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”!
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”!
posted by DCZX at 8:37 AM
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