The Iliad, Book 18

Summary, Book 18

We begin with Antilochus, who has the thoroughly unenviable task of going to inform Achilles that Patroclus is dead.  Fortunately for Antilochus, Achilles already pretty much suspects the news and is watching the Achaeans retreating

Nevertheless, Antilochus goes with the “ripping off a band-aid” approach to breaking the news:

 “Son of warlike Peleus,
you must hear this dreadful news—something
I wish weren’t so—Patroclus lies dead.                                                      
Men are fighting now around the body.
He’s stripped. Hector with his gleaming helmet
has the armour.”

Even though he already suspected it, the confirmation sends Achilles over the edge.

With both hands he scooped up soot and dust and poured it
on his head, covering his handsome face with dirt,
covering his sweet-smelling tunic with black ash.                        
He lay sprawling—his mighty warrior’s massive body
collapsed and stretched out in the dust. With his hands,
he tugged at his own hair, disfiguring himself.
The women slaves acquired as battle trophies
by Achilles and Patroclus, hearts overwhelmed
with anguish, began to scream aloud. They rushed outside
and beat their breasts around warlike Achilles.

Antilochus is also crying, but he begins to worry that Achilles might commit suicide.

Thetis, Achilles’s mother, hears her son crying from deep down in the sea.  She also begins to wail and cry, joined by her sisters, the Nereids.  Then Thetis and her sisters emerge from the sea and Thetis goes to comfort her son.  The scene is actually rather touching.  Achilles is crying and she is cradling his head and comforting him.  Yet in her attempt to comfort him, she says in so many words, “You should be happy!  You got what you wanted!  The Achaeans are in desperate for your intervention!”

She might want to just buy a Hallmark card next time.

Anyway, Achilles acknowledges that he got what he wanted, but without his friend it means nothing.  Aw. Then he says he has no desire to live unless he kills Hector.  Through her tears, Thetis warns him that if he goes out into battle he is fated to die an early death.  This is a risk Achilles is willing to take, so strong is his desire to avenge his friend’s death.  I feel like this whole work so far could be summed up in the words, “Be careful what you wish for.”  Zeus granted Achilles’s and Thetis’s request, but not the way they expected or intended!

Achilles is upset that Hector has his armour, but Thetis reassures him that she will get him some new armour, designed by Hephaestus.

On the battlefield, the Trojans are gaining ground.  Hector is on a rampage, and he is about to succeed in seizing Patroclus’s corpse.  Seeing this, Hera sends Iris down to Achilles and Iris says:

“Rouse yourself, son of Peleus, most feared of men.                 
Defend Patroclus. For on his behalf
a deadly conflict rages by the ships—
men are butchering each other, some trying
to protect the dead man’s corpse, while others,
the Trojans, charge in to carry it away
to windy Ilion. The one most eager
to haul the body off is glorious Hector,
whose heart is set on hacking off the head
from its soft neck. He’ll fix it on a stake
set in the wall. So get up. No more lying here.                         
Your heart will be disgraced if Patroclus
becomes a plaything for the dogs of Troy—
his mutilated corpse will be your shame.”

   

Achilles asks Iris how he can go to the battle when he does not have his armour, and when his mother told him not to join the battle until she returned.  Iris says that he does not have to go directly into the fray, but that showing himself to the Trojans by the ditch will do the trick for the time being and buy him some time.

This is a long quote, but it’s a powerful moment:

He strode from the wall, then stood there by the ditch.
But recalling what his mother had said to him,
he didn’t mingle with Achaeans. As he stood there,
he cried out. From far away, Pallas Athena                                      
added her voice, too, causing great consternation
among the Trojans. As thrilling as a trumpet’s note
when it rings clearly, when rapacious enemies                                           
besiege a city—that’s how sharp and piercing
Achilles’ voice was then. When the Trojans heard it,
that brazen shout Achilles gave, all their hearts
were shaken. Their horses with the lovely manes
turned back the chariots, anticipating trouble
in their hearts. Charioteers were terrified, seeing
the fearful inextinguishable fire blazing                                             
from the head of the great-hearted son of Peleus.
For Athena, goddess with the glittering eyes,
kept it burning. Three times godlike Achilles yelled
across that ditch. Three times Trojans and their allies
were thrown into confusion. At that moment,
twelve of their best men were killed by their own chariots                          
and their own spears. Achaeans then, with stronger hearts,
pulled Patroclus out of spear range and laid him on a cot.
His dear companions gathered mourning round him,
Achilles with them, shedding hot tears when he saw                        
his loyal companion lying on a death bed,
mutilated by sharp bronze. He’d sent him out to war
with chariot and horses, but never welcomed him
at his return.

See, NOW Achilles is acting like a hero.  Frightening the enemy, avenging his friend’s death… not sulking on a ship like a gloomy adolescent.

The Trojans retreat hastily and debate what to do.  Polydamas, “a prudent man, the only one who weighed with care the past and future,” (true!) suggests that they return to their city.  He’s smart enough to see the writing on the wall.  Hector is not interested in retreat.  He is out of control at this point and insists that they press onward.

Hector spoke. The Trojans roared out in response.                                       
The fools! Pallas Athena had robbed them of their wits.
They all applauded Hector’s disastrous tactics.                              
No one praised Polydamas, who’d advised them well.
Then throughout the army they ate their dinner. 

True, but there’s nothing so unusual about this in the world of the Iliad.  Good advice is usually ignored, and bad or just plain arbitrary advice is scrupulously followed.

Meanwhile, the Achaeans finally have Patroclus back on the ship, and they begin their lamentations.  (PS… ?  They hadn’t started lamenting yet?  Achilles was covering himself in soot and ash?  Although I guess “lamentations” signifies some formal mourning ritual.)  They clean the body and prepare it for burial, although Achilles says he will not bury him until he can bring Hector’s head to him (ew) and he can slit the throats of twelve Trojan children on his pyre (yikes!).

