Before we begin, have a look at the family tree of Helen of Troy (a Greek, remember) in the back of your mythology book. Read about Castor and Pollux. Never forget the identity of Helen's half-sister, or the strange fate of her mother (Leda and the swan are often depicted in art; I'll try to find a picture to pass around).
Then let's think for the moment about the structure of this epic. Like The Odyssey, it is divided into twenty-four books. (Later epics are often written in twelve.) The divisions were made long after the poem was written down--even long after Plato's day, but the divisions fall at crucial points in the work and demonstrate that (whether Homer himself or someone else shaped the final version) the final poem is extremely carefully organized. Think of it this way: Can we discern any structure in this plan? Well, 24 is divisible in a number of ways: 2 x 12, 3 x 8, 4 x 6 (6 x 4, 8 x 3, 12 x 2).
Try, for instance, dividing the work into three parts (Bks 1-8, 9-16, 17-24). What do you see? Where are we at the end of Book 8? (Look at the beginning of Book 9 for help.) Is there also a meaningful division at the end of Book 16? I'd say so!) Can you characterize each of the three parts in some way? You might think, for example, that the first eight books are about the gods working against the Greeks and for the Trojans. What about the middle eight books? The last eight?
In the same way, you can thing about dividing the book into four parts (or six or eight or twelve--or two). It is remarkable how many meaningful divisions can be made. We cannot know whether Homer planned his epics that way (the same is also true of The Odyssey), but it might give you some food for thought as essay season rolls around.
Book 19
Thetis. Doesn't she have a role in the very, very beginning of the whole saga of the Trojan War? Why do Achilles' men, the Myrmidons "shake with fear"? Why does the armor have such a strong effect on Achilles? In what sense is the armor "beautiful"? Why does Achilles experience "joy"?
Now we have another assembly, to balance the one at the beginning of the work. In this one Achilles is going to "unsay" his anger (according to Thetis). What do you think of his "unsaying" speech? What do you think of Agamemnon's "excuse"? Who is Ate? (Do you think she is related to Mr. Nobody?) Achilles demonstrates again (if you didn't figure it out already) that he's not "in it for the money."
Watch Briseis' return to Achilles. You must not think of her as simply a captive. Homer goes to great lengths to convince us otherwise. The plight of captive women is an ongoing theme, not only in Homer's work, but in that of the later Greek playwrights. The play of Hecuba, by Euripides, is truly heart-wrenching.
The paragraph that follows this sorrowful scene (p. 165) is wonderful! Look at the contrast of "snow" and sun. Feel the bright, ready, tension in the Greeks and in Achilles--the relief of action after inactivity, the working out of grief by transforming it into action. Look at the great shield of Hephaestus: "Bright like the moon it looked from afar." Milton picks up this image when he describes the fallen angel Lucifer (now called Satan) as an epic hero immediately after losing the battle against God and his angels in heaven and being cast down into hell. (Take my Brit Lit I and read all about it.) The helmet awakens fear, and the whole armor, huge as it is, is the very opposite of heavy. Notice, though, that he always uses his father's spear. Weapons that were tried over many years aquired great reputations--even names, like Beowulf's swords.
What do you think of Hera's warning? What effect does it have on the reader?
Book 20
The "supernatural" trick of Hera is followed by signs from the two most powerful Olympian gods, Zeus and Poseidon. Compare this with the effects of Christ's crucifixion, when the sun was darkened and there were earthquakes and the tombs of the dead were broken open and the dead walked the earth, and the veil in the temple (that curtained off the Holy of Holies) was torn in two.
Why do fighters talk to each other before they do battle? Note Hector's realistic assessment of his situation. Note, too, the understatement (look it up) of his final comment.
Book 21
Singlehandedly! What a leader of men! ". . . like locusts before a grass fire . . ."! (Time out. Notice that Achilles came upon Lycaon "cutting young branches . . . from a fig tree to make the sides of a chariot." This tells us that the chariots must have been light indeed if there sides are made of thin, woven shoots.) Notice once again that Achilles is "deeply moved." This is not the first time. What do we expect of a superhero--a killing machine? We expect someone who is, if anything unmoved. Schwarzenegger is cold as ice in his superhero mode (i.e., not when he's running a kindergarten). Yes, he kills Lycaon, but look at his words: "Till Patroclus fell, it was my pleasure to have pity on the Trojans." Achilles has a very interesting way of looking at life. You ought to spend some time thinking about his words, here and elsewhere. "Look at me," he says. "I am a perfect specimen of a man." There is no pride here--only the knowledge of what everyone, including himself, knows. But what does he do with that fact? Read the paragraph carefully.
Check out my speculation at the beginning of this file about the symmetry (look it up) of this work. There are three books to go, and at this point the Trojans have just been completely routed. We are ready for the denouement. Now look at the first three books. They, too, have a certain unity, ending in the almost-victory of Menelaus that should have meant the end of the conflict.
Book 22
This book opens with one of the finest scenes in the epic. Imagine that it is a movie. Hector is totally clear sighted. He know exactly what the odds are, what it will take to win (or lose), and what the consequences will be. The Greeks valued highly this kind of clarity of mind; it was for them the mark of a great man.
Fear. You've been taught that heroes are never afraid. That is simply a myth. Any thinking man (and these are certainly thinking men) will be afraid when they are faced with a power greater than them that threatens them. (The only times they are not is when they have been seized with battle frenzy, or, as Homer would put it, the gods have blinded them.) Notice that the poet expects you to have some sense of the topography (look it up) of Troy. Notice, too, the everyday image of Trojan women washing their clothes to contrast with this incredible scene. --And all the gods looked on.
