Summary

The Illiad
Book 1:
Summary:
The Iliad begins with the Trojan War already in progress. Greek audiences would have been familiar with the background of the story, and here a brief summary of events is necessary to help the reader to put these events in context. It is important to remember that these stories had a life outside of Homer: he did not invent his characters or the main events of the epic. He did make key choices regarding which events and characters were to be emphasized and reinterpreted. The Iliad focuses on events that take place in the tenth year of the Trojan War. Myth, in constant retelling, changes its form constantly. The myths have some elements that are very familiar to modern readers but were unknown or ignored by Homer. For example, a widely known story holds that Achilles was immortal, except for his heel. But although Homer's Achilles is an unmatched warrior, not once in the Iliad does Homer present Achilles as more or less vulnerable than anyone else; either the story was a later addition or Homer chose to ignore it. The myths Homer drew on for his tale had many variants, so in giving the background outside of Homer's text this study guide will try to present only the most fundamental elements of the story of Troy. Paris, also known as Alexander, was a prince of Troy, a kingdom in Asia Minor. During his travels, he was a guest of Menelaus, a king in Sparta. Menelaus' wife was Helen, a woman of legendary beauty; she and Paris fell in love and he took her with him back to Troy. The rulers of the Greek kingdoms raised a powerful army and a fleet of over a thousand ships to win back Helen with strength of arms. Led by Agamemnon, Menelaus' older brother, the Greeks (called "Achaeans" or "Argives" or "Danaans" throughout the poem) sailed for Troy and began a war that was destined to last for ten long years.
In the tenth and final year of the Trojan War, the fighting is temporarily stalemated. While on a previous raid, Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the Achaean forces, has taken as plunder the beautiful girl Chryseis. Chryseis' father, Chryses, is a priest of the god Apollo. Chryses pays a visit to Agamemnon, treating him with great respect and courtesy and offering an opulent ransom in exchange for the freedom of his daughter. Although the Achaeans cry out their approval for Chryses' request, Agamemnon refuses to grant it. He threatens to kill Chryses if the priest should ever come into Agamemnon's presence again. Chryses flees, but he prays to Apollo for vengeance and justice. The god, angered by Agamemnon's disrespect for his priest, rains arrows on the Achaeans. The result is a horrible plague, as men and animals die mysteriously for nine days.
On the tenth day, Achilles calls the Greeks to assembly, the idea put into his head by the goddess Hera, who sides with the Achaeans against Troy. Achilles asks for some prophet or seer to tell them what has caused the plague and what must be done to end it. Calchas, a great prophet, says that he knows the answer, but he makes Achilles vow to protect him once he has revealed it. Achilles vows, and Calchas tells them that the plague has been sent by Apollo in punishment for Agamemnon's treatment of Chryses. To atone for the sin, the Achaeans must give Chryseis back without accepting any ransom and in addition they must give a hundred sacred bulls to Chryses for sacrifice. Agamemnon is furious with Calchas, saying that the seer enjoys delivering evil prophecies, but the king agrees to give up the girl. He insists, however, that one of the Achaeans give him a prize to compensate him for his loss.
Achilles is enraged by the request. The plunder has already been distributed, he argues, and a good man does not take back what he has given. Agamemnon and Achilles argue, each man insulting the other. Agamemnon threatens to take a prize if one is not given to him, and Achilles reminds him that all of the Achaeans are fighting against foes who have only wronged Menelaus. For the sake of the two royal brothers, the Argives bloody their hands against men who have done them no wrong. Achilles also complains that though he bears the heaviest burden in battle, it is the king who is always greedy for prizes. Achilles refuses to fight anymore: he will go home to Phthia. Agamemnon responds that to compensate for the loss of Chryseis, he will take Achilles' own prize, the girl Briseis.
Because of this dishonor, anger seizes Achilles and he strides toward Agamemnon to kill him. Hera sends the goddess Athena to stop him. Only Achilles can see Athena, who tells him not to kill the king. She promises that Achilles will be justly compensated for this great dishonor. Achilles obeys her, but he vows to Agamemnon that one day the Achaeans will come begging Achilles for help. They will need his protection from Hector, the greatest of the Trojan warriors, and Agamemnon will regret his pride.
Nestor, oldest of the Achaean kings, rises and tells the two men that they must listen to him, because he is old and has lived and fought with warriors greater than any now living. He asks Agamemnon not to take Briseis, Achilles' fairly won prize, and he tells Achilles that he must respect Agamemnon's position as commander-in-chief.
