Unit 3

English 201:    Masterpieces of Western Literature

Explication:
Reading: W&H: 191-274.

This is the third of three lessons on The Iliad.  Our theme in this section is mortality (death).

PAT graphically slays dozens of Trojans:
16.341    Dealing death to a chief & champion, Patroklos
              drove them in confusion from the ship

Aias, the lesser, takes a Trojan champion alive:
16.388    but killed him on the spot with a sword stroke
              across the nape--the whole blade running hot
              with blood, as welling death & his harsh destiny
              possessed him.

Homer invites us to think about this slaughter by taking us out of the heat of the battle:
16.442    As under a great storm black earth is drenched
              on an autumn day, when Zeus pours down the rain
              in scudding gusts to punish men, annoyed
              because they will enforce their crooked judgments
              & banish justice from the market place,
              thoughtless of the god's vengeance; all their streams
              run high & full . . .
              while cultivated fields erode away

This passage hopes to explain the relationship between violence & justice.  We will see that Aeschylus' plays focus on precisely this point.  The sequence here begins with hubris: "they will enforce their crooked judgments."  Because these men do not have the wisdom to accept fate (sophrosyne), they must be compelled to do so by violence ("god's vengeance").  The problem is that vengeance & violence is not confined to the guilty.  It spills out to flood "cultivated fields" & destroy culture (polis) itself.  I think we are invited to be equivocal about PAT's violence.  The story is told from the Greek point of view, so we cheer for our team.  But we are also repelled by PAT's violent atrocities that are suppose to establish justice.  As Aeschylus says, they seem like fresh outrages that appeal for some further measure of justice that would stop violence.  Many people feel that way today about capital punishment.  To complete the analysis of the metaphor here, notice that there are 3 possibilities.  Too little rain creates a desert.  Too much rain produces a flood.  If the rain is power/violence, we need to find the fulcrum point, the point of balance.  We do not want anarchy.  Nor do we desire a tyranny or police state.  But some measure of violence (police, military)  is necessary to nurture any society.

After quickly dispatching a dozen Trojans PAT faces Sarpedon & Zeus himself questions fate that inexorably brings pain:
16.503    Sorrow for me, that in the scheme of things
              the dearest of men to me must lie in dust
16.506    shall I catch up Sarpedon
              out of the mortal fight with all its woe . . .
              Or shall I make him fall 

Hera makes sure that we understand the point: that to be human means enduring pain in the struggle for power & self-definition & ultimately losing that battle in death:
16.514    A man who is born to die, long destined for it,
              would you set free from that unspeakable end?

If he does, Zeus will open Pandora's box by literally creating a different species.  If humans did not die, they would be gods.  Logoswould be destroyed, chaos would ensue:
16.518    should you dispatch Sarpedon home alive,
              anticipate some other god's desire
              to pluck a man he loves out of the battle
16.523    dear to you though he is, & though you mourn him,
              let him fall 

If Zeus himself is compelled to accept fate & mourn because of what it brings, can we complain?  Hera implies that Zeus has the power to change fate, if he so desired.  What we see is that Zeus is not impelled by desire.  He chooses to accept logos & fate even though it is painful.

Sarpedon's death is less tragic than HK's, because we know so much more about HK's nobility from the scenes with his brother, wife, & father.  Yet Sarpedon's death clearly illustrates the tragedy of life's lost battle for power:
16.564    Sarpedon raging, clutching the bloody dust.
              Imagine a greathearted sultry bull
              a lion kills amid a shambling herd:
              with choking groans he dies under the claws.

In case you didn't get the point about Zeus & fate, Homer tersely comments:
16.601    Here's a great man destroyed,
              Sarpedon, son of Zeus.  Zeus let his own son
              die undefended.

Our first unit followed the theme of power.  Our second unit featured the theme of honor.  Now we complete the circle, by so poignantly recognizing that honor & righteousness without power are doomed to die as surely as the reverse: power without principle is doomed to chaos.  We suffer the tragedy of Sarpedon, not only for the loss of youth & life, but also because:
16.632    Sarpedon had been a bastion of the town of Troy.

