A Sampling of Comments on the Iliad

Xanthos, immortal horse of Achilles, is telling the hero a prophecy: Achilles will be killed by an unnamed hero who will be helped by an unnamed god. Before the fate of Achilles is ... Continue reading

On this proverb about the oak and the rock, see the comment at O.19.162–163. ... Continue reading

The ships of the Achaeans are beached along the shores of a large U-shaped bay that opens into the Hellespont. See Map 1 and Map 2 at HPC 157 and 158 respectively. Such a bay no lo ... Continue reading

In these first four verses of the speech spoken by Odysseus to Achilles, there is an evocative reference to the dais as a ‘feast’ where portions of meat are being divided in an equ ... Continue reading

The story that is being told here at I.09.128–131 and retold at I.09.270–272 centers on one single stunning event: Achilles captured the entire island of Lesbos. By implication, th ... Continue reading

At I.11.078, the gods are said to hold Zeus aitios ‘responsible’, as expressed by the verb aitiân, derived from the adjective aitios, for the fact that the Trojans are now winning ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

Unlike what we see at I.02.484, I.02.761, Ι.11.218, I.14.508, I.16.112, where the Muses are invoked as plural goddesses, the Muse here at I.02.761 is invoked as a singular goddess. ... Continue reading

See the comments at O.12.132 and at O.23.246 on myths about solar horses; the name of Xanthos is relevant. ... Continue reading

The main theme of the narration is signaled right away. The signaling is accomplished by way of the first word of the very first verse of the Homeric Iliad. The word is mēnis ‘ange ... Continue reading

The mēnis of Achilles is a special kind of ‘anger’. The hero feels this anger after his tīmē ‘honor’ is damaged by the over-king Agamemnon. The Master Narrator says at verse 2 her ... Continue reading

The menis 'anger' of Achilles at I.01.001 towards Agamemnon the over-king is parallel to the menis of Aeneas at I.13.459-461 towards Priam the over-king. The menis ' ... Continue reading

The reference to algea ‘pains’ here is relevant to the etymology of the name Akhil(l)eus—if this name can successfully be explained as a shortened by-form of *Akhi-lāu̯os in the se ... Continue reading

The epithet oulomenē ‘disastrous’ here at I.01.002, which describes the narrative subject of the entire performed narration of the Iliad as designated by the driving word mēnis ‘an ... Continue reading

In the Iliad, the word autos ‘self’ refers to the body as the basis of identity for heroes, while the word psūkhē ‘spirit’ refers to (A) the life-force of heroes when they are aliv ... Continue reading

The Master Narrator calls on the Muse to explain the cause of the eris ‘strife’. (See also the pointed use of the word eris ‘strife’ at Pindar Paean 6.50–53.) It is now revealed t ... Continue reading

Speakers who hold a skēptron ‘scepter’, speak with a kingly authority emanating from the over-king of the gods, Zeus. Speakers who hold a skēptron ‘scepter’, speak with a kingly au ... Continue reading

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The adverb aiei ‘forever’ is the old locative case of the noun aiōn ‘life-force, lifetime’. The use of the locative indicates that the ‘life-force’ keeps coming back to life by way ... Continue reading

Kalkhas, as ‘the best of the bird-watching seers’ belongs to a more restricted category than the category we see in the expression ‘the best of the Achaeans’. Kalkhas, as ‘the best ... Continue reading

The words spoken by Kalkhas the seer here at I.01.074–083 indicate three different kinds of anger: mēnis at I.01.075, kholos at I.01.081, and kotos at I.01.082. In the case of mēni ... Continue reading

The narration of the Iliad, from the start, sets up a parallelism between the hero Achilles and the god Apollo. The narration of the Iliad, from the start, sets up a parallelism b ... Continue reading

When the hero Achilles swears by the god Apollo, he marks himself as a Doppelgänger of the god. When the hero Achilles swears by the god Apollo, he marks himself as a Doppelgänger ... Continue reading

The meaning of eukhesthai as ‘declare’ has to do with speaking for the record in the form of ‘boasting’ or ‘praying’ or ‘juridically declaring’ (Muellner 1976). The question of who ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

The words akhos ‘grief’ and algea ‘pains’ are used in equivalent contexts. The words akhos ‘grief’ and algea ‘pains’ are used in equivalent contexts. The words akhos ‘grief’ and ... Continue reading

When Achilles insults Agamemnon by calling him philo-kteanōtatos ‘most loving of material gain’, the framing narration is referring to the general theme of Agamemnon’s greediness. ... Continue reading