His words are lost on the two men. Achilles returns to his ships with his companion Patroclus. The Achaeans send the ships to make the sacrifice, with Odysseus in charge of the expedition. Meanwhile, Agamemnon sends men to fetch Briseis, who is given up without a fight‹Achilles does not resist because the girl was a gift distributed by Agamemnon and the great warrior feels it is not his place to refuse the king. But Achilles is humiliated, and he calls on his mother, the goddess Thetis; she hears him and emerges from her home in the sea. He weeps and asks his mother to help him to win justice. Zeus is in Thetis' debt; in a revolt of the gods in which Zeus was nearly defeated, only Thetis' intervention saved him. Achilles tells her what has happened and asks Thetis to go as a suppliant to Zeus, to ask him to intervene so that the Achaeans might know suffering as long as Achilles does not fight. Thetis responds with sadness. She tells her son that he is destined to die young and with great sorrow, but she agrees to do as he asks. The gods are away for feasting in Ethiopia, but they will return soon and Thetis will make her plea then.
Meanwhile, Odysseus delivers Chryseis back to her father and helps the priest to make the sacrifice. Chryses prays to Apollo to stop the plague; the god is appeased. The Achaeans who sailed on the ships bringing the sacred bulls now feast on the meat left over after the sacrifice. The men return to the front, where Achilles is still withdrawn into his ship, refusing to fight.
The gods return to Olympus and Thetis clasps Zeus' knees‹the position of a supplicant‹and asks that the Trojan win victory after victory as long as her son does not fight. Zeus is anxious because his wife, Hera, queen of the gods, despises the Trojans and will be furious with him. But he agrees. When he returns to his house, where all the gods are assembled, Hera is waiting in anger for him. She knows that he has seen Thetis, and fears the disasters that might be brought down on the Achaeans if Zeus decides to help bring Achilles honor. The two argue bitterly, until Zeus threatens to harm her, and she takes her place quietly. Hephaestus, god of the forge and child of Zeus and Hera, urges his parents not to fight over the fate of mortals. He wants Hera to obey Zeus because he does not wish to see his mother harmed. He serves the gods sweet nectar to drink, beginning with his mother, and the gods feast and listen to song. As night falls, they return to their beds and sleep, Hera by Zeus's side.
Analysis:
One of the key features of Homer's language is the use of ornamental epithets, labels that accompany the names of heroes, gods, or objects. The epithets are made to fill in the line in a way that fits the poetic meter, dactyllic hexameter, easing the job of the poet by giving him a list of ready-made phrases that can be used according to how many syllables are left on the line. The epithets, some have argued, indicate that Greek oral poetry may have included strong elements of improvisation. A poet would have a wide range of set passages, short phrases and whole mini-narratives, to draw from as he improvised an epic on the spot right in front of an audience. Alternately, the epithets might have made a rehearsed epic easier to remember. Many of these epithets were probably handed down to Homer; it is his skill in using and arranging them, rather than sheer inventiveness, that marks him as a great poet. There are also set phrases, such as "and do battle." For a modern reader, Homer can seem extremely repetitive at times, but repetition here is part of his art. A character might say that he is going to go fight and do battle, even though the statement is repetitive, because the set phrase neatly completes the line. Also, there is a sense in Homer that a good passage can and should be repeated almost in its entirety. When Achiles tells Thetis about what Agamemnon has done to him, he repeats whole passages verbatim.
Some of the epithets include "brilliant," "god-like," or "swift-footed" Achilles; Trojans, "breakers of horses"; "glorious" Hector, "Hector of the shining helm"; "resourceful" or "brilliant" Odysseus; "Zeus of the counsels" or "Zeus of the wide brows." These epithets are generally used to fit the meter rather than the mood of the moment. Achilles may be "swift-footed" even while he is sitting and doing nothing; "laughing" Aphrodite might be furious. While the epithets fit the characters and places in general and sometimes fit the moment beautifully, it is important to remember that meter is often the first consideration for these phrases when it comes to specific moments. If the reader attempts to close-read Homer, he must beware of being misled by set phrases chosen to fit the meter. A good example of a potential misread is when Menelaus and Paris prepare to duel over Helen, and the winner will have the faithless Helen as his "beloved" wife. Irony is probably not intended, because "beloved" goes with "wife" (Lattimore 40). Still, at other times the epithets can and do fit the things they describe quite well. While reading, listen for these patterns and set phrases. These epithets and repetitions create a beautiful rhythm that is part of the pleasure of reading Homer.
The anger of Achilles is at the center of the poem‹the opening line is an invocation of the Muse to "sing of the anger of Peleus' son Achilles." Achilles' rage causes the deaths of many of his friends and fellow soldiers, including his beloved companion Patroclus.
