- Iliad
The "Iliad" (Greek: "Ἰλιάς" [iliás] (Ancient), "Ιλιάδα" [ili'aða] (Modern)) is, together with the "
Odyssey ", one of two ancient Greek epic poems traditionally attributed toHomer . The poem is commonly dated to the late 9th or to the8th century BC [Pierre Vidal-Naquet, "Le monde d'Homère", Perrin 2000, p19] , and many scholars believe it is the oldest extant work of literature in the ancient Greek language, making it one of the first works of ancient Greek literature. The existence of a single author for the poems is disputed as the poems themselves show evidence of a long oral tradition and hence, possible multiple authors (SeeHomer for more information).The poem concerns events during the tenth and final year in the siege of the city of "Ilion", or Troy, by the Greeks (See
Trojan War ). The word "Iliad" means "pertaining to "Ilios" (in Latin, "Ilium"), the city proper, as opposed to "Troy" (in Greek, Τροία, "Troía"; in Latin, "Troia, Troiae, f.", in Turkish "Truva"), the state centered around Ilium.The main character of the poem is the Greek warrior
Achilles , and his anger toward the king ofMycenae ,Agamemnon , which proves disastrous for the Greeks ["Rage- Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses..." "The Iliad," translated also by Robert Fagles, Penguin, 1990, page 77.] . The book provides many of the events that the later poems of theEpic Cycle build on, including the death of the Trojan captain Hektor.Date
For most of the twentieth century, scholars dated the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" to the late 9th or to the
8th century BC . Most still argue for this period, notablyBarry B. Powell (who has proposed a link between the writing of the "Iliad" and the invention of the Greek alphabet), G.S. Kirk, and Richard Janko; while a few others (including Martin West andRichard Seaford ) now prefer a date in the 7th or even the6th century BC .The story of the "Iliad"
The "Iliad" begins with these lines:
Polytonic|μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί' Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε' ἔθηκεν,
Sing, goddess, the rage of Achilles the son of Peleus,
the destructive rage that sent countless ills on the Achaeans...The first word of Homer's "Iliad" is the ancient Greek word Polytonic|μῆνις ("mēnis"), "fury", "rage", or "wrath". This word announces the major theme of the "Iliad": the wrath of
Achilles . WhenAgamemnon , the commander of the Greek forces at Troy, dishonors Achilles by takingBriseis , a slave woman given to Achilles as a prize of war, Achilles becomes enraged and withdraws from the fighting. Without him and his powerful Myrmidon warriors, the Greeks suffer defeat by the Trojans, almost to the point of losing their will to fight. When the Trojan princeHector challenges Achilles, Achilles refuses to fight but his friendPatroclus answers the challenge and is killed. This prompts Achilles to reenter the war, slaughtering many Trojans and finally killing Hector. In his rage, he then refuses to return Hector's body and instead defiles it. Finally,Priam , the father of Hector, ransoms his son's body. The "Iliad" ends with the funeral of Hector.Homer devotes long passages to frank, blow-by-blow descriptions of combat. He gives the names of the fighters, recounts their taunts and battle-cries, and gruesomely details the ways in which they kill and wound one another. Often, the death of a hero only escalates the violence, as the two sides battle for his armor and corpse, or his close companions launch a punitive attack on his killer. The lucky ones are sometimes whisked away by friendly charioteers or the intervention of a god, but Homeric warfare is still some of the most bloody and brutal in literature.The "Iliad" has a very strong religious and supernatural element. Both sides in the war are extremely pious, and both have heroes descended from divine beings. They sacrifice to the gods and consult priests and prophets to decide their actions. For their own part, the gods frequently join in battles, both by advising and protecting their favorites and even by participating in combat against humans and other gods.
The "Iliad's" huge cast of characters connects the Trojan War to many ancient myths, such as
Jason and the Argonauts , theSeven Against Thebes , and theLabors of Hercules . Many ancient Greek myths exist in multiple versions, so Homer had some freedom to choose among them to suit his story. SeeGreek mythology for more detail.The action of the "Iliad" covers only a few weeks of the tenth and final year of the
Trojan War . It does not cover the background and early years of the war (Paris' abduction ofHelen from King Menelaus) nor its end (the death ofAchilles and the fall of Troy). Other epic poems, collectively known as theEpic Cycle or cyclic epics, narrated many of these events; these poems only survive in fragments and later descriptions. SeeTrojan War for a summary of the events of the war.ynopsis
As the poem begins, the Greeks have captured Chryséis, the daughter of
Apollo 's priestChryses , and given her as a prize toAgamemnon . When Agamemnon threatens Chryses as he attempted to ransom his daughter, Apollo sends a plague against the Greeks. At an assembly called byAchilles , the Greeks compel Agamemnon to restore Chryséis to her father to stop the sickness. Agamemnon agrees reluctantly but also takes for himself Briséis, whom the Achaeans had given to Achilles as a spoil of war. This causes Achilles, widely seen as the best warrior of the war, to withdraw from the fighting.In counterpoint to Achilles' pride stands the Trojan prince
Hector , son of KingPriam , a husband and father who fights to defend his city and his family. With Achilles on the sidelines, Hector leads successful counterattacks against the Greeks, who have built a fortified camp around their ships pulled up on the Trojan beach. The best remaining Greek fighters, includingOdysseus andDiomedes , are wounded, and the gods favor the Trojans. When the Trojans finally threatened the Greek ships with fire, Achilles allowsPatroclus , impersonating him by wearing his armor, to lead the Myrmidons back into battle. The death of Patroclus at the hands of Hector brings Achilles back to the war forrevenge , and he slays Hector in single combat. Hector's body is abused for days until his father, King Priam, comes to Achilles alone (but aided byHermes ) to ransom his son's body, and Achilles is moved to pity. The funeral of Hector ends the poem.Book summaries
Homer himself didn't name the 24 books of the Iliad, however, many translators have provided their own book titles. The number of books is identical to that of Homer's other epic, the
Odyssey .