The one man who does not feel the loss is:
16.638    PAT in his savagery
who proposes to desecrate the corpse:
16.645    take him, dishonor him, & strip his arms

We see how quickly fate can turn.  PAT slays another dozen Trojans & then faces HK.
16.836    Apollo . . .
16.839    on the Trojans he conferred his glory

PAT is out of control & perilously near to committing hubris in his jeering disrespect for the tragic deaths of his adversaries:
16.854    You jeered at him [Kebriones], then, master of horse, PAT

Soon PAT will be in the dust.  How long do PAT & HK battle?  From the time when "the sun stood at high noon" (16.801) until "when the sun passed toward unyoking time" (16.803).  Who kills PAT?  3 blows are struck by different adversaries.  First Apollo:
16.906   struck with open hand
              the man's back & broad shoulders, & the eyes
             of the fighting man were dizzied by the blow

Among his many powers, Phoibos (16.903 the shining one) Apollo is the god of the sun.  Six hours or longer battling for his life in the sun against HK with no Gater-aid, causes PAT to suffer heat stroke:
16.920  his shield & strap fell to the ground; the Lord
            Apollo, son of Zeus, broke off his cuirass.
            Shock ran through him, & his good legs failed,
            so that he stood agape

This allows a Dardan fighter to get in a spear thrust.  PAT tries to retreat but HK
16.939  charged
            straight at him through the ranks & lunged for him
            low in the flank, driving the spearhead through

As he bleeds to death, PAT promises that he will be avenged by AK:
16.981  your death stand near, & your immutable end,
            at Prince AK' hands

Is this justice?  Is PAT's life (or AK's life, that PAT imitates) acceptable?  What is PAT fighting to achieve?  (You will find this question repeated in the Question section.)

AK learns that HK killed PAT.He is filled with grief & rage.If the grief were his only emotion, wouldn’t you expect AK to grieve (like a father) for everything that PAT lost in losing his life?He won’t see his parents again; he won’t get married & have children, etc.Instead, AK once again perceives that something has been taken from him, just as Briseis was taken by AG.Do you believe AK when he says:
18.130I have quelled my passion as I must.

AK means that he is no longer angry at AG.Why?Because his anger has a new target: HK.How angry & enraged is AK?Enough to slaughter children & commit suicide:
18.389as I must follow you into the grave,
.........I will not give you burial, PAT,
..........until I carry back the gear & head
..........of him who killed you, noble friend.
..........Before your funeral pyre I’ll cut the throats
.........of 12 resplendent children of the Trojans--
..........that is my murdering fury at your death

AK is not only angry at the loss of his beloved, he is also embarrassed.AK had accepted the role of mentor for PAT.Above all else, AK should have protected PAT’s life & then acted as a role model & military instructor. We will see HK worried that:
22.126 troops have perished for my foolish pride,
...........I am ashamed to face townsmen & women.
...........Someone inferior to me may say:
..........‘He kept his pride & lost his men.'

Imagine AK facing PAT’s father.What could he say?“I saved my life by sending your son to his death.”This would be ignominious enough, but it is even worse because AK had promised to protect PAT.AK admits:
18.113. he needed me
..........to shield him or to parry the death stroke.
18.118Here I sat,
..........my weight a useless burden to the earth,
..........& I am one who has no peer in war

Once again Thetis hears her son wailing.She feels:
18.58.my life is pain
........for my great son’s dark destiny
18.67.I have no power
........to help him, though I go to him.

Indeed, AK tells his mom:
18.147though you love me; you cannot make me listen.

I hope you remember this line & AK’s suicidal stubbornness, because OD does listen.We recall that when Athena prevented AK from murdering AG, AK said:
1.256.When you 2 immortals [Hera & Athena, the 2 divinities that Paris had not listened to] speak, a man
........complies, though his heart burst.