This rage is invoked by pride, a theme of pivotal importance for the Greeks. Pride is the source of the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon in Book 1. The king is angered by what he sees as a challenge to his authority. He is furious at Calchas for indicting Agamemnon as the cause of the plague. Rather than graciously admit his mistake, the king becomes monstrous and demands compensation for what should not have been his in the first place. He knows what he must do for the sake of the army, but he demands recognition of his privileged status as king.
Achilles, in turn, demands recognition of his status as the greatest warrior among the Achaeans. The loss of Briseis is not humiliating because he has any kind of romantic attachment to her. It is humiliating because she was a prize given to Achilles by Agamemnon for valor. When Agamemnon takes her away‹as is his technical right to do, although it clearly violates rules of respect and honorable conduct‹he dishonors Achilles horribly and devalues Achilles' contributions as a warrior. This grave dishonor happens in terms that the Greek audience would have understood. Athena herself calls the king's behavior an "outrage." This insult to Achilles' pride is what causes the great warrior's wrath. The fact that Achilles is fiercely proud does not mean that Achilles is not a great man, because the Greeks understood pride as an inseparable part of a hero's greatness. He is hot-tempered, insubordinate, prizing his honor above the wellbeing of his fellow troops. His wrath is the cause of his own later bitterness‹the bitter end that his mother predicts. But he is also destined to die gloriously, unequaled on the battlefield. The desire to win glory is one of the themes of the Iliad, and it is seen in Achilles choice to win glory instead of long life. Achilles is also courageous, capable of deep feeling, and, unlike most of the characters of the epic, he is eventually transformed by new understanding.
The interplay between gods and men is a complex and important theme throughout the Iliad. Gods intercede constantly. In Book 1 alone, a huge number of divinely influenced events occur. Hera is responsible for Achilles having the idea to call the assembly, Athena stops Achilles from killing Agamemnon, Apollo brings plague on the Achaeans. Gods constantly aid particular warriors. Fate and human will have a paradoxical relationship. Humans undoubtedly make choices‹part of the Iliad's power is that Achilles suffers because of choices that he has made‹but human will must coexist or clash with fate or the will of the gods. No strict theology of will and necessity is put forward by Homer. Humans undoubtedly make choices‹even at moments of divine interference. In Book 1, when Athena stops Achilles from killing Agamemnon, she uses language of persuasion rather than command. At times, all things seem to proceed according to the will of Zeus. But at key points, Zeus himself seems to be subject to the dictates of faith. At other times, human beings seem to act in ways that will overturn fate itself unless the gods intercede. Fagles, the translator of one of the best editions of the Iliad in English, points out that a difficult paradox presents itself for any civilization that believes in both free will (and with it, individual responsibility) and fate (which comes with pattern and thus, meaning) (Fagles 42). Experience seems to require a place in our stories for both concepts, as contradictory as they may be, and the fit is not always easy. Homer does not choose to bind his story within a rigid and unquestioning theology; he is a great storyteller, and like many great storytellers he is not afraid of paradox. On the issues of destiny and will, the Iliad seems to pose questions rather than provide systematic answers to them.
The characteristics of the gods are established in Book 1. All of the gods are incredibly willful, concerned with achieving their goals. Zeus is the ruler, but often by force alone‹when Hera opposes Zeus angrily because of his audience with Thetis, he threatens her with physical harm. We learn that Zeus was once nearly overthrown by Poseidon, Athena, and Hera, and only because of Thetis was he able to escape. His commands are obeyed because he is the strongest of the Olympians, and that has to be reason enough.
But Book 1 ends with Olympus in great harmony, as the gods celebrate with song and feasting, and when they go to bed at night, Hera sleeps peacefully by Zeus's side. There is beautiful symmetry in Book 1 between Olympus and the mortal men below: Book 1 has two feasts that occur in a context of conflict: the first feast is celebrated in the world of men, and the second feast is in the halls of Olympus. Although the Iliad concerns itself with war, there is a love for the world at peace. Moments of harmony are interspersed throughout the epic. For long stretches of Greek history, war was a fact of life. Homer depicts the brutality of war alongside the glory of its heroes. He shows us the suffering that war brings, while providing occasional glimpses of peace and harmony in a poem that is full of violence. There is something poignant in Achilles' pointed accusation of Agamemnon: when Achilles argues that all of the men fight for the sake of Menelaus' dishonor and the glory of Agamemnon, Achilles says that throughout the war he has killed men who have done nothing to him or his home. He speaks of his homeland, the homeland never assaulted by a Trojan, and his words conjure imagery of a kingdom in peacetime. Achilles is a fierce warrior, the best at what he does, and yet here he shows a glimmer not exactly of conscience but of consciousness. He is not, at this moment, an unthinking killing machine. He has some inkling of what it means to kill a man, to snuff out another life, and though he does not reflect on his actions seriously right at this moment, he is at least aware that the men he kills have done him no wrong. This moment may foreshadow the greater understanding of suffering that he reaches by the end of the epic.