* Book 1: Nine years into the war,Agamemnon seizesBriseis , the concubine (prize) ofAchilles , since he has had to give away his own;Achilles withdraws from the fighting in anger; in Olympus, the gods argue about the outcome of the war
* Book 2:Agamemnon pretends to order the Greeks home to test their resolve;Odysseus encourages theGreeks to keep fighting;Catalogue of Ships , Catalogue of Trojans and Allies
* Book 3: A truce is observed as Paris challenges Menelaus to single combat overHelen while she watches from the walls of Troy withPriam ; Paris is quickly overmatched by Menelaus, but is rescued from death byAphrodite , and Menelaus is seen as the winner.
* Book 4: The truce is broken and battle begins
* Book 5:Diomedes has an "aristeia " (a period of supremacy in battle) and woundsAphrodite andAres with the assistance ofAthena
* Book 6:Glaucus andDiomedes greet each other during the fighting;Hector returns to Troy and speaks to his wifeAndromache
* Book 7:Hector battles Ajax
* Book 8: The gods withdraw from the battle
* Book 9: "The Embassy to Achilles".Agamemnon sends Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix to Achilles to obtain his help; his promises of honour and riches are spurned
* Book 10: "The Doloneia".Diomedes andOdysseus go on a night mission, kill the Trojan Dolon, and ambush a camp of Thracians.
* Book 11: Paris wounds Diomedes;Achilles sendsPatroclus on a mission
* Book 12: TheGreeks retreat to their camp and are besieged by the Trojans
* Book 13: Fighting before the ships;Poseidon encourages theGreeks
* Book 14:Hera helpsPoseidon assist theGreeks ;Deception of Zeus
* Book 15:Zeus stopsPoseidon from interfering; Hector brings fire to the ships
* Book 16:Patroclus borrowsAchilles ' armour, enters battle, killsSarpedon and then is killed byHector
* Book 17: The armies fight over the body and armour ofPatroclus . Books 16 and 17 are collectively called the "Patrocleia".
* Book 18:Achilles learns of the death ofPatroclus and receives a new suit of armour. TheShield of Achilles is described at length
* Book 19:Achilles is reconciled in form withAgamemnon and enters battle
* Book 20: The gods join the battle;Achilles drives all the Trojans before him
* Book 21:Achilles does battle with the riverScamander but is led astray by Ares
* Book 22:Achilles killsHector outside the walls of Troy and drags his body back to the Greek camp
* Book 23: Funeral games forPatroclus
* Book 24:Priam , the King of the Trojans, secretly enters the Greek camp. He begs Achilles for Hector's body. Achilles is moved to pity and grants it to him, and it is taken away and given a funeral, at whichHelen andAndromache both make comments, and then his body is burned on a pyre.Famous passages
*
Catalogue of Ships (Book 2, lines 494-759)
*Teichoscopia (Book 3, lines 121-244)
*Deception of Zeus (Book 14, lines 153-353)
*Shield of Achilles (Book 18, lines 430-617)After the "Iliad"
Although the "Iliad" scatters foreshadowings of certain events subsequent to the funeral of Hector, and there is a general sense that the Trojans are doomed, Homer does not set out a detailed account of the fall of Troy. For the story as developed in later Greek and Roman poetry and drama, see
Trojan War . The other Homeric poem, theOdyssey , is the story of Odysseus' long journey home from Troy; the two poems between them incorporate many references forward and back and overlap very little, so that despite their narrow narrative focus they are a surprisingly complete exploration of the themes of the Troy story.Major characters
:"See also: "
The "Iliad" contains a large number of characters. The latter half of the second book (often called the
Catalogue of Ships ) is devoted entirely to listing the various commanders and their contingents. Many of the battle scenes in the "Iliad" feature minor characters who are quickly slain. SeeTrojan War for a detailed list of participating armies and warriors.
*TheAchaean s (Polytonic|Ἀχαιοί) - the word "Hellenes", which would today be translated as "Greeks", is not used by Homer. Also calledDanaans (Δαναοί) and Argives ('Aργεĩοι).
**Agamemnon , King of Mycenae, and leader of the Achaeans.
**Achilles , King of the Myrmidions, foremost Achaean warror, he clashes with Agamemnon and sits out much of the combat. After the death of Patrolocus, he returns to battle and slays Hector.
