but for some reason she is disguised as Laodice, Helen's "sister-in-law" (in that she is Paris's sister.) Okay, I assume we are to consider Helen and Paris married even though she was married to Menelaus? Anyway, Iris as Laodice tells Helen that Paris and Menelaus will be fighting and the winner will be her husband. Helen feels a longing for Menelaus. Crying, she goes to Priam, Paris's father, to watch the fight. Priam asks Helen a few questions about the identifies of the various Achaeans he sees. And Helen appears to have a good relationship with Priam, all things considered.
As the fight is about to begin, Priam leaves. He does not want to be there if his son dies in battle. When it starts, it is not looking good for Paris. He is about to be killed by Menelaus when Aphrodite intervenes, snatching him up in a "heavy mist" and putting him in his "sweetly scented" bedroom. She also convinces Helen to come in.
Helen is not in a cheery mood. Helen calls him a coward and flat out tells him she wishes he had died. Far from getting upset, this is apparently a turn-on for Paris, who says he has never been so attracted to her. Ha! Charming. She joins him in bed. And we can all imagine where that's going.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Achaeans have declared victory for Menelaus since, let's face it, he was about to win before Aphrodite appeared. We end with this, from Agamemnon:
“Listen to me, Trojans, Dardanians, allies—
victory clearly falls to war-loving Menelaus.
So give back Argive Helen and her property,
compensate us with a suitable amount,
something future ages will all talk about.”
Reading Notes
I am still finding the names confusing, but writing them down has really helped. It also sort of helps to have a mental picture of what is happening, which is not always easy.
I can see why people study this work, as the characters are fascinating. Unfortunately, I don't really like any of them. I wonder if that is the point. Is Homer's goal to show a bunch of incredibly flawed figures? If so, why the constant references to people being "god-like?" I don't see where calling Paris, Agamemnon, Helen, etc. god- or goddess-like is any real compliment, given that the Greek gods are actually pretty terrible. They are decadent, capricious, cruel, and wanton. Is that the point?
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