The theme of the Will of Zeus is relevant to questions of juridical responsibility, as expressed by the adjective aitios ‘responsible’. The theme of the Will of Zeus is relevant to ... Continue reading

The traditional epithet for Phthie, the homeland of Achilles, is bōti-aneira ‘she who nourishes men’. There is a paradox built into this noun+epithet combination, since the name Ph ... Continue reading

When Achilles calls Agamemnon kun-ōpa ‘having the looks of a dog’, he is engaging in the language of blame. When Achilles calls Agamemnon kun-ōpa ‘having the looks of a dog’, he is ... Continue reading

In Agamemnon’s language of blame as directed against Achilles, eris ‘strife’ is a defining feature of Achilles. In Agamemnon’s language of blame as directed against Achilles, eris ... Continue reading

Insulted by Agamemnon, Achilles experiences instantaneous akhos ‘grief’, I.01.188, which will then undergo a metastasis into mēnis ‘anger’. As we will see in what follows, that ang ... Continue reading

commentary on xanthos in the context of immortalizationThe epithet applied to the hair of Achilles, xanthos/xanthē ‘golden’, is a marker of the hero’s future immortalization. The ... Continue reading

one of Watkin’s three passages where menos is used as a functional equivalent of mēnisThere are three Homeric contexts where the word menos ‘mental power’ seems to be the functiona ... Continue reading

This insult, kunos ommat’ ekhōn ‘having the looks of a dog’, directed at Agamemnon by Achilles, exemplifies the language of blame. As also at cross-ref. I.01.159, the translation ‘ ... Continue reading

This insult directed at Agamemnon by Achilles exemplifies the language of blame. Another aspect of the blame here is the double meaning of dēmo- in the compound formation dēmoboros ... Continue reading

Achilles swears by the skēptron ‘scepter’ that he holds and then throws down to the ground. This oath of Achilles is correlated with the plot or narrative arc of the Iliad, starti ... Continue reading

The skēptron ‘scepter’ by which Achilles swears his Oath is here viewed as a thing of nature transformed into a thing of culture, by contrast with the scepter that is pictured in t ... Continue reading

The insulting of Achilles by Agamemnon takes on a special meaning in the Iliad because the Master Narrator recognizes Achilles as the ‘best of the Achaeans’. The insulting of Achil ... Continue reading

The meaning of mēnis ‘anger’ in a situation where X is angry at Y does not preclude the idea that Y is also angry at X. There is an ongoing reciprocity of anger between Achilles as ... Continue reading

Here is one of the three Homeric contexts where menos ‘mental power’ seems to be a functional equivalent of mēnis ‘anger’. But note the further comments at cross-ref. I.01.207. Her ... Continue reading

Agamemnon as speaker refers to the oneidea ‘words of insult’ directed at him by Achilles, who has been resorting to the language of blame in his quarrel with the over-king. Agamemn ... Continue reading

The wording of Achilles refers to the future predicament of the Achaeans during the Battle for the Ships; in this phase of the Trojan War, the Achaeans will be losing while the Tro ... Continue reading

This is the first occurrence of the noun therapōn in the Iliad; the dual form here is theraponte. In the immediate context, only the surface meaning, ‘attendant’, is evident. In ot ... Continue reading

comment on aitios in the context of discussion of the theme of the Will of Zeus ... Continue reading

The name Patroklos=Patrokleēs occurs here at I.01.345 for the first time. For the etymology, see the comment on I.01.345. The name Patroklos=Patrokleēs occurs here at I.01.345 for ... Continue reading

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The name Patroklos=Patrokleēs means ‘he who has the glory [kleos] of the ancestors [pateres]’. On kleos in the sense of an overall reference to the ‘glory’ of poetry, see I.02.325. ... Continue reading

The hero Achilles is linked with the word pontos in the sense of a ‘crossing’ of the sea—a ‘crossing’ that is dangerous but sacralizing. The hero Achilles is linked with the word p ... Continue reading

The word penthos is used here to indicate the ‘grief’ of Achilles. Both words akhos ‘grief’ and penthos ‘grief’ refer to the emotion felt by Achilles over the damage done to his tī ... Continue reading

The theme expressed by the verb daiesthai ‘feast, divide, apportion, allot’ at I.01.368 is at work in the Strife Scene at the beginning of the Iliad—although a ‘feast’ as expressed ... Continue reading

The mētis ‘mind, intelligence’ of the local goddess Thetis is linked with the heroic potential of her son Achilles. The mētis ‘mind, intelligence’ of the local goddess Thetis is li ... Continue reading

