Homer’s The Iliad: Important Passages Explained and
Presentation and Analysis: David Brant Translation of The Iliad: Robert
Passages on Character Passages that show insight to particular character’s personalities, tendencies, and relationships with other characters. Agamemon (Top), Zeus (Bottom)
Passage: “No one but Agamemnon he is the one who sent you for the Briseis. Go, Patroclus, prince, bring out the girl and hand her to them so they can take her back. ............ The man is raving - with all the murderous fury in his heart. He lacks sense to see a day behind, a day ahed, and safegurad the Acheans battling by the ships.” (1. 396-399, 406-408) Context: Here, Agamemnon going on one of his many angry, violent diatribes. He orders around Patroclus and disses Achilles because he is so unwilling to fight after his loss of Briseis. Analysis: Analysis: This particular passage shows more insight of character than it does theme. Agamemnon is an angry, unforgiving man. He is the king of all men and because of that he becomes extremely greedy. He always takes the plunder of other men and flaunts it in front of them. In this case Achilles is so mad because he lost Briseis to Agamemnon that he is refusing to fight for an army that needs him. This passage not only continues to show what a horrible man Agamemnon is, but it provides helpful insight in to Achilles’ character, too. Being a demigod Achilles is extremely proud. He could easily take another girl from a far away land but he chooses to pretend that it is still Briseis who he wants. Why does he do this? Not because he thinks Briseis is “the one”, but purely because he would never give in to a man who has wronged him. Achilles posesses all the wild emotion of a mortal, and all the great pride of a god.
Passage: “‘Why hurry, Hera?’ ............ ‘Now come, let’s go to bed, let’s lose ourselves in love! Never has such a lust for goddess or morrtal woman flooded my pounding hear and overwhelmed me so. Not even then, when i made love to Ixion’s wife who bore me Pirithous, rival to all gods in wisdom... not when I loved Acrisius’ daughter Danaë - marvelous ankles and Perseus sprang to life and excelled all men alive... not when I stormed Europa, far-farmed Phoenix’ daughter who bore me Minos and Rhadamanthys grand as gods... not even Semele, not even Alcmena queen of Thebes who bore me a son, that lionheart, that Heracles, and Semele bore Dianysus, ecstasy, joy to mankind not when I loved Demeter, queen of the lustrous braids not when I bedded Leto ripe for ripe for glory ! ! ! ! ! Not even you! That was nothing to how I hunger for you now irresistible longing lays me low!’” (14.375-394) Context: Here Aphrodite has just put Zeus in to a loving trance for his wife, Hera. Hera had asked Aphrodite to do so in order to get Zeus to favor the Greeks more. Analysis: While this is just about as good of a testament to Zeus’ personality on will get. There is another piece of to this passage. Aphrodite tricking Zeus to profess his love for Hera is strong evidence that the Gods (mostly the olympians) keep good checks and balances between each other. In most examples, Zeus is all mighty, but nothing would get done without others protesting. For example, if this were a Biblical text, there would be one god; and say Yahweh was to pick a side in battle, that side would automatically win because Yahweh would have the only say. Zeus is not able to do this even though he is the leader because other gods would challenge him.
Passages on Pride Passages that illustrate the tremendous pride shown throughout The Iliad Achilles (Top) Briseis (Bottom)
Passage: “‘Now, i will tell you what seems best to me. No on will offer a better plan than this... the plan I still retain and I’ve been forming, well, for a good long while now, from the very day that you, my illustrious King, infuriated Achilles that you went and took from his tents the girl Briseis, ............ I for one, I urged you agains it, strenuously. ............ But even so, late as it is, let us contrive to set all this to rights, to bring him round with gifts of friendship and warm, winning words.’” (9.122-127, 129, 133-35) Context: This quote is an iteration of the wise man Nestor. Here Nestor is advising Agamemnon to swallow his pride (a pride that rivals Achilles’) and warmly bring back Achilles. Analysis: Nestor, the intelligent man that he is is trying to spin his words to make Agamemnon appease Achilles. He is putting it in very black and white terms and essentially telling Agamemnon that Briseis is the sole reason of Achilles’ absence. But Nestor understands that its Achilles’ ego not his longing for Briseis that is keeping him out of war. This passage perfectly ties back to the first book when Achilles is first enraged. Looking back it is easier to see that it was never about Briseis.