While all this is happening, Thetis shows up at Hephaestus’s digs and his wife Charis (one of the Graces) lets her in.  Hmm.  I always thought that Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite… isn’t that the usual story?

Anyway.  Apparently Hephaestus owes Thetis a favour for saving his life and he agrees to make special armour for Achilles.  Seriously, is there any immortal who is not somehow indebted to Thetis?  Then again, eternity is a long time.  After a while, maybe they all owe each other a solid in one form or another.  He makes the armour, and in particular makes a beautiful new shield for Achilles, to which we are treated to a detailed description.  Thetis grabs the armour and takes it back down to earth, and that is where the book ends.

Reading Notes

Thetis is fascinating in this book.  First of all, he description of her relationship with Peleus is rather amusing.  “…I had to put up with a man in my bed, much against my will.”  She also sees things clearly regarding Patroclus’s slaying.  Apollo, not Hector, killed Patroclus but “[gave] Hector all the glory.”  Semantics?  I’m not so sure.  Patroclus himself calls Hector out on this as he is dying.

In spite of myself, I am really starting to get into this.  Homer is a master at drawing out conflict, and while there have been a few “filler” sections, it makes the anticipation leading up to the confrontation between Achilles and Hector all the more exciting!

-Lily

The Iliad, Book 17

Sorry for the long delay!  I had some family business to take care of, but all is well now!

Summary, Book 17

This book opens with people fighting over Patroclus’s body.  Menelaus is one of the first Achaens to realize Patroclus is dead and he is beside himself:

Dressed in gleaming armour, he strode through the ranks
of those fighting in the front, then made a stand
over the corpse, like a mother beside her calf,
lowing over her first born, with no experience
of giving birth till then.

This is one of several comparisons between pain on the battlefield and childbirth, which seems a really strange comparison for a battle saga.

Euphorbus tries to swipe Patroclus’s armour, but Menelaus kills him.  Apollo sees this unfold and decides to inspire Hector to attack by informing him that Euphorbus, “the best man of the Trojans”, has been killed by Menelaus.  Since when is Euphorbus the best of the Trojans?  News to me.  Hector sees Menelaus trying to swipe Euphorbus’s armour and is enraged.  These guys get really pissed off about armour.  He lets out a piercing war cry, and Menelaus begins to have second thoughts about this whole endeavor.  He weighs whether it would be cowardly to retreat, even though staying and facing Hector himself means certain death.

When Menealus sees Hector and his men advancing, his mind is made up and takes off, leaving the body behind.  But he is not fully retreating; he finds Ajax and asks for his help in defending Patroclus’s body.  They return to the body together and manage to fend off the Trojans and shield Patroclus’s body.  They are too late to save the armour, which Hector has taken, but they manage to keep the body from being mutilated.

Once that is done, Glaucus begins to berate Hector:

“Hector, to look at you,                                   
you’re the finest man we’ve got, but in battle
you’re sadly lacking. That fame you have
as a courageous warrior is misplaced.
You’re a man who runs away. Consider now,
how are you going to save your city
only with those soldiers born in Ilion?
For no Lycian will set out to fight
against Danaans for your city’s sake,
since there’s apparently no gratitude
for taking on our enemies without a rest.                                       
How can you rescue a lesser warrior
from the thick of battle, ungrateful man,                                                    
when Sarpedon, once your companion,
your guest, you abandon to the Argives,
to become their battle spoils, their trophy…”

He’s still upset about Sarpedon.  Hector is indignant at being called cowardly, and he says if they restart the battle he will join once he has changed into Achilles’s armour (taken from Patroclus’s body).

Zeus makes the armour fit Hector perfectly, and the spirit of Ares fills Hector.  Ajax and Menelaus realize that if they stay they are done for.  Ajax pragmatically points out that Patroclus’s body is going to be food for vultures soon anyway.  Ha.  So anyway, they leave and round up more Achaeans.  The battle is chaotic and intense, and Zeus settles a mist over Patroclus because, apparently, he had no animosity toward him and does not want to see his body desecrated. Zeus is definitely playing both sides in this book, more so than before.

Here’s a vivid description of what’s happening:

So they fought on, like blazing fire. You couldn’t tell
whether sun and moon still shone, for in that fight
a mist surrounded all the best men standing there
beside Menoetius’ dead son. Meanwhile, other Trojans                                    
fought other well-armed Achaeans undisturbed,
under a clear sky, bright sunshine all around them,                               
no clouds above the entire earth or on the mountains.
So they fought more casually, keeping their distance,
staying out of range of each other’s painful weapons.
But soldiers in the centre were suffering badly
in the fog and fighting. The pitiless bronze
was wearing down the finest men.

The Achaeans are doing well and are about to dive the Trojans back to Ilion when Apollo appears to Aeneas.  He appears in the form of the son of Aeneas’s father’s advisor.  For some reason, I find it hilarious when the gods take on the form of these people with tangential connections to the mortal the god hopes to inspire.  But I’m sure people hearing this were much better versed than I am in the various backstories, so perhaps in context it makes a lot of sense.  Anyway, Apollo inspire Aeneas to rally up the retreating Trojans.  But they still can’t get to Patroclus’s body.

Oh, now we get a detailed description of the grief suffered by… Achilles’s horses.  Sorry, have to quote in full:

Men talked like this to strengthen their companions.
Then they fought on, the smash of iron rising up                                   
through the bronze sky. But the horses of Achilles,
descendant of Aeacus, stood some distance from the fight,
weeping from the time they first learned their charioteer
had fallen in the dust at the hands of Hector,
killer of men. Automedon, brave son of Diores,
often lashed them with a stroke of his quick whip,                                            
and often spoke to them with soothing words or threats,
but the two weren’t willing to withdraw back to the ships
by the broad Hellespont, or go towards Achaeans
locked in battle. They stayed beside their ornate chariot,                  
immobile, like a pillar standing on the tomb
of some dead man or woman, heads bowed down to earth.
Warm tears flowed from their eyes onto the ground,
as they cried, longing for their driver. Their thick manes,
covered in dirt, trailed down below their harnesses
on both sides of the yoke. Looking at those horses,                                           
as they mourned, the son of Cronos pitied them.
Shaking his head, Zeus spoke to his own heart…

Zeus feels really sorry for the horses, mourning Patroclus.  He decides to inspire them and allow Automedon to take them into battle.  Hector and Aeneas try to go after the horses but they fail miserably.  Meanwhile:

Athena stirred up the conflict, coming down from heaven,
sent by wide-seeing Zeus to urge on the Danaans.
For his mind had changed.

