Iliad, ancient Greek epic poem in 24 books attributed to the poet Homer. It was probably composed in the 8th century bc, but it describes events of the Trojan War, a conflict between Greece and Troy that took place four centuries earlier. The initial cause of the Trojan War was the abduction of Helen, the queen of Sparta, by Paris, a Trojan prince. The Iliad relates in 15,693 lines a momentous episode in the Trojan War—the wrath of the Greek hero Achilles and its destructive consequences.
The action of the Iliad begins in the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy. The Greek army has been besieging Troy for over nine years. In a recent raid on a nearby district, the Greeks have captured Chryseis, daughter of a priest of the god Apollo. Agamemnon, commander in chief of the Greek forces, has taken her for his slave woman. Apollo in anger afflicts the Greeks with a devastating plague after Agamemnon humiliates the priest.
At an assembly of the army Agamemnon, urged by Achilles, agrees to send back Chryseis. But he insists that he shall have Briseis, Achilles' captive, in her place. Achilles, in anger at this slight on his honor, draws his sword to attack Agamemnon, but is restrained by the goddess Athena who wishes the Greeks to win the war. Achilles abuses Agamemnon as a shameless and selfish coward and announces his withdrawal from active service in the war.
Nestor, by far the oldest and wisest of the Greek kings, tries to reconcile the quarrelers, but fails. Chryseis is restored to her father by Odysseus, the most diplomatic and effective of the Greek commanders. Agamemnon takes Briseis, and Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to persuade Zeus, the king of the gods, to allow the Trojans to win a victory, so that the Greeks may learn how much they owe to his valor and honor him accordingly. Zeus consents despite protests from his wife Hera, who favors the Greeks.
Zeus sends a deceptive dream to Agamemnon, who calls a council of the commanders. Confusion follows: The army is seized by a sudden desire to return home, but Odysseus, prompted by Athena, checks the rush toward the ships with a powerful speech. Thersites, the only ugly and mean-spirited soldier in the poem, boldly insults Agamemnon until Odysseus stops him with abusive language and blows. After a prudent speech from Nestor and a sacrifice to the gods, the whole Greek army, except Achilles and his followers, prepares for battle.
A detailed description of the forces contributed by each Greek state (the so-called Catalogue of the Ships) follows. The use of colorful poetic descriptions saves it from being a dry list. The Trojan army assembles to resist the attack and is described in a briefer catalogue. The army is led by Hector, the chivalrous and valiant son of Priam, king of Troy. Hector's brother Paris has caused the war by abducting Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of the Greek state of Sparta.
Paris offers to fight a duel with Menelaus to settle the conflict. After an exchange of blows, Paris's protector, the goddess Aphrodite, intervenes to save him. Treacherously incited by their enemy Athena, the Trojans break the armistice made before the duel and thereby put themselves morally in the wrong. A series of single combats ensue, skillfully interspersed with domestic incidents inside Troy.
Eventually, when the Greeks are hard-pressed by the Trojans, Agamemnon sends representatives to Achilles who offer rich gifts and the return of Briseis if he will join the fight again. Achilles refuses because he knows reentry guarantees his death at Troy and he now believes no form of honor is worth his life. Yet, after the Greek warrior Ajax appeals to him as a friend, Achilles announces he will fight again if Hector reaches their ships.
Further duels and maneuvers follow. The Trojans attack the Greek camp, and Hector seems unstoppable. Hera, fearing a Trojan triumph, adorns and beautifies herself voluptuously and lures Zeus away from helping the Trojans. He and she withdraw together to Mount Ida. The Greeks regain the upper hand. Zeus awakens, furiously realizes Hera's cunning, and gives help again to the Trojans. The Greeks fall back in panic. Pitying their plight, Patroclus, dearest friend of Achilles, puts on Achilles' armor and drives the enemy back. But Hector meets Patroclus in single combat and kills him, and a bloody battle rages over his corpse.
E The Death of Hector and the Funeral of Patroclus
Achilles resolves to avenge his friend's death. Thetis persuades Hephaestus, god of metalworking, to make a beautiful new suit of armor for her son. The ornamentation of the shield is described in detail: It includes civic and rural scenes and dancing figures. Achilles, equipped with his new armor, sallies out and kills many Trojans. He fights the river-god Scamander and finally encounters Hector, who panics and is chased three times by Achilles around the walls of Troy. Achilles overtakes Hector and with the help of Athena kills him remorselessly. He ties Hector's corpse by the heels to his chariot and drags it exultantly back to the Greek camp, while Priam, Priam's wife Hecuba, and Andromache, Hector's devoted wife, bewail Hector's death.
Achilles makes preparations to give Patroclus a hero's funeral. A feast is given; wood is gathered from the forests of Mount Ida for a great pyre. Patroclus's corpse is laid on the pyre; the funeral rites are performed, the body is consumed by fire, and the bones are gathered in a golden vessel. Then come athletic contests in his honor.
The next day Achilles, still full of grief, drags the body of Hector round the burial place of Patroclus repeatedly. After twelve days Apollo appeals to the gods to end this indignity. Zeus agrees to allow Priam to ransom the body of his son, despite the opposition of Hera. Thetis is sent to persuade Achilles to consent to the return of Hector's body. Iris, messenger of the gods, tells Priam of Zeus's decision. Priam, despite Hecuba's efforts to dissuade him, sets out for the tent of Achilles, bearing rich gifts as a ransom.
In a somberly magnificent scene Achilles receives Priam with grave courtesy and, remembering his own aged father Peleus (whom he knows he will never see again), gives Priam the body of Hector. Priam returns with it to Troy. Andromache mourns her husband, Hecuba her son, and Helen her friend. The Trojans perform the obsequies of Hector, and the poem ends with the line: “So they tended the burial of Hector, tamer of horses.”
The characters of the Iliad are lifelike, vivid, and memorable. On the Greek side are the arrogant, self-centered, yet majestic Agamemnon and the young, quick-tempered, and honor-obsessed Achilles. Savage in his anger, Achilles at heart remains courteous and compassionate. Nestor, though prudent and subtle, is often long-winded. Odysseus, hero of the other epic attributed to Homer, is conciliatory, self-controlled, and resourceful; Ajax, bold, massive, and magnanimous; and Diomedes, dashing and debonair. Many others are portrayed with masterly variety and clarity.
Among the Trojans are the valiant, affectionate, lovable, and doomed Hector, and the age-worn, grief-stricken, but undefeated Priam. Hecuba, wild with grief, first tries in vain to coax her son back to safety, then laments his death in utterly hopeless grief. Andromache, noblest of young wives and mothers, appears in one of the most moving scenes ever composed: the final parting between her and Hector. Helen, conscious of the destructive element in her supreme beauty, remains helpless to escape it.
The gods, too, have vivid but by no means admirable personalities. They bicker, quarrel, scheme, deceive, and even come to blows; they provide the only moments of humor in the grim story. Yet Zeus is invested at times with a sublimity that approaches the highest conceptions of deity. There also are many glimpses of minor characters—soldiers, mythological figures, captives, servants, and country folk—in the background. No poet has surpassed Homer in the art of subtle, economical character drawing.
The Abduction of Helen
The Trojan War began with the abduction of Helen, the beautiful wife of the king of Sparta, by the Trojan prince Paris. In this 17th-century painting attributed to Italian artist Giovanni Francesco Romanelli, she is represented as being carried off against her will. Some treatments present the episode as a seduction.
Corbis/Araldode Luca