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

The Iliad – Chapter 1

In this chapter, we are introduced to a major theme in the very first stanza:

“Rage–Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,

murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,

hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,

great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,

feasts for the dogs and birds,

and the will of Zeus was moving towards its end.

Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,

Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles.” (Illiad 77)

So all of these disastrous events seem to have been sparked by Achilles becoming not just mad but enraged by Agamemnon. What set this off? An argument over a girl. Namely a girl gotten in war who was the daughter of a priest of Apollo.

But before we get too into looking into what happened, one theme we also need to take a look at is also in this first stanza: “the will of Zeus”. Were the events that happened the will of Zeus? Does even Zeus have limits on how much he can shape events? In these events, how much of a free agent are Achilles, Agamemnon, and the rest?

But going back to Achilles’ rage, it all started when Agamemnon refused to return Chryseis to her father, a priest of Apollo, even though offered a large ransom. This was a bad idea. The father prayed to Apollo, and the sun god sent pestilence into the camp. After several days of this, Hera inspires Achilles to ask a seer the cause. The cure is to return Chryseis to her father along with a sacrifice for Apollo, expecting no reward in return. Agamemnon is furious at this and says if he is going to be forced to loose his girl, he wants Achilles girl Briseis. This in turn enrages Achilles who says he will then refuse to fight anymore until the Trojans are at his ships. As his ships are the furthest from Troy, this puts Agamemnon in a dangerous situation. Still, he caries with his threat. Achilles in turn prays to his mother the goddess Peleus asks Zeus to favor the Trojans until Agamemnon recognizes Achilles’ worth. This sets Zeus at odds with Hera who favors the Greeks.

The first thing to notice is how dangerous this rage is. There are a good twenty references to rage, anger, etc. in this chapter alone, at least eight of which belong to Achilles. On one level, Hera’s anger with Zeus mirrors Achilles’ anger with Agamemnon. How human the emotions of the gods seem here. On the other, Achilles’ anger is the most danger because it is unremitting. He basically swears an oath not to fight the Trojans any more until Agamemnon admits his fault. It is only Athena who stops Achilles then and there from killing Agamemnon.

Still, Achilles is not the only one at fault. Agamemnon has plenty of anger himself, and his answers to Achilles are “in haste”. (Iliad 87) As Achilles says later of Agamemnon, “The man is raving-with all the murderous fury in his heart./He lacks the sense to see a day behind, a day ahead, and safeguard the Achaeans battling by the ships.” (Iliad 89) Achilles is of course right – Agamemnon is not considering carefully the consequences of his actions. Hector is still out there. The irony is that the same is true for Achilles. Neither of them is thinking clearly.

And what will be the result of all of this? As Zeus says, “Disaster.” (Iliad 95) Many Greeks will die before Achilles relents and Zeus and Hera will be at odds until this is resolved as well.

But what is really going on here? Why all this fury? Agamemnon’s pride is wounded when he is forced to give up Chryseis, and he wounds Achilles’ pride by taking Briseis. Agamemnon is a king and the leader of the Greek forces, but Achilles is the greatest warrior. One gets the feeling that these two have been nipping at each other during this long war (when not fighting Trojans of course), and that this incident is the last straw for both of them. In any case, clearly neither has read President Ezra Taft Benson’s talk on pride.

These themes of pride and of anger are old ones. Lucifer wanted God’s honor and glory (pride – Moses 4:1), and when his plan was rejected he became angry and rebelled. (Abraham 3:27-28)

In The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien in the ninth chapter, Feanor’s masterwork and prized possessions, the Silmarills, are stolen by the dark lord Morgoth. He and his sons swear a terrible oath to pursue with vengeance any who withhold the Silmarills from them. This brings disaster on the elves who follow Feanor and return to Middle-earth, and it is the primary way which Morgoth uses to keep his enemies divided.

In the Star Wars prequels, Anakin Skywalker is filled with pride. He knows he is the strongest of the Jedi and feels this is not recognized. This leads to anger against those he feels have wronged him, and disaster follows.