Zeus, honestly.  Make up your mind.

Athena inspires Menelaus to continue to fight to protect Patroclus’s body.  She takes the form of Phoenix.  Apollo decides to similarly inspire Hector, taking the form of the son of one of Hector’s favorite houseguests.  Ha!  The Achaeans are now getting driven back (Zeus changed his mind again?) and Ajax sobs, praying to Zeus to lift the fog. At once the fog is lifted.

Now Menelaus bites the bullet and does what everyone must have really been putting off for as long as possible: he sends someone (Antilochus) to go inform Achilles that his BFF is dead.  The battle is leaning in favor of the Trojans as the book ends, but Ajax and Menelaus have had enough of this whole body controversy and manage to get Patroclus’s body to the Achaean ships.

Reading Notes

It is interesting that Zeus pities Hector enough to help him win a few short-term victories, but not enough to change his destiny.  Is he powerless to change destiny, or does he just feel no interest in doing so because doing so would defeat some greater purpose?

I definitely do not do the battle scenes justice in my descriptions.  They are so much move vivid, and gory, than I let on.  It would just become extremely repetitive to describe them all in detail.

Oh, and I do not envy the guy who has to go break the bad news to Achilles.

More tomorrow!

-Lily

The Iliad, Book 16

Summary, Book 16

Finally!  It feels like we have been in a holding pattern for a while, but now we have some legitimate action, and the first really important deaths since the story began.  We have heard, in surprisingly minute detail, about the many men who have been killed on both sides.  But these were all people we were just hearing about for the first time at the moment of their deaths.  Not so from here on out.

We begin with Patroclus, who is pleading with his BFF Achilles to please, PLEASE rejoin the troops!  But, failing that, he wants to go enact old Nestor’s plan of wearing Achilles’s armor to trick the Trojans.  Once again, this plan is full of holes.  But Achilles goes for it, on the condition that he only fights long enough to protect the Achaeans’ ships.  Patroclus agrees and heads off.  Achilles goes to rouse the other men.  He pretty much acknowledges that they are all probably thinking he is an incredible tool for sitting around while their fellow soldiers get killed, but he still manages to inspire them.

Achilles prays and makes an offering to Zeus that Patroclus succeeds at forcing the Trojans to retreat from the ships, and that he returns home safely.  And we are told that Zeus will answer one of those prayers and deny the other.

With these words,
Patroclus spurred the strength and heart in every soldier.
Then, in a massed group, they fell upon the Trojans.
Terrifying cries came from Achaeans by their ships.                         

When Trojans saw the brave son of Menoetius
with his attendant, both in glittering armour,
all their hearts were shaken and their ranks fell back.                                     
They thought Peleus’ swift-footed son by his ships
had set aside his anger and made friends again.
Each man glanced around, checking how he might escape
his own complete destruction.

I’m not much for battle scenes, but this is cool.

Anyway, Patroclus becomes a killing machine, as much as Diomedes ever was.  The Trojans make a hasty retreat from the ships, with Patroclus just slaughtering people relentlessly.  It is really violent and graphic.  Sarpedon (Zeus’s mortal son) sees this and is outraged.  He calls to his men (the Lycians) to rally them, and announces that he will go and find out who it is that is slicing down Trojan soldiers.

In the meanwhile, Zeus and Hera are watching this and Zeus is distressed.  He does not want his son to die, but he feels that he has to in order to set his master plan in motion.  He is hemming and hawing, considering saving his life.  Hera insists that if he does so, he will open the floodgates to other gods wanting their mortal offspring spared.  She suggests that he let him be killed, but then allow his body to be brought back to Lycia for an honourable burial.  Ice cold, Hera.  Zeus reluctantly agrees.

Battle between Sarpedon and Patroclus ensues and, as we have been warned, Sarpedon dies.  He is the first important character to die, and it’s a gory death.  His guts come out with Patroclus’s spear.  Gross.

Glaucus hears Sarpedon dying and is “overcome with savage grief.” His arm is wounded and he is unable to fight, but he prays to Apollo to heal him so he can avenge Sarpedon’s death.  Apollo hears him and grants his request.

Finding himself healed, Glaucus hurries to Hector and Aeneas to tell him what happened.  In case there was any doubt in a situation like this, his words had wings. 

 “Hector,
now you’re neglecting all your allies,                     
men who for your sake are far away from friends,
their native land, wasting their lives away.
You’ve no desire to bring assistance.                                                           
Sarpedon, leader of Lycian spearmen,                                             
lies dead, the man who protected Lycia
with his judgment and his power—slaughtered
by Ares on the bronze spear of Patroclus.
My friends, stand by him, keep in your hearts
your sense of shame, in case the Myrmidons
strip off his armour and mutilate his corpse,
in their anger at the dead Danaans,
the ones killed by our spears at their fast ships.”

The Trojans are overcome with grief.  They charge over to the scene of Sarpedon’s death, with Hector leading the way.  The Achaeans and the Trojans  wage a gruesome fight over Sarpedon’s armor.

 Meanwhile, on Olympus:

 Zeus’ bright eyes never once
glanced from that brutal combat, gazing down
and thinking in his heart of many different things
about how lord Patroclus ought to meet his death,
wondering whether glorious Hector should cut him down                           
with his bronze in that bitter fighting there
over godlike Sarpedon and then strip the armour
from his shoulders, or whether he should multiply
grim misery for still more men.

