B. A. (Hons.

) English – Semester I Core Course

Paper II : European Classical Literature Study Material

Unit-1
Homer: The Iliad

Edited by
Dr. Seema Suri

Department of English

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

University of Delhi
Paper-II: European Classical Literature
Unit-1
Homer: The Iliad

Edited by
Dr. Seema Suri
School of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Delhi-110007

 
SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
 Paper-II: European Classical Literature
Unit-1
Homer: The Iliad

Contents

S. No. Title Pg. No.

1 Introduction 01

2 Detailed Summary 06

3 The Characters 18

4 The Homeric Gods 25

5 The Epic Similes 29

Prepared by
Ms. Krishna Dasgupta
 
 
 
 

 
SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
 Unit-1
1. The Iliad by Homer: An Introduction

The Homeric question basically raises the point whether the Iliad is the work of a single poet,
or a composite one of different poems by different poets, grouped together into one. We need
not enter into all the learned academic controversy of the authenticity of one viewpoint or the
other. The oral poetic tradition was incorporated by Homer into an artistic whole. The
Phoenician alphabet came to Greece around the 8th century BCE. It may be safely assumed
that the poet of the oral tradition got his composition written down, maybe through dictation.
This explains the co-existence of the traditional formulaic style (with its minor
inconsistencies and slips) with the profound overall unity of the poem.
The content of the poem is also traditional. The story and associated patterns and motifs
were known to the poet and the audience. The beginning of the poem from the conflict
between Agamemnon and Achilles implies that the foregoing legend was known to the
audience. So not much is required by way of exposition. It is evident, from reading The Iliad
that the audience of Homer was familiar with the story of the Trojan war and its origin, and
the characters, associated with it. The mythological tradition was common and the contents of
the poem deal with the shared knowledge of the poet and his listeners and readers. “The Iliad,
though composed in the late 8th century BCE, takes place in a remembered, long past, heroic
age. This heroic age corresponds in general with what we might loosely call the Late Bronze
Age, the era of the final stages of the Minoan civilization of Crete and of the Mycenaean
Civilization or the Greek Civilization.
Homer opens the Iliad with an invocation to “The Goddess” – the Muse who personifies
the inspiration for epic poetry. The Muses were the nine beautiful daughters of Zeus and
Mnemosyne (Memory). They were divinities according to Greek mythology, inspiring
Poetry, Science, and the Arts. Each Muse presides over one particular field. Calliope is the
Muse of epic poetry. The Muses provided inspiration to the Greek bards and are also the
source of knowledge for them. For Homer, his own personality or opinion is of no
significance. The poet in his garland and singing robes, as Milton says, performs a ritual. The
invocation lifts the poem above every day matters, giving it a ritual quality.
The Iliad has been called from the beginning to end a poem of death yet one could
also argue that from beginning to end the Iliad is a poem of life. In the world of
the poem war is the medium of human existence and achievement. Bravery and
excellence in battle win honor and glory, and thus endow life with meaning. The
Iliad is both a poem of death and a poem of life. In other words, it is a poem of
mortality; Achilles is the central figure of the poem.
(The Mortal Hero; Seth L Schein)
An epic, according to Aristotle, is a poem about men in action. According to Ezra Pound,
an epic is a “poem containing history” – history of civilization and culture. The epic must

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have a theme of high seriousness, treated with equal conviction, of a multitude of men. The
choric element in the epic brings out the feelings of a large group of people living at a
particular time.
Though the choric element is necessary to epic, it does not exclude from the epic
the presentation of timeless feelings. It is when the tragic intensity co-exists with
group consciousness of an age, ... that epic attains its full growth.
The English Epic by E.M.W. Tillyard, O.U.P.
1996
According to Prof. Maurice Bowra,
. . . the epic is a narrative of some length, which “deals with events which have a
certain grandeur and importance and come from a life of action, especially of
violent action such as war. It gives a special pleasure because its events and
persons enhance our belief in the worth of human achievement and in the dignity
and nobility of man”.
C. M. Bowra. Heroic Poetry
From this definition it follows that;
- an epic is a long narrative poem,
- it deals with grand and serious subjects,
- the events originate from heroic action,
- the actions centre on a heroic figure,
- the epic enhances our belief in the possibilities of man, and
- it has a wide range of its theme from heavens to the lower world and over an
enormous mass of traditional knowledge.
Greek literature begins effectively with Homer and Hesiod. The epics of Homer were
composed in the 8th century BCE. The events taking place in his epics, The Iliad and The
Odyssey happened in the 13th century BCE. The unique event of the Anger of Achilles
comprises the theme of the Iliad. The context is war – between the Greeks, whom Homer
calls the Achaeans, Danaanes, or Argives, and the Trojans. The reason is the abduction of
Helen, the most beautiful woman on earth, wife of Menelaus, the King of Lacedaemon, by
Paris, son of King Priam of Troy. The war lasted for ten years, ending with the fall of Troy.
Iliad means a poem about Ilium, i.e. Troy. The poem deals with a few weeks in the ninth
year of the ten years’ war. The Iliad ends with the funeral of Hector, the Trojan hero, and
before the end of the war, with the destruction of Troy. The Trojan war was for real, and
around this kernel of reality were woven myths, legends and folktales, which formed lays of
bards, handed down orally from generation to generation. Hundreds of years later, Homer
organised these tales into two epics The Iliad and The Odyssey. Around this time, the art of
writing returned to the Greeks and maybe Homer himself, wrote down or dictated his poems.
2
It is also possible that some others might actually have written down the epics composed by
him.
The story of The Iliad begins with the wrath of Achilles, his quarrel with Agamemnon,
and withdrawal from the battle. The battle goes on without Achilles and the Greeks suffer
heavy losses. The Olympian gods take sides in the battle but Achilles re-joins the battle only
after the death of Patroclus, his dear friend. He finally kills Hector, who had killed Patroclus
but his spirit of revenge is not assuaged. He drags Hector’s dead body around, aiming to feed
dogs upon it. The gods are displeased with this treatment of the dead. Zeus sends word to
desist and Hector’s father Priam comes as a suppliant to Achilles, requesting him for Hector’s
body to be given a proper burial. In the end Achilles regains his humanity and repents. He
pities Priam and surrenders the body of Hector for burial.
This is the bare outline of the epic, details of which we are going to study.
The background of the Iliad is the battle between the Greeks and the Trojans, over the
abduction of Helen, the wife of Menelaus, King of Lacedaemon (Sparta). Myth tells us that at
the wedding of Thetis and Peleus; Eris, the goddess of Discord, was not invited and turned
away when she appeared. Feeling angry and humiliated, she threw a golden apple, with the
inscription “to the fairest,” among the guests. Three goddesses – Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite
fought over it. Ultimately, they went to Paris, son of Priam, the king of Troy, to settle the
dispute. He was working as a shepherd at Mt. Ida. The goddesses promised him different
things but he was tempted by Aphrodite’s offer of the fairest woman as his prize. He gave the
apple to Aphrodite. He went to Sparta and with the help of Aphrodite, carried off Helen to
Troy. The Greeks invaded Troy to regain Helen. The battle lasted for ten years and ended
with the defeat of Troy. Many legends and myths are woven around this original story. The
Iliad only narrates a few episodes in this long saga of the war of Troy.
The Trojan War did actually take place. The real cause though, might not have been the
abduction of Helen. Conflicting trading interests had, perhaps, caused the war. This prosaic
reason was abandoned in favour of the romantic one of conflict over Helen’s abduction.
It seems that the city of Troy actually existed. Excavations show that modern Hissarlik in
north western Asia Minor is the site of ancient Troy. Nine layers have been excavated at the
site, each representing a different city. Of these, the seventh layer from the bottom was the
Homeric Troy. The remains of its ruin show the destruction of the city by fire.
There was another city with evidence of a rich civilization excavated at Mycenae that
flourished between 1600-2000 BCE. This was the home of Agamemnon. The Mycenaean
civilization was a splendid and enterprising one but it was destroyed by far less civilized
Dorian Greeks from the north. The art of writing, inscribed on clay tablets in script called
Linear B, lately deciphered, disappeared along with other forms of civilized existence. For a
long time (1200-750 BCE) the Greek world passed through a dark age.
Athens held off the Dorians and gave shelter to fellow Mycenaeans. But due to
overcrowding, many Greeks left Athens, to settle on the islands on the Aegean Sea. These
3
settlements came to be called lonia and the people settled there, were lonians. They preserved
the ancient songs and stories. For generations, bards added their own interpretation and
details to these legends. There was an established outline for each legend. A stock of phrases
was used in these songs and poems; “wine-dark sea”, “brazen sky”, and “windy Troy.” Myths
regarding gods were also incorporated. This tradition was brought to a climax in the latter
part of the 8th cent. BCE by Homer in his two epics, The Iliad and the Odyssey. Homer’s
epics mark the beginning of European literature. The traditional myths and songs were the
main source of Homer, but he added much that was his own;

