The Iliad, Books 5-12
The Iliad, Books 5-12
Book 5Diomedes, the Greek hero, with Athena's support, enjoys a day of remarkable successes on the battlefield. He even manages to wound the goddess Aphrodite as she rescues her son, the Trojan Aeneas, from him. Later, with the help of Athena, Diomedes will wound the god Ares.
It is clear that although Zeus has agreed to help Thetis by letting the Trojans press the Greeks, other gods remain behind their Greek favorites and have not yet allowed the plan to be implemented decisively.
What is the divine response to Diomedes' violence against gods? Is he punished for impiety? What is Zeus's attitude toward these acts against his fellow Olympians? How does the relationship between heroes and gods differ from the relationship between the rest of humanity and the gods?
Book 6
The Greek Diomedes and Glaucus, an ally of the Trojans, meet on the battlefield. As they exchange taunts, they unexpectedly discover that their grandfathers were good friends. How does this affect their hostile attitudes toward one another? What does their oath of friendship say about where their loyalties lie? What is the relative value of national and personal interests?
For the Greeks it is difficult to see the effects of war on their families who are far away in Greece. For the Trojans, on the other hand, the war is daily before their eyes; recall the elders and Helen and Priam watching from the city wall. In Book 6 we follow Hector into the city to retrieve Paris and are able to observe how non-combatant mothers, wives and children respond to the fighting.
What is the impact of war on the women of Troy? and on the families of the heroes? How is Hector's mother, Hecuba, affected by events? What does she desire to offer Hector and what is she instructed to do? What is ironic in this action?
What does Helen seek for Hector? What is his response to her?
Where is Andromache, his wife, and what is she doing when Hector comes to see her? What is her frame of mind? What thoughts have so preoccupied her? Why might she be more concerned about the fate of her husband than other wives about theirs?
What comfort does Hector offer his wife in her anxiety? There is nothing romantic about this exchange, but yet there is concern and devotion. What expressions of Hector reveal his tender feelings for her?
For all Homer's attention to the most gruesome details of combat, his portrayal of Hector's interest in his infant son reveals a dimension of heroism different from anything we've seen so far. How does the father regard his young son? How aloof or distant was this primitive warrior from his small child? How intimate?
Here is another instance of Homeric laughter, as father and mother react to the infant's initial alarm at his father in battle gear with face mostly hidden by his helmet. What circumstances produce the laughter? How is this like the laughter on Olympus as gods watched Hephaestus scrambling in service to them? How is it different?
The closing scene of the book sees Hector and Paris returning to battle. How has Paris' afternoon in the city differed from Hector's time there? Note the simile of the horse leaving the stall for the open plain and a romp in the river. Is this image fully complimentary of Paris? Are there important qualities lacking? Despite the great differences in the determination of these two heroes, as they leave the city at this time, how does Hector address Paris? Does he dismiss him as a do-nothing?
Book 7
For a second time single combat is proposed to decide the outcome of the War, only this time between Hector and Ajax the Greater. The outcome is undecided and both exchange gifts and stop for the night. Both sides decide to hold a truce to bury their dead the following day. In the Trojan assembly Paris is asked to give up Helen and put an end to the fighting, but he refuses offering personal treasures instead.
On the Greek side Nestor proposes that a wall and trench be constructed protecting the ships along the beach. What reasons are given for their construction? What message is given by this defensive action?
What role does Nestor play in the events of this book? What kind of hero is he? What is the basis of the respect the soldiers have for him?
Book 8
Early in this book there are signs that divine support has shifted to the Trojans, and that Achilles' plea to his mother is beginning to be fulfilled. Diomedes is stopped cold in his successes on the battlefield. Zeus himself throws down thunderbolts and causes the earth to split open in front of Diomedes' chariot before the hero realizes that his divine support has turned. As a final image of the new balance of power, the Trojans spend the night camped on the plain, outside the walls of their city for the first time since the Greeks arrived.
How does Zeus deal with Athena and Hera in their efforts to advance the Greek side? What is revealed about the roles of Hector and Patroclus?
How critical is the Trojan threat to the Greeks in the course of this book? How do the events of this book serve the overall purposes of the story?
Book 9
Agamemnon is stung by the realization that the fortunes of the Greeks have turned so bad that he must have Achilles' help. But his offer of reconciliation and gifts--truly a king's ransom--is rejected by Achilles. Achilles nurses a bigger grudge than anyone had thought, and the three distinguished visitors who bring Agamemnon's message will return to report bad news.
