The Iliad of Homer

by Richmond Lattimore

  690 Nestor starts, like an epic poet, in the middle of things, with his glorious return (685). We can reconstruct earlier events: Herakles devastated the house of Neleus in Pylos. The men of Elis (the Epeians) took advantage of this to raid the city. Then or later, they perpetrated other abuses, such as taking Neleus’ racing chariot and team. Some time later, the Pylians conducted a cattle raid to recover damages and with the young Nestor successfully brought home many goods; three days thereafter the Epeians counterattacked, the Pylians mustered, and Nestor won glory in battle.

  749 The Moliones were said by other ancient sources (Hesiod, fr. 18, MW) to be Siamese twins, but this is not clear from the Homeric description and, if known, may have been suppressed, as are other monstrous or fantastic elements.

  763 Nestor makes the point of the story the contrast between his own fight for the Pylian community versus Achilleus’ selfish isolation.

  797 Ironically, in the parable, Nestor’s father had not allowed him to wear armor; Nestor now by quoting Patroklos’ father (785–86) lures the younger man into asking for Achilleus’ armor—a fatal suggestion.

  843 The picture of Patroklos tending expertly to the wound of Eurypylos anticipates his role as potential savior of the Greeks, healing and battle being conceived as in many ways analogous crafts. See R. P. Martin, Healing, Sacrifice and Battle: Amechania and Related Concepts in Early Greek Poetry (Innsbruck, 1983).

  BOOK TWELVE

  1 The already perilous situation, culminating in the wounding of Greek leaders in the previous book, becomes more ominous with the reminder that the Greeks constructed their wall irreverently. But the long-distance foreshadowing goes beyond the current setbacks in battle and even the fall of Troy, becoming instead a reminder of the fragility of all mortal things, from the gods’ view. The distant scene, now looked back upon from the poet’s day, recalls Greek and Near Eastern stories of a primeval flood that wiped out earlier periods of civilization.

  145 With the sustained attack on its wall, the Greek camp comes to resemble a miniature Troy, a defensive site, enabling the audience to imagine the ineffectiveness of a Greek assault on the much sturdier and taller city ramparts.

  167 Unusually, a character employs a full-scale Homeric simile in his own speech, during battle.

  175 The basic scenario of simultaneous attack on multiple gates may owe something to the story of the Seven against Thebes, the gates of which were attacked by as many companies of warriors with their champions. Such a complex scene is intrinsically challenging for the omniscient narrator, as the poet goes on to say (176), but it may have provided a tour de force exhibition of compositional skill.

  195 From the ill fate of the division under Asios—the most reckless ally in the attack—the focus moves to Hektor, usually the most sensible. The mood of near victory and its unbearable tension is encapsulated in Hektor’s response to Poulydamas’ counsel of caution. Favored as he thinks he is by Zeus, Hektor scorns omens. The striking line 243 (“One bird sign is best . . . ”) was a favorite in antiquity: Pliny the Younger recalls (Letter 1.18.3) how as an eighteen-year-old apprentice Roman lawyer (in 80 AD), he plucked up his courage with this sentiment. Teachers of rhetoric in the fourth century AD were still urging pupils to make use of the maxim.

  310 The most explicit expression in Homer of a heroic contract: Sarpedon reminds his cousin of the warrior’s obligation to fight in the front line in exchange for community support and special treatment. The point of 323 seems to be that such regard continues after the fighter’s death. The word temenos (“piece of land”: 313) can designate a plot set aside as a gift, but also (and primarily, in post-Homeric Greek) a sacred precinct for a god or hero. The latter were worshiped in cults with dedications of wine and other liquids, and animal sacrifice (cf. 319, of the living). In addition to outlining the economy of heroism, Sarpedon implies that war itself is a non-zero-sum game in which one can get glory by slaying but also give it by being slain.

  391 So powerful are words as a kind of ammunition in battle that enemies avoid even the appearance of weakness lest the other side boast. The word translated “glory” at 328 means literally “a boast” (eukhos), and shares the root of the verb translated at 391 as “vaunt.”

  445 The exaggerated strength of heroes increases with the ferocity of the attack: at 380, Aias hefts a stone such as no man nowadays might grasp with two hands. Now Hektor pries one loose that would take two ordinary men (with a wagon) to lift. As if on second thought, the poet adds that Zeus made the rock lighter (450)—but leading ancient scholars rejected the additional line.