**Odysseus , King of Ithaca, the most clever Achaean commander. The hero of the "Odyssey".
** Ajax the Greater, a large warrior, tied with Diomedes as second to Achilles in fighting prowess.
**Menelaus , King of Sparta and husband of Helen.
**Diomedes , the youngest Achaean king; he is king of Argos.
**Ajax the Lesser , another Achaean leader, frequently partnered with Ajax the greater.
*The Trojan men
**Hector , son of the Trojan king Priam and the foremost warrior of Troy, slain by Achilles.
**Aeneas , son of Anchises and Aphrodite.
**Deiphobus brother of Hector and Paris.
** Paris, son of King Priam, the lover who stole Helen and started the Trojan war.
**Priam , the aged king of Troy
**Polydamas , a young Trojan commander who sometimes figures as a foil for Hector by proving cool-headed and prudent when Hector charges ahead. Polydamas gives the Trojans sound advice, but Hector seldom acts on it.
**Agenor , a Trojan warrior who attempts to fight Achilles in Book 21.
**Dolon (Polytonic|Δόλων), a Trojan who is sent to spy on the Achaean camp in Book 10.
**Antenor, a Trojan nobleman, advisor to King Priam, and father of many Trojan warriors. Antenor argues that Helen should be returned to Menelaus in order to end the war, but Paris refuses to give her up.
**Polydorus , a Trojan prince and son of Priam and Laothoe.*The Trojan women
**Hecuba (Polytonic|Ἑκάβη), Queen of Troy, wife ofPriam , mother ofHector ,Cassandra , Paris, etc.
**Helen (Polytonic|Ἑλένη), wife of Menelaus, now espoused to Paris
**Andromache (Polytonic|Ἀνδρομάχη),Hector 's wife and mother of their infant son,Astyanax (Polytonic|Ἀστυάναξ)
**Cassandra (Polytonic|Κασσάνδρα), daughter of Priam, prophetess, first courted and then cursed by Apollo. As her punishment for offending him, she accurately foresees the fate of Troy, including her own death and the deaths of her entire family, but does not have the power to do anything about it.The Olympian deities, principally
Zeus ,Hera ,Apollo ,Hades ,Aphrodite ,Ares ,Athena ,Hermes andPoseidon , as well as the lesser figures Eris,Thetis , andProteus appear in the "Iliad" as advisers to and manipulators of the human characters. All except Zeus become personally involved in the fighting at one point or another (SeeTheomachy ).Technical features
The poem is written in
dactylic hexameter . The "Iliad" comprises 15,693 lines of verse. Later ancient Greeks divided it into twenty-four books, or scrolls, and this convention has lasted to the present day with little change.Themes
Nostos
Nostos (Greek: νόστος) (pl. nostoi) is the ancient Greek word for homecoming. The word νόστος is used seven times in the "Iliad" (2.155,251, 9.413,434,622, 10.509, 16.82) and the theme is heavily explored throughout Greek literature, especially in the fortunes of the Atreidae returning from theTrojan War . TheOdyssey , dealing with the return ofOdysseus , is the most famous of these stories, but many surrounding other characters such asAgamemnon andMenelaus exist as well. In the "Iliad",nostos cannot be obtained without the sacking ofTroy , which is the driving force behind Agamemnon's will to win at any cost.Kleos
Kleos (Greek: κλέος) is the ancient Greek concept ofglory that is earned through battle. [http://athome.harvard.edu/programs/nagy/threads/concept_of_hero.html] For many characters, most notablyOdysseus , theirkleos comes with their victorious return home (Nostos ). [http://www.uh.edu/~cldue/texts/introductiontohomer.html] However,Achilles must choose between the two. In one of the most poignant scenes in the "Iliad" (9.410-416),Achilles tellsOdysseus , Phoenix, and Ajax about the two fates (διχθαδίας κήρας 9.411) he must choose between. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0009-837X%28200201%2997%3A1%3C61%3AKAR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9] . The passage reads:Unicode|μήτηρ γάρ τέ μέ φησι θεὰ Θέτις ἀργυρόπεζα (410)
διχθαδίας κῆρας φερέμεν θανάτοιο τέλος δέ.
εἰ μέν κ’ αὖθι μένων Τρώων πόλιν ἀμφιμάχωμαι,
ὤλετο μέν μοι νόστος, ἀτὰρ κλέος ἄφθιτον ἔσται•
εἰ δέ κεν οἴκαδ’ ἵκωμι φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν,
ὤλετό μοι κλέος ἐσθλόν, ἐπὶ δηρὸν δέ μοι αἰὼν (415)
ἔσσεται, οὐδέ κέ μ’ ὦκα τέλος θανάτοιο κιχείη. ["Iliad" IX 410-416]Richmond Lattimore translates the passage as follows:For my mother
HereThetis the goddess of silver feet tells me
I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death. Either,
if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans,
my return home is gone, but my glory shall be everlasting;
but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers,
the excellence of my glory is gone, but there will be a long life
left for me, and my end in death will not come to me quickly.