He enlivened the primitive tales with a generous and tender vision of life ... All
of Homer’s characters, even those to whom he pays little attention – swine herds,
ordinary soldiers, serving women; worthless suitors, are real and convincing
people. Each episode abounds in the endless variety of human conduct. Homer
himself never obtrudes, hardly ever passes judgment. He gave a whole new
vision of the world, of the gods at their appointed tasks, of men and women
pursuing their destinies, of every mood from grim vengeance to uproarious farce,
of palaces and gardens, remote islands and rocky shores. Homer’s poetry was
probably set down in writing within his own lifetime.
(From Classical Greece by C.M. Bowra)
The Iliad is concerned with heroes; ordinary soldiers are not given much attention. In
battle what matters is glory not victory or defeat. Defeat heroically endured is glorious,
perhaps a little less than victory. The epic is high tragedy. Achilles the central figure, a great
fighter, is brought down by his anger. In The Iliad, the paradoxical values of war and peace
are both upheld. Peace is desirable and destruction of cities is nightmarish. In one of the cities
represented by Hephaestus, on the shield for Achilles, a bridal procession is shown, with
women standing at the door and admiring it. Other pictures of ploughing, harvesting, and
vintage are implanted on the shield. Homer obviously delighted in such peaceful activities. At
the same time, his agony at the unavoidable misery caused by war is evident. Hector prays
that he may be in his grave before Andromache is dragged off to slavery by some victorious
Argive. But honour has the prime value. The brave warrior has to prove himself and so war is
inevitable – the enemy cannot be shown mercy, cities have to be sacked and miseries heaped
upon the conquered.
War and peace are the two sides of life and this double theme is spelt out as the story
unfolds. Achilles made his choice between honour and a long peaceful life. His mother Thetis
had foretold him of the significance of the choice. If he chose to fight at the Trojan war, he
would earn the highest honour but at the expense of his life. If he chose to stay away at home,
then he would enjoy a long life, domestic bliss and prosperity. He chose to have a life of
honour and glory. His anger makes him inhuman and he gets back his humanity partially but
not fully, when he comes to fight again for the Greeks to take revenge for the death of
Patroclus.

4
 He kills Hector and insults his body, an offence displeasing to the gods. Zeus sends him
a message to accept Priam’s ransom and hand over his son’s body to him. So, when Priam
goes to Achilles to request for his son’s body. Achilles feels pity for him, bereaved father;
also for his own father Peleus, left by himself in his old age, and he repents. This episode
shows “that reverence, for the agreed decencies of life, which was central to Homer’s
morality and, for a moment at least, unites the two opposed values of honour and domestic
order.” (E.M.W. Tillyard, The English Epic. O.U.P 1966)
The sense of the pity of war dominates the epic. Homer’s sympathy is with the suffering
people of both sides; this humanity comes out in such passages as the wavering feelings of
Hector’s fear and courage, the scene between Hector and his family, in the statement of
Zeus– “There is nothing alive more agonized than man.” (Iliad Book 17 line 515) So, in The
Iliad honour is the greatest good. In search of honour, heroes lay down their lives and earn
glory; many a time, the reluctant fighter is lashed back into action, being reminded of shame
as the worst evil. To get the epithet of a coward is the biggest shame for a soldier. And that is
the story of Iliad; noble, heroic, truthful, displaying epic qualities of unity of action, and the
ornamental simile.

5
 2. The Iliad: A Detailed Summary

Book One
Homer begins the Iliad with an invocation to the Muse, personifying the inspiration for epic
poetry. The poet wants to sing about the wrath of Achilles. The wrath that pervades and gives
unity to the whole epic.
The epic narrative begins in the tenth year of the Trojan war. Achilles and Agamemnon
bitterly quarrel as Apollo sends a plague to strike down the Greek forces. Chryses, the priest
of Apollo had come to Agamemnon to seek the release of his daughter Chryseis, taken
captive earlier. Agamemnon’s refusal had brought Apollo’s anger and consequent plague
upon the Greeks. A Greek assembly is called but Agamemnon does not willingly part with
the girl he has got as his share of the booty. In retaliation, he insists on capturing the lovely
Briseis, the prize of Achilles. This results in the withdrawal of Achilles from the war on
behalf of the Greeks. He appeals to his mother, the sea goddess Thetis, to intercede for him
with Zeus. Thetis the loving mother of Achilles agrees. Meanwhile Chryseis is sent back to
her father, with offerings to Apollo to propitiate his anger. The God is appeased. Thetis soars
up to Mount Olympus and grasping the knees of Zeus, appeals to him to grant Achilles the
honour he deserves. She appeals to Zeus to grant the Trojans victory after victory till the
Greeks pay Achilles back what they have deprived him of. Zeus agrees to her request, but
Hera his wife contends with him, as she dislikes the help Zeus has promised the Trojans.
Hephaestus, the son of Hera and God of fire succeeds in reconciling the two and brings back
harmony to the assembly of gods, serving them the feast which all partake of.
Book Two
Zeus decides to deceive Agamemnon through a dream. He should attack Troy, he is told, as
the Trojans will soon be crushed. The king reports the dream to the Greek elders. Then
Agamemnon addresses the assembled troops and to test their moral he reminds the men of
their wives and children, of the long wait outside Troy. His words move the men to prepare to
hasten home. But once again divine intervention upsets their desire. Hera and Athena, patrons
of the Greek cause, stop them in their tracks. Athena reaches Odysseus, asking him to
persuade the Greeks to stay back till Helen is restored to them. Odysseus and Nestor inspire
the soldiers to gain back their fighting spirit and Agamemnon calls them to battle.
And then follows the description of the men and ships of both the Trojans and the
Greeks.
Book Three
Helen comes out and stands on the ramparts of Troy. King Priam talks kindly to her, asking
her to identify the Greeks, standing below the gates of Troy. Paris appears on the field,
dressed magnificently in full armour and challenging his enemies. But all his bravado melts
as soon as he watches Menelaus menacingly appear on the scene. Hector shames Paris,
charging him with cowardice. Finally, he agrees to fight Menelaus. The Trojans and Greeks
6
agree that whosoever wins, whether Paris or Menelaus, will get Helen with all her treasure.
The war will end and the Greeks return home. Priam is called to seal the oath taking
ceremony. Paris and Menelaus fight but Paris is no match for his opponent. Aphrodite, the
goddess of love rescues him, enfolding him in mist and taking him from the battlefield to his
bed chamber. Helen is taken there by the goddess. Since Paris cannot be traced, Agamemnon
declares Menelaus to be the victor and claims Helen.
Book Four
On Mount Olympus, the gods plan to break the truce, and Athena is sent down to break the
peace. Athena incites the Trojan Pandarus to aim an arrow at Menelaus. Protected by Athena,
Menelaus is not seriously injured but the battle between the Greeks and the Trojans starts
again. Agamemnon is frightened to see Menelaus wounded and the healer Machaon is
urgently summoned. The Greek soldiers are stirred to battle. The chiefs are summoned and
praised. The Cretan captain Idomeneus, great and little Ajax, and Nestor, the old soldier, all
gather. Agamemnon speaks out scornfully against Odysseus, watching his troops not yet
ready for battle. That makes him flare up and at once Agamemnon withdraws his charge.
Like that he speaks to all the chiefs of the Greek army, goading all to put in their best and the
Trojans match them in strife. Apollo and Athena incite Trojans and Greeks respectively. And
the two warring sides fight on.
Book Five
The gods help the mortals, and some of them get wounded. The scene in book five shifts back
and forth from the battle field to Olympus. Diomedes, the Greek hero, is aided by Athena and
kills Pandarus. Aeneas, son of Aphrodite, is wounded by Diomedes but is saved by
Aphrodite. The gods intervene and thus many a life is saved on either side.
Diomedes injures Aphrodite, who escapes from the battle field, leaving Aeneas, who is
picked up by Apollo and saved. Aphrodite escapes to Olympus and is consoled by her mother
Dione and is advised by Zeus, to concern herself only with love.
And then Ares the God of war is called by Apollo to set right Diomedes, causing havoc
on the battlefield. Ares infuriates the Trojans. Aeneas launches into the fray once again and
Hector’s prowess makes Diomedes shudder. The battle rages on, while the Greeks fall back.
Both Hera and Athena come to the rescue of the Greeks with the permission of Zeus. He
does not want to upset the balance by destroying the whole Greek army which, it seems, Ares
is bent upon doing. So, Diomedes injures Ares with the help of Athena.
But Zeus has no consolation for Ares who comes to him with complaints. He orders the
healing god to cure him, and he sits along with Hera and Athena in the halls of Olympus.
Book Six
The battle continues, though the gods are no longer on the scene. Helenus, a son of Priam,
comes calling to Hector and Aeneas. He is endowed with the gift of augury and he requests