Passage: “‘You royal sons of Priam, monarch dear to gods, how long will you let Achaeans massacre your army? Until they’re battling round you well-built gates? A man is down we prized on a par with noble Hector Asneas, proud Anchises’ son. Up with you know, rescue him from the crash of battle! Save our comrade!’” (5.534-539) Context: Here Ares is rallying some Trojans. The Greeks have had their first “hoo-rah” of the war and the Trojans’ morale is low. Analysis: This passage is unique in two ways. The first was that Ares is not mentioned often in Greek literature. The Greeks did not like Ares is the way the the Romans liked Mars. Although this strange occurrence of Ares is probably due to the Greek slant of The Iliad. The Greeks disliked Ares and thought that associating him with the Trojans would make the Trojans a less-likable team. The second is that pride is illustrated in a positive manner. So often in The Iliad, pride is made out to be very Negative. Whether it is that of Agamemnon, Achilles, Hector, or others, their pride usually puts them in a bad place. Ares (Above)
Passage: “‘His daughter... I will marry no daughter of Agamemnon. Not if she rivaled Aphrodite in all her golden glory, not if she matched the crafts of clear-eyed Athena, not even then would I make her my wife! No, let her father pitch on some other Argive one who can please him, a greater king than I. If the gods pull me through and I reach home alive, Peleus needs no help to fetch a bride for me himself.’” (9.474-481) Context: Here Achilles is scuffing at Agamemnon’s offering of his own daughter. At this point, nothing could be done to get Achilles back in war. Analysis: Yet another passage relating to pride. Again the reader can see that Achilles is not in the war because of his own pride, not Briseis. It is really evident here. He would not take a woman that had the beauty of Aphrodite, nor a woman who possessed the war crafts of Athena. Remember, Achilles values beauty and success in war very much. Just as any person would, mortal or immortal. Achilles has put himself in to a position that he is to proud to get out of. The reader has no idea what he really wants, but his actual wants are irrelevant by now. No one wants to back out an argument, even after they have found out that they might be wrong.
Passages on Mortality Passages on mortality, the differences between mortality and immortality, and the human condition.
Apollo (Above)
Passage: “‘Don’t for a moment duel Achilles, Hector, out in front of your ranks! Withdraw to your main lines and wait him there, out of the crash of battle. Else he’ll spear you down or close for the kill and hack you with his sword.’” (20.428-432) Context: Here Apollo is advising the fuming Hector not to face the murderous Achilles. Apollo knows that Achilles has too much power and momentum to be stopped. Analysis: This passage illustrates that bridge between mortality and immortality. While the gods are in no way perfectly emotionally stable, they often can give level headed advice to mortals who are encountering human condition. The gods were different from mortals in more ways than just living forever. They did not share some basic human natures. Hector, usually a clear headed leader was ready to throw himself at violent Achilles. Apollo saw this happening and used his immortal advantage of clear thought and stopped Hector from what was more or less a suicide mission.
Hector Leaving Troy (Above)
Passage: “So the illustrious son of Priam begged for life but only heard a merciless voice in answer: ‘Fool, don’t talk to me of ransom. No more speeches. Before Patroclus met his day of destiny, true, it warmed my hear to spare some Trojans: ............ Even Patroclus died, a far, far better man than you. And look, you see how handsome and powerful I am? The son of a great man, the mother who gave me life a deathless goddess/ But even for me, I tell you, death and the strong force of fate are waiting.’” (21.110-114, 120-124) Context: Here Achilles is looking for any Trojan he can find so he could kill them. In this particular example, Achilles is stalking and killing a son of Priam, Lycaon. Analysis: So far in The Iliad, Achilles has proved himself to be a creature of extremes. One of the many things that makes him mortal. He may be godlike in power, but he has human nature like other. He was letting his comrades die because he was too proud to fight. Now he is killing everyone he sees because a friend of his was killed. Though his reasoning is a little more just now, he is still murdering mercilessly. When reading this passage the reader must pay extra attention to the two lines stating “Before Patroclus met his day of destiny, true, it warmed my hear to spare some Trojans”. This shows that Achilles was not always so vicious. He was actually quite the opposite, not necessarily a kind man, always intellectually spoken and progressive.