[Homer."The Iliad". Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.]Achilles acknowledges that he must lose hisnostos in order to obtain hiskleos . However,Achilles is not offered justkleos , but kleos aphthiton (Greek: κλέος ἄφθιτον), or "fame imperishable." [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0009-837X%28200201%2997%3A1%3C61%3AKAR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9] The word ἄφθιτον is used five other times throughout the "Iliad" (2.46, 5.724, 13.22, 14.238, 18.370), each time describing an immortal object, specifically Agamemnon's sceptre, the wheel of Hebe's chariot, the house ofPoseidon , Zeus's throne, and the house ofHephaistos , respectively. Lattimore translates the word to mean 'immortal forever' or 'imperishable forever.'Achilles is the only mortal to ever be referred to in this way, which highlights the immense glory that awaits him if he stays and fights atTroy .Timê
Related to kleos is the concept of timê (Greek: тιμή), usually translated as "respect" or "honor". One's timê is properly determined by one's station in life, or one's accomplishments (e.g., on the battlefield). The Greeks' troubles begin when Agamemnon dishonors (1.11) the priest Chryses' attempt to ransom back his captive daughter; this insult prompts Chryses to call a plague down on the Achaeans. Later, Achilles' ruinous anger with Agamemnon stems from the disrespect (1.171) he feels the Argive king has shown him despite Achilles' obvious value to the Greek army.
The Wrath of Achilles
As mentioned above, the first word of the "Iliad" is the Greek μῆνιν (mēnin), meaning rage or wrath. In this
Homer is immediately announcing a main theme throughout the epic, the wrath ofAchilles . Achilles' rage and vanity, which sometimes seem almost childlike, drive the plot, from the Greeks' faltering in battle and the death ofPatroclus to the slaying ofHector and the eventual fall ofTroy , which is not explicitly depicted in the "Iliad" but is alluded to numerous times. The wrath ofAchilles is first displayed in Book I in a meeting between the Greek kings and the seerKalchas .Agamemnon had dishonoredChryses , theTrojan priest ofApollo , by taking his daughterChryseis and refusing to return her even when offered "gifts beyond count." [Homer.The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. 1.13.]Chryses then prayed toApollo for help, who rained arrows upon theGreeks for nine days. At the meetingAchilles accusesAgamemnon of being "greediest for gain of all men." [Homer.The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. 1.122.] At this Agamemnon replies:"But here is my threat to you.
After this remark Achilles' anger can only be stayed by
Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis.
I shall convey her back in my own ship, with my own
followers; but I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis,
your prize, I myself going to your shelter, that you may learn well
how much greater I am than you, and another man may shrink back
from likening himself to me and contending against me." [Homer.The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. 1.181-7.]Athena and he vows to never take orders fromAgamemnon again. Later,Achilles cries to his motherThetis , who convincesZeus onOlympus to favor theTrojan s untilAgamemnon restores Achilles' rights. This dooms the possibility of Greek victory in the near future, and the Trojans underHector almost push the Greeks back into the sea in Book XII, causingAgamemnon to contemplate a defeated return toGreece ."The Wrath of Achilles" turns the tide of the war again when his closest friend
Patroclus is killed in battle byHector while wearing Achilles' armor. WhenNestor informs him,Achilles mourns grievously, tearing out his hair and dirtying his face. During his mourning, his motherThetis again comes to comfort him.Achilles tells her:So it was here that the lord of men Agamemnon angered me.
In his desire for vengeance
Still, we will let all this be a thing of the past, and for all our
sorrow beat down by force the anger deeply within us.
Now I shall go, to overtake that killer of a dear life,
Hektor; then I will accept my own death, at whatever
time Zeus wishes to bring it about, and the other immortals. [Homer.The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. 18.111-116.]Achilles is even willing to accept the prospect of his own death as a reasonable price to avenge his lost friend. The rage ofAchilles over the death ofPatroclus persuaded him to enter battle again, dooming bothHector andTroy . After killing and wounding numerous Trojans,Achilles findsHector on the battlefield in Book XXII and chases him around the walls ofTroy three times before slaying him.Achilles , in his final show of rage, then drags the body on the back of his chariot back to the Greek camp where he mourns forPatroclus .Achilles later returns the body ofHector to the Trojan kingPriam when he secretly infiltrates the Greek camp and begsAchilles for the body of his son.Fate
Fate is shown to be a driving force behind many of the events of the "Iliad". It is obeyed by both gods and men once it is set, and neither seems able (or willing) to change it. The forming of Fate is unknown, but it is told by
The Fates and seers such asCalchas , and mentioned by gods and men throughout the epic. It was considered heroic to accept one's fate honorably and cowardly to attempt to avoid it. [ [http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1375344] ] However, fate does not predetermine all human action. Instead, it primarily refers to the outcome or end, such as a man's life or a city such asTroy . [ [http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/studyguide/homer.htm] ] For instance, before killing him,Hector callsPatroclus a fool for trying to conquer him in battle.Patroclus retorts:No, deadly destiny, with the son of Leto, has killed me,
Here
and of men it was Euphorbos; you are only my third slayer.
And put away in your heart this other thing that I tell you.
You yourself are not one who shall live long, but now already
death and powerful destiny are standing beside you,
to go down under the hands of Aiakos' great son, Achilleus. [Homer.The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. 16.849-54.]Patroclus alludes to his own fate as well as Hector's to die at the hands ofAchilles . Upon killingHector ,Achilles is fated to die atTroy as well. All of these outcomes are predetermined, and although each character has free will in his actions he knows that eventually his end has already been set.In some places it is ambiguous whether the gods, namely [Zeus] , have the ability to alter fate. This situation first appears in Book XVI when Zeus' mortal son,
Sarpedon , is about to be slain in battle byPatroclus .Zeus says:'Ah me, that it is destined that the dearest of men, Sarpedon,
When
must go down under the hands of Menoitios' son Patroclus. [Homer.The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. 16.433-4.]Zeus mentions his dilemma to Hera, she answers him:'Majesty, son of Kronos, what sort of thing have you spoken?