Book 6:
Summary:
The brutal fighting continues, with more blow-by-blow description of the battle. At one point, Menelaus overcomes Adrestus and is about to kill him, but the man catches Menelaus by the knees (position of the suppliant) and begs for his life. A customary alternative to slaying an enemy is capturing him and holding him for ransom. Menelaus is about to do as the young man asks, but Agamemnon tells his brother that they are here to kill the Trojans‹all of them, until no trace of their people remains on the earth. Menelaus kills him, and Nestor calls out to the men to waste no time on plunder: they shall kill now, and loot the bodies later at their leisure.
Helenus, son of Priam and a skilled seer, tells Hector and Aeneas that they must rally the troops lest the soldiers are driven back through the gates. He also tells Hector to return to Troy and gather all of the elder noblewomen together to make a special sacrifice at the temple of Athena. They must pray to the goddess to hold back Diomedes. Hector does as his brother asks.
Glaucos, of the Lycians (Trojan allies), comes face to face with Diomedes in battle. Diomedes asks who he is, not wanting to fight against a god, and, in grand epic fashion, Glaucos recounts his genealogy and the deeds of his ancestors. Diomedes realizes that their families have a history of friendship, and the two agree to be friends. They will avoid each other on the battlefield, since there are plenty of other warriors for the two of them to kill. They swear an oath of friendship and a permanent open offer of hospitality, exchanging armor to seal the oath. Diomedes, however, gets the better end of the deal: Diomedes gets Glaucos' golden armor, while Glaucos is stuck with Diomedes' bronze armor.
Meanwhile, Hector goes back into the city, where all of the women come running around him to ask about their fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, and friends. His only response is to tell them to pray. He enters the palace of Priam, the layout of which is described here briefly, and he meets his mother Hecuba and his sister Laodice. His mother wants him to rest and offer prayer, but Hector brushes aside her requests and gives her the instructions of Helenus. The old noblewomen make the offering as instructed, but when the priestess prays that Diomedes might be defeated and Troy saved, Athena turns her head away. The women then pray to Zeus himself.
Meanwhile, Hector searches for Paris, with whom he is increasingly angry. He finds Paris gearing up for battle. He harshly rebukes his brother, but Paris makes excuses for himself and his lateness, saying that he will soon be ready to return to battle. He is gearing up now on the urges of his wife Helen. Helen, disgusted and angry with Paris, asks Hector to rest for a moment. Hector refuses and goes to see his wife and son. He cannot find them in the house, but a servant informs him that his wife Andromache has gone to watch the fighting from atop the city walls. Andromache is attended by a nurse who carries Hector's infant son. Hector goes back to the Scaean Gates, searching for her, and Andromache rushes to meet him there. She weeps for fear that Hector's status as the greatest Trojan warrior will mean his death. She has lost both parents and all her brothers, her father and seven brothers all killed by Achilles in previous campaigns. She wants Hector to stay away from the front lines and set up a defensive force for blocking a weak point in the city walls. He refuses, and tells her that he must not be called a coward; he must win glory for himself and his line. He also confides in her that he knows Troy will fall. The thought that troubles him most is that Andromache will be hauled away and made captive in a Greek man's house; he will die before he hears the sound of her being dragged away. He holds his infant son, praying for the child to one day rule and be greater than his father. Andromache goes back into their house, where she and the handmaidens mourn for Hector, because they do not expect to see him alive again.
Paris meets up with Hector near the gates, and Hector takes a softer tone with his brother than before. He recognizes that Paris, when he does fight, is a capable warrior, but explains that he cannot stand it when Paris hangs back from battle. Hector then speaks wishfully of a day when the Achaeans will be driven away forever and the Trojans can give thanks to the gods.
Analysis:
This section orders and structures events in a moving and powerful way. There are three important events in Book 6: the consideration and then rejection of Adrestus' plea for mercy, the meeting on the battlefield between Glaucos and Diomedes, and the return of Hector to the city. The structure creates some remarkable effects. The first part establishes the level of brutality with which this war will be fought. It emphasizes that there will be no mercy for the Trojans, and the Achaeans are fighting a war that will end in the destruction of a whole people. With that fact established, the third part is emotionally wrenching. Hector, beloved of his people, is returning to look on a city that will be no more. The characters and people of Troy, depicted in this section with great sympathy, are doomed. The second important event, the interaction and exchange between Glaucos and Diomedes, creates a space for non-martial virtues in the midst of war. The poignancy of an offer of friendship in the middle of a battlefield provides relief from the gruesome descriptions of combat and warriors' deaths. The friendship between Diomedes and Glaucos suggests an alternative course of action for the peoples for whom they are fighting, but the other events of this section make it clear that this alternative will not be pursued. These three events reward a closer look.