Everyone listens to power.When your life hangs in the balance, you pay attention & “obey” fate.When we (or AK) seems to have the power to dominate others, he sees no reason to listen.As AG complained to Nestor:
1.337 .this man’s [AK] ambition,
..........remember, is to lead, to lord it over
..........everyone, hold power over everyone
..........give orders to the rest of us!

In contrast, we will see OD listening respectfully to those without ostensible power, listening to little girls like Ino (who is sea foam), the 12 year old princess Nausikaa, to “the awesome one [Athena] in pigtails” (appearing as “a small girl child” OD 7.44, 23), & to Hermes who appears as “a boy whose lip was downy in the first bloom of manhood” & who presumes to tell OD “what to do” (OD 10.297, 307).It is all very simple: AK says you cannot make me listen, even if I pay with my life.OD listens, not just when his life is imperiled by someone with obvious power, he also listens to feminine wisdom, whose power is not immediately displayed.Actually, the power of malign feminine characters (Helen & Klytemnestra) is immediately manifest.  In contrast, the power of benign feminine characters is manifest in the children they raise & the civilization they foster.

HK has taken AK’s armor from the corpse of PAT.Consequently, AK must wait until his mother, Thetis, brings him new armor made by Hephaistos himself.There is a long section describing this armor.Why?(See the Chat question in the Question section).

Thetis brings the armor & instructs her son:
19.38 .call the Akhaians to assembly.
..........Tell them your anger against AG
..........is over & done with!

AK now obeys because it is what he wants.PAT & Briseis are markers to gauge AK’s narcissism & rage.When Briseis was taken, AK said:
9.411 .He [AG] holds my bride, dear to my heart
9.418... . . as in my heart I loved
........Briseis, though I won her by the spear

What does Briseis mean to AK now?
19.64..AG, was it better for us . . .
..........to waste ourselves in strife over a girl?
..........If only Artemis had shot her down
........... . . on the day I made her mine

If AK truly loved Briseis, wouldn’t he prefer life with her rather than suicidal violence?Of course, that is the point, that AK’s rage is uncontrollable, causing doom & ruin for him & everyone around him (1.2).

Remember that AK personifies the power of battle.AG personifies the more sophisticated & less tangible power of politics & military strategy.We see the difference in this very funny scene.AK has just addressed the army, telling them that he is returning to battle.This should be his hour.Notice how AG steals the scene by speaking so much more eloquently.AK implies that Briseis was all to blame & bluntly declares:
19.76.I drop my anger now!

In contrast, AG goes on & on, not so much apologizing to AK as stealing the scene:
19.108I am not to blame.
..........Zeus & Fate & a nightmare Fury are,
..........for putting savage Folly in my mind
..........in the assembly that day, when I wrested
..........AK’s prize of war from him.In truth,
..........what could I do?Divine will shapes these things.

AG goes on to tell the story about Folly who was flung from Olympus to land in the dreams of men, “arriving first [before prayer or sophrosyne] to injure mortal men” (9.615).AG ends by demonstrating his largesse: 
19.163. . . . see how richly
.........I reward you!

AK is no longer interested in competing with AG for honor.He wants HK:
19.165AG, make the gifts
.........if you are keen to . . . or keep them

When OD suggests that the battle will be long & consequently the troops should eat well in preparation, AK says:
19.235. Slaughter & blood are what I crave, & groans
..........of anguished men!

Magnificent as he is, HK also perishes because of his vanity. His father, Priam, begs HK:
22.66 ..Come inside the wall, child; here you may
..........fight on to save our Trojan men & women. 

HK’s mother also begs:
22.101dear child; defend yourself against the killer
........this side of the wall, not hand to hand.
.........He [AK] has no pity.

Why doesn’t HK listen to mom & dad?We already quoted the lines:
22.127I am ashamed to face townsmen & women.
..........Someone inferior to me may say:
..........‘He kept his pride & lost his men, this HK!’
.........So it will go.Better, when that time comes,
..........that I appear as he who killed AK
........... . . or else that I went down
..........fighting him to the end before the city.