When faced with having to decide between losing his beloved son and abiding by fate, even
Do you wish to bring back a man who is mortal, one long since
doomed by his destiny, from ill-sounding death and release him?
Do it, then; but not all the rest of us gods shall approve you. [Homer.The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. 16.440-3.]Zeus , the king of the gods, decides to let the matter pass as it has been already decided. This same motif is used again whenZeus contemplates whether to spareHector , whom he loves and respects. This time, grey-eyedAthena answers him:'Father of the shining bold, dark misted, what is this you said?
Again
Do you wish to bring back a man who is mortal, one long since
doomed by his destiny, from ill-sounding death and release him?
Do it, then; but not all the rest of us gods shall approve you. [Homer.The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. 22.178-81.]Zeus seems able to change fate but does not, choosing instead to abide by the outcomes decided long before that day's events.Fate, working in the other direction, spares
Aeneas from death at the hands ofAchilles .Apollo convincedAeneas to confrontAchilles during battle, althoughAchilles was too strong to be defeated. SeeingAeneas outmatched and in peril,Poseidon speaks out among the immortals:But come, let us ourselves get him away from death, for fear
the son of Kronos may be angered if now Achilleus
kills this man. It is destined that he shall be the survivor,
that the generation of Dardanos shall not die... [Homer. "The Iliad". Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. 20.300-4.]Aeneas has been fated to survive theTrojan War and because of this is saved in battle fromAchilles . Although it is unclear whether the gods have the power to change fate, they repeatedly make a conscious effort to maintain fate even in opposition to their personal allegiances. This shows that although its origins are mysterious, fate plays a huge role in the outcome of events in the "Iliad". It is the one power that lies even above the gods and shapes the outcome of events more than any other force in the epic.The question of fate also hints at the primeval division of the world by the three sons of
Cronus , when they toppled their father.Zeus was given the air and sky,Poseidon the waters andHades the Underworld, where the dead go. The earth per se was given jointly to all three, hence Poseidon may flood it, or convulse it with earthquakes, and Hades is free to roam it and claim those who are to die and descend to his own domain. Furthermore the Three Fates, deities of obscure and possibly far older origin than the Olympian gods, were often shown as having the only say as to the length of the lives of mortals, a matter over which the gods were unable to intervene.In the Iliad:
* Greeks killed 188 people.
* Trojans killed 53 people.The "Iliad" as oral tradition
The "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" were considered by Greeks of the classical age, and later, as the most important works in
Ancient Greek literature , and were the basis of Greekpedagogy in antiquity. As the center of therhapsode 's repertoire, their recitation was a central part of Greek religious festivals. The book would be spoken or sung all night (modern readings last around 14 hours), with audiences coming and going for parts they particularly enjoyed.Throughout much of their history, scholars of the "written" word treated the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" as literary poems, and
Homer as a writer much like them. However, in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, scholars began to question this assumption.Milman Parry , a classical scholar, was intrigued by peculiar features of Homeric style: in particular the stock epithets and the often extensive repetition of words, phrase and even whole chunks of text. He argued that these features were artifacts of oral composition. The poet employs stock phrases because of the ease with which they could be applied to a hexameter line. Specifically, Parry observed that Homer complemented each main character's name with a specific stock epithet such that the two-word unit filled half a line. Therefore, he would only ever have to compose afresh half a line – the other half could be automatically completed with a formulaic phrase like “resourceful Odysseus.” [Porter, John. “The Iliad as Oral Formulaic Poetry.” "The Iliad as Oral Formulaic Poetry".8 May 2006 . University of Saskatchewan. Accessed26 November 2007 .] Taking this theory, Parry travelled in Yugoslavia, studying the local oral poetry. In his research he observed oral poets employing stock phrases and repetition to assist with the challenge of composing a poem orally and improvisationally. Parry's line of inquiry opened up a wider study of oral modes of thought and communication and their evolution under the impact ofwriting and print byEric Havelock ,Marshall McLuhan ,Walter Ong and others. In fact, Parry's studentAlbert Lord , in his landmark work "The Singer of Tales ", detects similarities between the tragic story ofPatroclus and the death ofEnkidu in theSumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh ". In the book, Lord refutes the idea that the Patroclus story-line upsets the "established" Homeric pattern of "wrath, bride-stealing, and rescue" [Lord, Albert. "The Singer of Tales" Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960. p. 190] and says that the structure of the "Iliad" is dictated by "a careful analysis of the repetition of thematic patterns." [Lord, Albert. "The Singer of Tales" Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960. p. 195]It should be noted, however, that the use of repetition and stock phrases has not necessarily been interpreted as a restriction on Homer's originality and capacity to rework the story as he saw fit. Professor James Armstrong, in his paper The Arming Motif in the Iliad, argues that even formulaic sections of Homer's text contain enriched meaning through illustrative word choice. He points to what he refers to as the “arming motif;” characters such as Paris, Agamemnon, Patroclus, and Achilles are all described while being armed in a formulaic, long-winded fashion. Armstrong writes that this is needed to “heighten the importance of…an impressive moment” while the repetition “creates an atmosphere of smoothness.” Yet each time, he modifies elements of the passages – for example, when describing Patroclus ["Iliad" XVI 130-154] , he changes from a positive to a negative turn of phrase, which Armstrong explains as demonstrating that Patroclus is not Achilles, foreshadowing Patroclus’ death. [Armstrong, James I. "The Arming Motif in the Iliad". The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 79, No. 4. (1958), pp. 337-354.]