Achilles Fights the River (Above)
Passage: “‘My comrades fighting Danaans, aides of Ares - no plunder now! Don’t lag behind, don’t fling yourself at spoils just to haul the biggest portion back to your ship. Now’s the time for killing! Later, at leisure, strip the corpses up and down the plain.’” (6.78-83) Context: Here Nestor, (usually a peaceful wise man) is giving violent advice to the Greeks. The Greeks are spending too much time messing around with plunder. Analysis: One main human nature is greed. While Wall Street’s Gordon Gecko always said “Greed is Good”, it most certainly is not when one needs to be in war and they can only focus on taking plunder. The Greeks generally didn’t like war, they felt war was more of a last resort thing to do; unlike the Romans who used it in their favor with big-stick diplomacy. So before this whole Trojan war, Greek warriors who were not of the nobler sort (Agamemnon, Achilles, etc.) would just go on plunder missions. Now that war is on, the greed is hard to get rid of.
Passage: “And so he kept on raging, shaming noble Hector, but the gods in bliss looked down and pitied Priam’s son. They kept on urging the sharp-eyed giant killer Hermes to go and steal the the body, a plan that pleased them all, but not Hera, Poseidon, or the girl with blazing eyes. They clung to their deathless hate of sacred Troy.” (24.26-31) Context: Here the narrator is explaining how all the gods want Achilles to stop parading with the corpse of Hector. All the gods excluding Hera, Athena, and Poseidon. Analysis: This quote is very interesting to relate to Humanity. Going all the way back to Peleus and Thetis’ wedding when Eris dropped the golden apple and Paris chose Aphrodite over Athena and Hera. Athena and Hera still have “deathless hate” of Troy just because a mortal said that they weren’t the most beautiful. They are being jealous and petty, two traits more commonly associated with mortals. But also two traits that can be associated with gods in many instances.
Achilles dragging the body of Hector (Below)
Passages on War Passages that both represent the brutal and elegant sides of war.
Sculpture's depiction of The Trojan War (Below)
Passage: “Meriones caught him quickly, running him down hard and speared him low in the right buttock - the point pounding under the pelvis, jabbed and pierced the bladder he dropped to his knees, screaming, death swirling around him.” (5. 71-74) Context: In the fifth book of The Iliad, Diomedes goes on a bit of a killing spree along with others. One other is Meriones, this passage is a rather brutal description of Meriones killing Phereclus. Analysis: With neither thematic importance nor significance to the plot, it seemed odd to choose this quote. However the style of the writing made it suffice as a very important passage. While the gore of the writing is more or less a cheap entertaining, it is the lengthiness and randomness that makes it unique. In “Diomedes Fights the Gods” hundreds of people are killed brutally. For example, Meriones isn’t at all a significant character, neither is the man who he killed, Phereclus. And even despite the characters’ lack of notoriety, Homer dedicates a stanza to their violence. Whether it was for the sake of the war records, a writing block by Homer, or any other reason. Homer is definitely unique in his style. Diomedes (Above)
Passage: “And so Briseis returned, like golden Aphrodie, but when she saw Patroclus lying torn by the bronze she flung her self on his body, gave a piercing cry ............ ! ! ! ! ! ! ‘Patroclus dearest joy of my hear, my harrowed, broken hear! I left you alive that day I left these shelters, now i find you fallen, captain of armies! ............ No, again and again you vowed you’d make me godlike Achilles’ lawful wedded wife.’” Context: Here Agamemnon has given Briseis back to Achilles. Briseis is grieving over Patroclus’ death. Analysis: From the very first book, the reader is told that Achilles took Briseis as plunder and then Agamemnon took her away from Achilles. Throughout The Iliad Briseis is written to be more of an object, than an actual woman. It isn’t until this passage, in the 19th book that Briseis has really spoken. In fact there are very few mortal women at all in The Iliad, even fewer who have speaking roles. In Greek mythology, especially in Homer, mortal women have very few roles. These women are often not even included, and when they are it is because they have some how obtained power. And we all know that in Greek mythology women with power is not a good thing. Women with power are made out to be trouble causing and evil.