7
Aeneas to hold back the retreating Trojans, while the Greek troops are getting the better of
them.
Hector is requested to go back to the city. He has to tell the women there to offer the gift
of a fine robe and sacrifice twelve heifers in Athena’s shrine, so that she takes pity on Troy.
Hector accordingly speaks to the Trojans to instil courage in them.
Diomedes meets Glaucus, the Trojan he is about to fight. Diomedes wants to know who
he is, as he has never seen him before. Bellerophon, Glaucus says, was his ancestor. So,
Diomedes and Glaucus trace back the friendship of their families. They promise to revive this
old family friendship and never to hurt each other, though they belong to opposite camps.
They exchange their armour and thus seal the bond of friendship. Hector comes to Troy, and
to the anxious queries regarding their dear men from the Trojan women, Hector can only tell
them to pray to the gods.
Hector tells Hecuba, his mother to offer gift and Sacrifices to Athena, so that she may
take pity on Troy and hold back Diomedes. The Trojan women offer the gifts and prayer to
Athena, but she refuses their prayer.
Hector visits the bedroom of Paris and Helen. He taunts Paris for sitting in the safe
haven, while his country men are shedding blood for a war, brought upon them by Paris
himself. Paris assures Hector that he will soon return to the battlefield; he had only come to
his room to plunge himself in grief. Helen requests Hector to take rest for a while. She speaks
of herself as the one to have brought misfortune on all and she speaks of Paris as one who has
no self respect. But Hector has no time to stay. He speaks kindly to Helen, to make Paris go
to the battlefield. For himself, his heart bleeds for the suffering Trojans but before he returns
to the field, he must see his wife and baby son.
Andromache weeps to see Hector, telling him that his fiery courage is sure to destroy
him soon; asking what will happen to her and her son. Hector feels pity for her and for his
son too. It makes his heart bleed to think that in his absence, she will be held captive by his
enemies. But since nobody can escape fate, Hector too must go down fighting. He kisses his
son, wishing he becomes a better man than his father. So, Hector leaves for the battlefield,
joined by Paris.
Book Seven
As both the brothers enter the battlefield, they fight with the Greeks. Athena again rushes
down to help the Greeks. At the same moment, Apollo intercepts her. The two decide to call a
halt to the battle at least for the day and agree to another individual combat. Helenus, the
Trojan augur, tells Hector to challenge a Greek to duel. The challenge is made by Hector and
accepted by the Greek Ajax. After the day long fight, the combatants part in friendship,
exchanging gifts.
At night, the Greeks hold an assembly and decide to build a protective wall around the
ships and a trench outside the wall.

8
 Another assembly is held in Troy, where Antenor the Trojan elder, proposes that Helen
should be restored to the Greeks and thus the war should end. But Paris rejects the proposal.
He is prepared to give back the treasures he had once brought from Argos, adding his own to
it.
Priam, the Trojan king, agrees and decides to send the herald, Idaeus, to the Greek camp
at dawn to moot the proposal. They are asked to stop the fight for the day so that the dead
bodies could be burnt.
The Greeks do not agree to accept the treasures offered by Paris; they say they do not
want to accept even Helen, as the Trojans are now sure to be defeated. As for the cessation of
hostilities for the day, they readily agree to it.
Both sides burn the bodies of their soldiers, washing the blood and weeping warm tears.
Then the Greeks build their proposed wall. But the sea god Poseidon complains that the
Greeks are building their wall without offering any sacrifice to the gods. Zeus gives him
permission to destroy the walls, after the war ends and the Greeks leave for home.
Book Eight
Zeus speaks to the assembled gods and goddesses in Olympus, warning them that they must
not try to help the Trojans or the Greeks, or they will be severely punished. So, it is the day of
the Trojans and Hector goes on winning and covering himself with glory. Now Queen Hera
in Olympus speaks to Poseidon to help the Greeks, which the sea-god refuses to do, as he is
afraid of Zeus.
Both Hera and Athena now get ready to enter the field, to help their favourites. They, of
course, are not able to do so, as Zeus orders them to desist forthwith. Hector is thus
triumphant, with divine will backing him. The Trojans keep a night long vigil, with a hundred
fires burning.
Book Nine
Since the Greeks are at a disadvantage, the king despairingly tells his troops to prepare to sail
back home. But Diomedes voices his opposition to such a defeatist attitude. He declares that
the Greek army will never acknowledge defeat and all the Greeks shout their assent. And
thus, it is assured that they will continue to fight.
An assembly of the commanders and senior chiefs is held. There, Nestor advises
Agamemnon to send an embassy to Achilles to make him forget his anger with soothing
words and gifts. Agamemnon acknowledges his fault and agrees to make amends. He agrees
to return Briseis’ daughter, who was seized from Achilles. He promises to give one of his
daughters in marriage to Achilles, along with a magnificent dowry. Other invaluable gifts are
promised, so Achilles may forget his anger and agree to participate in the war.
Leading Greek chiefs Phoenix, Ajax, and Odysseus carry the message to Achilles.
Achilles receives them warmly and offers them lavish hospitality, but refuses to join the war
and rejects the offer of reconciliation made by Agamemnon. He decides to return home. His
9
tutor Phoenix tries to make him relent but to no avail. He is requested to spend the night in
the camp of Achilles, which he does. The rest of the group go back with the depressing news.
The Greeks feel disappointed but Diomedes declares that they will fight on even without
Achilles, and everybody agrees.
Book Ten
The whole episode takes place in the night. Agamemnon and Menelaus are worried about the
Greek fate in battle. They cannot sleep and the others are called to meet and decide on a plan
of action. In the meeting, also attended by Nestor, Odysseus, and Diomedes, it is decided to
send å spy to the Trojan Camp to find out their strategy and plan of action. Diomedes
volunteers for the job and selects Odysseus as his partner in this mission.
The same thing happens in the Trojan camp. Hector induces one Dolon to go out to the
Greek camp and find out whether the fleet is still guarded as before or not. He is promised the
horses of Achilles if he is successful in his mission. Unfortunately, Dolon is caught by the
Greek pair of Diomedes and Odysseus as soon as he steps out of the Trojan Camp. He is a
coward and blurts out information about troop position in the Trojan camp, to the Greeks. But
he cannot save himself and is killed.
Diomedes and Odysseus kill the Thracian soldiers with their king Rhesus. They drive
away the magnificent horses of the Thracian king and, with Athena’s advice, quickly depart
from the Trojan camp. They are received with great joy in the Greek camp. And the
Thracians, awakened by Apollo, find to their dismay, the havoc wrought in their camp by the
Greek marauders.
Book Eleven
The Greeks are eager for fight as Zeus sends the goddess Strife; inflaming the spirit of war
among them.
Agamemnon gets ready and calls his men to arms. The Trojans too are ready for the
battle, along with Hector and the other leaders. It is Agamemnon who fights fiercely, killing
many Trojans. Zeus sends his messenger Iris to tell Hector that he must not move till
Agamemnon is wounded and leaves the battle field. And very soon Agamemnon is severely
wounded, retiring from the battle field. That provides the signal for Hector to join the fray.
Odysseus, Ajax, Diomedes, and the physician Machaon fight fiercely but all are seriously
wounded. Achilles observes Nestor carrying Machaon, wounded, from the field. In order to
make sure, he asks his friend Patroclus to go and ask Nestor the name of the wounded man.
Patroclus goes at once to Nestor, and sees for himself that the injured man is no other
than Machaon. Nestor detains Patroclus, telling him a story of one of his past exploits. He
also requests him to take part in the fight with the armour of Achilles on his person so that
Patroclus may be mistaken for Achilles. Patroclus goes back to Achilles with this message
but on his way, he comes across Eurypylus, who asks him for help, since the healer Machaon

10
is wounded and needed looking after. Patroclus stays with him and applies herbs to his
wound.
Book Twelve
The wall the Greeks build for their defence is doomed to fall but only when the battle is over.
In their hurry the Greeks did not pay the dues to the gods, so Poseidon and Apollo decide to
smash the rampart, eventually. For now, the battle rages on, with the Trojans trying to attack
the wall. The horses however cannot cross the ditch, protected by rows of sharp stakes, and
the Trojans came fighting on foot. The Greeks cannot withstand the might of Hector,
endowed with glory by Zeus. He bursts through the gates and the Trojans follow him. The
Greeks retreat to their ships.
Book Thirteen
The earth-shaker god Poseidon comes to inspire the Greeks to greater efforts to fight the
Trojans. In the form of Calchas the prophet, he first speaks to both Great and Little Ajax,
asking them to defend their position strongly. He touches them to fill them with strength and
striking force. They recognise the god’s voice through his assumed persona.
When his grandson Amphimachus dies, Poseidon is full of anger and projects himself as
Thoas before the Cretan captain Idomeneus. Idomeneus stops the Trojan assault with the
god’s aid and the assistance of Menelaus. Poseidon further helps the Greeks by saving
Nestor’s son Antilochus from sure death. Menelaus wounds Helenus and kills Peisander,
crying against the Trojans for stealing his wife. Hector is advised by Polydamas to call his
troops, drawing them into one unit. Hector goes around rallying his men when he comes
across Paris; he mocks him for his love of women and fear of battle. As Hector hears Ajax
say that Troy is bound to fall, he taunts him in return and the battle goes on.
Book Fourteen
Agamemnon loses hope and proposes retreat to the sea and eventually sail home. But
Odysseus is opposed to it and Diomedes suggests that the leaders must take their positions,
wounded though they are, and spur their men to action. This is approved by all. Poseidon
comes to Agamemnon in the form of an old man, and speaks disapprovingly of Achilles, who
sits idly to see so many Greeks killed. The gods may strike him down, he says and the
Trojans will soon flee for Troy. The Greeks take heart, as the god gives a cry like the yell of
ten thousand warriors.
The goddess Hera now tries to come to the aid of the Greeks, with the help of an
elaborate plan. She dresses nicely and then on her way to entice Zeus, asks Aphrodite for
charms. She hides her real purpose and tells Aphrodite that she wants the charms to reunite
the quarrelling couple, Oceanus and Tethys. After securing the wherewithal from Aphrodite,
Hera approaches the god Sleep. She wants help from him to make Zeus fall asleep
immediately after finishing their love-making. Sleep is too scared to do this, remembering the
close shave he had earlier, while attempting a similar ploy. But he agrees eventually, tempted