One of the effects that oral tradition has had on the Iliad is that the poem sometimes has inconsistency. For example, Aphrodite is described as “laughter-loving” even when she is in pain from the wound given to her by Diomedes (5.375). Oral tradition has also been a reason attributed for the "Iliad"'s break from the view of the gods the Greeks in Homer's time actually had. In the "Iliad", Mycenaean elements have become mixed up with Dark Age elements. For example, the most powerful Olympic gods have been compared to the Dark Ages’ hereditary basilees nobles who ruled over lesser social ranks, paralleling lesser gods like Scamander [Toohey, Peter. Reading Epic: An Introduction to the Ancient Narrative. New Fetter Lane, London: Routledge, 1992.] .
The relationship of Achilles and Patroclus
The precise nature of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus has been the subject of some dispute in both the classical period and modern times. In the "Iliad", it is clear that the two heroes have a deep and extremely meaningful friendship, but the evidence of a romantic or sexual element is equivocal. Commentators from the classical period to today have tended to interpret the relationship through the lens of their own cultures. Thus, in fifth-century Athens the relationship was commonly interpreted as pederastic, since pederasty was an accepted part of Athenian society. Present day readers are more likely to interpret the two heroes either as non-sexual "war buddies" or as a similarly-aged homosexual couple.
Warfare in the "Iliad"
Even though Mycene was a maritime power that managed to launch over a thousand ships and Troy at the very least had built the fleet with which Paris took Helen, ["Iliad" 3.45–50] no sea-battle takes place throughout the conflict and
Phereclus , the shipbuilder of Troy, fights on foot. ["Iliad" 5.59–65]The heroes of the "Iliad" are dressed in elaborate and well described armor. They ride to the battlefield on a
chariot , throw a spear to the enemy formation and then dismount, use their other spear and engage in personal combat. Telamonian Ajax carried a large tower-shaped shield (σάκος) that was used not only to cover him but also his brother::Ninth came Teucer, stretching his curved bow. :He stood beneath the shield of Ajax, son of Telamon.:As Ajax cautiously pulled his shield aside,:Teucer would peer out quickly, shoot off an arrow,:hit someone in the crowd, dropping that soldier:right where he stood, ending his life—then he'd duck back, :crouching down by Ajax, like a child beside its mother.:Ajax would then conceal him with his shining shield.: ("Iliad" 8.267–272, translated by Ian Johnston)
Ajax's shield was heavy and difficult to carry. It was thus more suited for defence than offence. His cousin Achilles on the other hand had a large
round shield that he used along with his famous spear with great success against the Trojans. Round or eight-sided was the shield of the simple soldier. Unlike the heroes they rarely had a breast-plate and relied exclusively on the shield for defence. They would form very dense formations::Just as a man constructs a wall for some high house,:using well-fitted stones to keep out forceful winds,:that's how close their helmets and bossed shields lined up,:shield pressing against shield, helmet against helmet:man against man. On the bright ridges of the helmets,:horsehair plumes touched when warriors moved their heads. :That's how close they were to one another.: ("Iliad" 16.213–7, translated by Ian Johnston)
Once Homer actually calls the formation phalanx though the true
phalanx formation appears in the7th century BC . ["Iliad" 6.6] Was this the way that the true Trojan War was fought? Most scholars do not believe so. [Tomas Cahill, Sailing the Wine Dark Sea, Why the Greeks Matter, New York 2003] The chariot was the main weapon in battles of the time, like theBattle of Kadesh . There is evidence from the Dendra armor and paintings at the palace of Pylos that the Mycenaeans used two-man chariots, with the principal rider armed with a long spear, unlike the Hittite three-man chariots whose riders were armed with shorter spears or the two-man chariots armed with arrows used by Egyptians and Syrians. Homer is aware of the use of chariots as a main weapon. Nestor places his charioteers in front of the rest of his troop and tells them::In your eagerness to engage the Trojans,:don't any of you charge ahead of others,:trusting in your strength and horsemanship.:And don't lag behind. That will hurt our charge.:Any man whose chariot confronts an enemy's:should thrust with his spear at him from there. :That's the most effective tactic, the way :men wiped out city strongholds long ago—:their chests full of that style and spirit.("Iliad" 4.301–309, translated by Ian Johnston)
Mythological Characters in the "Iliad"
Although gods, goddesses, and demi-gods play a large role in the plot of the "Iliad", scholars note that the portrayal of gods by Homer represents a break from the ways in which Greeks actually observed their religion. The gods of the "Iliad" were crafted to suit the author's needs in telling his story instead of to give an ideal representation of how the Greeks viewed their mythological figures.
