5 Homer, Iliad

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Homer, Iliad, and Odyssey

HOMER

Eighth century BCE


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Greek literature begins with. . . Greek literature begins with two

masterpieces, theIliadIliadandand OdysseyOdyssey,, which cannot be accurately datedcannot be accurately dated (the

centuries)

and which are attributed to the poet

Homer, about whom nothing is knownexcept his name.


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The blind bard Demodocus The Greeks believed that he was blind,

perhaps because the bardthe bard DemodocusDemodocus ininthethe OdysseyOdyssey was blind and seven different

birthplace.


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Cithara/ Lyre


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APOTHEOSIS OF HOMER By Ingres


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Homer: Oral Tradition It was a blurred memory

(Homer does not remember the writing,for example, or the detailed bureaucratic

and this is easy to understand:

some time in the last century of the

millennium the great palaces werethe great palaces weredestroyed by fire.destroyed by fire.

9Alice Y. Chang


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Mycenaean wealth the Dark

Age With them disappeared not only the arts

and skills that had createdMycenaeanMycenaeanwealthwealth but even the system of writing.

Greeks were illiteratewere illiterate and so no writtenevidence survives for what, in view of our

ignorance about so many aspects of it, wecall the Dark Age of GreeceDark Age of Greece.

10Alice Y. Chang


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Alice Y. Chang 11


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Dolphin fresco A detail of the restored Dolphin fresco on

the wall of the Queens Room in thethe Queens Room in theMinoan palace at Knossos.Minoan palace at Knossos.

typically Minoan and the whole frescoprobably dates from the last phase of the

New palace, around 1450around 1450--1400 BCE1400 BCE.

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the Trojan War and Mycenaeanthe Trojan War and Mycenaean

AgeAge The stories told in the Homeric poems are set in

the age of the Trojan Warthe Trojan War, which archeologists(those, that is, who believe that it happened at all)date to the twelfth century B.C.twelfth century B.C.

Though the poems do preserve some faded

memor es o e ycenaean gee ycenaean ge, as we avethem they probably are the creation of latercenturies, the tenth to the eighth B.C., the so-called Dark Age that succeeded the collapse (or

destruction) of Mycenaean civilization.

13Alice Y. Chang


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Iliad and the Ionian landsacpe The Iliad contains several accurateaccurate

descriptions of natural features of thedescriptions of natural features of theIonian landscapeIonian landscape, but his grasp of the

,western, Greece is unsure.


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About to the age of writing The two great epics that have made his name

supreme among poets may have been fixed in

something like their present form before the artbefore the artof writing was in general use in Greeceof writing was in general use in Greece; it is certain that they were intended not for

rea ng u or ora rec a on. The earliest stages of their composition date fromaround the beginnings of Greek literacyaround the beginnings of Greek literacythethelate eighth century B.C.late eighth century B.C.

The poems exhibit the unmistakablecharacteristics of oral composition.


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the immense poetic reservethe immense poetic reserve

Of course he could and did invent newphrases and scenes as he recitedbut hishis

base was the immense poetic reservebase was the immense poetic reservecreated by many generations of singerswho lived before him.

When he told again for his hearers the oldstory of Achilles and his wrathstory of Achilles and his wrath, he wasrecreating a traditional story that had beenrecited, with variations, additions, andimprovements, by a long line of

predecessors.


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Magnificently ordered

The Iliad and Odyssey as we have them, however, areunlike most of the oral literature we know from othertimes and places.

The poetic organization of each of these two epics, thesubtle interrelationship of the parts, which createstheir structural and emotional unity, suggests thatthey owe their present form to the shaping hand of a

sing e poet, t e arc itect w o se ecte rom t eenormous wealth of the oral tradition and fused whathe took with original material to create, perhaps withthe aid of the new medium of writing, the twomagnificently ordered poems known as the Iliad andOdyssey.


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The IliadThe Iliad

Sing, goddess, the rage ofAchilles theson of Peleus,

the destructive rage that sentcountless ills on the Achaeans...


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Iliad

750725


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The Achaeansthe Hellenes

(Greeks), Danaans, and ArgivesAgamemnon King of Mycenae; leader

of the Greeks. Achilles King of the Myrmidons.

Odysseus King of Ithaca; the

Aias (Ajax theGreater) son of

Telamon, withDiomedes, he issecond to Achilles inmartial prowess.

w es ree comman er, an ero othe Odyssey.

Menelaus King of Sparta; husbandof Helen.

as ax e

Lesser) son ofOileus, often partnerof Ajax the Greater.

Diomedes son of

Tydeus, King ofArgos.


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The Trojan men Priam the aged King of Troy.