11
by Hera to get one of the Graces in marriage. Armed with her strategy, Hera descends on Mt.
Ida. As expected, she charms Zeus and then he is conquered by sleep. Immediately Sleep
goes to Poseidon, informing him of the deep sleep which enfolds Zeus. Poseidon can now
help the Greeks, which he does. Soon, Hector is severely wounded and his friends take him
away from the battle field. The battle goes on.
Book Fifteen
Zeus awakens from the charmed sleep, induced by Hera’s machinations. He is shocked to see
Hector, badly wounded and is very angry with Hera. He reminds her of an earlier punishment
she had received due to disobedience. But Hera denies her role in making the Trojans slide in
battle; Poseidon alone is responsible for it. Zeus accepts her apology and summons Apollo
and Iris to his presence. He clearly outlines his plan. Apollo will now restore strength to
Hector. Then the Greeks will receive such a beating from the Trojans that they will be pushed
back to their ships. Patroclus will then be sent to fight and will eventually be killed by
Hector. Then Zeus is going to turn the tide of the war. Achilles will kill Hector, being
angered by the death of his friend. This way Zeus is going to fulfil his promise to Thetis to
vindicate Achilles. Hera is sent back to Olympus. She tells the other gods that Zeus has
threatened that unless all obey him and maintain order, he will punish them.
Ares alone, among all the gods, is ready to defy Zeus, as his son has been killed and he is
prepared to go to the battlefield to avenge his son’s death. But Athena stops him, telling him
that Zeus will punish everybody in Olympus for his transgression. Zeus sends Iris and Apollo
on their separate missions. Iris goes to Poseidon, persuading him to withdraw on the orders of
Zeus. Apollo goes to revive Hector and assure the Trojans of his help. The onslaught of the
Trojans is now almost impossible to counteract and the battle reaches a crisis. Patroclus
leaves Eurypylus to the care of an aide, and he rushes back to Achilles to try to persuade him
to join the battle to help the Greeks. A desperate battle rages on, with Hector urging the
Trojans to seize the Greek ships. Ajax tries his best to repel the attack and the Trojans start
setting the Greek ships afire.
Book Sixteen
Patroclus is grief stricken at the beating the Greeks have taken. He tells Achilles that at least
he should be allowed to go to fight for the Greeks, wearing Achilles’ armour. Achilles agrees,
though he still cannot forget the insult heaped upon him by Agamemnon. He will not fight till
the Trojan attack reaches his own ships. Patroclus is allowed to go and fight, along with the
Myrmidon army. But he is warned not to pursue the Trojans into the city or kill Hector.
Achilles goes to call the Myrmidon army to fight, as Patroclus puts on Achilles’ armour.
Achilles goes to pour out libations to father Zeus, praying that Patroclus should achieve glory
in battle and come back safe. Zeus hears his prayers but decides that though the Trojan
onslaught will be fought off by Patroclus, he will not return safe.
Patroclus goes to fight and driving the Trojans off the ships, he puts out the fire. The tide
of battle is turned in favour of the Greeks. The Trojans are trapped between the ships, the
12
trench, and the river. Patroclus kills a number of Trojans and a fierce combat ensues between
Patroclus and Sarpedon, a son of Zeus. Zeus wonders whether he should save his son against
his fate. Queen Hera strongly opposes the desire to save a mortal against his destiny. If
Sarpedon is saved, then other gods also would like to have the same privilege for their own
sons, many of whom are fighting in the battle field. At most, Zeus should allow the body of
Sarpedon to be moved to Lycia, his home land, so that he gets a proper burial.
Sarpedon is killed by Patroclus. Before breathing his last, Sarpedon asks his comrade
Glaucus, to shield his body from being stripped of armour. Glaucus, wounded himself, prays
to Apollo to help him fight off the Greeks, to save the corpse of his friend. Granting his
request Apollo quickly heals his wound. Glaucus at once spurs his Lycian captains on to
guard the body of Sarpedon and then he urges Hector to join the battle to save the body of
Sarpedon from any indignity. In the sharp fight between the Greeks and Trojans, so many are
killed that the body of Sarpedon can hardly be made out of the mass of corpses that have
fallen. It is the wish of Zeus that the body of Sarpedon be lifted by Apollo from the field and
bathed in a river and set down in the green fields of Lycia to be buried with royal rites.
It is, again, the will of Zeus that makes the Trojans retreat from the field, with Patroclus
in hot pursuit. Led by Patroclus, the Greeks charge against the wall of Troy but Apollo hurls
the charges back and reminds him that it is not his fate to seize Troy. Hector is now inspired
by Apollo, who urges him on, in the shape of Asius, his uncle. Hector goes to fight Patroclus.
Apollo goes on to hurl the Greeks back to chaos; handing glory to Hector and the Trojan
forces. Patroclus kills Cebriones, the charioteer of Hector. The Greeks seize the body of
Cebriones and as Patroclus is fighting fiercely, Apollo comes from behind, shrouded in thick
mist, and knocks the helmet off his head. Patroclus stands senseless, as his armour, lent by
Achilles, drops from his shoulders. The young Trojan Euphorbus, first wounds him between
the shoulder blades and Hector gives the death blow to his belly. Standing over the dying
Patroclus, Hector mocks him.
With his dying breath Patroclus tells him that only Zeus and Apollo have brought him
down and Hector could kill him because he was already wounded and stripped of his armour.
Very soon destiny is going to overtake Hector too.
Book Seventeen
Menelaus kills Euphorbus. Fierce battle ensues for the body of Patroclus. Apollo rouses
Hector against Menelaus, who is forced to withdraw. Hector tears the armour off Patroclus
but before the body can be taken away, Great Ajax charges him and Hector leaps on his
chariot. He puts on the newly acquired armour. Zeus does not quite approve of the armour of
Achilles being taken by Hector. Anyway, the Trojans are granted some victory as Hector is
soon doomed to die.
The battle rages on for the body of Patroclus. The goddess Athena gives strength to
Menelaus but the Greeks are again threatened. But Zeus does not allow the body of Patroclus
to be taken by the Trojans. Apollo appears to Aeneas, in the guise of a loyal herald, to