Despite the patriotism at the end, HK resembles AK: he would rather die than be dishonored.HK’s very body objects when AK comes on implacable & awesome as Ares himself:
22.163 HK, as he watched, began to tremble.
........Then he could hold his ground no more.He ran.

What a pathetic sight.Even Zeus is touched & – as he had earlier with Sarpedon – considers exempting HK from mortality:
22.206 Come, gods, put your minds on it, consider
.........whether we may deliver him from death
.........or see him, noble as he is, brought down
........by Peleus’ son, AK

Athena reminds her father & us that
22.212 The man [& all men]
.........is mortal, & his doom fixed, long ago.

As with Sarpedon, there is the suggestion that Zeus has the power to interfere with logos & fate, but he is wise enough to resist desire & accept reality.Thus Zeus tells Athena, who personifies his thought (she emerged from Zeus mind as an adult androgyne in armor): 
22.216I am not bent [like AK – “you cannot make me listen”]
........on my suggestion, & I would indulge you [wisdom incarnate] 

HK hopes to make a deal with death, less for himself than for the grief he knows that his death will cause his wife, his parents, & everyone in Troy.The agent of death, AK, tersely tells HK:
22.316Summon up what skills you have.By god,
.........you’d better be a spearman & a fighter!
........Now there is no way out.

When PAT, wearing AK’s armor, was sunstroke:
16.921 Apollo, son of Zeus, broke off his cuirass

The cuirass is the breastplate & backplate, which includes some protection for the neck.HK is now wearing AK’s old armor.Here is another illustration of how fate works.  When AK wore that armor, is it likely that he knew its weak point?What would he have worried about, wearing that armor?  Apparently his neck. Because HK is wearing that very armor, AK knows exactly where to aim his blow:
22.379  AK poised in his right hand, with deadly
.........aim at KH, at the skin where most
..........it lay exposed.But nearly all was covered
..........by the bronze gear he took from slain PAT,
.........showing only, where his collarbones
.........divided neck & shoulders, the bare throat
.........where the destruction of a life is quickest.

Does HK’s death satisfy the appetite of rage?AK’s quick & easy victory leaves him full of adrenalin & rage that no longer has a target:
22.411Would god my passion drove me
.........to slaughter you & eat you raw, you’ve caused
.........such agony to me!

The most poignant scene in The Iliad belongs to AND (Andromakhe).She is preparing a hot bath for her husband whom she anticipates will soon be home from the battle.Picking out a lovely garment for him, she hears "a wailing & a distant moan."Rushing to the ramparts she sees that head she had hope to bathe & stroke, bouncing in the dirt.As she faints, her tunnel vision adds even more telescopic depth to the nightmare sight: 
22.546  AND stood gazing from the wall
........& saw him being dragged before the city.
........Chariot horses at a brutal gallop
........pulled the torn body toward the decked ships.

This is end of the action in The Iliad.The city is not yet annihilated, but it is already empty & pointless.Thus AND vows:
22.600  Ah , there are folded garments in your chambers,
........delicate & fine, of women’s weaving.
........These, by heaven, I’ll burn to the last thread,
........in blazing fire [rage]!They are no good to you.

Our first theme in The Iliad was power.The power to invest in the super-ego & define an identity that would prevail & dominate over others who, also impelled by the will-to-power, sought to dominate us.Our second theme was honor.This might be construed as enjoying the result of our struggle to gain power, to be somebody.The tragedy is that this mid-life pride of accomplishment cannot last.Our third theme was mortality.HK so nobly defends civilization.Still, Chronos, the primitive power that engendered Zeus, consumes both.Human beings are fated to perish.No human power can change that end.

We have not explicated Book 24 of The Iliad. Because that last book reviews the lessons illustrated by the plot of The Iliad, we will explicate Book 24 in the Review section of this lesson.

Go to the top & click on the next section: Questions.