  462 At the poem’s midpoint, the darkest moment of the Greeks’ situation is embodied in the ambiguous figure of Hektor, bursting through the defensive wall, like blazing fire but also swift night.

  BOOK THIRTEEN

  4 Zeus turns aside to gaze at peoples to the north, who were to the Greeks distant and semibarbarous. Thracian territory overlaps the border between current Greece and Turkey; Mysians lived in today’s Bulgaria (though the Catalogue of Trojan Allies knows of a another branch: 2.858); Hippomolgoi (the “horse milker”) and the Abioi (whose name was interpreted as “without violence”) were associated with lands the Classical Greeks knew as Scythia (now the Ukraine and southern Russia). The righteousness of these tribes accords with the mythical notion that peoples furthest removed in time or space from current civilization are least damaged by its problems.

  13 “Thracian” Samos (later “Samothrace”), in the northern Aegean forty miles northwest of Troy, was so called to distinguish it from the Greek island Samos that lies to the south, off the coast near modern Kusadasi. The island was a center of the worship of the Great Mother of importance to sailors throughout antiquity. The mountain on which Poseidon sits, 5,250 feet tall, in fact offers a full view of the Trojan plain—evidence that this portion of the poem must be based on someone’s personal observation of landscape.

  54 Although the audience has not heard Hektor make this boast, his actions and words from book 7 onward could lead one to interpret his behavior as hubristic in this way.

  71 A fleeting reference to the gods’ slight differences in appearance: even when disguised they can be bigger, heavier (cf. 5.838), or more lovely (3.396), and even, as it seems here, have distinctive legs (or perhaps gait). The idea that gods are conspicuous goes against the sense of book 5, where Athene had to grant Diomedes special power to perceive them.

  108 Poseidon/Kalchas interprets the quarrel from Achilleus’ point of view, and the “weakness” refers to Agamemnon. But he still urges courage on the part of the troops. The “healing” of the rift between fighters (or of their slackness in battle—an ambiguity) foregrounds the theme that is associated with the saving action of Patroklos: see 11.843.

  203 Decapitation is unusual and here shows the height of the Greeks’ despair and grief. Achilleus, bereaved of Patroklos, vows to bring back Hektor’s head (18.334). Ethnographers record that modern headhunters (e.g., among the Ilongot of the Philippines) are often motivated by grief and anger at the deaths of friends: see R. Rosaldo, “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage,” in Violence in War and Peace, ed. N. Scheper-Hughes and P. Bourgois, 150–56 (Malden, MA, 2004).

  206 Poseidon’s grandson is Amphimachos (185), son of Kteatos (whose mortal father was Aktor, but whose actual father was the sea god).

  278 One of the clusters of details in the poem that convince an audience the composer has seen men in war.

  301 Ares is associated with the half-wild land of Thrace. The Ephyroi and Phlegyes (named for Phlegyas, a son of Ares) are Greek tribes associated with Thessaly.

  324 The rating of Aias as Achilleus’ equal in a fight (though not in a race) coheres with the tradition that he was deserving of Achilleus’ armor after the hero’s death. The story of his defeat by Odysseus and subsequent suicide was part of the Cyclic Little Iliad and is dramatized in the Ajax of Sophocles.

  374 Harsh sarcasm from Idomeneus comes as a surprise, but book 13 has already fea
tured the roughest war-making. At the same time, it is interspersed with delicate and carefully observed arboreal similes (178, 389).

  414 A triple phonic echo makes it sound as if Deïphobos is punning: Asios is not un-avenged (atitos) as he goes to the house of Hades (Aïdos).

  435 Poseidon’s spell is unparalleled as a form of divine intervention in the battle thus far. The closest scene to this is 16.791 (Apollo strikes Patroklos), but only here is there the sense that the god puts his victim in a paralyzed trance by visual contact. The ensuing death ends with the equally bizarre image of Alkathoös’ heartbeat causing the spear butt to pulsate (443).

  450 The Cretan king Minos, a son of Zeus, was keeper, in the famous labyrinth, of the Minotaur, a bull-headed human-bodied monster that met its end at the hands of the Athenian hero Theseus.