Agememnon brings us face to face with one of the Iliad's themes. The brutality of men, even noble men, on both sides, shows us that this war was not fought with mercy or restraint. Although Menelaus considers Adrestus' pleas for mercy, his more bloodthirsty brother convinces him that they are here to bring total destruction on the people of Troy. Nestor's announcement moments later is not accidental: he drives the Achaeans to forsake looting the bodies for now. Once all of the Trojans are dead, he argues, they can loot at their leisure. By this point, even an audience unfamiliar with the myth knows without a shred of ambiguity that for the Trojans defeat means annihilation. If the Achaeans are defeated, they return home and suffer dishonor and the pain of wasted effort. The Trojans, if defeated, pay a much higher price. The Acheans have come not to conquer, but to destroy.
This chilling opening sequence is relieved by the exchange between Glaucos, a Lycian ally of the Trojans, and Diomedes. Amidst the brutality of war, these two men carve out a small space for more gentle values. The realization that their families have a history of friendship motivates the men to come to a separate peace between the two of them. The fact that Glaucos is Lycian rather than Trojan gives him a chance to actually survive the war. The scene is beautiful, affirming a place for friendship even under the most extreme and violent conditions imposed by war. However, the end puts a twist on the exchange: has Diomedes intentionally swindled Glaucos out of his golden armor? It is improbable that the proposal of friendship was a way for Diomedes to get a pricier suit of armor; after all, as champion of Athena, Diomedes probably could have killed Glaucos and taken the armor. But the possibility remains that Diomedes has swindled a man to whom he has just proposed friendship, complicating this short scene. It is as if the war makes it difficult to create any pure space for the gentler virtue of friendship. Even when swearing solemn oaths of friendship and making a separate peace, Glaucos would have been better off if he had kept his wits about him.
Within the city walls of Troy, the Trojans are depicted with tremendous sympathy. The concern of the women for the fighting men is poignant; there is also something deeply saddening about the moment in the temple when Athena refuses to heed their desperate prayers. Although the Trojans are not of the same culture as the Achaeans, Homer has made them worship the same gods. The plan of the palace and Priam's number of sons makes it clear that the royal family is in the style of the Near East rather than Greece, but the city would still have been recognized by Greece as a powerful symbol of civilization and its benefits. Civilization here is made fragile, shown to be vulnerable before more brutal forces. They are a pious people; Zeus has said earlier that their offerings are rich and constant. They are also a compassionate people. The elders and especially Priam treat Helen better than she deserves, and she knows it. But the Trojans are also a doomed people, and Homer is no romanticist about the relations between states. Troy is home to a refined civilization with a gentle and pious citizenry, but brute strength is the only way to protect oneself from an invader.
We are also given a much richer characterization of Hector. Note that although Helenus is the prince who knows what must be done to stop Diomedes, Hector is the man with the authority and stature to carry out Helenus' plan. And when Hector returns through the Scaean Gates, the women of Troy turn to him for comfort and news. He is the man to whom his people turn for support; at a few words from him, the women pray for Troy as ordered. Helen also holds him in esteem, and the contrast between the ridiculous, self-absorbed Paris and his tougher brother could not be clearer. There is also a strong contrast between the flawed marriage of Paris and Helen and the deep bond between Andromache and Hector. In Andromache's lament, there is foreshadowing of Hector's destiny. Like all of the other men close to Andromache, he will fall before Achilles in battle. Here, we see that Hector knows that his city is doomed, but he must go on. We see him as a great husband and father, a compassionate man full of love and devotion to his city. Despite some deep foreboding that Troy is lost, he prays that his son might grow to greatness. This moment has greater weight because earlier in Book 6 Agamemnon has made clear that not even the unborn will survive. At the end of Book 6, standing beside his cowardly brother Paris, Hector faces the battlefield and speaks words of hope, although by now the audience knows that there is none.
Book 22:
Summary:
Hector remains outside of the Scaean gates, barring the way into Troy. Apollo reveals himself as a god to Achilles, letting Achilles know that he has been deceived so that more Trojans could escape his wrath. Achilles is furious, but he cannot harm the god. He turns toward Troy. Priam, watching from the ramparts, moans with grief. He calls out to Hector, begging him to come inside. Many of Priam's sons have already died at Achilles' hands. But Hector will not move. He is afraid to face Achilles, but he is also afraid to face Polydamas, who gave him good advice that was not heeded. He thinks it its better to face Achilles and kill or be killed than to return inside after having made a decision that cost so many lives. Yet as Achilles approaches, Hector loses his nerve and runs, and Achilles chases him around the city walls. Zeus asks if the gods should save Hector, who has been loyal and faithful to the gods. Athena responds as Hera did when Zeus wondered if he should save Sarpedon, and Zeus is won over by his daughter's arguments.