13
provoke him. Aeneas recognises Apollo and he shouts at Hector not to let Patroclus’ body be
taken by the Greeks.
Achilles as yet does not know of the death of Patroclus. Antilochus is sent to Achilles
with this sad news though the Greeks know that he will be of little help without his armour.
Menelaus and Meriones carry off Patroclus’ body to the Greek camp. The two Ajaxes fight
off the Trojans but the Argives flee in fear. The battle rages on and Hector and Aeneas pursue
the Greeks.
Book Eighteen
As Achilles sits in his ship, worrying about Patroclus, Antilochus comes with the news of his
death and the loss of his armour. Achilles is overwhelmed with grief and his wrenching cry is
heard by his mother Thetis and her sisters, the Nereids, dwelling under the sea. She, along
with her sisters come up to Achilles. Achilles tells her that he is going to the battle field to
avenge the death of his dear friend by killing Hector. Thetis warns him that he will die shortly
after the death of Hector. But if he must go for the battle then she will get for him a set of
armour from Hephaestus, the god of fire. As the tussle goes on for the body of Patroclus,
Hera sends Iris to Achilles with the message that at least he must go and stand near the trench
to frighten the Trojans. Athena rings his head with a blazing cloud, and he lets out a cry,
along with Athena, and the combined shriek sends a wave of panic through the Trojan ranks.
Evening comes and the day’s battle ends. Taking advantage of the darkness, the Greeks drag
the body of Patroclus out of range and lay him on a litter.
The Trojans meet in an assembly and Polydamas advises them to retreat inside Troy and
fight the Greeks, led by Achilles from the ramparts. But Hector rejects the suggestion and
decides to assault the Greek ships in the morning. The Greeks, with Achilles, clean the body
of Patroclus and Achilles vows that his friend’s body will not be buried until he brings back
the head and armour of Hector.
Thetis reaches the workshop of the fire god Hephaestus in Olympus. He is told what all
has happened to Achilles and is requested to forge a set of new armour for Achilles.
Hephaestus forges a great and massive shield on which is depicted the universe to which
Achilles is returning. Through this shield he is linked with heaven, earth and sea. The shield
has five concentric circles. On the first is forged the sun, moon, and stars; on the second, two
cities - one at peace, one at war; the seasons and scenes from pastoral life. The outermost
layer depicts the sea. A sturdy helmet is also made, along with greaves of pliant tin. This is
brought to Thetis, who carries it to Achilles.
Book Nineteen
The armour is given to Achilles, who gets ready to go for the battle but is afraid that his
friend’s body may rot. Thetis assures him that she will look after Patroclus’ body. Now
Achilles must forget his rage and tremendous courage is instilled in him. He calls the whole
army to fight and apologises to Agamemnon, calling a halt to his anger. King Agamemnon, in
his turn, says that fate and the will of Zeus had made him act the way he did. Now he is intent
14
on setting things right. He offers Achilles the priceless ransom, promised earlier. Odysseus
asks Achilles to allow the soldiers time to take their meal before going to battle. He agrees
but refuses all nourishment himself so, Athena fills him with nectar and sweet ambrosia that
will sustain his strength.
Achilles then covers himself with all the gear made by Hepheastus and is ready for
battle. The horses of his chariot speak to him. The goddess Hera gives voice to the dumb
beasts. They tell him that Patroclus could not be saved as it was divine will that killed him
and Achilles won’t also live for long now. Achilles knows it, but that knowledge does not
stop him from fighting the Trojans.
Book Twenty
Zeus allows the gods to give aid to any side of their choice. Accordingly, the gods help their
respective favourites. Aeneas is filled with power by Apollo. Aeneas and Achilles fight and
Poseidon removes Aeneas from the battle to save his life. Achilles kills many Trojans. Hector
is warned by Apollo, not to fight Achilles alone. But when his brother Polydorus is killed,
Hector charges Achilles. Athena diverts the weapon from Achilles. Apollo saves Hector
similarly in a protective mist. Achilles is angry with Apollo for intervening and keeps on
killing other Trojans.
Book Twenty- One
Achilles pushes the Trojan warriors into the river Xanthus and kills many of them; taking
twelve of them captive when he is tired. The river, angry at the bloodshed, asks Achilles to
stop killing the Trojans. When he refuses, Xanthus sends giant waves to drown Achilles and
calls on fellow river, Simios to help him. Achilles runs up an embankment to save his life.
Hera asks her son Hephaestus to intervene and he sends a great fire on the stream, that almost
burns it up. Athena and Poseidon urge Achilles to fight on and kill Hector.
The gods fight among themselves. Ares attacks Athena, who hurls a stone at him. He is
badly injured and when Aphrodite comes to his help, she is also knocked down. Poseidon
reminds Apollo of the wrong done to both of them by Laomedon, an earlier king of Troy. On
Zeus’ order, both Apollo and Poseidon had laboured for Laomedon for stated wages. But they
were never paid and were ill treated in every way. So now they should not favour the Trojans.
Apollo does not want to fight with him. For that, his sister Artemis taunts him but Hera boxes
her ears and sends her to Olympus in tears.
Down below, Achilles goes on killing the Trojans and Priam orders the gates of Troy to
open, to let in the Trojans fleeing from Achilles. As the Greeks reach the gates in hot pursuit,
Agenor stands there to fight Achilles. Achilles leaps at Agenor but Apollo whisks him off.
Apollo, taking the shape of Agenor, makes Achilles chase him across wheat fields and the
Trojans get the opportunity to enter the city walls.
Book Twenty-Two
Hector’s parents fervently request him to take shelter inside the walls of Troy and not face
Achilles, who is sure to kill him. Hector feels he should have listened to Polydamas when he
15
wanted the Trojans to take shelter inside Troy. Now that so many Trojans have been killed,
Hector must face Achilles; either to kill or be killed.
He wavers again; thinking that he can save himself by going to Achilles, offering him
Helen with all her riches, along with the treasures of Troy. Then he realises that will not be of
help and it is better to clash in battle and see who wins. Seeing Achilles, all of a sudden
Hector loses his nerve and runs in fear. Three times they run around the city of Troy. Athena
comes to help Achilles. She deceives Hector in the shape of Deiphobus, his brother, by
offering to help and lures him into facing Achilles. Hector throws a spear at Achilles. He is
now without any lance, so he calls to Deiphobus for one. But there is nobody to listen to him.
Now Hector knows that his final moment has come as Athena has tricked him. But he
resolves to earn glory through struggle, before his death. So, Hector and Achilles fight, only
for Hector to be killed by Achilles. With his last breath, Hector begs Achilles to give his body
to his friends so that he is given a proper burial. Achilles angrily rejects his appeal and
declares that dogs and scavenger birds will eat his dead body. With his last breath, Hector
foretells the death of Achilles. Hector’s body is fastened to the chariot of Achilles and
dragged through the dust to the Greek lines.
Hector’s parents wail and mourn. Priam wants to go and appeal to Achilles to hand over
the body to him.
Andromache is weaving at her loom and preparing Hector’s bath, when the sound of
wailing reaches her. She reaches the tower and sees the terrible sight of Hector being dragged
by Achilles. She faints and coming to, cries for her dead husband; she mourns for her
fatherless son, who will suffer humiliation with nobody to save him from that.
Book Twenty-Three
The burial of Patroclus is arranged with timber from Mount Ida and animal and human
sacrifices. Achilles has a dream of the ghost of Patroclus requesting to be buried quickly and
for his bones to be buried alongside those of Achilles. Achilles orders his men to do
everything as his dead friend desired; he cuts his own red-gold locks and places them in his
friend’s hand. He kills twelve Trojans and places their bodies on the same pyre as Patroclus.
But Hector’s body, he resolves to give to the dogs. This is not acceptable to the gods.
Aphrodite beats off the dogs from Hector’s body and anoints it with ambrosial oil of roses, so
that his skin will not rip while being dragged by Achilles. Apollo brings down a dark cloud to
safeguard the body of Hector from the sun’s fury.
Achilles offers libations to the west and north wind. (Zephyr and Boreas) so that
Patroclus’ pyre burns properly. His prayer is granted and the flames burn fiercely as Achilles
weeps, dragging himself around the pyre.
At dawn, Agamemnon and his followers come to collect the bones and place them in a
golden urn. The last embers are put out with wine and a tomb is erected. Games are proposed
in his honour and all the Greek heroes participate to pay homage to Patroclus.

16
Book Twenty-Four
Though everything is over; the death of Patroclus avenged, rituals done, and homage paid to
him, Achilles cannot overcome his sorrow for his friend. He weeps and drags Hector’s body
round the tomb of Patroclus. This goes on for twelve days. Hector’s body is protected by
Apollo, so it is not disfigured by all that is done to it. The gods are not happy with Achilles’
behaviour, who has lost all pity. Zeus decrees that Achilles may receive a ransom from King
Priam, but he must give back Hector’s body, so he summons Thetis to his presence. She is
ordered to tell her son that Zeus is angry with him, and he must give back Hector’s body.
Zeus sends Iris down to Priam, telling him to carry ransom to Achilles to assuage his rage and
bring home his son’s body. Thetis goes to Achilles, bearing the message of Zeus and he
agrees to give back the body of Patroclus.
Priam gets ready to go to Achilles, as ordered by Zeus. He collects rich gifts and
treasures to be handed to Achilles. Before he starts, Hecuba brings a golden cup of honeyed
wine to be poured in honour of Zeus, so he grants him safe return. Priam washes his hands
and pours the wine to earth. He prays to Zeus to send him a bird of good omen. Zeus hears
his prayer and sends an eagle that sweeps through the city. Then Priam drives towards the
Greek ships. Hermes is ordered by Zeus to conduct Priam through the Greek ships so that
none will see him. Hermes talks to Priam in the guise of one of Achilles’ men. He assures
Priam that the body of Hector is intact and uncorrupted. Priam is overjoyed to hear this and
offers him a handsome cup. Hermes safely drives the chariot of Priam inside Achilles’s
shelter and then introduces himself. He tells Priam that now he should go in and clasp
Achilles’s knees to make him yield to his request.
Priam goes to Achilles, going down on his knees. He appeals to Achilles to think of his
own father and both Priam and Achilles weep; one for his dead son, the other for his father
and for his friend. Achilles takes pity on the old man and offers him a seat. He tells him that
excessive grief does not serve any purpose as Zeus gives mixed blessings and sorrows to
mortals. Even Peleus, Achilles’ father, has his share of both. He married a goddess but he will
not have a son to care for him in old age, as Achilles is destined to die shortly. Achilles
orders the body of Hector to be washed and wrapped in a finely woven shirt brought by
Priam. Hector’s body is cleaned and wrapped and placed on a bier by Achilles himself. He
then offers food to Priam, orders a proper bed for him, and agrees to hold back hostilities for
eleven days – the time required for the burial.
In a short while, Hermes comes to urge Priam to leave the Greek camp with his son’s
body, before Agamemnon catches him. Hermes guides them back safely. Once they reach
Troy, the whole city is plunged in grief. Andromache mourns Hector, foreseeing her future as
a slave of the Greeks. She fears the worst for her son, now that his father is not there to save
him. Hecuba and Helen cry in grief. Helen, miserable in Hector’s death for the gentleness he
had shown.
And then Hector is buried, all Troy bidding him a tearful farewell.

