The Illiad – Chapter 2

This chapter, “The Great Gathering of Armies”, starts with Zeus considering how to keep his pact with Thetis. He decides to send a murderous dream to Agamemnon that will cause the Greek king to act in such a way as to bring disaster to his people, though Zeus intends the Trojans to have a bad time of it as well. This reminds me a bit of the lying spirit that went into all the prophets except Michaiah in order to bring disaster on the evil King Ahab in 1 Kings 22:23 and 2 Chr. 18: 21-22. But unlike in The Bible, Agamemnon has not done anything that we know of to offend Zeus, and it sounds like in the end Zeus does want the Greeks to win (if only to preserve marital harmony with Hera). In a way, from Zeus’ perspective, this has nothing to do with the war itself and everything to do with Agamemnon and Achilles. It is also interesting that the form in the dream is that of Nestor, who is the human whose counsels Agamemnon is most likely to trust. And since Agamemnon reports the dream, the real Nestor supports everything in it.

But if Zeus has his plans, so does Agamemnon. The dream is reported truthfully to the leaders, but to the rank and file is given another story that they are going home to test them. It is Hera who sees this and sends Athena to Odysseus to stop their going home. Here, he talks about the nature of kings: “The rage of kings is strong, they’re nursed by the gods,/their honor comes from Zeus–/they’re dear to Zeus, the god who rules the world.” (Iliad 105) So in The Iliad, kings really do have divine right. And given Zeus’ temperament, it would be wise to tread carefully.

A guy named Thersites, who doesn’t seem to be held in much esteem by anyone, argues with and taunts Odysseus, but comes off the worse. Odysseus then references a prophecy made before they left Greece. They were sacrificing to ensure victory, when a snake slid out from under the alter and up a tree to where a sparrow had her nest. The snake ate all nine babies and then the mother as well before being turned to stone. The interpretation – the war will drag through nine years, and the tenth victory will finally come.

Nestor, the old counselor, fully supports all Odysseus says, and adds to it that they should fight by clans so Agamemnon will be able to judge his men:

“Fight this way, if the Argives still obey you,

then you can see which captain is a coward,

which contingent too, and which is loyal, brave,

since they will fight in separate formations of their own.

Then, what’s more, if you fail to sack the city,

you will know if the will of the god’s to blame

or the cowardice of your men–inept in battle.” (Iliad 111)

This counsel seems good to Agamemnon, so he agrees to have the troops prepare for battle. However, it will be a battle without Achilles, as Agamemnon well knows. And Agamemnon laments the loss of Achilles, sees their quarrel as foolish, and even admits he started it:

“Imagine–I and Achilles, wrangling over a girl,

battling man-to-man. And I, I was the first

to let my anger flare. Ah if the two of us

could ever think as one, Troy could delay

her day of death no longer, not one moment.” (Iliad 112)

But still Agamemnon will not subordinate himself to anyone, and neither will Achilles. The rage continues. This time we have three references to rage in the chapter.

As for Achilles, “…[he] lay there now/but he would soon rise up in all his power.” (Iliad 121)

Interesting, Agamemnon says that anyone who tries to hand back from battle will not escape the dogs and birds. (Iliad 112) This is an interesting contrast to Northern epic poetry, which when it describes battle talks about wolves, ravens, and eagles.

So Agamemnon prays and sacrifices to Zeus again for victory:

“…but the son of Cronus would not bring his prayer to pass,

not yet…the Father accepted the sacrifices, true,

but doubled the weight of thankless, ruthless war.” (Iliad, 113)

And so the Greek armies prepare to attack Troy.

We are then treated to a list of companies, their commanders, and where they are from. It sounds almost Biblical, reminding me of the lists of tribes & families in the book of Numbers.

The Greeks

Leaders                                                                           Home                                     Number of Ships

Leitus & Peneleos                                                         Boeotian                                50

Ascalaphus & Ialmenus                                              Aspledon                               30

Schedius & Epistrophus                                              Phocis                                   40

Little Ajax                                                                       Locrians                               40

Elephenor                                                                        Euboea                                 40

Menestheus                                                                     Athens                                  50

Great Ajax                                                                        Salamis                                 12

Diomedes                                                                         Argos & Tirynes                  80

*Agamemnon                                                                    Corinth                                 100

Menelaus                                                                          Lacedaemon                        60

Nestor                                                                                Pylos & Arene                      90

Agapenor                                                                           Arcadia                                 60

Thalpius & Amphimachus &Diores & Polyxinus      Buprasion                             10

Meges                                                                                 Dulichion                             40

Odysseus                                                                            Ithaca                                   12

Thoas                                                                                  Aetolia                                  40

Idomeneus                                                                         Crete                                     80

Heracles                                                                              Rodes                                   9