In Babylon 5, at the beginning G’Kar is filled with anger towards the Centauri for the way they enslaved his world. The only reason this does not lead to disaster is because G’Kar is a deeply spiritual person. This eventually leads him to find forgiveness for his enemies.

In all these cases, those with such unrelenting anger are wrathful with cause. They all have been wronged to a greater or lesser extent. However, in each case it is their pride that has been most greatly wronged. Their anger leads to disaster, not just for those around them but for themselves as well. Yes, even Achilles will be harmed by his own anger. The only one to escape this fate is G’Kar, who manages to find forgiveness.

What can we learn from this first chapter for today? There are lots of angry people in the world these days. They have reasons, at least from their own point of view, for their anger. Anger can be an appropriate response in some cases. However, anger when it becomes unrelenting is dangerous because it can all to easy blind the person who is angry and lead to disaster. We should learn from Achilles and prevent this from happening to us.

*****

This week’s descriptive adjectives.

Achilles: Peleus’ son – 1; brilliant – 1; headstrong runner – 1; matchless runner – 1; proud runner – 1; swift runner – 4; god-like – 1; blazing – 1

Agamemnon: lord of men – 3; fighting son of Atreus – 1; son of Atreus – 4

Apollo: god of the silver bow – 2; distant archer – 1; deadly archer – 1; distant deadly archer – 2; the archer – 4

Leto: sleek haired – 1

Hera: white armed – 5; goddess of the golden throne – 1

Hector: man-killing – 1

Odysseus: versatile – 1; tactful – 1

Zeus: Cronus’ son – 6; father of men and gods – 1; Olympian lord of lightning – 1

Hephaestus: master craftsman – 1; the god of fire – 1; famous crippled smith – 1

The Iliad Preview

We are going to begin our study of the classics with The Iliad by Homer. This is the edition I am using if you wish to use the same one.

In preparing for going through The Iliad, I came across this quote by Alexander Pope: “Homer makes us Hearers, and Virgil leaves us Readers.” I want us to be thinking of this quote as we go through The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid.

But this brings us to the first point. Was The Iliad first orally spoken or was it written down? It turns out there is evidence for both. There are certain set phrases, including the characteristics of the various heroes and gods, that can be interchanged depending on the needs of the rhythmic pattern. However, according to scholars, there also appear contradictions in The Iliad that are the type of contradictions that would have been discovered if it had been written down. The best guess is that it is a written poem by a poet using the tools of oral tradition.

Next, there is the authorship. The Iliad is attributed to an ancient Greek poet named Homer who tradition tells us was blind. The fact of the matter is that we know nothing about Homer, even if there was a person named Homer. This is because the poem was created in the late 8th or early 7th century B.C., and there is very little we know from that period in Greece history. What we can tell from The Iliad itself is thTat it uses different dialects and specialized vocabulary which complicates the dating and authorship of the work.

What about The Iliad as a poem? It has twenty-four chapters that were written in hexameter, which means it has six metrical units per line.

As for the manuscript history of The Iliad, the printed versions go back to printers in Italy. The manuscripts these printings were based on were brought to Italy from Byzantium shortly before it fell in 1453. Byzantium had kept the knowledge of the Roman Empire since that empire fell in the west around 500 A.D. And the Romans in turn had learning from the Greeks. During this process, the manuscript would have been copied any number of times.

Finally, what is the poem about? Iliad literally means “a poem about Ilium” or Troy. The Trojan War lasted for a decade, but The Iliad itself narrates only a few weeks towards the end of that war. If it is a poem about Troy, then it tells what lead to Troy’s fall, though not the fall itself.

As we read The Iliad there is one final point we must remember. Whatever modern day scholars may say about the historicity of this work, to the ancient Greeks this was real history to them.

Next time will be chapter 1. Enjoy!

 My rendering of Greece and Troy to give us some sense of the scene.