Zeus decides the best course of action would be to allow Patroclus to drive the Trojans further back, and then have Hector kill him.  In short order, that’s what happens.  Zeus “[takes] the courage out of Hector’s heart, causing him to retreat.  He then tells Apollo to take Sarpedon’s body to Lycia to be treated properly.  (Although the Achaeans did snag his armor.)

After he discharges this duty, Apollo appears to Hector as Asius, Hector’s maternal uncle.  Apollo-as-Asius tells Hector that he must kill Patroclus.  In the ensuing fight, Patroclus throws a rock at Hector’s charioteer (also his bastard half-brother) and kills him.  Patroclus mocks him as his dead body topples out of the chariot:

 “Well now,
there’s an agile man! What a graceful diver!
If he were on the fish-filled seas somewhere,                                 
he’d feed a lot of men by catching oysters,
jumping over in the roughest water,
judging from that easy dive he made
out of his chariot onto the plain. I suppose
these Trojans must have acrobats as well.”

Bad idea, Patroclus.

But here’s the thing: Patroclus is about to be wormfood, and we know it, but the scene of his downfall is actually really confusing.  First, Apollo strikes him on the back to confuse him.  Then Apollo knocks off Patroclus’s helmet and loosens his armor. He gets struck and wounded by a Trojan and withdraws from the battle, but Hector sees him and stabs him through with a spear.  As Patroclus is dying, he boasts and laughs.  Patroclus responds:

  

 “Boast on, Hector, for the moment.                                         
Zeus, son of Cronos, and Apollo
have given you victory. They overcame me
easily, for they personally removed
the armour from my shoulders. If twenty men
came to confront me, just like you,
all would have died, slaughtered by my spear.
But deadly Fate and Leto’s son have slain me—
and Euphorbus. So you’re the third in line                                                 
at my death. But I’ll tell you something else—
bear this in mind—you’ll not live long yourself.                            
Your death is already standing close at hand,
a fatal power. For you’ll be destroyed
at brave Achilles’ hands, descendant of Aeacus.”

As Patroclus draws his last breath, Hector offers this lame response:

“Patroclus, why predict my own death for me?
Who knows? It may happen that Achilles,                                      
son of fair-haired Thetis, is hit first
by a spear of mine and gives up his life.”

Except, Hector, you already know you are going to die in this battle!  He had a vision when he said goodbye to his wife and baby.  So it seems that the glory is going to Hector’s head a bit.  Hector steps on the body to remove his spear and sets off.

Reading Notes

Wow, after the way the last few books plodded along, this one was packed and intense!  First of all, Hector’s moment of glory (killing Patroclus) was not really especially glorious.  He killed a wounded guy who had been roughed up by the god Apollo.  Not especially impressive or awe-inspiring.  And with his last gasps of air, Patroclus says as much.

Another thing – I feel like Patroclus’s plan to fool people into thinking he is Achilles went out the window.  They are anxious at first when they see him coming, but after that no one seems to be fooled or surprised when he is not Achilles.

Patroclus does not keep his end of the promise to Achilles, and he continues pursuing Trojans after he has successfully defended the ships.  But it is not clear that this would have made much of a difference.  Or rather, it does not seem he really had a choice.  Zeus had pre-ordained this whole encounter to suit his greater purpose.

One last thing – maybe I pulled this interpretation out of thin air, but Patroclus did not strike me as particularly bloodthirsty, which makes this episode especially jarring.  He stood by his friend, he drank with Nestor, he treated wounded soldiers.  And suddenly… this.  But, I guess it was part of The Plan, so it could be no other way.

Stay tuned for Book 17 tomorrow!

-Lily

The Iliad, Book 15

Summary, Book 15

The Trojans are being driven into retreat by the Achaeans, thanks to Hector’s injury.  Zeus wakes up after his sex-coma and, needless to say, he is not at all pleased with Hera for the turn the battle has taken.  After some fairly graphic threats, Hera sputters that this is all Poseidon’s fault!  (I think that the Washington Post would toss her a few Pinocchios on that one.)

But then, Zeus does something interesting.  He reminds Hera, and by extension the readers/listeners, that he really doesn’t care about the Trojans.  The whole point of this drama is the promise that he made to Thetis to give Achilles some glory.  All of this drama, all of this back and forth, has really been to make things like dire for the Achaeans so that Achilles will be able to swoop in and be the hero.  As enthralling as the back and forth can be, not a single thing that has happened has been a matter of chance.  It is all pre-ordained.  And in fact, Zeus gives us a “Cliff Notes” version of the way the rest of the battle is going to go.

Zeus sends Hera to Olympus and orders her to send Iris and Apollo to him.  She does so, but while she is there she drops a little bomb by informing Ares that his son was killed in battle.  Ares is furious and is about to head down to get revenge when Athena stops him and says, in so many words, “Are you out of your mind?  Zeus will beat the crap out of you!”

Iris and Apollo head to Zeus, and Zeus gives Iris a message first.  She is to go down to Poseidon and tell him to leave the battle and stop intervening on behalf of the Achaeans.  Iris immediately does so.  Poseidon is beside himself and storms on for a time about his status as a god and Zeus overstepping his authority.  He tells Iris to send a message back to Zeus saying, essentially, “Shove it.”

Iris is… hesitant to convey this message:

“Dark-haired Earthshaker, is that the message
I’m to take from you to Zeus, these harsh,
defiant words? Or will you change your mind?
For the finest hearts can change. The Furies,
as you know, always serve the elder one.”

Poseidon then becomes resigned, and agrees to retreat to the sea.  Once he is out the picture, Zeus turns to Apollo and tells him to head down and breathe strength back into Hector and the Achaeans:

“Infuse him with great strength,                         
until Achaeans run back to their ships
and reach the Hellespont. From that point on,
I’ll figure out how in word and deed
Achaeans may get new relief from war.”