Hector son of King Priam; the foremost

Trojan warrior. Paris Helens lover-abductor.

Agenor a Trojan warrior whoattem ts to fi ht Achilles Book XXI .

Aeneas son ofAnchises and Aphrodite.

Deiphobus brother ofHector and Paris.

Polydorus son ofPriam and Laothoe.

Dolona spy upon the Greek camp(Book X).

Antenor King Priams advisor, whoargues for returning Helen to end thewar; Paris refuses.


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The Trojan womenHecuba Priams wife; mother of Hector,

Cassandra, Paris, and others. Helen Menelauss wife; espoused first to

, .

Andromache Hectors wife; mother ofAstyanax

Cassandra Priams daughter; courted byApollo, who bestows the gift of prophecy toher; upon her rejection, he curses her, and herwarnings of Trojan doom go unheeded.


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Cassandra In Greek mythology, Cassandra, "she who

entangles men"; also known as Alexandra)was the daughter of King Priam and Queen

.

to grant her the gift of prophecy. However,when she did not return his love, Apollo

placed a curse on her so that no one wouldever believe her predictions.


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Painting by Evelyn De

Morgan.


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Ajax taking

Cassandra,tondo of a red-figurekylix by the , ca.

- ,Louvre


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Cassandra 'syndrome The Cassandra metaphor (variously

labelled the Cassandra 'syndrome','complex', 'phenomenon', 'predicament',' ' ' ', ,

situations in which valid warnings orconcerns are dismissed or disbelieved.


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Nostos homecoming occurs seven times in the poem (II.155,II.251, IX.413, IX.434, IX.622, X.509,

XVI.82); thematically, the concept of homecoming is

muc exp ore n nc en reeliterature, especially in the post-warhomewardfortunes experienced by

Atreidae, Agamemnon, and Odysseus (seethe Odyssey), thus, nostos is impossiblewithout sacking Troy King

Agamemnons motive for winning, at any


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Richmond Lattimore translates:

For my mother Thetis the goddess of silver feettells meI carry two sorts of destiny toward the day ofmy death. Either,if I stay here and fight beside the city of theTro ans

my return home is gone, but my glory shall beeverlasting;but if I return home to the beloved land of my

fathers,the excellence of my glory is gone, but therewill be a long lifeleft for me, and my end in death will not come

to me quickly.


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timrespect, honor the concept denoting the respectability an

honorable man accrues with accomplishment(cultural, political, martial), per his station in life.

In Book I, the Greek troubles begin with KingAgamemnons dishonorable,Agamemnons dishonorable, unkinglyunkingly behaviorbehavior

, . , ,by aggravating them in disrespecting Achilles, byconfiscating Bryseis from him (1.171).

The warriors consequent rancor against thedishonorable kingruins the Greek military cause.


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Kleos glory, fame is the concept of glory earned in heroic

battle; for most of the Greek invaders of Troy,

notabl Od sseus kleos is earned in a

victorious nostos (homecoming), yet not forAchilles, he must choose one reward, eithernostos or kleos.

In Book IX (IX.41016), he poignantly tellsAgamemnons envoysOdysseus, Phoenix,Ajax begging his reinstatement to battle

about having to choose between two fates


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TheWrath of Achilles His personal rage and wounded soldiers vanity propel

the story the Greeks faltering in battle, the slayingsof Patroclus and Hector, and the fall of Troy. In Book I,the Wrath of Achilles first emerges in the Achilles-convoked meetin , between the Greek kin s and

Calchas, the Seer. King Agamemnon dishonoursChryses, the Trojan Apollonian priest, by refusing witha threat the restitution of his daughter, Chryseis despite the proffered ransom of gifts beyond count;

[12] the insulted priest prays his gods help and anine-day rain of arrows falls upon the Greeks.


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Zeuss divine intervention After that, only Athena stays Achilles'

wrath. He vows to never again to obey orders

.

Furious, Achilles cries to his mother,Thetis, who persuades Zeuss divine

intervention favouring the Trojansuntil Achilles' rights are restored.


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Hector kills Patroclus. Meanwhile, Hector leads the Trojans to

almost pushing the Greeks back to thesea (Book XII);

and retreat to Greece (Book XIV). Again, the Wrath of Achilles turns the

wars tide in seeking vengeance whenHector kills Patroclus.

Aggrieved, Achilles tears his hair and

dirties his face; Thetis comforts her


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Moirae

Fate, destiny propels most of the events of the Iliad.

Once set, gods and men abide it, neithertruly able nor willing to contest it.

ow ate s set s un nown, ut t s toby the Fates and Seers such as Calchas.Men and their gods continually speak of

heroic acceptance and cowardly avoidanceof ones slated fate.