  460 The theme of heroic anger against a superior (like that of Achilleus) was suggested (perhaps inadvertently) in the case of another Trojan, Paris (6.326). Here it seems to involve an actual rivalry between branches of the royal house.

  521 Gods are not omniscient but must learn, like mortals, over time. The pathos of late-learning about a family death recalls the narrator’s observation (3.236) concerning Helen’s ignorance of the fate of her brothers Kastor and Polydeukes.

  603 Still not fully explained, the narrator’s second-person address to Menelaos (thus treated seven times, compared to eight times for Patroklos) may depend on a perceived sympathy with the loser in the story of Helen’s abduction. Menelaos refers to the offense explicitly (626) in his boast over the body of Peisandros (who is here subjected to one of the gorier deaths in the poem).

  643 Harpalion, son of Pylaimenes the king, is followed by his father while carried wounded from the field. A minor mistake seems to have occurred, since an identically named man, also identified as king of the Paphlagonians, was slain by Menelaos at 5.576. The missing blood price (659) underscores the pathos of the situation: a son might avenge his father in war by killing, or by taking recompense in peace, but the aging father is unable to do so for his off spring.

  665 A grimmer version of Achilleus’ choice (9.410). Euchenor can have death by disease or by war; at least the latter relieves him of paying a fine (apparently levied on war dodgers: see 23.296 on Echepolos).

  681 Protesilaos (see the Catalogue of Ships, 2.698) was first to be killed when the Greeks landed at Troy, having leapt from his ship to shore. His ship is thus located farthest up the beach, as it arrived earliest.

  685 The “Ionians” sounds anachronistic, as Ionia (the west coast of Asia Minor as far north as Smyrna) was not settled by Greeks until some two centuries after the time of the Trojan war. But here they are identical to the Athenians, an accurate memory of the fact that many early colonists hailed from that city. The Phthians come from the broader region around the homeland of Achilleus, while his troops are specifically Myrmidons. These, by contrast, are led by Podarkes (“swift-footed”—a name that happens to be an epithet of the great hero).

  730 The principle of diversity of divine gifts underlies the characterization of heroes on both sides. Achilleus has fighting power, but Patroklos has greater wisdom, a pairing like that of Hektor and Poulydamas. It is interesting that dance as a skill is kept separate from the playing and singing of music (treated together).

  747 The imminent reentry of Achilleus is a real possibility for the audience as well, since we have heard him pledge to return when Trojan fire reaches his ships (9.651).

  754 The comparison to a mountain does not suit rapid movement, but perhaps alludes to the towering presence of the warrior (cf. Od. 9.190), while the gleam of his armor matches the dazzling snow.

  825 This exaggerated rhetorical expression, like that of 8.539, is not in itself impious but manages to associate Hektor with a high ambition bordering on the wish for deification.

  BOOK FOURTEEN

  16 The simile is remarkable because the powerful image of sea and wind—usually describing the actual movement of armies—is here transferred to Nestor’s mental and emotional turmoil as he decides on his direction.

  83 The exchange encapsulates both Agamemnon’s feckless decisions and Odysseus’ capacity for enduring long pain (as he will over the next decade). The reference to their lifelong war careers underlines the exceptional nature of this siege: no amateurs, they have nevertheless spent nine years in an assault.

  113 Diomedes’ growth as warrior and speaker is given yet another nod. As usual, the theme of his father’s exploits arises. We learn yet more detail: that Tydeus is buried at Thebes and had once moved from Aitolia to Argos.

  132 The men who “favored their anger” are probably the Myrmidons. The subsequent swipe at Achilleus by the disguised Poseidon (141) is meant to keep in view the overarching problem that has brought the Greeks to this crisis.

  170 Hera’s anger leads her to use sex as a weapon. The extended scene of preparation is therefore the functional equivalent of a warrior’s arming scene.

  201 Tethys and Okeanos as foster parents of Hera are not known from the mainstream Hesiodic version of early divine history, but as Hera’s discourse in general here is deceptive, this detail, too, could be a purely mythical construction. Another possibility is that she refers to a creation story otherwise only hinted at in some Greek versions (cf. Plato, Cratylus, 402b) and possibly influenced by Babylonian myths that name gods of fresh and salt water as the primal elements.

  250 On Herakles’ sack of Troy in the previous generation, see 5.638–51. Zeus punished Hera by dangling her with anvils attached to her feet from Olympos (15.18–24), the incident mentioned by Hephaistos (1.590), who was punished in turn when he sought to rescue his mother.

  271 On swearing an oath to confirm the promise of a prize, see 10.321. Hera’s cosmic witnesses include the previous generation of divinities, now imagined as confined to Tartaros. The penalty for a god breaking an oath sworn by Styx is to lie in a death-like trance for one year and spend the next nine cut off from the company of the Olympians (Theogony 738).

  291 The gods’ term is transparent and poetic (chalkis, “the brazen bird”), while the human term is without obvious etymology. For similar alternative names, see Hektor’s son Astyanax/Skamandrios (6.402) and the river Xanthos/Skamandros (20.74).

  317 The Catalogue of Loves provides a humorous diversion for the audience but seems somewhat uncouth as love talk to one’s wife and sister. It is perhaps another power play by Zeus to remind Hera of his supreme will. The daughter of Phoinix is Europa, abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull. Zeus omits the detail that Semele was incinerated when she persuaded him to appear in all his glory and Dionysos was rescued from her womb. Demeter was mother of Persephonē, Leto of the twins Artemis and Apollo.

  346 The marvelous growth and dew underscore the cosmic fertility brought about by this sacred marriage (“hierogamy”), which can be paralleled in many myths worldwide.

  392 Reality in the narrative (the encroaching sea) turns immediately into simile (the sound of battle is louder than the surf’s roar).

  473 Aias’ knowledge of his enemy’s identity and kin is authentic enough, in view of the nine-year struggle during which both sides had time to become intimately acquainted.

  497 The goriness of this killing, culminating in a horrific exhibition and taunt, reinforces the feeling that all boundaries to the excesses of war have been removed. The ferocious cycle accelerates as men kill in order to avenge their comrades.

  518 The life force (psykhê) escaping through a wound is an unusually specific anatomical detail within the poem’s conventions for the representation of death.

  BOOK FIFTEEN

  26 Hera was constantly opposed to Herakles (whose name ironically means “glory of Hera”) out of jealousy that Zeus had produced such a champion with a mortal woman. The further story of how she made Herakles subordinate to his cousin Eurystheus is told in 19.96.

  64 Zeus’ commands to his fellow gods shift into a foretelling of the plot, covering the main point
s of books 16 through 22: Achilleus’ dispatch of Patroklos; that hero’s death soon after Sarpedon’s; and the subsequent killing of Hektor. Even the fall of Troy is reaffirmed—a point beyond the Iliad.

  112 Askalaphos was killed without Ares’ knowledge (13.518). The gesture of smacking the thighs with the palms portends imminent death (e.g., 16.125; and see S. Lowenstam, The Death of Patroklos: A Study in Typology [Königstein/Ts., 1981]). The death of a god’s son (cf. the similar scene of Sarpedon’s killing in book 16) shows how the fear of dissent on Olympos is what determines mortals’ fates.

  165 The unwillingness of Zeus to brook a rival who would declare himself equal echoes Agamemnon’s problem with Achilleus (1.186), while the reminder that he is stronger “in authority” (pherteros, which Lattimore translates “in strength”) uses the same word that describes Agamemnon’s claim to power.

  189 The triple division of the cosmos is not stressed in Hesiod’s Theogony, focused as it is on the story of Zeus’ rise to power. The motif, however, is ancient, found in Near Eastern myths.

  204 On the Erinys see 9.454.

  214 This is the first indication of which side Hermes and Hephaistos favor in the conflict. Unlike Hera, Athene, Aphrodite, and Poseidon, they have limited participation.

  229 The aegis, used by Zeus and Athene, is thought of as a tasseled goatskin, perhaps shield-shaped, with magical power to stun and terrify. Most likely an ancient sign of Zeus’ sovereignty, it may be related to the word for “heartwood” (also aigis in Greek) and thus to the god’s sacred oak, the goatskin explanation (from “goat,” aix) being a later reinterpretation.

  263 Two similes mark the crucial reentry of Hektor—he is like a liberated steed, then like a lion—with no sense of incongruity, the emotional association of each image overriding linear sense, and the viewpoint varying in line with his own subjective feeling versus the way he is perceived by the Greeks as an object of terror.