Lecture 3 : The Iliad , Bks XXII, XXIVLecturers: Karen Johnson & Brian McDonald

•Part. 1: Mythological Background and brief summary of Bks I-XXI•Part. 2: Exposition of Bks XXII, XXIV•Credits: Karen Johnson author of most material up to and including part of “A Bitter Growth.” Brian McDonald takes responsibility for the rest!

Source: Homer's Iliad, cod. F 205 inf. Late 5th-early 6th c. Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana

The Seed of Wars

• A stupid prince• A “discordant

goddess”• A perilous contest• A foolish choice

Right here!

Bad Move Paris!

Yep! Here he is in the flesh! A 1000 ships?

No Way!

The Judgment of Paris, Source : Apollodore, Bibliothèque

Paris Censored!

Helen

The Seeds Sprouting

• A visit to Menelaos• Menelaos’ recruitment

campaign• A Launching of

Ships

Homer’s Illiad, Source: Vatican library

Helen

Menelaus

Possible route to Troy, Source:

A Bitter Growth

• Siege of Troy• Conflict of Agamemnon

and Achilles• Hector’s temporary

triumphs• Patroclus’ overreaching

counter-attack• The grief and return

of Achilles

Escape From Troy: Source....

Lecture 2 :Part 2

1. Iliad XXII: The Revenge of Achilles and death of Hector

2. Iliad XXIV: A Cathartic Meeting of Two Enemies

Source: Achilles...

The Iliad, XXII: The Revenge of Achilles and

Death of Hector• Setting the Scene at the Walls of Troy– Hector “shackled. . . By his

deadly fate” (6)– Achilles “rushing on…like a

champion stallion” (27)• Hector torn between

parents pleas. and the demands of Arete

• Priam’s pleas– Certain doom for Hector

(44-47)– Certain doom for Troy (68-

83)– Tragic fate for parents

Walls of Troy, Source: the Legend of Odysseus, Connolly,1986

XXII: “Revenge” Continued

• Arete‘: combined with Fate means “no way out.”

. . . They could not shake the fixed resolve of Hector,

No, he waited Achilles, coming on, gigantic in power . . .

but harried still he probed his own brave heart:“No way out, if I slip inside the gates and walls. .

. . I would die of shame to face the men of Troy . . .

. . . . . So now better by far for me to stand up to Achilles, kill him, come home aliveor die at his hands in glory out before the walls”

(110-111; 117-118; 125; 129-130)• “Shame….Glory” The two poles of Arete• “Fixed Resolve” • “No way out.”

Hector, Source: www.hellados.ru/ img/pic/hector.gif

Iliad XXII: “Revenge” Cont.

• The Breaking of Hector’s “Fixed Resolve”

– Human Cracks in his Heroic Code – His fear of shame fails before his

fear of Achilles• A series of Homeric similes convey

the flavor of the chase while they create distance from it.

– They highlight its inequality, speed, and power while foreshadowing its outcome

– Yet as they take us into the action, they also tend to distance us from it. (A look at lines 224-230)

– This paradoxical quality of the simile is something we will look at again when we study The Odyssey.

Hector and Achilles, Source: the Legend of Odysseus, Connolly, 1986

Illiad XXII: “Revenge” Continued

• A goddess’s treachery ends the chase• Turn-about iss fair play.• In a supreme illustration of dramatic irony a

fatally deluded Hector is encouraged to face his foe

– Dramatic irony: character’s perception contradicts the reader’s knowledge.

– Hector thinks he’s saved. We know he’s doomed.

• The brave but piteous death of Hector– The “oh no” moment arrives: “He

called for a heavy lance—but the man was nowhere near him. vanished” (347-8)

– In that moment Hector “shows his stuff”: “Well let me die—/but not without a struggle, not without glory, no” (359-360)

– His prayer is rejected in an ignominious death:

• The book ends on a note of jarring contrast– Troy’s grief in two memorable vignettes– Achilles’s savagery as his chariot

drags Hector’s corpse away from the grieving city.

Achilles drags Hectors body in triumph. Source: (Associated Press of Ancient Troy)

Iliad XXIV: A Cathartic Meeting of Two Enemies

• Book XXIII: The burial rites of Patroclus

• Book XXIV begins in agitation and ends in peace

• Achilles unrelenting grief– Anxious and restless nights

(XXIV. 1-16)– Venting rage on Hector’s

corpse brings no relief (17-21)• The Olympian debate

– The pity of the gods (though not unanimous) (26-31)

– Apollo’s eloquent intervention (38-65)

– The decision of Zeus: piety must be rewarded (78-95)

Source:“The Spoils of War," by David Ligare (1945-). Achilles and his comrades carry off the dead Patroclus.

Iliad XXIV: “Cathartic” Cont.

• Olympus in action– Thetis summoned by Zeus

agrees to “deliver a warning message” to Achilles (95-170)

– Iris delivers a comforting message to Priam (193-223)

– Zeus rewards the pious prayer of Priam (358-381)

– Hermes gives “safe escort” into the presence of Achilles

Zeus and Thetis, Source: grenier2clio.free.fr/ grec/image/thetis-zeus.jpg

Iliad XXIV: “Cathartic” Cont.

• In their encounter they become strange comforters of each other:– Priam’s Dramatic self-

abasement– awakens Achilles awe and

awakens Achilles grief.• The built-up tensions of the

poem break in a cathartic flood as “both men gave way to grief” (592-599)– Catharsis defined– Catharsis brings climax and

the tensions of the epic relax into peace as “the Trojans bury Hector: “breaker of horses” (944)

“The majestic king of Troy . . . ./. . . .kneeling down beside

Achilles, clasped his knees/ and kissed his hands, those terrible man-killing hands/that had slaughtered Priam’s many sons in battle” (559-562)

Source: Alexander Ivanov. Priam Asking Achilles to Return Hector's Body. 1824. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia