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