Achilles chases Hector around the outside of the wall, blocking his way back into the city. He motions to the Achaeans to fire no arrows or spears at Hector, lest Achilles be robbed of glory. After Achilles has chased Hector for three laps around the city of Troy, Athena stops Achilles and tells him that she will bring Hector around to face him. Putting his trust in the goddess, Achilles stops running. Athena approaches Hector, taking the shape of his brother Deiphobus, and she entreats him to turn around and face Achilles. Believing that his brother has come outside the wall to help him fight Achilles, Hector takes heart and does as Athena asks. He calls out to Achilles, asking him to swear an oath with him that the winner, after stripping the armor of the vanquished, will not desecrate the body. Achilles replies memorably that there are no vows between lambs and wolves, nor between men and lions. He throws his spear and misses, but Athena brings it back to him. Hector talks on, speaking of how much better the war will be for his people if he kills Achilles. Hector throws his spear, and it lands in Achilles shield and remains there, stuck. He calls on Deiphobus for another spear, but when he looks around, Deiphobus is gone. Hector realizes the truth. Athena has duped him in order to bring him around into a fight he cannot win. He draws his sword and charges at Achilles, who charges at Hector wielding his great spear. Achilles drives the spear through Hector's neck. Dying, Hector begs him to treat his body respectfully, but Achilles responds unequivocally and brutally. Nothing will persuade him to give Hector's body proper treatment. He wishes that he had the heart to eat Hector's raw flesh himself. Hector has a moment of foresight, and he warns Achilles of the day when Paris and Apollo will kill Achilles. His soul goes down to the land of the dead, and Achilles vaunts more over his body: "Die: and I will take my own death at whatever time / Zeus and the rest of the immortals choose to accomplish it" (22.365-6).
Achilles strips away Hector's armor, and the Achaeans run up around the corpse, men taking turns stabbing the body. Achilles pierces Hector's feet, in the space between heel and ankle, and draws a leather strap through the hole. He lashed Hector behind his chariot, so that Hector's head drags in the dust, and he then rides around the city of Troy. Hecuba and Priam, Hector's parents, look on in horror, wailing and pulling out their hair. The people watching from the ramparts all cry out in sorrow. Weaving down in her quarters, Andromache hears the sounds of mourning and knows what has happened. She runs to the top of the walls and sees her husband's stripped corpse being dragged behind Achilles chariot. She swoons, and when she recovers she speaks, weeping, of her son's fate. Without a father, his future is uncertain. And Hector himself will be horribly desecrated in his own land. She speaks weeping, and the women join her in mourning.
Analysis:
Hector's pride makes him stay outside the Scaean gates. Some commentators characterize Hector as a selfless defender of his people and Achilles as a brutal killing machine. Although this characterization has some basis in truth, the decision to remain outside the Scaean gates complicates that reading. Although it is true that when speaking to Achilles Hector thinks of how much better the war will go for his people if Achilles could be killed, Hector did not remain outside the gates with that goal foremost in his mind. His decision to remain outside the gates is not the best one for his people; Priam begs him not to face Achilles alone, lest the Trojans lose their champion. Here, once again, Hector is partly motivated by the fear of seeming a fool or a coward. He would rather face Achilles and die than face the scorn of his men; he has boasted before now that he would defeat Achilles when finally they met. His pride makes him more afraid of being called a coward than he is afraid of facing Achilles. This pride, it must be remembered, is part of what makes him great. It has made this civilized man, a man best-suited for peacetime, commit acts of great valor. He is a civilized man, and a brave one, with a great love for his people; he also allows his pride to cloud his judgment. Pride leads to his death, but it has also made him a hero.
And yet when he faces Achilles the Achaean champion is so fearsome that Hector cannot hold his ground. The outcome of the fight is never in doubt. The duel is actually very brief. Achilles easily overcomes Hector, slaying him with a glee that shows the depth of his rage and grief.
In Book 1, when Achilles is arguing with Agamemnon, he tells the king that the Trojans, whom he slays at the king's command, have done him no wrong. By the time he returns to the fighting, he can no longer make that claim. The death of Patroclus has ensured that his life will end in sorrow and bitterness, and he pursues Hector with single-minded purpose. It might seem that Hector has been a hapless victim of the gods. Remember that Hector killed Patroclus at the urgings of Apollo, and Apollo then made it possible for Hector to do it. Achilles has a score to settle with Hector, but it is a score that came about partly through divine intervention. And yet Hector is not a mere pawn of fate. A mixture of pride, the desire to win glory, and divine intervention doom Hector. Athena prevents his escape by duping him; when he realizes that he has been tricked by a deity, he knows that his time is running out. But the event that has lead to Achilles wrath, the death of Patroclus, came about ultimately by his choice. Apollo did not appear as a god and command Hector to attack Patroclus: the god took human form and persuaded him, using Hector's lust for glory as the bait.