Herodotus , the classical historian, even went so far as to say that Homer and his contemporary,Hesiod , first named and described the characteristics and appearances of the gods. [ Homer's Iliad: Classical Technology Center. http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots/homer.htm ]In her book, "Greek Gods: Human Lives", scholar
Mary Lefkowitz discusses the relevance of the gods' actions in the "Iliad" and attempts to answer the question of whether their actions are applicable for their own sakes or if they are merely a metaphorical representation of human characteristics. Many classic authors, such asThucydides andPlato , were only interested in the Homeric characters of gods as "a way of talking about human life rather than a description or a truth." [Lefkowitz, Mary. Greek Gods: Human Lives. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003] She argues that, if one looks at the Greek gods as religious elements rather than metaphors, their existence is what allowed Greeks to be so intellectually open. Without any established dogma or single holy book, Greeks could design gods that fit any description of religion. [ Oliver Taplin. "Bring Back the Gods." The New York Times.14 December 2003 .]The "Iliad" in subsequent arts and literature
Subjects from the Trojan War were a favourite among ancient Greek dramatists.
Aeschylus ' trilogy, theOresteia , comprising "Agamemnon", "The Libation Bearers", and "The Eumenides", follows the story of Agamemnon after his return from the war.Robert Browning 's poem "Development" discusses his childhood introduction to the matter of the "Iliad" and his delight in the epic, as well as contemporary debates about its authorship.William Shakespeare used the plot of the "Iliad" as a source material for his play "Troilus and Cressida ", but focused the love story ofTroilus , a Trojan prince and a son ofPriam , and a Trojan womanCressida . The play, often considered to be a comedy, reverses traditional views on events of theTrojan War and depictsAchilles as a coward, Ajax as a dull, unthinking mercenary, etc.The 1954
Broadway musical "The Golden Apple" by librettistJohn Treville Latouche and composerJerome Moross was freely adapted from the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey", re-setting the action to America'sWashington state in the years after theSpanish-American War , with events inspired by the "Iliad" in Act One and events inspired by the "Odyssey" in Act Two.Christa Wolf 's 1983 novel "Kassandra" is a critical engagement with the stuff of the "Iliad". Wolf's narrator is Cassandra, whose thoughts we hear at the moment just before her murder by Clytemnestra in Sparta. Wolf's narrator presents a feminist's view of the war, and of war in general. Cassandra's story is accompanied by four essays which Wolf delivered as the Frankfurter Poetik-Vorlesungen. The essays present Wolf's concerns as a writer and rewriter of this canonical story and show the genesis of the novel through Wolf's own readings and in a trip she took to Greece.A number of comic series have re-told the legend of the Trojan War. The most inclusive may be "Age of Bronze", a comprehensive retelling by writer/artist
Eric Shanower that incorporates a broad spectrum of literary traditions and archaeological findings. Started in 1999, it is projected to number seven volumes.The Washington D.C. based painter, David Richardson, began a series of paintings in 2002 based on the "Iliad" and titled The Trojan War Series. Each painting in the series is intended to be a monument to a character in the "Iliad" and bears a name taken from the poem. As of October 2007, Richardson had completed over eighty paintings in the series and was still not finished with the body of work.
Led Zeppelin recorded a song entitledAchilles Last Stand for their 1976 albumPresence .Power metal bandBlind Guardian composed a 14 minute song about the "Iliad", "And Then There Was Silence ", appearing on the 2002 album A Night at the Opera.Power metal band
Manowar composed a 28 minute medley "Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts" in their 1992 album, The Triumph of Steel. Other Metal bands inspired by the epos:Manilla Road "The Fall Of Iliam";Stormwind "War Of Try";Virgin Steele composed a Rock opera in two parts called "The Fall Of House Atreus";Jag Panzer "Achilles";Arcane "Agamemnon";Warlord "Achilles Revenge";Tierra Santa "El Caballo De Troya".An epic science fiction adaptation/tribute by acclaimed author
Dan Simmons titled "Ilium" was released in 2003. The novel received aLocus Award for best science fiction novel of 2003.A loose film adaptation of the "Iliad", "Troy", was released in 2004, starring
Brad Pitt as Achilles,Orlando Bloom as Paris,Eric Bana as Hector,Sean Bean asOdysseus andBrian Cox asAgamemnon . It was directed by German-bornWolfgang Petersen . The movie only loosely resembles the Homeric version, with the supernatural elements of the story were deliberately expunged, except for one scene that includes Achilles' sea nymph mother,Thetis (although her supernatural nature is never specifically stated, and she is aged as though human).Though the film received mixed reviews, it was a commercial success, particularly in international sales. It grossed $133 million in the United States and $497 million worldwide, placing it in the 50 top-grossing movies of all time.
S.M. Stirling's "
Island in the Sea of Time " series contains numerous characters who are clearly the "original versions" of those appearing in the "Iliad"; the twentieth-century characters are quite aware of this and make rather frequent reference to it. One, for example, comments that "a big horse ought to be present at the fall of Troy", and another uses the glory that the poem would have brought its protagonists to turn one of them against his master.Alesana's "The Third Temptation of Paris" is based on the theft of Helen and the subsequent consequences.
