Book 6
The kind of event described on pages 79-80 (single combat ending in bloody death) is repeated very frequently in this book. It is the single most notable method of abridgment Richards used. Try to imagine the effect Homer was striving for and how Richards has altered it (you might say destroyed it) by leaving dozens of such single combats out.
An offering of "twelve smooth-haired undriven cattle" is called a hecatomb (hekatomb). My dictionary says that 100 cattle were sacrificed on such occasions, but Homer uses the term of smaller (but still great) sacrifices. Don't think of 12 beef cows at the stockyards in Chicago. Think instead of cossetted (good word--look it up) animals, like house pets, kept and elaborately cared for for this specific purpose. Twelve cattle = a small fortune.
Why Athene's temple? Why is she so important? (Stick close to your mythology book.) Would you think of offering a dress (or a suit) to the Jewish or Christian god? What does that say about the Greek gods?
Hector goes "through all the army and gave them new heart"; does the fact that he has to do this mean he has a bad (cowardly) army? Why does it matter to Diomede what the name of his enemy is? Why does Glaucus give such an elaborate answer? (By the way, this is another kind of information that has frequently been left out of your abridged translation.) What do you think of the two swearing friendship on the battlefield? How would a modern commander (say, in the Persian Gulf) look on such an event?
Hector's speech makes clear his absolute self-discipline--something in which Paris is woefully lacking (what is he doing when Hector finds him?). The cities of Tyre and Sidon (find them on the map on page 16 at the east end of the Mediterranean) were powerful trading "nations." We'll meet them again in the Aeneid. What is Helen's estimation of her famous lover? Do you believe her implied self-judgment when she refers to herself as "shameless me"?
This scene between Hector and Andromache is one of the most famous in the whole epic and a defining scene for the message Homer is presenting you. Hector is intended to provide the strongest possible contrast to Achilles. You'll see much more of Achilles later; keep this scene in mind as you read and stop from time to time and think of the differences between them. How do you stack up Andromache's claim that Hector does not care for her or their son against his own belief in what he is doing? War helmets were intended to be terrifying (as some hockey goal-keepers' masks are today). In particular, the horsehair plumes on top were said to strike fear into the enemy. Don't just smile indulgently, think about it. A well crafted helmet makes a face a mystery. You cannot see if the face inside looks frightened or powerful or even competent if it is hidden by a helmet. Not knowing (i.e., mystery) disturbs us. Masks bother us, on some level. What is more, the horsehair crest (together with a well crafted helmet) would make a man appear much taller than he really is. War--at least this kind of war--is as much psychological and physical. No wonder the kid is scared.
Sometimes the epithets (look it up) Homer uses are meaningful; sometimes they are not (silver-footed Thetis, ox-eyed Hera, god-like Achilles). Into which category would you put "man-killing Hector" in this passage?
Book 7
In what way does Athene provide the single biggest (war) problem for the Greeks and Trojans? Why do the soldiers burn the dead? Look at the raw materials delivered to the Greeks by sea. What does it tell you about their way of life and the age they live in?
Book 8
Notice that Zeus must always keep the gods in line with threats. Is this perhaps Homer's doing, matching life on Olympus to that in Troy? What in heaven's name can he mean when he says he is not really serious? Mt. Ida (many-springed Ida, page 92) is on the island of Crete. Find it on the map. What is a "balance"? What does it look like? Why does the fate of the Greeks go down?
We are approaching the low point of the war for the Greeks. Now you see what makes Agamemnon a battle leader. What else does it take to be a "leader of men"? Why are the ships of Ajax and Achilles placed at either end?
Notice how much of an impact nature has on war (remember Agent Orange?): nightfall may change the course of battle. Notice Homer's emphasis on the physical needs of people (eating, sleeping, tiredness, washing, etc.) Homer also does not shrink from the most painful kinds of dramatic irony. Look it up.
Many men in this work shed tears (as they do in Homer's other epic, The Odyssey), but never over trivial or sentimental matters. What is the issue here? Why does Nestor say, in effect, I have something important to say but let's eat first?
Why would tripods and cauldrons ("bright" cauldrons) be useful and valuable? Look at what Agamemnon's speech implies about the Greek attitude toward women (or at least women taken in battle). Agamemnon's family is a cursed family. Look up his son Orestes, his wife Clytemnestra, and his daughters Iphigenia and Electra. We will meet them all again. Who is Hades?
Who is Phoenix? In sending Ajax and Odysseus, Agamemnon (and Homer) says something about them as well as something about Achilles. What? What do you think about the picture of the greatest of all Greek fighters playing a "silver-bridged lyre" and singing to his friend? What is he singing? Hospitality--an extremely important subject in Greek culture and in Homeric epic. Here is a model of perfect hospitality. How does it work? Why is the color purple important? Why do these visitors get wine mixed with "less water"? What are the visitors served for dinner? Pay attention to the eloquence of Odysseus--he is famous for it. A great man must be able to do much more than fight well; he must speak well. What does Achilles' father, Peleus, warn his son of? How does Odysseus appeal to that very "weakness"?
Achilles is in many ways (but not in all ways) a great man. This speech is in some ways a great speech. Read it carefully. What is the main issue, as far as Achilles is concerned? Who is the "great Earth- shaker"? Phthia, where Achilles comes from is in Thessaly. Find it on the map. Read carefully and take seriously his words about the importance of life. I will pass out the scene from The Odyssey in which Odysseus encounters him in Hades long after the war. Think about living under the weight of such a prophecy all your life.
What has Phoenix not managed to teach Achilles? This is a society in which "the kindness of strangers" is extremely important. What might have happened to Phoenix if Peleus had not taken pity on him? Beware of the word "Sin"--this is not a Christian or Jewish culture. You might think of it as "wrong" or "transgression of cultural rules." Notice that both Achilles and Patroclus sleep with "women," presumably concubines brought from Greece for the purpose (this Diomede, of course, has nothing to do with Diomede the great warrior).
Book 10
Odysseus the trickster, the guileful, is a master at "stealing bases." What is his role in the final downfall of Troy? (Hint: check Hamilton.)
Book 11
Look up Tithonus. Eris (Discord) is a different sort of god from the Olympians. At the same time, she played a key role in the Trojan conflict long before the epic you are reading begins. What is it (Hamilton to the rescue)? Pay attention to the similes here: As reapers . . . Is this a good comparison? Zeus feels joy at this? when a woodman . . . A good comparison? Pay attention to the many, many ways of describing fighting--"like blazing fire" (p. 112). Remember that you're supposed to know the story: "for P. this was the beginning of evil"--the first ominous step in the unravelling of the fate of Achilles. Keep thinking about the relationship of Patroclus and Achilles. How does Nestor define their relationship (p. 114)? (By the way, Nestor is no boaster. If he says he did it, you can be dead certain that he did it.)
Book 12
Watch the similes. This kind of bird sign is common in Greek literature--one of the ways of telling the future (another was to study the entrails of animals that had been sacrificed). Almost anyone might read a sign, though some were more noted for this ability that others. Ignoring or "pooh-pooh-ing" a sign was always dangerous. In fact it seems a bit out of character for Hector, who is in all other cases a model of piety.
Read the similes on p. 121 carefully. Who is Cronos (Cronus)? What does Hector mean when he describes Hector's face as "like sudden night"? Terrible = striking terror.
Rev 9/96