17
 3. The Characters
Achilles
Homer shows us that force is not omnipotent, though it may achieve the near impossible.
Achilles has super human force and he attempts to achieve the impossible through cruelty but
his attempt breaks down finally as he attains insight into the workings of the human mind.
Achilles’ wrath is the main theme of the Iliad. It causes great losses to the Greeks though
the wrath ends in reconciliation. The epic prepares us in advance for important events
through prophecies, decisions of the gods, and portents. We come to know by the end of the
1st book that the Trojans will keep on winning till Achilles’ honour is restored. Achilles’
nature is half human, half divine as his mother is the goddess Thetis and his father a mortal;
Peleus, King of the Myrmidons. It is the artistic role of Thetis to bring with her when she
comes, the thought of Achilles’ approaching death. Achilles is ardently attached to his
mother, calling her to his side for all his complaints. She is equally attached to him, the
tortured mother of a suffering son. She tries to bring to him succour for all his misery,
helping him in all his needs, literally running from heaven to earth to ocean in order to do
what is required for his help. She never fails him in his hour of trial.
In the first chapter, nine years after the war, a priest of Apollo, Chryses comes to the
camp, asking them to return his daughter, who was captured by the Greeks. The Achaeans
advise Agamemnon to return Chryseis, his daughter. When Agamemnon refuses, Chryses
prays to Apollo to strike the Greek camp with plague. Seeing the soldiers suffer, Achilles
asks Calchas, the seer, to find a remedy. Calchas says that Apollo can only be appeased if
Chryseis is returned to her father. Achilles and Agamemnon fight over the surrender of
Agamemnon’s trophy; not an inanimate one but a living woman, Chryseis. At the beginning,
Agamemnon does not want to part with her as he considers it a loss of his honour. He insists
that since Chryseis, his prize has to be sent away, he will snatch Briseis, Achilles’ prize, as
his own. Achilles is mad with anger and is about to kill Agamemnon but he stops, heeding
the command of Athena and Hera. But he swears to stay away from the battle and never come
to fight along with the Greeks. He feels greatly humiliated when his honour prize, the
beautiful Briseis has been taken away from him. His mother Thetis, on his request, goes to
Olympus, to pray to Zeus to grant the Trojans victory after victory, till the Achaean armies
restore Achilles’ honour. Zeus grants her request.
The Trojans gain while Achilles sits back, not taking part in the battle. The Greeks
advise Agamemnon to try reconciliation with Achilles. Agamemnon agrees to give him a
priceless ransom, return Briseis, the girl seized from him, and also offers one of his daughters
to him in marriage, with a huge dowry. All this – along with a point that almost cancels the
whole effort – he does not apologise. He says Achilles must submit to him as he says, “I am
the greater king, /I am the elder-born, I claim, the greater man.”
The ambassadors Phoenix, Ajax, and Odysseus, arrive at the Myrmidon shelter. They
plead with Achilles to come and rescue the beleaguered Greeks. They are threatened with
18
annihilation by the Trojans and the only hope they have is in Achilles. Shrewd Odysseus does
not tell Achilles that the gifts have been sent by Agamemnon; nor is he told of the last
condition – “Let him bow down to me”. However, Achilles is not convinced. He rejects the
offer, planning to go back home. What he most values is honour. He wants to be paid back
for all his “heart breaking outrage”. He has not been offered any apology, no amends for his
wounded pride.
Achilles’ anger assumes an all- consuming force and he does not relent, even though
Phoenix, his tutor and guardian, reminds him that even the gods can be brought round by
prayers and sacrifice. Prayers are the daughters of mighty Zeus and they should be honoured.
Achilles must defend his friends; Ajax tells him to rejoin the Greek army, saying that the
whole army will honour him like a god. But Achilles refuses to fight as he has nothing but
overwhelming hatred for Agamemnon.
And then the predictable happens. All the big names in the Achaean camp; Agamemnon,
Diomedes, and Odysseus get wounded and the battle goes very much against the Greeks.
Achilles watches all this and feels elated; “Now I think they will grovel at my knees, our
Achaean comrades, begging for their lives.”
Patroclus comes back from an inspection of the Greek camp, with news of the disaster
there. Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus are all wounded; even their healer Machaon is
wounded. Patroclus has come with a request from Nestor, that Achilles should at least allow
Patroclus to use his armour and join the battle. The Trojans might mistake him for Achilles
with his Myrmidon army, and he, fresh in battle, might change the course of the war.
The news makes Achilles forget his hard resolve to sit back now that Agamemnon is
utterly helpless but still thinks, “I would not relax my anger not till the cries and carnage
reached my own ships.” Now all that he agrees to is to allow Patroclus to put on his armour
and lead the Myrmidon army into action.
Even now he is totally self absorbed. It is his own glory that concerns him; Patroclus is
regarded as part of himself. But he too is displeased with Achilles’s indifference to the
sufferings of the fellow Greeks. He says, “Pray god such anger never seizes me/ such rage
you nurse/cursed in your own courage!” Gradually Achilles relents; “enough/ Let bygones be
bygones now/ Done is done/ How on earth can a man rage on forever?” (Book 16, 68-70)
Patroclus is ordered to drive the Trojans off the ships. He must do no more that may take
away from the glory of Achilles. Now he hopes to get back the gifts once rejected and also
his girl. It is to be his own personal triumph; “Not one of all these Trojans could flee his
death, not one/ no Argive either, but we could stride from the slaughter so we could bring
Troy’s hallowed crown of towers toppling down around us/ you and I alone.” (Book 16-116-
120)
Patroclus is killed by Hector and the fight is now over his corpse. Achilles’ quarrel with
Agamemnon ends in the death of his dearest comrade. Achilles has been warned by his
mother of his own death immediately after the death of Hector. But he must avenge
19
Patroclus, whom he loved as his own life. His anger is still there, but he beats it down by
force. Achilles has to fight now, but not before he gets the armour his mother has promised to
get him from Hephaestus, the god of fire. The old armour he had given to Patroclus has been
seized by Hector.
When the new set of armour is brought, Achilles calls the Achaeans to assemble, as he
had done at the beginning (Book 1). Achilles tells them that he is still angry but he has
another cause for anger. He is going to beat down his rage against Agamemnon by force. He
says “It is wrong to keep on raging. Let bygones be bygones. Done is done” (Book 19). He
regrets the feud, that raging, brought down so many Greeks; however, now it is time for
action against the enemy.
Agamemnon disowns his own responsibility, makes some excuse and offers all the gifts
he had sent earlier to Achilles, and offers to display them so that all could see. Moreover,
Briseis is to be restored to Achilles; untouched by any in Agamemnon’s camp.
To Achilles, nothing matters now but Hector. He commands immediate launch of an
attack against the Trojans. He does not have any taste for food and rest. His all-consuming
passion for revenge makes him forget his physical needs. The goddess Athena strengthens his
limbs, instilling nectar and ambrosia in his body. Odysseus suggests a display of all the gifts
that Agamemnon would give to Achilles; they should have a public ceremony of
reconciliation and Agamemnon agrees. He also offers to sacrifice a wild boar to Zeus and
prepare a feast but Achilles is not interested in such ceremonies, which will only restore
Agamemnon’s prestige. Hector’s death, and only that, preoccupies him; “You talk of food? I
have no taste for food, what I really crave/ is slaughter and blood and the choking groans of
men. (Book 19, Page 253-55)

Hector’s death avenges Patroclus and establishes Achilles’ identity as the

unchallengeable and unconquerable violence of war personified.
(Introduction to The Iliad by Bernard Knox, p.55)

Hector till the end, thinks of his own responsibility towards his country; his poised
civilized behaviour is contrasted with the self-absorbed fury of Achilles. Hector is compared
to a soaring eagle swinging his sharp sword but Achilles bursts with barbaric rage; “Would to
god,” Achilles says “rage, my fury would drive me now/ to hack your flesh away and eat you
raw.” He is fighting for himself, his own honour and glory. Even at the last moment Hector
thinks of his own people, “How much lighter the war would be for Trojans then/ if you their
greatest scourge were dead and gone.” (Book 22, 339-340)
Achilles is inhuman even when he is avenging his friend, “Hector surely, you thought
when you stripped Patroclus’ armour /that you would be safe/ Never a fear of me, far from
the fighting as I was – you fool! Left behind there, down by the beaked ships/his great
avenger waited/ A greater man by far; that man was, I.” (Book 22, 390-99)

20
 Earlier, being inhuman and equally self- glorifying, Achilles rejects Hector’s offer to
enter into a pact that the victor should take the armour of the vanquished but give his body for
burial. It is a fair and civilized gesture to be adopted by warring opponents. Achilles’s rage is
comparable with the rage of the gods; “only if you could break their gates and their long
walls and devour Priam and Priam’s sons and the Trojan armies raw then you just might cure
your rage at last “(Book 4, 39-42). Hector’s body is dragged by Achilles, lashed to his chariot
in full view of his parents and all the other Trojans standing on the walls of Troy. The funeral
of Patroclus is arranged with human sacrifice and the promise to feed Hector’s body to the
dogs.
Though he triumphed he was bent on shaming noble Hector; he flung him face down in
the dust beside Patroclus’ bier. (Book 23) Achilles’ sorrow can be assuaged only by making
other people suffer, “in front of your flaming pyre/ I’ll cut the throats of a dozen sons of Troy
in all their shining glory, venting my rage on them for your destruction.”
A magnificent funeral is arranged for Patroclus and after the pyre is burnt, games are
arranged to celebrate his memory. The dead man is honoured by the rich prizes and the
endeavour of the contestants to win them. As Achilles is offering these prizes he does not
contest. The whole episode is designed, it seems, to offer some relief from the macabre
treatment of Hector’s body and the blood-soaked scenes of war. Achilles is gradually shown
to be coming back to normalcy; it shows us what Achilles might have been in peace – noble,
aristocratic, courteous in his bearing, as far as the Greeks are concerned. He is no longer
alienated from the larger community of fellow Greeks but he is not totally free from his
obsession. Hector’s corpse is again dragged around the tomb of Patroclus and he weeps
whenever he remembers him. Such obsession, causing the atrocity to the dead body is
offensive even to the gods. Apollo pities Hector and keeps all corruption off his body. The
gods even plan stealing the body, but the plan is abandoned at the behest of Zeus, who
decides that he will ask Thetis to tell Achilles to return Hector’s body to Priam in exchange
for a ransom. Achilles agrees but without any sign of relenting, reminiscent of indifference
when Agamemnon had renewed his offer of gifts.
The unexpected arrival of Priam, as a suppliant, starts to bring about the real change in
the attitude and mind of Achilles. Guided by the god Hermes, Priam’s arrival is a mystery
that astonishes Achilles,
as when the grip of madness seizes one who murders a man in his own fatherland
and flees abroad to foreign shores, to a wealthy noble host and a sense of marvel
runs through all who see him. (Book 24)

