The Iliad, Book 21

Summary, Book 21

Book 21 begins with Achilles continuing his rampage.  He slaughters and splits up the Trojans, driving half of them into the river Xanthus (also known as Scamander).  The river’s waters are flowing red with blood, and it’s a pretty gruesome scene:

When Achilles’ arms grew weary from the killing,
he plucked out of the river twelve young men alive,
as blood payment for the killing of Patroclus,
Menoetius’ son. He led them up onto dry land,
like stupefied fawns, tied their hands behind them,    
using belts they wore around their woven tunics,                                              
and gave them to his men to lead back to the ships.
Then he jumped in again, eager to keep killing.

This is the aforementioned twelve, I suppose.  “Stupefied fawns” is such a sad image.

Achilles now notices one of Priam’s sons, Lycaon, escaping from the river.  Achilles and Priam seem to have something of a history: Achilles has captured him once before and let him go. (Well, okay, not quite; he sold him into slavery and Lycaon escaped.  But he didn’t kill him!)  Lycaon grips Achilles’s knees and begs for his life, but Achilles is not exactly in a merciful state of mind:

“You fool,
don’t offer me a ransom or some plea.
Before Patroclus met his deadly fate,                                                        
sparing Trojans pleased my heart much more.
I took many overseas and sold them.                                              
But now not one of them escapes his death,
no one whom god delivers to my hands,
here in front of Ilion, not one—
not a single Trojan, especially none
of Priam’s children. So now, my friend,
you too must die. Why be sad about it?
Patroclus died, a better man than you.
And look at me. You see how fine I am,
how tall, how handsome? My father’s a fine man,
the mother who gave birth to me a goddess.                                  
Yet over me, as well, hangs Fate—my death.                                           
There’ll come a dawn, or noon, or evening,
when some man will take my life in battle—
he’ll strike me with his spear or with an arrow
shot from his bowstring.”

With that, Achilles chops Lycaon’s head off.  Well then.  This scene has seriously angered the river, who begins plotting against Achilles.  More on that later.  Achilles’s sight now lands on Asteropaeus, a Trojan who is the grandson of a mortal woman and a different river, Axius.  The river Xanthus puts a fighting spirit into Asteropaeus, inspiring him to take on Achilles.  Bad move, guys.

Despite the valiant efforts of Asteropaeus, he too ends up with a sword through him.

Achilles left the corpse of Asteropaeus
lying there in the sand, dark water lapping round him.
Fish and eels then went at him, nibbling and chewing off
the fat around his kidneys.

EW!  Seriously, I feel like this is one of the gorier books.  And we’re nowhere near done.

Achilles continues his rampage, killing several of the Paeonian leaders. (Apparently Asteropaeus was their primary leader.)  The river has had just about enough; he is understandably annoyed that he is choking on blood and corpses.  So he takes on a human form and speaks to Achilles:

 “Achilles,
you may be the most powerful of men,
but you’re inflicting too much damage here.
Yes, the gods are always there to help you.
And if Cronos’ son is now enabling you
to kill all Trojans, at least drive them off
far from my stream. Carry out your work—                                    
this butchery—out there on the plain.
Now corpses fill my channels, I can’t let
my waters flow through anywhere to reach
the glimmering sea. I’m choking on the dead,                                            
while you keep up these harsh atrocities.
Come, you leader of your people, let me be.
I find your actions here astounding.”

Achilles’s response is basically: “Yeah, yeah, once I kill Hector I’ll stop.”  The river is not satisfied and he appeals to Apollo, begging him to help the Trojans.  Achilles hears this, and to say that he is not pleased is an understatement.  He leaps into the waters and attacks the river.

Now I know Achilles is furious and filled with a murderous rage, but what exactly is his endgame in attacking a river?  In a very intense and dramatic scene, it looks like Achilles is a goner:

Every time swift-footed, godlike Achilles
tried stopping to fight back, to see if all the gods                                 
who live in spacious heaven were forcing him to flee,
a tremendous wave from that heaven-fed river
would crash down around his shoulders. He’d jump clear,
heart panicking, but the river kept tugging at his legs                                       
with a strong undertow, washing out the ground
beneath his feet.

Achilles cries out to the gods for help.  In a striking display of “passing the buck”, he blames this predicament on his mother.  He’s not an idiot for attacking a river with a sword; it’s his mom’s fault for telling him he would die in battle.  He also mourns that he would rather have been killed by a great man like Hector in an honourable battle, than to be swept away by a river.

Poseidon and Athena give him some encouragement, while Hera asks Hephaestus to go and help Achilles with a “giant outburst of flames.”  He does so, and first the fire incinerates corpses (ew).  Then Hera sends a wind and the fire starts burning the river. (?) 

The River Xanthus quickly raises the white flag, and Hephaestus withdraws his fire.  But for some reason, this instigates a huge fight among the gods, who begin to take each other on.  Things are really devolving quickly.  Athena fights Ares and Aphrodite, punching Aphrodite in the chest.  Poseidon tries to fight Apollo.  But Apollo at least has some perspective:

“Earthshaker, you’d never call me prudent,
if I fought with you over human beings—
those pitiful creatures are like the leaves,
now full of blazing life, eating nourishment
the earth provides, then fading into death.                                   
No, let’s quickly end our quarrel, leaving
these mortal men to fight amongst themselves.”

Fair enough.  Meanwhile, Hera attacks Artemis.  Now I know Artemis is no Athena, but isn’t she the goddess of the hunt?  A few smacks from Hera and she runs away crying.  Girlfriend, have some pride!  She heads to Olympus and sits on her father Zeus’s lap, crying.  He asks, with a “gentle laugh”, who it is that hit her, and she tells him it was Hera. (Hera, for those who are unclear on the mythology, is NOT Artemis and Apollo’s mother.)

In the meanwhile, Apollo heads to Troy to protect it. (Once again, he is concerned that it will fall before its appointed time.)  Priam, seeing that his men are being destroyed, opens the gates of the city to allow in the retreating men.

Achilles is charging, and is on a trajectory to take Troy when Apollo intervenes.  He inspires Agenor (Antenor’s son) to challenge Achilles to single combat.  But when it looks like Agenor will die, Apollo snatches him up and hides him in a mist, leading Achilles astray.  This buys some time for many of the Trojans to get back into the city gates.  And that’s where Book 21 ends.

Reading Notes

I have a recurring nightmare about drowning, and I found the scene with Achilles in the angry river very dark and powerful.

Unless I am missing something, I do not see the reason for the gods to break out in a massive fight amongst themselves at this particular moment.  There was always tension, sort of like being on opposing sides of a sports game.  But it seems to break out here for no real reason.  Is it a literary device (comic relief?)  Or is it just to show how intense and chaotic things are becoming?

Anyway, this was definitely an intensely written book, but it felt a little like filler to me.

-Lily