Apollo does as he is told.  He revives Hector, who had pretty much resigned himself to death, and leads the Trojans into battle himself.  Apollo and the Trojans destroy the Achaeans’ wall, as easily as one could destroy a child’s sandcastle (according to Homer.)  They come very near to invading the ships, but Ajax manages to hold them off.

Patroclus is still helping the wounded, rubbing some soldier’s back with ointment.  When he hears the Achaeans fleeing, he knows what he has to do.  He apologizes to the person he is caring for but says that he has to go and try to convince Achilles to join the battle.  If he does not, the Achaeans are done for.

The book ends with Hector seizing one of the ships and Ajax keeping the Trojans who try to do the same at bay.

Reading Notes

This book feels a little like filler.  Or, if not filler, just a platform on which to set the stage for the rest of the saga, which will be pretty much all downhill for the Trojans from this point on.  Unfortunately, that means that I do not have many insightful things to say.  But the good news is that, because this one was a very quick read, I might be able to do another one tonight!  Not much else to do on this cold, snowy evening!

-Lily

The Iliad, Book 14

Summary, Book 14

Nestor is sitting around, drinking wine as Machaon recovers from the wound he received a few books prior.  He is not at peace, hearing the cries from the Achaeans on the battlefield.  We know Nestor is never at peace unless he is giving someone highly questionable advice.  He is too old to fight, but he decides to go out and investigate.  Maybe he can be of “help”.

In his travels, he comes across the wounded leaders: Agamemnon, Diomedes and Odysseus.  The unhappy trio is watching the battle unfold.  This is funny:

“When old Nestor met them,
the anxiety in their Achaean hearts
was even more acute.”

Um, yeah, because they are worried that they are about to get some catastrophic advice!

But no, he actually has something fairly solid to say:

As for us,                                            
if thinking is a help, we should consider
how these events will end. I’m not saying
we should rejoin the fight—that’s not expected
from those who have been wounded.”

It’s a somewhat blinding glimpse of the obvious, but that’s as good as we can expect from Nestor.  Agamemnon is despondent, and he suggests that there is no shame in retreating during the night.  Better to run off than to be killed.

The other men are horrified.  Odysseus, in particular, has some harsh words for Agamemnon.  How dare he suggest that they give up the battle?  Agamemnon has a solid retort:

 “Odysseus,
that harsh rebuke of yours has stung my heart.
But I’m not the man to tell Achaea’s sons                                 
to drag our well-decked ships into the sea
if they’re not willing. So show me someone
with a better plan than mine—young or old—
I’ll welcome it.”

I figured this was basically an invitation for Nestor to offer a half-baked plan and talk about his age, but Diomedes is the one who weighs in.  His plan is that the men go to the battle and urge the others on, while not yet rejoining the fight themselves.  This plan seems… overly optimistic.  Diomedes must have a very high opinion of himself and his bros to think that their mere presence will inspire the Achaeans.  But, the others are into the plan so to the battle they go.

In the meanwhile, Hera is watching things unfold from Mount Olympus.  She sees Poseidon giving Agamemnon a pep-talk and is thrilled.  She then looks over at Zeus and “hatred fill[s] her heart.”  She concocts a plan, and as plans go it’s an interesting one.  She decides to get herself all dressed and made up, seduce Zeus, and then lull him into a deep sleep.  Once he is asleep, she and the other gods will be free to help the Achaeans. This involves rubbing herself with oils and scents, braiding her hair, and retrieving an enchanted breast garment (?) from Aphrodite.  What exactly is a breast garment?  It sounds like a bra.

Once Hera has the breast garment, which contains Aphrodite’s magic charms for love and sexual desire, she finds Sleep (a god who is the brother of Death).  She asks him to put Zeus to sleep after they have sex.  Sleep is understandably reluctant to mess with Zeus, but Hera offers him the youngest of the three Graces as a wife.  (A quick search tells me that Pasithea, the Grace she promises, is the daughter of Zeus by another woman and is the personification of relaxation, meditation and hallucination.)

Sleep agrees and hides in a tree while Hera approaches Zeus.  Zeus is immediately overcome with desire and asks Hera to sleep with him right there.  Sorry, but I have to quote this in full:

 “Hera,
you can go there later. But why don’t we
lie down and make joyful love together?
I’ve never felt such sexual desire before
for any goddess, for any mortal woman.
It’s flooding through me, overpowering the heart
here in my chest—not even when I lusted for
Ixion’s wife, who bore me Peirithous,
a man as wise as gods, or Danaë,                                             
with her enchanting ankles, daughter
of Acrisius, who gave birth to Perseus,                                                 
most illustrious of men, nor the daughter
of famous Phoenix, who bore me Minos
and godlike Rhadamanthus, nor Alcmene,
who gave birth to Hercules in Thebes,
a mighty hearted son, nor Semele,
who bore that joy to mortals Dionysus,
nor fair-haired lady Demeter, nor Leto,
that glorious girl, not even for yourself—                                 
I felt for none of these the love I feel
for you right now—such sweet desire grips me.”

Zeus, I know you can get any woman you want, mortal or immortal.  But comparing the woman you are trying to sleep with to a litany of other women is not a turn-on.

Hera is a goddess on a mission, and so she sleeps with him anyway.  He immediately falls asleep.  Sleep then sends word to Poseidon that he can intervene as much as he likes because Zeus is asleep for the foreseeable future.  (In case you were wondering, his words did, in fact, have wings.)

Poseidon leads the charge into battle.  Things are chaotic as ever, and Ajax manages to seriously wound Hector!  The Trojans manage to get Hector out of the midst of the battle but he is moaning and vomiting blood.  Truly grim stuff.  Once Hector is injured, the Achaeans can basically have their way with the Trojans.  And that’s where it ends.

Reading Notes

I know it is meant to be a compliment, but Homer’s consistent reference to Hera as “ox-eyed” just doesn’t sound flattering.

