The Iliad
So I’ve finished The Iliad The Iliad and it was nothing like I expected (in a good way). Here’s why I loved it so much (and expect some spoilers):
1. The characterisation
In the first book of The Iliad, Achilles (the “hero”, and I use that term loosely) and Agamemnon (the leader of the Achaean army) fall out in a big way. Agamemnon refuses to hand over Chryseis, who he took for himself as a prize, to her father, Chryses (yes, the names do get confusing) in return for a generous ransom. Chryses, a priest, prays to Apollo, and the archer god attacks the Achaean ships in retaliation. Achilles demands that Agamemnon gives Chryseis up to appease Apollo, but Agamemnon refuses. It all kicks off, and Achilles refuses to fight for the Achaeans until Agamemnon apologises to him. To seal the deal, however, Achilles ensures (through the work of his mother, Thetis, who is handily a goddess) that the Achaeans will lose until he returns to fight. At first I was ok with this; Agamemnon seemed to be acting unreasonably, and Achilles had a point. But by the end, I was infuriated by Achilles’s churlish behaviour, which “sent the gallant souls of many nobleman to Hades”, and had no sympathy for him when his closest friend, Patroclus, was killed by Hector. It served him right. Now I’m firmly Team Agamemnon re the quarrel.
*Although, for the record, Odysseus and Diomedes are my favourites (and I have a soft spot for Telamonian Aias too).
2. The portrayal of the gods
Anyone who follows me on Twitter (@Katheryn97T) will know how much I LOVED the portrayal of the gods in The Iliad. Their constant bickering, in humanlike style of a family, as some supported the Trojans and some the Achaeans, brought humour to the otherwise fairly grim tale. Some of my favourites:
Artemis to her brother Apollo, the Archer-King: "What is the sense, blockhead, of carrying a bow you never use?"
Hephaestus to his parents Here and Zeus, the King and Queen of Olympus: “How can a good dinner be enjoyed with so much trouble in the air?”
Zeus, the supreme Olympian deity, to Thetis, about his wife Here: “You will make me fall foul of Here, when she rails at me about it, as she will. Even as things are, she scolds me constantly before the other gods”
And my absolute favourite – Zeus to his son Ares, the god of war: “But if any other god had fathered such a pernicious brat, you would long since have found yourself in a deeper hole than the Sons of Uranus.”
3. The ending
The Iliad ends not with the funeral of Achilles, the (arguable) protagonist, but with the funeral of Hector, the leader of the Trojans. The reader and characters know that Achilles is going to die soon, at the hands of Paris and Apollo, and that Troy will soon fall to the Achaeans, but it is the death of the noble Hector that the ending to The Iliad dwells on. This twist can be interpreted in different ways, but I like to think that Achilles, despite his strength, skill, and ancestry, simply cannot stand up to the true heroes of The Iliad, the brave warriors on both sides of the War. Hector stands outside the walls of Troy, even when the rest of his troops have retreated behind them, and faces Achilles. How can you not love a character who declares: “I have made up my mind to fight you man to man and kill you or be killed”? The Iliad needs to end with the death of a true hero, and that isn’t Achilles. Hector illustrates that beautifully.
If you’ve read The Iliad and have any thoughts you would like to add, I would love to hear them.
1. The characterisation
In the first book of The Iliad, Achilles (the “hero”, and I use that term loosely) and Agamemnon (the leader of the Achaean army) fall out in a big way. Agamemnon refuses to hand over Chryseis, who he took for himself as a prize, to her father, Chryses (yes, the names do get confusing) in return for a generous ransom. Chryses, a priest, prays to Apollo, and the archer god attacks the Achaean ships in retaliation. Achilles demands that Agamemnon gives Chryseis up to appease Apollo, but Agamemnon refuses. It all kicks off, and Achilles refuses to fight for the Achaeans until Agamemnon apologises to him. To seal the deal, however, Achilles ensures (through the work of his mother, Thetis, who is handily a goddess) that the Achaeans will lose until he returns to fight. At first I was ok with this; Agamemnon seemed to be acting unreasonably, and Achilles had a point. But by the end, I was infuriated by Achilles’s churlish behaviour, which “sent the gallant souls of many nobleman to Hades”, and had no sympathy for him when his closest friend, Patroclus, was killed by Hector. It served him right. Now I’m firmly Team Agamemnon re the quarrel.
*Although, for the record, Odysseus and Diomedes are my favourites (and I have a soft spot for Telamonian Aias too).
2. The portrayal of the gods
Anyone who follows me on Twitter (@Katheryn97T) will know how much I LOVED the portrayal of the gods in The Iliad. Their constant bickering, in humanlike style of a family, as some supported the Trojans and some the Achaeans, brought humour to the otherwise fairly grim tale. Some of my favourites:
Artemis to her brother Apollo, the Archer-King: "What is the sense, blockhead, of carrying a bow you never use?"
Hephaestus to his parents Here and Zeus, the King and Queen of Olympus: “How can a good dinner be enjoyed with so much trouble in the air?”
Zeus, the supreme Olympian deity, to Thetis, about his wife Here: “You will make me fall foul of Here, when she rails at me about it, as she will. Even as things are, she scolds me constantly before the other gods”
And my absolute favourite – Zeus to his son Ares, the god of war: “But if any other god had fathered such a pernicious brat, you would long since have found yourself in a deeper hole than the Sons of Uranus.”
3. The ending
The Iliad ends not with the funeral of Achilles, the (arguable) protagonist, but with the funeral of Hector, the leader of the Trojans. The reader and characters know that Achilles is going to die soon, at the hands of Paris and Apollo, and that Troy will soon fall to the Achaeans, but it is the death of the noble Hector that the ending to The Iliad dwells on. This twist can be interpreted in different ways, but I like to think that Achilles, despite his strength, skill, and ancestry, simply cannot stand up to the true heroes of The Iliad, the brave warriors on both sides of the War. Hector stands outside the walls of Troy, even when the rest of his troops have retreated behind them, and faces Achilles. How can you not love a character who declares: “I have made up my mind to fight you man to man and kill you or be killed”? The Iliad needs to end with the death of a true hero, and that isn’t Achilles. Hector illustrates that beautifully.
If you’ve read The Iliad and have any thoughts you would like to add, I would love to hear them.
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