It seems to reverse the situation, as if Priam, not Achilles, were the killer. And yet it is
carefully chosen.
For Achilles, a child of the quarrelsome, violent society of the Achaeans we
know so well from the bitter feuds of the camp, from old Nestor’s tales of cattle
raids, ambush and border war, from the tales of Achaean suppliants fleeing their
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 homeland with blood on their hands – for Achilles, the appearance of a
distinguished stranger and his gesture of supplication evoke the familiar context
of the man of violence seeking shelter.
(Introduction to The Iliad. Bernard Knox)
Now, gradually, Achilles regains his human feelings. He overcomes his own rage and
isolation. Priam first of all reminds Achilles of his father – lonely at home, with no one there
to defend him. But he is better off than Priam, as he may hope to see his son back home any
day. Not so Priam, whose son Hector has been killed by Achilles. For him only, Priam has
dared to come to Achilles, with a priceless ransom, supplicant for his pity; “I deserve more
pity ... I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before – I put to my lips the hands
of the man who killed my son.” (Book 24)
These words stir within Achilles a deep desire to grieve for his own father and both men
cry together; one for his lost son, the other for his lost friend and for his father. Achilles’
return to normal human feelings, and identification with and empathy for a fellow sufferer is
complete. He tries his best to console the bereaved father. The divine gifts to mortals are
always a mixed blessing. Achilles’s own father was endowed with great honour and wealth.
But the only son he has, Achilles is doomed and he cannot look forward to any help from him
in his old age. Achilles looks at war and at Priam from the point of view of Priam. He
describes himself to Priam, as “a grief to you, a grief to all your children.”
When Priam becomes impatient, Achilles warns him not to go too fast. He demonstrates
self- knowledge; knowledge of his own volcanic temper, which might erupt and bring about
disaster. He also has insight into the other’s mind. He is returning Hector’s body to his father,
washed and anointed, but this has to be done away from Priam’s sight otherwise
“Overwhelmed by the sight of Hector, wild with grief/ Priam might let his anger flare and
Achilles might fly into fresh rage himself, cut the old man down and break the laws of Zeus.”
He is no longer, from this point onwards, “Godlike Achilles” but a full-fledged human being.
He tells Priam that there is a limit to which a man may go, mourning for even his dearest. The
king is offered food; he has to go on with his life. This is acknowledging the common bond
that unites Achilles with all mortals, with their obvious limitations. He takes steps to protect
Priam, he makes him sleep outside the tent so that no other Achaean should be able to detect
him and report it to Agamemnon. He is a part of the common human group now but is alone
and may not be strong enough to launch another bitter fight against his own camp of
Achaeans, to protect the apparently common enemy. His code of honour makes it obligatory
for him to save Priam, to whom he has promised protection. He has also promised a cessation
of hostilities for the twelve days required by Priam for the funeral of Hector. Magnanimous,
noble, and sympathetic; Achilles has become human in the best sense of the term. He no
longer remembers the wrongs he so long resented, done to him by Agamemnon and Hector.
He only tries to be of comfort and solace to the bereaved father Priam, who reminds him of
his own father, whom he will not meet again. His own death is about to follow, as told by his
mother, and prophesied by the dying Hector. The poem ends with the burial of Hector.
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Achilles’s character is the ideal of the tragic hero, later presented by Sophocles on the Greek
stage; arrogant and stubborn, yet redeemed by a noble humanity that is the most important
trait.
Hector
Hector alone has the responsibility to defend his city, though he does not shirk his
responsibility and is a formidable warrior; he is a man of peace, unlike Achilles. He shows
qualities of leadership when he makes the Trojan soldiers sit down with his spear, as the
Greek soldiers make him the target of their arrows. He talks of a truce, proposed by Paris,
that peace should be restored between the two warring parties.
The Iliad transcends martial epic by its sense of the pity of war. Homer’s
sympathy is with the doomed and dying of both sides. It is a drama of human
passions that forms the main plot. The climax is the death of Hector, Troy’s great
champion. It is given immense human significance by being made an act of
personal vengeance for the killing of Patroclus, the dearest friend of Achilles and
by the dramatic portrayal of Hector’s alternating courage and fear, the agony of
his parents who watch helplessly from the city wall, and the grief of family and
people as they prepare to bury their hope ... Homer is an artist with rare depths of
humanity.
(M.L. West. Ancient Greek Literature, O.U.P, 1980, p. 15)
As in the case of all other eminent characters in the Iliad Hector’s actions and responses
reveal his character. He is held in great respect by all who know him and is dearly loved by
his near ones. Helen addresses him as “dear brother”, when he visits Paris to urge him on to
join the battle. Helen mourns him after his death;

Hector! Dearest to me of all my husband’s brothers – never once did I hear –

from you a taunt, an insult./ But if someone else in the royal halls would curse
me,/why you’d restrain them with words, Hector./ You with your gentle temper,
all your gentle words. And so, in the same breath I mourn for you and me, my
doom struck harrowed heart! Now there is no one left in the wide realm of Troy,
no friend to treat me kindly. (Book 24, The Iliad )
These speeches reveal Hector as a compassionate man, whose understanding and
sensitivity impressed all. He is a warrior, but primarily a man of peace. Hector means
“Holder”. He defends Troy, inspiring the Trojans by his own valour. He knows his efforts are
futile but he does not shrink from battle. In book 12, when the seer Polydamas reads a bird
sign as an omen to retreat, even at the peak of success, Hector refuses to heed – “you tell me
to put my trust in birds, flying off on their long wild wings? Never/I would never give them a
glance, a second thought, /whether they fly on the right toward the dawn and sunrise/or fly on
the left toward the haze and coming dark! No, no, put our trust in the will of mighty Zeus.
Bird signs! Fight for your country that is the best, the only omen!” (Book 12, Iliad)
23
 His love for his country, his defiance of all hostile portents and omens of disaster, his
determination to fight against all odds; distinguishes him as a man among men. Ultimately,
the two champions meet. The duel ends in the death of Hector, the protector of Troy and
upholder of family values; indicating the imminent destruction of Troy, the death of all
civilized values for which Hector stood. The death of Hector presages the death of Achilles
himself, symbolising the fall of Troy’s conquerors.

24
 4. The Homeric Gods

Read the following observation about the divine background to the The Iliad, by famous
Greek scholar, H. D. F. Kitto,
. . . to Homer it was not decoration, it was rather a kind of perspective – not in
space, but in meaning. It makes us see a particular action that we are watching
not an isolated, a casual, and a unique event: we see it rather in its relation to the
moral and philosophical frame work of universe. This framework – is not one
which Homer consciously expounds. He had no complete philosophical system.
Nevertheless, he sees that there is a unity in things that events have their causes
and their results that certain moral laws exist. This is the framework in which a
particular action is seen to fit. The divine background of the epic means
ultimately that particular actions are at the same time unique and universal.
The Greeks had no organised religion though some priests performed certain religious
rites. The Greeks had many gods; Zeus, Apollo, Athena, Poseidon, Hera, and others. The
stories of the Greek gods and goddesses comprised Greek mythology, which the Greeks
believed to be true. These gods and goddesses are anthropomorphic divinities.1 They have
human characteristics, except that they are not mortal. They are jealous and fight each other
but like humans, they can be pacified. If one god is hostile to a man, another may be friendly
to the same man. Homer looks upon his gods as made in the likeness of man. A god is always
given due respect by Homer, whenever he refers to any. The gods have unlimited powers and
the contrast is sharp, between the carefree happiness of gods and the suffering of mankind.
Though Zeus is supreme and administers the fate of men, it is doubtful to what extent he is
independent of fate. As Sarpedon, the mortal son of Zeus and a mortal mother, is about to die
at the hands of Patroclus, Zeus wonders whether he should rescue him from death. But
reminded by Hera, his queen, that he cannot save Sarpedon from his doom, which he is
destined to suffer, he allows him to die. Justice and punishment of the transgressor are in
Zeus’ hands, as is mercy. Being more powerful than all the other gods, he is more
compassionate than his fellow Olympians. However, the gods add a sense of fate; the destiny
of humans, happy or tragic, is strengthened by divine interference. The gods themselves have
almost human frailties. Moreover, divine jealousy, anger, everything may be pacified by
prayer and sacrifice. Greek society was founded by gods. Every race traced its descent from a
particular hero, son of a divinity. The Dorians traced their descent from Heracles, the son of
Zeus and the Ionians from Ion, the son of Apollo. The gods and goddesses had children,
whose mothers, or fathers were mortal. The whole society was religious and gods and
goddesses were looked upon with fear and reverence, much as children look upon parents.
Every force of nature is looked upon as the manifestation of a particular god or goddess.
All mysterious power in nature is divine power and prophecy speaks out their intention and

1. Anthropomorphism is the belief that a god resembles a human being in appearance, feelings or behaviour.
25
motivation. For the Greeks the whole of nature; streams, woods, and trees were peopled with
divine spirits.2 In The Iliad, the gods sometimes take part in the fighting. They impart courage
and fighting spirit to individuals and even to armies. They sometimes fight against each
other; Athena against Ares and Aphrodite, Hera against Artemis, and Hephaestus against
Xanthus, fire against water. The last being the only dignified contest. The other fights, such
as when Hera boxes the ears of Artemis, are almost ridiculous. Since gods cannot die, only
men can have true dignity in the battle field through their death-defying courage; “The
perfection of the gods serves as a foil to the tragedy of the human condition” (The Mortal
Hero: An Introduction to Homer’s Iliad, S.L. Schein.)
A god is always directly helping, whenever a person attains exceptional success. Thus,
any outstanding achievement brings out the divinity in man, in this sense. However the gods
lack the tragic seriousness of the human condition, as humans strive for significance in life.
At the same time, compared to divine power, man’s condition is unimportant, with severe
limitations. The art of forecasting the future developed early in Greece. Holy men like
Teiresias and others predicted the future and indicated the shape of things to come. Certain
omens like the flight of birds in a particular direction showed whether conditions were
favourable or not. Before undertaking any venture, the Greeks always consulted seers, who
knew how to interpret omens and signs. They knew the art of determining what will happen
in the future. In other words, they practised divination. All through the Iliad, they sacrifice
animals to propitiate the gods and wait for the right signs before they start anything.
Hecuba stands in front of the horses, crying up at Priam to pour a libation out to Zeus and
pray for a safe return from all their mortal enemies, seeing he is dead set on going down to
the ships, against her will.
Pray for a bird of omen, Zeus’s wind-swift messenger, the dearest bird in the
world to his prophetic heart, the strongest thing on wings-clear on the right so
you can see that sign with your own eyes ... But if far seeing Zeus does not send
you that sign, his own messenger – then I urge you, beg you, don’t go down to
the ships.
Priam prayed and offered libation to Zeus.
Zeus in all his wisdom heard that prayer and straight away the Father
launched an eagle truest of Zeus’s signs that fly the skies ... flashing clear on the
right before the king and queen. All looked up, overjoyed – the people’s spirits
lifted.
(Book 24, Achilles and Priam)

2. Lakes, springs, and fountains were the abode of the nymphs, the Oreades stayed in mountains and caves,
Pan was the god of flocks and shepherds. Zeus was the ruler of the sky, Demeter of the earth, and Poseidon
of the sea whereas Hades ruled the underworld. Nature was ordered and the gods too had to obey their
supremo, Zeus.

26
 The abovementioned example is one of many in the Iliad where every important task is
commenced by offering sacrifices and libations to gods.
It was common practice in classical Greece to consult seers and Oracles for the
interpretation of incidents and directions for future course of action.
Oracles
An oracle was a divine announcement, revealed through any person or agency believed to be
in communication with a deity. Such oracles were firmly believed in by the people of ancient
Greece. There were men and women in ancient Greece, who claimed inspiration and
clairvoyance. The most famous oracle in Greece was that of Apollo at Delphi.
Three priestesses, each at least fifty years of age,

. . . were trained to consult Apollo through the medium of a trance. From a

hollow in the earth below the temple came a peculiar gas, ascribed to the eternal
decomposition of the python that Apollo had slain there: the officiating
priestess, called Pythia took her seat on a high tripod over this cleft, inhaled this
divine stench, chewed narcotic laurel leaves, fell into delirium and convulsions,
and thus inspired, uttered incoherent words which the priests translated to the
people. Very often the final reply admitted of diverse, even contrary
interpretations, so that the infallibility of the oracle was maintained whatever
the event. Possibly the priests were no less puppets than the priestesses.
Sometimes they accepted bribes and in most cases the voice of the oracle
harmonized melodiously with the dominant influence in Greece. Nevertheless,
where external powers did not constrain them, the priests taught valuable
lessons of moderation and political wisdom to the Greeks ... they aided the
establishment of law, encouraged the manumission (liberation) of slaves and
bought many slaves in order to give them liberty. They were not in advance of
Greek thought, but they did not hinder it by doctrinal intolerance. They gave a
helpful supernatural sanction to necessary Greek policies and provided some
degree of international conscience and moral unity for the scattered cities of
Greece.
(Will Durant, The Life of Greece. p.198)
It is a feature of epic composition that the poet prepares for every important
throng of events in advance by means of prophecies, portents, debates, and
proposals decisions of the gods.
(M.L. West, ‘Homeric and Hesiodic poetry’, Ancient Greek Literature.
p.16)

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 The end of the first book makes it clear that Achilles will get back full honour, as Zeus
promises. The wrath of Achilles, with which the epic starts, ends in reconciliation and
Hector’s death, as foretold. Achilles’s death is also envisaged, though the epic ends before it.
Hector has foreboding of Andromache being led away to slavery.

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 5. The Epic Similes

The epic similes are prolonged similes to fit the epic, a prolonged poem. They are one of the
best features of The Iliad. These similes always portray the normal world of ordinary
activities and natural way, compared and contrasted with the ways of the heroes and the
warlike ways of the protagonists. This form of the simile has been used from Homer to
Virgil, Dante, and Milton. These similes suit the grandeur of treatment and magnificence of
the epics’ themes. Some of the similes of the Iliad are noted here. Read this description of the
assembly of the Achaeans in Book 2;
Rank and file streamed behind and rushed like swarms of bees pouring out of a
rocky hollow, burst on endless burst bunched in clusters seething over the first
spring blooms, dark hordes swirling into the air, this way, that way so the many
armed platoons from the ships and tents/come marching on close file along the
deep wide beach/to crowd the meeting grounds. (103-110)
The full impact of the scene is brought out vividly through these similes; “The action of
the poem halts as it were, and the poet proceeds to paint a whole scene that is magically
powerful”. This simile brings together the world of hordes of warriors, and the close flying of
the natural order of bees; the everyday phenomenon brings about a clue to the war like
situation reflected in the coming together of the Greek soldiers. The similes portray scenes
that bring out particular episodes, events and situations, vividly before our eyes. The poet
wants us to savour life in all its many- sided splendour. The full impact of a particular
episode is brought about by a simile illuminating the whole scene. These similes are, so to
say, islands of calm in an ocean of turbulence. Take for example this one from book 17.
There he lay/like an olive slip a farmer rears to strength on a lonely hill top,
drenching it down with water, a fine young stripling tree, and the winds stir it
softly, rustling from every side, and it bursts with silver shoots – then suddenly a
wind in gale force comes storming, rips it out of its trench, stretches it out on the
earth.
Or the one in book 18; “And the crippled smith brought all his art to bear on a dancing
circle, broad as the circle Daedalus once laid out on Cnossos’ spacious fields for Ariadne, the
girl with lustrous hair.”
Or the one in Book 11; “wild as a swollen river hurtling down on the flats, / down from
the hills in winter spate, bursting its banks / with rain from storming Zeus, and stands of good
dry oak, whole forests of pine it whorls into itself and sweeps along till it heaves a crashing
mass of driftwood out to sea.” (Lines 580-585)

All these similes are detailed descriptions of natural phenomena, miniatures by

themselves. The similes bring out the actions and movement as they get etched out in the
reader’s and listener’s consciousness. Various dimension of a particular action, sought to be

29
illustrated through the similes, make the poem interesting and totally absorbing. The
comparison in a Homeric simile, of an object or action or event with another one is developed
beyond the specific points of comparison between the two. The simile brings out effectively,
a particular event or a scene. The scene is described through the simile. As at the same time it
shows the poet’s power of observation, providing us with a significant explanation of the
episode it seeks to illustrate. The following example shows what the epic poet wants to speak
about; the divine attitude to deal with mortals from book 15.
Holding formation now the Trojans rolled across it, Apollo heading them,
gripping the awesome storm-shield and he tore that Argive rampart down with
the same ease some boy at the seashore knocks sand castles down he no sooner
builds his playthings up, child’s play, than he wrecks them all with hands and
kicking feet just for the sport of it. God of the wild cry Apollo so you wrecked
the Achaeans’ work and drove the men who had built it up with all that grief and
labour into headlong panic rout.
The simile shows not only the supernatural power of the immortal god but also the
indifference that the divines have towards human labour and feelings. For the god Apollo it is
child’s play to destroy human endeavour, with little or no qualm with regard to it, as children.
The epic simile gives us the picture of man and his efforts to be nothing more than toys to the
all-powerful gods. It reminds us of Shakespeare’s lines written centuries after the Iliad; “as
files to wanton boys/ we to the gods, they kill us for their sport.” The epic simile stirs us
emotionally, sometimes for contemplation, sometimes simply to have pleasure in the
magnificent beauty of its presentation.
Description of character is vividly made through these similes. In book 20 Homer paints
Achilles as a force of sheer destructive energy; inhuman, both physically and ethically (See
lines - 554-560 Book 20, page 519); also (page 519, lines 560-572). The images on the new
shield made by Hephaestus for Achilles are related to one another, describing human reality.
It is filled with scenes of joy and fruitfulness of life and also its conflicts and sorrows. It will
be admired by all the men who see it. Says its maker, “both the poem and the shield are
transformations of human experience into sublime art.” The tragically significant pattern of
the shield is, in brief encompass, the pattern of the Iliad.

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