Passage: “Here young boys and girls, beauties courted with costly gifts if oxen, danced and danced, linking their arms, gripping each other’s wrists. And the girls wore robes of linen light and flowing, the girls were crowned with a bloom of fresh garlands, the boys swung golden daggers on silver belts.” (18.693-698) Context: Here the narrator is explaining the beautiful art that Hephaestus is covering Achilles’ shield with. Analysis: Thematically speaking, war is a very important part of The Iliad. And often times the reader only will see the brutal parts of war. However there are insights to the more elegant side of war. The strategy, and sometimes the craftsmanship that makes war available. Hephaestus, the god of fire and blacksmithing was truly an artist. He would not only craft the tools necessary for war, but he would also embellish them with beguiling designs. Homer obviously enjoyed writing his character because there are nearly 200 lines explaining the armor he made.
Recreation of Achilles’ shield (Above)
Passages on Religion Temple of Zeus (Below)
Passages that exemplify the importance and impact of religion in The Iliad.
Passage: “So Odysseus prayed and hoisting the spoils over his head, heaved them onto a tamarisk bush nearby and against it it heaped a good clear landmark, clumping together reeds and fresh tamarisk boughs they’d never miss as they ran through the rushing dark night.” (10. 536-540) Context: Diomedes has just picked Odysseus as a partner in war. Their target was the Trojan scout Dolon. Odysseus is praying to Athena for success in this mission. Analysis: In The Iliad, faith is not illustrated thematically like it is in most other books. On Olympus there was divinity, only power. Gods often betrayed each other, and chose sides of battles. The blazing-eyed Athena was no exception. Because she is so involved with war, her favoritism can be very dangerous. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca and star of The Odyssey is not written about often in Homer’s first epic. However readers are given the information that he is a cunning, strategic man. Because of this, he is one of Athena’s favorite mortals. She would grant nearly prayer he may ask. In this case, Odysseus wanted to take down the Trojan Dolon. With the help of violent intuition and prayer to Athena, Odysseus and Diomedes eliminated Diomedes. Odysseus (Above)
Passage: “And all ranks of Achaeans cried out their assent: ‘Respect the priest, accept the shining ransom!’ But brought no joy to the heart of Agamemnon. The king dismissed the priest with a brutal order ringing in his ears: ‘Never again, old man, let me catch sight of you by the hollow ships! ............ The girl - I won’t give up the girl. Long before that, old age will overtake her in my house, In Argos, far from her fatherland, slaving back and forth at the loom, forced to share my bed!’” (1.25-30, 33-36) Context: Here Analysis: Agamemnon is “being Agamemnon”, the horrible man that he is. He is bragging to his sex slave’s father about what he makes her do. It is interesting how in The Iliad mortals have such immense respect for gods, but seem to constantly dismiss priests. Knowing that the gods obviously didn’t exist, it seems odd that some Greeks didn’t have good relationships with priests. Because in a society with so much religious following, one would think that people would be very close with priests. The reader has to remember that most people aren’t has awful as Agamemnon is, although it does seem as if priests were generally treated poorly in ancient Greece.
Passage: “‘To arms - Patroclus, prince and master horseman! I can see the blaze go roaring up the ships. They must not destroy them. No escape-route then. Quick, strap on my gear - I’ll rouse the troops.’” (16.155-159) Context: Here Achilles is telling Patroclus to go and put on Achilles’ armor. Achilles is doing this even though he doesn’t want Patroclus to go to battle. Analysis: Reading an epic as long as The Iliad, the reader can often forget things about certain events an characters from earlier on. After Achilles enters the war and starts to brutally kill all in sight, it is hard to remember what kind of person he was in the first place. Here he is a kind, and passionate man who understands how much his friend wants to go to war, but will only let him do so if he wears Achilles’ own armor. Achilles begs his friend not to go but then must deal with the fact that Patroclus simply must go. Achilles was not always a blood-thirsty murderer, and it is imperative that the reader understands this.
Bust of Patroclus (Above)
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