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