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Aeneas survives the Trojan War Divinely-aided,Aeneas escapes the

wrath of Achilles and survives theTrojan War.

Whether or not the gods can alterfate, they do abide it, despite itscountering their human allegiances,thus, the mysterious origin of fate is apower beyond the gods.


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the Three Fates Fate implies the primeval, tripartite division ofthe world that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades

effected in deposing their father, Cronus, for itsdominion.

eus too t e r an t e y, ose on t eWaters, and Hades the Underworld, the land ofthe dead yet, they share dominion of the

Earth. Despite the earthly powers of the Olympic

gods, only the Three Fates set the destiny ofMan.


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TheMoirae, as

depicted in a16th century


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the three Moirae Clotho ("spinner") spun the thread of lifefrom her distaff onto her spindle.

Lachesis ("allotter" or drawer of lots)measured the thread of life allotted to each

.

Atropos ("inexorable" or "inevitable",literally "unturning. sometimes called

Aisa) was the cutter of the thread of life.She chose the manner of each person'sdeath; Her Roman equivalent wasMorta

('Death').


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Classical images illustratingthe Iliad.

Repertory of outstanding paintedvases, wall paintings and other

ancient iconography of the War ofTroy.

http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/achilles/iliad/iliad.html

Trojans and


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Greeks,

illustration fromtheVergiliusRomanus

Book One and Book Two


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Book One and Book Two Book 1: After nine years of the Trojan War,

King Agamemnon seizes Briseis, Achilless

war-concubine, for having relinquishedChryseis; dishonoured, Achilles wrathfullywithdraws; the ods ar ue the Wars

outcome. Book 2: Testing Greek resolve, Agamemnon

feigns a homeward order; Odysseusencourages the Greeks to pursue the fight;see the Catalogue of Ships and the

Catalogue of Trojans and Allies.


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war Of the two poems the Iliad is perhaps the

earlier. Its subject is warIts subject is war;

ts c aracters are men n att e anwomen whose fate depends on the

outcome.


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the Achaeansthe Achaeans v.sv.s. the Trojans. the Trojans The war is fought by the Achaeansthe Achaeans against

the Trojans for the recovery of Helenfor the recovery of Helen, thewife of the Achaean chieftain MenelausMenelaus;

chariots engage in individual duels beforethe supporting lines of infantry andinfantry and

archers.archers. The comparison of Patroclus to an angleran angler

emphasizes another aspect of battle, its

excitement.


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angler noun: a fisherman who uses a

hook and line noun: a scheming person;

advantage noun: fishes having large

mouths with a wormlike filamentattached for luring prey


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Hector The great champion of the Trojans,

Hector,Hector, fights bravely, but reluctantly. War, for him, is a necessary evila necessary evil, and he

,though he has little hope of peace to come.


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Achilles

slays

Hector


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Hector and Achilles We see Hector, as we do not see Achilles,against the background of the patterns of

civilized lifecivilized lifethe rich city with itsthe rich city with itstemples and palaces, the continuity of thetemples and palaces, the continuity of the

.

The duel between these two men is theinevitable crisis of the poem, and just as

inevitable is Hectors defeat and death.


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Hectors death At the climactic moment of Hectorsclimactic moment of Hectors

deathdeath, as everywhere in the poem,Homers firm control of his material

contrary emotions are held; pity for Hectorpity for Hector does not entirely rob us of

sympathy for Achillessympathy for Achilles.

The Funeral of Hector


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The Funeral of Hector


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War and Peace This tragic action is the center of the

poem, but it is surrounded by scenes thatremind us that the organized destructionthe organized destruction

,

lifelife, is still only a part of it. The yearning for peace and its creative

possibilities is never far below the surface.


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The ShieldThe Shieldof Achillesof Achilles


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These two poles of the human conditionwar and peace, with their correspondingaspects of human nature, the destructive

and the creativeare implicit in everysituation and statement of the poem, and

, ,

in the shield that the god Hephaestusmakes for Achilles, with its scenes ofhuman life in both peace and war.

Whether these two sides of life can ever beintegrated, or even reconciled, is a

question that the Iliad raises but cannot

Hephaestus


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p

a Greek god whose Roman equivalent wasVulcan.

He was the god of technology, blacksmiths,craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals,metallur fire and volcanoes.

Hephaestus was lame, which gave him agrotesque appearance in Greek eyes.

He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and hewas worshipped in the manufacturing andindustrial centers of Greece, particularly in

Athens. The center of his cult was in Lemnos.


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http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.html


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The Iliad

By Homer

Written 800 B.C.E

Translated by Samuel Butler

5 Homer, Iliad

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