Hector's desire to swear an oath of respect for the body of the vanquished is ironic. It rings hollow, because after the death of Patroclus Hector fought desperately to desecrate the Achaean hero's body. But one evil does not excuse another. Just as Hector comes off badly gloating over the body of Patroclus and then trying desperately to desecrate it, Achilles comes off badly in his excessive revenge. Homer creates still more sympathy for Hector by having his parents and wife helplessly watch the desecration of his corpse. His son Astyanax has an uncertain future, and the child becomes a symbol for the terrible fate of Troy itself. Troy has no future, and the vulnerability of Hector's infant son recalls Agamemnon's promise that even the unborn will know no mercy.
Achilles' hatred is dehumanizing and self-destructive. His wish that he had the stomach to eat Hector's raw flesh is nothing less than a desire to become animal, destroying everything human about himself. His slaughter of the Trojans has been excessively brutal, and the compassion of his beloved companion has been forgotten. His brutal treatment of Hector is both figuratively and literally self-destructive, because his own death will follow. Homer emphasizes the self-destructiveness of Achilles' action by creating symmetry between Achilles and Hector. Achilles mistreats the hero he has vanquished, just as Hector did. The Trojan hero's dying words predict Achilles' death at the hands of Paris (Paris, of all people) and Phoebus Apollo, in the same way that the dying Patroclus promised Hector that he would die at the hands of Achilles.
Achilles' treatment of Hector is self-destructive, physically and spiritually, and Homer drives home the point symbolically. Hector is wearing Achilles' original armor, the armor Achilles gave to Patroclus, which after Patroclus' death was taken from him. Before, the armor was used to make Patroclus into Achilles' mirror image, to such an extent that he was mistaken for Achilles and drove the Trojans into a rout. Here, Hector becomes another mirror image of Achilles. Considering the armor, the imagery of Hector's slaying becomes even more unsettling. Achilles is killing a likeness of himself.
Book 24:
Summary:
Achilles continues to mourn for Patroclus, lying awake at night and filling time comfort by heaping abuse on Hector's body. Only Apollo's intervention protects the corpse from damage. His treatment of Hector's corpse distresses all of the gods, with the exceptions of Poseidon, Hera, and Athena. Hera and Athena still hate Troy for the day that Paris chose Aphrodite over them in a beauty contest of the goddesses. At Apollo's urging, Zeus sends Iris to summon Thetis. He tells Thetis to go to her son and give him Zeus's instructions: he is to accept Priam's ransom, returning the body of Hector so that the Trojans can give Hector a proper burial. When Thetis goes to her son and gives him the order, Achilles agrees to do as Zeus asks. Zeus sends Iris to tell Priam to go to Achilles. He is to bring only one herald, and Hermes himself will escort them safely into Achilles' presence. Iris finds Priam in deep mourning, wailing and covered with filth. She delivers Zeus's message. Although Hecuba does not want him to go, Priam is determined to try to win back Hector's body. He prepares the ransom, verbally abusing his remaining sons as they help him to get ready. Before he goes, Hecuba asks him to perform proper rituals to Zeus for a safe return, and he does as she asks. Zeus sends a favorable omen, and the old man sets off with his herald late in the evening. As they cross the plain, the god Hermes joins them. He is disguised as a Myrmidon, and he promises that Priam will arrive safely. Along the way, Hermes puts the sentries to sleep so that they can reach Achilles' encampment. Hermes reveals his true identity as Priam is about to enter Achilles' dwelling, but he leaves Priam to meet with Achilles alone.
As Priam enters, Achilles and his men, Automedon and Alcimus, look at the old man with surprise and wonder; Achilles was not expecting Priam himself to arrive. The aged king takes the suppliant position before Achilles, asking him to remember his own father. Of Priam's fifty sons, many have been lost in battle‹many of them slain by Achilles. The best of them was Hector, and Achilles has killed him. He asks Achilles to take pity on him, because the old man must kneel and put his lips to the hands of the man who has killed his children. Achilles thinks of his own father, and the grief his father will feel when Achilles does not return home. He understands now the suffering that he has caused, and he weeps, now for his father, now for Patroclus. He asks Priam to stay with him so that they can share their sorrows, which Priam initially refuses. Achilles grows angry, and Priam, frightened, agrees to do as he asks. Achilles has Hector's body prepared and wrapped, and Priam's gifts are moved into Achilles' possession. The two men eat together, and then they look on each other with awe and respect. Finally, the exhausted old king asks if Achilles can provide a bed for him to sleep in. He has not eaten or slept since the death of Hector. Achilles provides a bed, and he asks how long Priam needs to mourn his son. Priam asks for eleven days of peace to mourn and bury Hector; on the twelfth day, they will return to the fighting. Achilles promises that the Achaeans will not attack for eleven days. Priam and his herald sleep in beds on the porch of Achilles' dwelling, but in the middle of the night Hermes wakes the old man, warning him of the danger of the other Achaean chieftains finding him. Fearful, Priam returns to Troy with Hector's body.