Here is fate again. Is even Zeus subject to a higher power? Once again, Athene makes the rather mild statement that "we other gods are not all with you in this," a statement that evokes again that puzzling comment from Zeus that he is not as serious as he seems. Athene is surely his favorite--no surprise given the story of her birth. Do you, by now, see a difference between the way Ares, god of war, acts and the way Athene, goddess of war acts? What's the difference?
Notice that at the sight of the scales, Apollo can do no more for Hector. Athene then pulls the nastiest trick of all her nasty tricks in this work. Ever the good, thinking man, Hector offers a reasonable agreement. What do you think of Achilles' response to it? Who is the lion and who the man? Who is the sheep and who the wolf? Why does Homer choose these images?
Did you notice that at the end of Book 17 (look at it) Homer made clear that Hector was not the one who killed Patroclus--but that at the beginning of Book 18 (look at it) Achilles assumes that Hector is the killer (both on 150 and on 151)? Achilles says, "But now I will go to look for Hector who killed the man I loved . . . ." He holds Hector responsible for killing both Patroclus and many of his companions. In this final battle, Achilles claims Athene's help and rightly.
Once he stops and faces Achilles, Hector loses his fear. Now he must act. When he discovers he is alone, he, too, sees the ultimate power as fate. Now nothing is left but to die with honor. He attacks with his sword, even though Achilles has his spear (thanks to Athene). The spear is by far the better weapon (not least because it is much longer than a sword), and Hector knows he hasn't a chance. Look at the beautiful star imagery--applied to the deadly point of the spear.
Do you remember Zeus' sharp retort to Hera about wanting to eat the Trojans raw? What does this say about Achilles? How could Hector bring the anger of the gods down upon Achilles? Is it true that Paris killed Achilles (what irony!)? How was he killed?
Achilles' statement at the sight of Hector's body says a good deal about his own state of mind. What do the Greeks then swarm around the body to see? Why do they do what they do? Shameful. Think about it.
Think, too, about the awfulness of Andromache's glimpse of his body. Her formal lament follows. In this culture, who one's father is is extremely important, and that one's father is is essential to a boy.
Book 23
Have you ever been in a position that you felt you ought to grieve (if only for a dead pet) but not felt grief? "Thetis moved in them the desire to sorrow." What do you think of the scene at the top of page 185? Try to imagine yourself as Achilles. He calls the mourning "a hateful feast"--why?
The spirit of Patroclus is not pleased by Achilles' efforts. His shade has only one desire. What is it? Why does he want it? That should tell you a lot about why people want the bodies of the fallen returned to their people for proper burial.
Think how huge this funeral pyre (look it up) must be. The larger the pyre, the greater the honor. What do you think of the great slaughter that goes with it? What does Homer think of it?
Only now do we discover than Aphrodite has been at work. There is a certain incongruity (look it up) here with her "dealings" with Hector; after all, she has never had anything to do with him directly up till now, has she?
Book 24
Achilles has clear become a bit unhinged. It is "healthy" grief for him to think of the life he and Patroclus shared on the morning after the funeral, but what about Hector? Now, if you haven't figured it out up till now, you learn the real reason why Hera and Athene have it in for Troy--simple jealousy. Think again about the gods as models of human behavior. Ask yourself again, where do we find models that are more acceptable in Homer's epic? Look at Apollo's words carefully. Why does Zeus' plan show more honor to Achilles that what he might otherwise have done?
Achilles returns to his senses when his mother brings word from the gods. Think of how this works psychologically. Iris, in his words to Priam, declares that Achilles has returned to his right mind.
Hermes is the messenger of the gods, but here he is styles the Helper. At last, after all the hatred and pain, we see some pity, some kindness, some order. Notice the images of beauty, of wholeness; notice the piety, the honorable behavior.
Notice, if you haven't before, that the proper gesture of supplication (look it up) is to embrace the knees of the one of whom you ask a favor. How can Priam bring himself to kiss Achilles' hands? It fills even Achilles with wonder. Mourning together is truly healing--in part because it is extremely intimate. These two know each other well, though they have never met face to face.
A third time we hear Achilles expound on the nature of our life on this earth. The "two urns of Zeus" are worth remembering.
Achilles is always short-fused, even at the best of times. He takes orders from others with some difficulty, and of course he is in a pretty ragged state emotionally.
Who is Niobe? Read it in Hamilton, even though Achilles tells the story. Food is a sign of communion, community, social order. It signals a return to humanity, to normalcy. It also signals a human bond between these two most natural enemies. Enemies they may be, but they are both human, and so belong to the human race. Priam sleeps under Achilles' roof, too. All these events go some way to healing the grief on both sides. Each honors the other. Are you not astonished at Achilles' "offer"? It is a sure token of mutual respect and clarity of mind.
Back in Troy Andromache sings another lament, her last, over the body of her dear husband. Even Helen joins in the laments. She seems truly to have loved Hector--but then everyone does. The epic ends at dawn.
Yes, The Iliad a great story, but what is the story about? Surely it is about war, and just as surely it is about what happens when human beings give in to excess--whatever excess it might be.
In his calmer moments, Achilles makes a number of searching statements about war, about why men go to war, and about the effects of war on human beings. On the other hand, his anger/pride causes suffering and death to friend and enemy alike. His excessive grief (is he the only one to lose loved ones in this war?) results in yet more death--hideous death. What is Homer saying to us, both about war and about man's life?
Look at Hector. Surely he is the most noble man in the poem, yet look what happens to him. Why?
Think through the story over the next few days, and keep asking yourself, why? why? why?
Rev 9/96