Nireus                                                                                  Syme                                    3

Antiphus & Phidippus                                                      Calydnae                             30

Achilles                                                                                Argos                                    50

Podarces                                                                              Phylace                                40

Eumelus                                                                               Pherae                                 11

Medon                                                                                  Methone & Thaumacia     7

Podalirius & Machaon                                                      Tricca                                   40

Eurypylus                                                                            Ormenion                            40

Polypoetes                                                                           Oloosson                             40

Guneus                                                                                 Cyphus                                 22

Prothous                                                                               Peneus                                 40

The Trojans

Leaders                                                                                 Home

*Hector                                                                                 Troy

Aeneas                                                                                   Dardanians

Pandarus                                                                               Zelea

Adrestus                                                                                Apaesus & Adrestia

Asius                                                                                      Percote & Practios

Hippothous * Pylaeus                                                        Pelasgian

Acamas & Pirous                                                                 Thracians

Euphemus                                                                             Cicones

Pyraechmes                                                                           Paeonians

Pylaemenes                                                                            Enetian

Odius & Epistrophus                                                            Alybe

Chromis                                                                                   Mysian

Ascanius & Phorcys                                                               Ascania

Mesthles & Antiphus                                                             Maeonia

Nastes & Amphimachus                                                        Carians

Sarpedon & Glaucus                                                               Lycia

So now we have the lists of the various units and their leaders. Next time, we go inside Troy where Helen reviews the troops.

On a poetic note, it is rather amazing how much imagery Homer uses in describing the Greek army in this chapter: like waves at sea (Iliad 104, 112), as ravening fire (Iliad 114), as huge flocks of winging birds (Iliad 114), as the swarms of flies over the shepherds’ stalls (Iliad 115), grouping as seasoned goatherds/split their wide ranging flocks (Iliad 115).

There isn’t so much here to compare to this week, but there is one point of interest I found for consideration. Homer takes it as a given that the Greed gods are real. But they don’t seem much different from us as far as personality goes. The spat between Zeus and Hera in the first chapter is a good example. In Babylon 5, the Centauri worship “the hundred little gods”, who are for the most past Centarui emperors. The mad Emperor Cartagia even makes a deal with the Shadows, thinking he will become a god in fact. In any case, the Centauri gods too seem much like us personality wise. So I suppose the take-away this week is to be careful who you trust.

*****

This chapter’s descriptive adjectives.

Agamemnon: Atrides – 10, famous field-marshal – 1; lord of men – 3; son of Atreus – 3; marshal of armies -1

Nestor : Neleus’ son -1; noble horseman – 2

Zeus: father -6; king of gods & mortals – 1; the Olympian -1; Cronus’ son – 8; god who rules the world -1

Hermes: giant-killing guide -1

Athena: child of Zeus – 2; tireless -1; bright eyed goddess – 1; grey-eyed goddess – 2

Odysseus: royal son of Laertes – 1; father of Telemachus – 1; great tactician – 1; raider of cities -1

Ares: god of war – 4; god of battles – 1

Poseidon: sea lord – 1

Muses of Olympus: daughters of Zeus – 2

Achilles: brilliant runner – 1; peerless son of Peleus – 1; racing – 2; battle-hard – 1

Apollo: lord of the silver bow -1

Iris: wind quick messenger – 1

Hector – Priam’s son – 1

Aphrodite – radiant – 1

Why the Humanities?

To tide you over until chapter 2 of The Iliad is ready, here are my thoughts on why the humanities are important.

First, the humanities are fun and make life richer. Granted, this can take a wide variety of forms. But life would be so grey and dull without music, art literature, theater, dance, movies and TV, etc.

Second, science is very good about telling us about what is possible. And that is wonderful! It is thanks to that kind of thinking that landed a man on the moon over four decades ago. But science can tell us nothing about whether we should do something. This is the great strength of the humanities. In these various formats, we can explore the consequences of various actions in a simulation so to speak.

Third, science, even social science, doesn’t tell us very much about people as individual personalities. This again is where the humanities can help us. Through literature we can vicariously live lives that are not our own. Through music we can have universal feelings evoked. The humanities can expose us to experiences and ideas we will never have in the natural course of events. This will hopefully make us more empathetic with our fellow man.

So, these are some pretty good arguments for modern humanities, but what about the classics, that tend to make the core of humanities? Again, this exposes us to cultures, experiences, and ideas that are not our own, hopefully broadening out worldview. It also shows us that for all the time that has passed since the creation of some of these masterpieces, in some fundamental ways humanity hasn’t changed very much. Achilles’ rage is a good example. Do you know anyone with that much rage and pride in your life? Maybe they would benefit from reading The Iliad.

I would love to hear from you. Why do you think we need the humanities? Why do you think the classics are still important and relevant?