Speaking of Hera, I wonder why she chose this moment to intervene.  Zeus had turned his attention away from the battle, so I guess he was “low hanging fruit”, but he was not actively intervening.  It was a golden opportunity for the Achaeans, even without his sex coma.

The scholarly consensus seems to be that this whole incident is meant to be comic relief.  And I guess that’s as good a rationale as any!

Stay tuned for book 15!

-Lily

The Iliad, Book 13

Summary, Book 13:

Once Hector has breached the Achaean ships, Zeus is feeling pretty confident.  Perhaps too confident.  He is positive that his threats will stop the other gods from interfering in the battle, and that the Trojans have it in the bag.

If my memory serves me correctly, the gods have already defied this threat, so I’m not sure why he is so confident.  In any case, he’s wrong.  Poseidon has been lurking and “nursing a powerful anger against Zeus.”  As soon as Zeus “turns his radiant eyes” from the Trojans, Poseidon swoops in.

First, Poseidon takes part in the time-honored Iliad tradition of appearing to a mortal in the guise of someone else for unclear reasons. In this instance, he appears to the two Ajaxes as Calchas.  You may remember Calchas from the beginning of the saga.  He gave one of the few pieces of genuinely good advice, when he suggested that Agamemnon return Chryseis to her father after her father, a priest of Apollo, had Apollo send a plague to the Achaeans.  So I guess it makes sense in this case for Poseidon to appear as one of the few people in this adventure who is not in a permanent cranio-rectal inversion.

Poseidon-as-Calchas:

“But perhaps some god will inspire the hearts                             
in both your chests, so you two can stand firm.
You could get other men to do the same.
Hector may be keen, but you could push him
back from our swift ships, even if Zeus himself
is driving him ahead.”

“Perhaps.” Wink-wink-nudge-nudge.

The Ajaxes really get into the spirit of things and while they simmer with excitement, Poseidon moves on to the other Achaean troops who are crying at the sight of Trojans pouring over the wall.  I guess Poseidon is laying aside his rage about this unauthorized wall to help the Achaeans in their time of need.  I’m sorry, but every time I think of that I can’t help thinking of this:  http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/31/taylor-swift-divides-neighbors-with-beachfront-wall/

The Trojans are coming!

The Trojans came on in a mass, led by Hector,                                   
always charging forward, like a rolling boulder,
which some river in a winter flood dislodges
from a cliff beside its banks, its great flood eroding
what supports that lethal stone. In its fall, it bounces—
woods crash underneath it, as it accelerates                                                    
in a straight line, unimpeded—then it hits the plain,
where, for all its impetus, its motion stops.

I think this is a pretty power visual.  Homer certainly paints a vivid picture of battle.  Which is good, because I always find battle scenes difficult to visualize.

Anyway, Hector’s progress is arrested by tightly-packed Achaeans, and he is forced to retreat somewhat.  And now things are getting real.  An Achaean, Teucer, kills a Trojan named Imbrius.  Imbrius is the husband of one of Priam’s illegitimate daughters.  An enraged Hector tries to kill Teucer by throwing a spear at him.  Teucer dodges it and it ends up hitting Amphimacus – who is Poseidon’s grandson. 

Needless to say Poseidon, who was already not a big Trojan fan, is incensed.  Appearing as someone else, he baits Idomeneus into a rage, ready to go nuts on the Trojans.  From what I can gather, Idoemneus is especially intent on killing Deïphobus.  He tries, and in the meanwhile kills several other people.  Deïphobus calles for Aeneas, whose brother-in-law Idomeneus has killed.  “His words had wings.”

Deïphobus and Aeneas go to kill Idomeneus.  They miss him and accidentally kill Ascalaphus, who is the son of the god Ares with a mortal woman.  Then we get a description of Menelaus’s feats on the battlefield.

While all of this is happening, Hector is still on a rampage.  His Trojan troops, however, are getting fatigued.  Polydamas steps in with some advice.  Thus far, his advice has been on the solid end of the spectrum.  He encourages Hector to call a conference of their finest men to weigh their options.  Hector agrees and goes to round up some of the men when he encounters Paris and decides to taunt him:

“You may be the best-looking man around,
but you’re a useless woman-mad seducer.
Where are Deïphobus, brave prince Helenus,                                        
Adamas, son of Asius, and Asius,
son of Hyrtacus? Where’s Othryoneus?
Tell me that. All of high Ilion
has been destroyed. Your own death is certain.”

Paris retorts:

“Hector, you’re now blaming someone innocent.
At other times I have held back from war,                                 
but not this time. When my mother bore me,
she did not produce a total coward.”

Ha!  That one made me laugh.  “I’m not a TOTAL coward!” And these two are brothers!  On the same side!  And yet, Hector is won over. “Warrior Paris’ words won his brother’s heart.”

The book ends with a threat and an omen.  Ajax taunts Hector, and when he is done with his speech an eagle appears – an omen.  Hector is, as ever, unconcerned about omens.  He says:

“I wish it were as certain that I was
the son of aegis-bearing Zeus himself,
with Hera for my mother, and honoured
like Apollo or Athena, as I am that this day                               
brings disaster to the Argives—all of them.”

And the fighting resumes.

Reading Notes

Even if I did not know the story of The Iliad, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Hector is hurtling toward disaster.  I feel bad for his wife and baby.

The descriptions are great, as are the few lines about each warrior that is killed.  And yet, the story is at its best when it focuses on its core characters.  The past few books have been all over the map in terms of characters and it is confusing and a bit distracting.  I want to know what happens to the “heroes”. (Anti-heroes?)

-Lily

The Iliad, Book 12

I’m back!  I took a few days off blogging (although not off reading) and I am back to discuss book 12 of the Iliad.  Here goes:

Summary, Book 12

Book 12 was not one of my favorites.  It begins with some weird foreshadowing about how the gods are going to destroy the wall that the Achaeans built to protect their ships.  (Remember how pissed Poseidon was about that wall?  In case you thought he was going to forget – he isn’t.)  They will destroy it once Troy falls, but they will leave it in tact for now.  That seems rather pointless.  At least give me a threat with some teeth.

