Iliad 10, 11, 12

Iliad 10
I was struck by the lineage of the helmet given to Odysseus. It is interesting how important this is. Why did Diomedes get the lame skullcap though? Poor spy sent by the Trojans... why was it bad that he had 5 sisters? Apparently, this made him less manly. Had he brothers, would this have made him a great warrior? Interesting notions of masculinity in this epic. Spy vs. Spy in this chapter. We find that the Greeks score a victory in this one. The Trojans give up a lot of information, lots of warriors and a spy.

Iliad 11
This very long chapter unfolds the death of many warriors on both sides, and the wounding of many of the Greeks. Most of the main characters on this side take some kind of wound. Everyone hates Paris still, and a plot is set in motion by Hector to send someone looking like Paris out so the Greeks will continue fighting. I wasn't sure what this plan was about. I was amazed by how much fighting there was in this chapter. I think it was one of the longest so far. Does Nestor want them to continue fighting? It seems this war must take its course until the bitter end.

Iliad 12
Though it is only a wall they are fighting at, it vaguely reminded me of the battle of Helm's Deep from the Two Towers. I was amazed at how well the Greeks held out the wall. I am struck by the fact that they are indeed the better fighters and had it not been for the interventions of the gods, they would have already won the war. It seems like every time some Trojan is about to get killed, they are saved just in time by some merciful god. It makes me dislike the will of these gods. Paris should just have relinquished Helen. He should have let it go, he stole some other guy's wife, but he is proud and arrogant. Finally, after many interventions from Zeus, it seems that Hector is finally able to attack and break though the wall. It will be interesting to see what happens next. It was funny in the beginning when they told of the fate of the wall, which was built against the will of the gods, and how it was later destroyed after the war was over. Ultimately, nothing man can do can go against the will of the gods forever it would seem in Greek myth.

Iliad 7, 8, 9

Iliad 7
I was struck by how the Greeks and Trojans fight in such a corporate way. They agree to pause the battle for deciding one on one battles, and also give each other time to bury the dead. I wonder if battles were ever really fought like this? It seems so strange that the gods always intervene in the one on one combats. Why can't they just let the warriors decide the fate for themselves? The answer is admitted even by the Greeks, that the gods decide the outcomes, not men. In some ways, it reminds me of Calvinism. The civilizations are fated and on a course by providence. However, it is much different having the will of one God decide instead of multiple gods, since multiple gods never seem to be in agreement and are in various states of giving into each other's desires for the destiny of men. Yet, perhaps it all comes back to the will of Zeus being done.

Iliad 8
This section answered my question that the will of Zeus will be done despite the others gods meddling, though they will meddle. Hector is an obvious indicator of divine protection as arrows that should have hit him spin off to hit others. While men are able to have mercy from Zeus, ultimately his will is accomplished it seems.

Iliad 9
And so commences a long dialogue of with Achilles and those who would convince him to do what they would have him do. It would seem Achilles would not be happy with any compensation to come and fight in the war. He doesn't believe in it, I'm not exactly sure why. I think it's because this is Agamemnon's war and Agamemnon was a jerk to Achilles. Achilles is still in love with Helen though, and his life sucks because of it.

Iliad 4, 5, 6

Iliad 4
Once again, the gods are bickering and meddling in the war. Though the ultimate will of Zeus seems that it will be done, there are still favorites among the two sides and each god will attempt to favor and help their favorite humans. This explains why some fall in combat earlier than others. Athena comes down in a comet like Superman to meddle. Menelaus nearly falls from the hand of a Trojan, but is saved by Athena and his armor, though he manages to take a wound.

There is a great deal of rallying of the troops. Interesting was Nestor's tactic of placing the fearful men between the front and the back so that they had to fight.

With the rallying of the armies, the bloodbath commences with the clash of the two armies at the front line, and so we are given an account of the first to fall in the war.

Iliad 5
In this chapter, we see Diomedes go on a rampage and wipe out a lot of Trojans. It seems he is rewarded for obedience to the gods. He pulls back when Ares is sent into combat though he could have continued the fight, but did so in respect to commands. Later, he is given permission and slays Ares.

Diomedes lays waste to many of the greatest Trojans and even wounds 1 god and kills another (at least in earthly form, who then goes to be with Zeus). Of course, he does this with the aid of divine help. However, he cannot kill Aeneas, who Aphrodite comes to protect, though she is wounded by Diomedes with Athena's permission. The bickering of the women goddesses over beauty continues ever on to the bloodshed of armies.

We see Agamemnon fighting, so maybe he isn't as wimpy as Achilles claimed. Menelaus is saved from certain death a few times over if I remember correctly. It's good to be favored by the gods in this epic.

