μέρμερα ἔργα
For this phrase, see also 10.47–48 and 10.289–290. The awakened Trojans wonder at the astounding deeds. They are astounding because a night raid is unexpected, perhaps, but in Homeric diction this phrase is used for the slaughter of many by one man: see Iliad 8.453, 10.48, 11.502, 21.217. In 10.48, the emphasis is on one man devising astounding deeds; here the Trojans assume that more than one must have been involved, but we the audience know that it is just two. And as we saw at 10.289, this phrase is useful for both daytime battles and for ambush, as it is used here. The references at 10.48 and Iliad 11.502 refer to Hektor’s deeds, and at Iliad 21.217 to Achilles’, attesting to the “heroic” quality of the astounding deeds. At Iliad 11.502 and 21.217, the same verb is used as here, ῥέζω. Some commentators have questioned the value of Diomedes’ and Odysseus’ activities on the night raid, especially since the danger inherent in the presence of Rhesos is not emphasized in this version. For example, Fenik sums up his feelings about Iliad 10 this way: “A marked inferiority in technique here cannot possibly be interpreted away, even with the best of will. There is no good reason for the patrol, it performs no function whatever, it brings no change or development in the situation” (Fenik 1964:40). By understanding the traditional resonance of the phrase mermera erga, however, we can see that the Trojans react to what has happened as a disaster. This reaction may imply the same importance of Rhesos as we see in other versions of his traditional narrative (for more on those, see the Rhesos section in our essay “Tradition and Reception”)—in one version, he is the one committing mermera erga and has to be stopped; in another, he would have been invincible and so would have committed mermera erga had he lived.