For now, however, the wall is serving its purpose and the Trojans are being held at bay.  Polydamus, a Trojan, approaches Hector and tells him that they should leave their chariots behind and try to penetrate the Trojan fortifications on foot.  Hector agrees, and the Trojans divide themselves into five separate companies.  We get a pretty boring explanation of what the companies are and why they are the way they are.  Hector leads one, Paris leads another, and the other three are led by Helenus, Aeneas and Sarpedon.

When they get to the fortifications they encounter two spearmen who manage to keep them at bay.  Am I misreading this, or is it really TWO spearmen who are holding off five companies of Trojans?  If so, that’s just embarrassing.  I don’t care how powerful they are.

In the midst of this, the Trojans get a bad sign.  An eagle flies overhead, carrying a bloody snake in its talons.  The snake is still struggling and strikes at the eagle.  The eagle cries out in pain and drops the bloody serpent into the midst of the Trojans.  Get it?  GET IT?  “It was a sign, a powerful omen, from aegis-bearing Zeus.”  Polydamus tells Hector that they should heed the omen and stop trying to advance.

But our friend Hector of the shining helmet does not like this advice one bit.

“Polydamas, I don’t like what you’ve just said.
You know how to offer better comments.
But if you’re serious in what you say,
the gods themselves must have destroyed your wits.

Harsh.  I mean, if you believe in omens, that one’s a doozy.  But Hector’s not done:

“Why are you afraid of war, of battle?
Even if the others are all slaughtered
by Achaean ships, you need have no fear
that you’ll be killed. Your heart is neither brave
nor warlike. But if you hold back from war,
or with your words convince some other man
to turn away from battle, then you’ll die,
struck by my spear.”

Gosh, he sure did a 180 on following Polydamus’s advice.  I can sense Hector is going down a dark path.  Zeus tries to kick up dust to disorient the Achaeans, but it’s not helping much.  The two Ajaxes motivate the Achaeans to get ready for battle.  The Trojans are not doing well, but then Zeus “inspires” Sarpedon (who is, incidentally, Zeus’s son) and he goes in for the kill.  Sarpedon and Glaucus breach the Achaean fortifications, but Hector is right behind them, breaking through a wall with a huge boulder that Zeus had lightened for him.

Hector moved up closer,
planted himself before the doors, his legs wide apart
to throw with greater force, then hurled that rock
right at the centre of the doors. He smashed both hinges.                                 
The stone’s momentum took it clear through the doors.
The gates groaned loudly. The bolts were sheared right off.
The impact of that boulder shattered all the planks.
Glorious Hector, his face like night’s swift darkness,
leapt inside. 

Actually, I’m going to go ahead and just quote the rest of this, because it is very vivid:

The bronze which covered his whole body                        
was a terrifying glitter. In his hand he held two spears.
Once he’d jumped inside the gates, no one moving out
to stop him could hold him back, except the gods.
From his eyes fire blazed. Wheeling through the throng,
he shouted to his Trojans to climb the wall.
His men responded to his call. Some scaled the wall,
others came pouring through the hole made in the gates.
Danaans were driven back among their hollow ships                                         
in a rout, and the noisy tumult never stopped.

This is not the Hector we know.  I mean, we know that Hector is a great warrior, but he has always seemed to be one of the more rational figures.  This description calls to mind chaos and recklessness, especially when you consider the fact that he disregarded Zeus’s omen.  Not good.

Reading Notes

No Achilles, no Diomedes, no Agamemnon and (yay!) no Nestor!

I feel like we are reaching a pivotal point in the story.  Hector is becoming wild and reckless.  Zeus is still trying to help the Trojans, but there is only so much that even he can do.  Things are descending into chaos.

Stay tuned for part 13!

-Lily

The Iliad, Book 11

Summary, Book 11

The sun is rising on the troops, and we are treated to a long description of Agamemnon’s armor.  Zeus sends an ominous sign: a rain of blood.  Gross.  The battle resumes an again, and Agamemnon is facing two Trojan warriors – a set of brothers.  Their horse deserts them, leaving them at Agamemnon’s mercy:

“Take us alive, son of Atreus. You’ll get
a worthy ransom. There are many treasures
in Antimachus’ homes—bronze and gold
and well-worked iron. Our father will be glad
to give a massive ransom from all that,
if he learns we’re at Achaean ships alive.”

Once again, this never works.  Agamemnon’s “harsh” response:

“If you’re the two sons of Antimachus,
that hot-hearted man who, when Menelaus came
as envoy once to the assembled Trojans
with godlike Odysseus, urged the Trojans                                                   
to kill Menelaus, to stop him going back
to the Achaeans, now you’ll pay the price
for those shameful actions of your father.”

And with that, Agamemnon pretty much slices the guys to ribbons.  We also get this charming description of the battle scene:

Many strong-necked horses in the battle lanes
rattled past with empty chariots, missing their drivers,                                  
excellent charioteers now lying on the ground,
far more friendly to the vultures than their wives.

That’s quite a visual.  Zeus sees that things are not going great for the Trojans so he sends the messenger goddess, Iris, to give a message to Hector that as long as Agamemnon is fighting, he should stand back.  But once Agamemnon is wounded, Zeus will give Hector the power to kill.

Iris relays the message and Hector obeys.  And then, Agamemnon is injured.  He is wounded by Antenor’s son after Agamemnon kills his brother.  If you will remember, Antenor is the sage individual who suggested that Paris return Helen to the Achaeans.  Agamemnon retaliates and kills him, but he is injured badly enough to withdraw from the fighting.  His pain is compared to the pains of childbirth.  Oookay.