It seems most significant in this passage that men can actually destroy certain gods and control their own destiny to some extent. Whether they can influence Zeus or not remains to be seen. However, at least in the sense of the minor gods, there seems to be some freewill among men in their destinies.

Iliad 6
More deaths occur, but an interesting exchange takes place between Glaucus and Diomedes. They find that they have a bond of friendship from past encounters, and as a result, swap armor as a sign. There is foreshadowing of the consequence of this, however, since Diomedes ends up with the better armor. This seems to have been willed again by the gods.

We are given a scene of the Trojan home front where Hector attempts to rally Paris, who apparently is staying home resting, out of the battle. Helen attempts to lure Hector to rest for a while, but he is off after saying goodbye to his wife and children, in a sad scene. “Death before dishonor” seems to be the main theme here, as he regrets going off to die in war and have his wife dragged off in slavery, but knows that this is the most honorable alternative and would rather die trying to prevent it than live to see it.

Paris finally joins the battle, but we still get the impression he is a lazy sod. It will be interesting to see how the bloodbath turns out in the next, “Read the Epic”!

Iliad 1, 2, 3

Iliad 1
The main characters in this chapter, Achilles and Agamemnon, are good foils to each other. Achilles, is strong yet self controlled, a flame that burns bright and fast. Agamemnon is powerful, greedy and arrogant. Achilles is the son of Thetis and Peleus, a descendant of Zeus. However, I was struck that a noble heritage may not guarantee a good character, in the bickering realm of Greek gods. Achilles is also called the runner, and appears to be strong in battle.

Agamemnon is the son of Atreus and is a warlord. He commands though, and does not fight in the front lines, as Achilles taunts him. He makes demands, demands of other's wives. He is proud and arrogant, but he represents the Greeks, who are loved by the gods (some of them anyway). How much of Agamemnon's stupidity can the gods endure?

Apollo already lost his patience at Agamemnon's dishonor of Chryses (the name was interesting, I wondered if it was related to the word crisis). The gods apparently have a heiarchy that is based on strength. The stongest gods are those that are above the others, with Zeus apparently being above all having hands that could mess up another god. It will be interesting to see which gods act the most noble. I already have suspicions about Hera. We'll see.

Iliad 2
The gods stir up war. Zeus sends the Greeks to fight the Trojans and warns the Trojans about what is coming. Some of the gods try to deter the fight and slow things down, but to no avail, the stubbornness in the heart of Agamemnon has been stirred and the lines are drawn. There are some mixed poems in with the prose which I assume are prophecies from an oracle. Those who spoke out against the war were thrown down, literally, and not allowed to speak up.

The second half of the book contains a listing of the commanders of the massive fleets and the cities they were from. It helps to set the stage for the immensity of the battle that is coming. Achilles is still having a hard time dealing with the loss of his woman, and his armies as well are having a hard time, especially with his absence. Zeus has willed a battle into being and it's about to explode.

Iliad 3
The two armies stand on the brink of war. Two warriors step out to confront each other but one shies away upon seeing the other. The two warriors have some history apparently, Paris has Menelaus's former wife, Helen. She apparently misses her old husband. Was there a prequel to this epic I'm missing out on? I'm sure there is a very obvious answer, but I'm coming into this very in media res.
So the two sides set down their forces for a one on one combat.

On a different note, I was struck by the description of Agamemnon: he is born into power and wealth, blessed by the hods, commands hundreds of armies... yet, he is arrogant and warmongering. Enough is not enough for him, he must have more. What does power do to people? Does it corrupt them absolutely, as the old maximum goes, or does it “attract the corruptible”, in the words of Frank Herbert. Either way, has Agamemnon been corrupted? And what of Troy and Hector? I want to know their stories as well.

The fight doesn't end the war though, thanks to the will of the gods. Neither Zeus blesses this nor does Aphrodite approve, who then goes to meddle (rather obviously) by whisking Paris away as he is getting beat down. Paris seems to not have much honor, but goes with Aphrodite's plan and ignores the battle he himself had called for. Both Troy and Greece seem to hate him now. Will Agamemnon's proclamation of victory be enough to end the war? I doubt so. We will find out, however, in the next installment of, “Read the Epic!”

Reading the Epic, Book One: Iliad, Homer

Welcome to “Read the Epic”. I'm going to be reading through several Western World Epics and posting my reading responses as I go along. I'm in a class at Boise State University called, “The Epic in Western World Literature” so I will be moving through several of these epics in the course of a semester. That means: lots of updates! You can read along if you like, and it should be a fun journey.

The first book is, “The Iliad”.

We will be using this translation as soon as it arrives in the mail. Until then, I'm using this one. You can find a free PDF version (translator may vary) here at Manybooks, or here at Google books.