Translations into English
The "Iliad" has been translated into English for centuries.
George Chapman 's 16th century translation was praised byJohn Keats in his sonnet, "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer ", and it quickly became a classic of English poetry.John Ogilby 's mid-17th-century English translation was one of the first to incorpate detailed and extensive annotations.Alexander Pope 's translation into rhymedpentameter , published in 1715, is also considered to be a major poetic achievement. William Cowper's 1791 version in forceful Miltonic blank verse is highly regarded and is more faithful to the Greek than Chapman or Pope..]In his lectures "
On Translating Homer "Matthew Arnold commented on the problems of translating the "Iliad" and on the major translations available in 1861. Arnold identifies four essential qualities of Homer the poet to which the translator must do justice:that he is eminently rapid; that he is eminently plain and direct both in the evolution of his thought and in the expression of it, that is, both in his syntax and in his words; that he is eminently plain and direct in the substance of his thought, that is, in his matter and ideas; and, finally, that he is eminently noble
After a discussion of the meters employed by previous translators, and in other existing English narrative poetry, he argues the need for a translation of the Iliad in hexameters in a poetic dialect, like the original.In 1870 the American poet William Cullen Bryant published a version in blank verse that Van Wyck Brooks called "simple, faithful" .
There have been several English translations since 1950.
Richmond Lattimore 's version is "a free six-beat" line for line rendering that explicitly eschews "poetical dialect" for "the plain English of today"; it is more literal than older verse renderings.Robert Fitzgerald strove to situate the "Iliad" in the musical forms of English poetry and his forceful version is freer; his lines are shorter and this helps to increase the sense of swiftness and energy. Some find Lattimore a bit dull and "plodding", considering Fitzgerald's "voice" to be "sometimes a better reflection of the nuances and connotations in the original Greek than Lattimore's".Robert Fagles andStanley Lombardo are both bolder in adding dramatic significance to conventional and formulaic Homeric language, but Fagles generally follows the original more closely, while Lombardo has chosen an American idiom that is much more colloquial than the other translations and his gritty "street verse" style has been criticised by some as being out of tune with the diction of the original. Rodney Merrill's version employs an accentual dactylic hexameter that "by following the Homeric line in its shape as well as its meter" reproduces Homer's combination of sound and sense more accurately than previous verse translations.Partial list of English translations
This is a partial list of translations into English of Homer's "Iliad". For a more complete list, see
English translations of Homer .*
George Chapman , 1598 and 1615 - verse
*John Ogilby , 1660
*Thomas Hobbes , 1675 - verse: [http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php&title=773 full text]
*John Ozell ,William Broome and William Oldisworth, 1712
*Alexander Pope , 1713 - verse: [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/6130 full text]
*James Macpherson , 1773
*William Cowper , 1791: [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/16452 full text]
*Theodore Alois Buckley , 1851 - prose: [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/22382 full text]
* Lord Derby, 1864 - verse: [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/6150 full text]
*William Cullen Bryant , 1870 - verse
*Walter Leaf ,Andrew Lang and Ernest Myers, 1873 - prose: [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/3059 full text]
* Samuel Butler, 1898 - prose: [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/2199 full text]
* A.T. Murray, 1924 - prose with facing Greek text: [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomerIliad1.html full text of translation]
* Alexander Falconer, 1933
* Sir William Marris, 1934 - verse
* W.H.D. Rouse, 1938 - prose
* E.V. Rieu, 1950 - prose
* Alston Chase andWilliam G. Perry , 1950 - prose
*Richmond Lattimore , 1951 -verse: [http://www.library.northwestern.edu/homer/html/application.html full text with interlinear Greek text]
* Ennis Rees, 1963 - verse
*Robert Fitzgerald , 1974 - verse
*Martin Hammond , 1987 - prose
*Robert Fagles , 1990 -verse
*Stanley Lombardo , 1997 -verse
* Ian Johnston, 2002 - verse: [http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/iliad_title.htm full text]
* Rodney Merrill, 2007 - verseee also
*
Epic poetry
*Historicity of the Iliad
*Greek mythology
*Odyssey
*Oral tradition
*Homer Notes
References
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*External links
* [http://publicliterature.org/books/iliad/xaa.php "Iliad"] , online version of the work by Homer (English).
*Mount Holyoke College [http://wiredforbooks.org/iliad/ The Iliad recited in ancient Greek]
*"Iliad" in Ancient Greek: [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+1.1 from the Perseus Project] (PP), with the Murray and Butler translations and hyperlinks to mythological and grammatical commentary; [http://www.library.northwestern.edu/homer/html/application.html via the Chicago Homer] , with the Lattimore translation and markup indicating formulaic repetitions
*Links to translations freely available online are included in the list above.
* [http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/TheIliad.html#Iliad "The Iliad": A Study Guide]
* [http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/achilles/iliad/iliad.html Classical images illustrating the "Iliad".] Repertory of outstanding painted vases, wall paintings and other ancient iconography of the War of Troy.*"Homer: Iliad Books 1-12, & 13-24", ed. by Monro, 3rd Ed.: © Oxford Univ. Press 1902, parsed interlinear [http://www.handheldclassics.com eBook for Palm Handheld]
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