Book 8 had ended with the image of thousands of Trojan campfires in the plain, each surrounded by fifty men, signalling Trojan confidence. What is the state of mind of the Greeks? Homer opens Book 9 with a simile:
As crosswinds chop the sea where the fish swarm,
the North Wind and the West Wind blasting out of Thrace
in sudden, lightning attack, wave on blacker wave, cresting,
heaving a tangled mass of seaweed out along the surf--
so the Aechaeans' hearts were torn inside their chests.
(p. 251, lines 4-8)Winds whipping up waves tangling seaweed -- an apt image of the state of mind of the Greek forces and Agamemnon especially who feels chief responsibility for their fortunes. Agamemnon orders the heralds to call the assembly, but they are so distraught and slow to act, that Agamemnon himself pitches in and gathers the troops. Once gathered, he addresses them--in tears.
Who are the members of the delegation sent to Achilles? Nestor selects these heroes not at random, but rather because of their close relationship with Achilles. What qualities does each have that would appeal to Achilles? How does each seek to persuade Achilles to return to combat? Who seems to move Achilles most from his determination to avoid fighting?
In his reply to Odysseus, Achilles says, "I hate that man like the very Gates of Death who says one thing but hides another in his heart" (lines 378-379). This charge, aimed at Agamemnon, must have a stunning effect on Odysseus, who is renowned among the Greeks for being a very clever and calculating speaker.
In his reply to Odysseus, what does Achilles say about his commitment to the values that brought him to Troy? about the heroic ideal? What are his reservations about pursuing heroic honor? Consider especially lines 383-394 (p.262).
Compare how Achilles uses the prospect of death in this passage with how Glaucus used it when he addressed Diomedes on the battlefield (Book 6, lines 170-175.) And compare these with how Sarpedon refers to death in his conversation with Glaucus (Book 12, lines 359-381).
Phoenix addresses Achilles as someone with a close personal relationship with the young hero. He seeks to win over Achilles with a parable and a story. What is the point of the parable of the Prayers? What does the parable illustrate about people who refuse pleas for forgiveness? Where do the prayers acquire their physical characteristics? What is the role of Ruin in the parable? When does Ruin affect the offender and when the offended? Why are they the daughters of Zeus?
What is the point of the story of Meleager? How were the circumstances surrounding his refusal to fight the Curetes similar to those of Achilles? What were the consequences of his refusal to fight?
Before this book, Agamemnon seems to have been chiefly responsible for sustaining the quarrel between himself and Achilles. Do the events of this book shift the burden of responsibility?
Book 10
The night before the Trojan attack on the ships is prolonged by an account of a secret raid on some allies of the Trojans.
With Achilles's refusal to accept his offer of reconciliation, Agamemnon continues to be tormented by thoughts of Greek disaster. He calls for a council to make strategy, and the decision is made to send spies among the Trojans by night for information about the enemy's plans, morale, etc. Diomedes is ready to volunteer and he chooses Odysseus to accompany him. On the Trojan side, a council is held for the same purpose and Dolon is picked to carry out the mission. How does the Trojan expedition proceed so very differently from the Greek?
The nighttime raid of Book 10 has been criticized for the apparently unheroic actions of the two Greek warriors, since they kill their opponents as they sleep. How might you explain their actions here?
Look at the map labeled "HOMERIC GEOGRAPHY: The Aegean and Asia Minor," following the Introduction of Fagle's translation (pp. 72-73, though the maps don't have page numbers). Notice the location of Thrace. What is important about the fact that it is north of the strait that separates Asia Minor from Europe? How might this provide grounds for making Thracians the victims of the Greek raid?
Book 11
The divine support of the Trojans continues. In the course of this book leading Greek heroes are wounded and must withdraw from the fighting, including Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus.
From the stern of his ship Achilles watches with interest as comrades fight and are wounded, and as relief efforts are undertaken. For a better idea of the Greek situation, he sends Patroclus to Nestor. How does the poet make the connection between these events and the future involvement of Patroclus in the fighting?
Book 12
The Trojans are now ready to charge the rampart, break through to the ships and set them on fire, removing the Greeks' only means of escape and pointing to their sure ruin. Unlike combat on the open plain, the Trojan strategy will be to flood the narrow space between the rampart and the sea with troops, and hope that the restricted space will lessen the Greeks' numerical advantage. So fighting will be at very close quarters, and casualties on both sides cannot help but be high.
Just before leading their Lycian forces (Trojan allies) to invade the ships, Sarpedon and Glaucus have a "moment of truth" or a "reality check" and reconsider their reasons for running such risks (pp.335-36). What motivates these heroes to fight? What do they hope to gain by fighting? What prompted this conversation in the first place? Describe the resolve of these heroes to risk their lives in battle. Do they have reservations about what they are doing? How does their resolve compare with Achilles'?
Go to: SYLLABUS | Iliad, Books 1-4 | Books 13-20 | Books 21-24
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Revised: 1 October 1997