There the people mourn. Andromache, Hecuba, and Helen give speeches praising Hector and mourning his passing. Nine days they mourn, men gathering timber for Hector's funeral pyre all the while. On the tenth day they cremate him. On the eleventh day, they bury his remains, watchful of the Achaeans the whole time, and then they gather to honor Hector with a funeral feast. The Iliad ends with the simple, understated line, "Such was their burial of Hector, breaker of horses."
Analysis:
Homer finally mentions the cause of Athena's and Hera's intense hatred for Troy. Paris chose Aphrodite in a beauty contest between the three goddesses because Aphrodite bribed him with the gift of Helen. The motive is incredibly petty in comparison to the scale of suffering shown so far in the poem. Homer mentions the event casually and for the first time; his audience would have been familiar with the myth, but Homer's placement is too suggestive to be accidental. The motives of deities are, at best, as jealous and petty as the motives of mortal men. We have previously been treated to a comic battle between the gods, and now the motives of two of the greatest Greek goddess have been made to look petty and ridiculous compared to the scale of sacrifice and anguish we have seen. The gods represent the forces of the universe, but the incredible pettiness of their jealousies suggests that humans live in a universe that is often capricious and unjustly cruel.
Achilles' transformation is the true climax of the Iliad. Finally, there is an end to his rage. Looking on Priam, Achilles is able to make the great leap of empathy. He sees his own father in the old king, and he suddenly understands the anguish that he has caused for the old man and others like him, a mourning father for every man that he has killed. The revelation drives him into weeping, for what he has done and what he has lost. At last, Achilles has moved from rage to compassion. No longer is he cut off from humanity, waiting by the ships as his friends die in agony, or wishing for the hunger of an animal as he stands over a brutally slain victim. His sorrow now is deeper and more humane, far less selfish and self-absorbed than it has ever been in the past. In understanding what he has taken from Priam, Achilles comes to a deeper understanding of what he himself has lost. This movement of spirit is the central story of the Iliad, and it distinguishes Achilles as the only character who experiences a transformative change in his understanding of himself and his world. He is still short-tempered: we see this trait when he threatens Priam, and again when he fears that if he is provoked he may lose control and abuse the rights of the suppliant. But in the ways that count most, Achilles is a changed man. He grants the mercy that he previously denied, and the interaction between Achilles and Priam becomes sacred. For a brief moment amidst the brutality of war, the two men create a sublime space for peace, trust, and mutual recognition of the enemy's humanity. When Hermes warns Priam that he will be in danger if Agamemnon finds him in the Achaean encampment, the hard facts of war are unwelcome and intrusive. By now, the audience knows that Achilles will do Priam no harm. The old man sleeps peacefully and without fear while the most terrifying of the Achaean warriors sleeps only a short distance away. But Agamemnon and the other Achaeans are in a different world; they have not been privy to this new understanding that Achilles has gained. The contrast makes Agamemnon and the others seem grotesquely detached from the important scene that we have just witnessed, and the truth of Hermes' warning feels like the violation of something sacred.
By closing with the burial of Hector, Homer leaves us with a feeling of great loss. Hector has his glory: is body is finally given the respect it deserves, and he dies beloved and praised by his people. But we also know that his people are doomed, and that the cease-fire granted by Achilles is only a postponement of the inevitable. Although its citizens have been loyal to the gods, the city of Troy will perish, and the Achaeans will deal with her people brutally. At times, Homer glorifies aspects of war, depicting its power to call out the best of his heroes. Under the conditions of warfare, men find previously unknown sources of courage, sacrifice, and loyalty. But Homer finishes the Iliad with a funeral for a great man, attended by his ill-fated people, and the tone is overwhelmingly one of sorrow. Significantly, the last glimpses of both the Achaeans and the Trojans show both groups in mourning, and the very last moments of the poem depict the doomed Trojans rather than the victorious Achaeans. Our last memory of the Iliad is of this doomed people, who have already lost so much and now must mourn their champion. And still, even after all that the Trojans have endured, we know that the worst of their suffering is yet to come.