Hector sees Agamemnon retreat and he goes in for the kill.  He goes on a killing spree worthy of Diomedes.  He kills some leaders, and some common soldiers.  Odysseus is horrified and he and Diomedes try to fight back.  In the melee, Paris aims for Diomedes and shoots at him, hitting his foot.  Diomedes laughs and acts like he’s not in pain, but when Odysseus comes over and takes the arrow out of his foot (ouch!) Diomedes goes back to his ship.  So Odysseus is on his own and faces disaster.  He debates what to do:

“Here’s trouble. What’s going to happen to me?                            
If I run away from this crowd in fear,
I’ll be badly shamed. But to be trapped here,
all alone, that could be worse. For Cronos’ son
has made the rest of the Danaans flee.
But why’s my fond heart arguing all this?
I know that those who leave the war are cowards.
The man who wants to fight courageously
must stand his ground with force, whether he’s hit,
or whether his blows strike the other man.”

Bravely (and stupidly) he decides to take on the Trojans all by himself.  He manages to kill a few of them, but then a guy named Socos (who we have not yet heard anything about but apparently is still worthy of the epithet ‘god-like’) approaches and strikes him with a spear.  Athena intervenes and keeps it from striking any vital organs, but it still makes quite a mark.  The Trojans see blood and begin to rush in on him.  Things are looking grim for Odysseus, but Menelaus hears his cry and he and Ajax run over to him.  Menelaus drags him away while Ajax charges the Trojans, slaughtering men and horses.

Hector is unaware of any of this as he and Paris are fighting at the other end of the battle.  Paris wounds Machaon, one of the Achaeans who I do not think we have yet encountered but who merits the epithet “shepherd of his people.”  The Achaeans are horrified, but Nestor drags him from the battle.  While this is happening, one of the Trojans lets Hector know that Ajax is routing the Trojans at the other end of the battle.  Hector charges away to help his men in that part of the battlefield, although he does not fight Ajax directly.

The Trojans get some help from Zeus, who puts fear into Ajax and causes him to retreat.  The Trojans throw spears at him, and Eurypylus (an Achaean) sees this and comes to his defense.  Is it just me or are a lot of people coming out of the woodwork in this section?  Eurypylus gets wounded and shouts to other Achaeans to come and save Ajax.  How noble.  I don’t think Eurypylus dies, or at least they don’t seem to say.

While all this is happening, Achilles is watching his comrades retreat.  He spots Nestor coming by in a chariot and tells his BFF, Patroclus, to find out from Nestor who the wounded man is that he is taking from the battlefield.  We also get this gem from Achilles:

“Fine son of Menoetius, joy of my heart,
I think the time has come for the Achaeans
to stand around my knees in supplication,
for their needs have now become unbearable.”

First of all, bro-mance.  Second of all, the Achaeans already offered Achilles anything he could possibly want.  Why is he acting like a petulant child?  Shouldn’t he want to help his fellow soldiers?  And if he doesn’t, then why doesn’t he just go home?  (I know I have asked that before, but it bears repeating because it is such a glaring problem.)

Patroclus goes to Nestor and sees that it is Machaon.  Nestor starts out making sense:

“Why is Achilles showing pity now
for Achaea’s sons, those men hurt with spears
and arrows? He knows nothing of our trouble,
the great suffering which afflicts the army.
For our best men lie injured at the ships,
crippled by arrows, spears, and swords.
Strong Diomedes, son of Tydeus, is hurt,                                                     
as is Odysseus, famous for his spear,
Agamemnon and Eurypylus as well,
with an arrow in his thigh. This man here,      
hurt with an arrow from some bowstring,
I’ve just brought in from battle. Achilles is brave,
but shows no pity, feels nothing for Danaans.
Is he waiting till our fast ships by the sea
are set on fire with all-consuming flames,
and Achaeans, powerless to stop it,
are slaughtered one by one?”

Well, good.  At least someone will say it.  But then he remembered that he is Nestor so he transitions from making sense to making the longest speech in the world.  And the subject of the speech is his favorite topic: himself, and his age and wisdom.  He ends the speech by asking Patroclus to convince Achilles to join the battle.  Failing that, he wants Patroclus to join the battle dressed in Achilles’s armour, perhaps to trick the Trojans into thinking Achilles has come back and hence scaring them?  I feel like this plan is half-baked and full of holes.  Then again, Nestor.

Patroclus goes to take this request to Achilles, passing the injured Eurypylus (so I guess he’s not dead.)  He “speaks winged words” to Eurypylus:

“You leaders, you rulers of Achaeans,
it seems to be your destiny to feed the dogs
with your white flesh at Troy, far from your friends,
far from your native land. But come now,
Eurypylus, you royal warrior, tell me
whether Achaeans will manage to contain                                                 
warlike Hector, or whether they’ll all die,                                     
slaughtered here on Hector’s spear.”

Why does he think Eurypylus will have the answer to this question?  In any case, Eurypylus is not optimistic:

“Lord Patroclus, there’s no longer anything
can save Achaeans, who’ll fall back to their black ships.
All those who were our finest fighters
are lying by the ships, hurt or wounded
at Trojan hands, whose strength keeps growing.”

He then asks Patroclus to treat the wound in his thigh, which apparently he learned to do from Achilles. (?)  Patroclus obliges.

Reading Note

This is an odd stopping point for Book 11.  Nursing some guy’s wounds is very anticlimactic for such an intense book.

I’m sure this has been explored by classicists and queer theorists, but Patroclus and Achilles:  I’m thinking homoerotic?  Or is this supposed to be a band-of-brothers type love for your fellow warrior?  I would be down with that interpretation but… they’re not fighting.  Achilles is pouting on a ship and Patroclus is acting as his go-between.  Nestor also says that Patroclus is older than Achilles.  I wonder how much older.

Nestor is predictably insufferable in this chapter, especially in light of his disastrous advice.  Seriously, why do they listen to this guy?  He keeps talking about how wise he is.  Show, don’t tell!!