The monstrous figures of Briareos and Aigaion, synthetized as one person in this context, conjure up the theme of the-Achilles-who-would-have-been if his father had been the god Ze ... Continue reading

In the words of the mortal hero Achilles, speaking to his immortal mother Thetis, the status of the hero as ‘best of the Achaeans’ is linked with the akhos ‘grief’ that he experien ... Continue reading

The status of Achilles as ‘best of the Achaeans’ is primarily formalized by way of the epithet aristos Akhaiōn ‘best of the Achaeans’. For Agamemnon to dishonor this status of Achi ... Continue reading

The theme of le morceau du héros, which is the ‘champion’s portion’ of meat awarded to a dominant hero, is coextensive with the theme of a hero’s epic ‘destiny’, one word for which ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

When the Olympian gods are away from their home situated on Mount Olympus, they customarily attend a dais ‘feast’, Ι.01.424, in the Land of the Aithiopes ‘Aethiopians’, Ι.01.423, w ... Continue reading

Chryses uses the same words in praying to Apollo as Achilles does in praying to Zeus at I.16.237. Chryses uses the same words in praying to Apollo as Achilles does in praying to Ze ... Continue reading

See the comment on I.01.320–348; see also I.16.032. See the comment on I.01.320–348; see also I.16.032. See the comment on I.01.320–348; see also I.16.032. See the comment on I.01. ... Continue reading

The anonymous author of a Life of Homer, in Vita 1.517–537, argues that Homer, as the poet of the Iliad and Odyssey, was an Aioleús ‘Aeolian’, and, in making this argument, he cite ... Continue reading

testFrom a purely linguistic point of view, an ‘Aeolian’ was whoever spoke a dialect known as Aeolic, which along with Ionic and Doric was a major dialectal grouping of the Greek l ... Continue reading

The idea of ‘division’ latent in contexts where dais refers to a ‘feast’ becomes overt in expressions like δαιτὸς ἐίσης ‘equitable dais’ referring to an ‘equitable’ (adjective isos ... Continue reading

There are two comparable situations in the Iliad where a paiēōn is sung to mark a major remedy for the Achaeans. In the present situation, the singing of such a song marks the cess ... Continue reading

We see here in the Iliad the first occurrence of the epithet rhododaktulos ‘rosy-fingered’, applied to Eos, goddess of the dawn. This epithet can be explained as a substitution for ... Continue reading

In the words of the immortal goddess Thetis, speaking to the all-powerful god Zeus on behalf of her mortal son Achilles, the status of this hero as ‘best of the Achaeans’ is linked ... Continue reading

Once the Achaeans collectively have akhos ‘grief’, ordained by the Will of Zeus, the Trojans will correspondingly have kratos ‘winning-power’, likewise ordained by the god. This co ... Continue reading

The Will of Zeus, which is made coextensive with the plot or narrative arc of the Iliad, is formalized by the all-powerful god when he nods his head, as he does here at I.01.524–53 ... Continue reading

The action of Zeus in nodding his head to express his Will results in his making contact, by way of metonymy, with the emotions of Achilles. The effect of such divine metonymy in m ... Continue reading

The reference here to the Will of Zeus, as recapitulated in the words of the goddess Hērā, repeats a main theme in the plot or narrative arc of the Iliad: the damaging of the tīmē ... Continue reading

A totalizing idea of song—including not only the actual singing but also the dancing and the instrumental accompaniment—is embodied in a performance by the Muses and Apollo combine ... Continue reading

The False Dream that is sent by Zeus to the sleeping Agamemnon is a false Will of Zeus. Whereas the true Will of Zeus is the real plot or narrative arc of the Iliad, as noted in th ... Continue reading

The False Dream, personified, is instructed by Zeus to tell Agamemnon that the victory of the Achaeans over the Trojans will be quick and easy and painless, since the goddess Hērā ... Continue reading

The False Dream, personified, describes himself here as the Dios angelos ‘messenger of Zeus’. Later on, at I.02.063, Agamemnon himself describes the personified False Dream as the ... Continue reading

The False Dream tells Agamemnon that he will capture Troy ‘now’. It is a promise of instant gratification. The False Dream tells Agamemnon that he will capture Troy ‘now’. It is a ... Continue reading

These verses describe most accurately how Agamemnon, dreaming his False Dream, misunderstands the Will of Zeus. As we read at I.02.036 here, Agamemnon is thinking things that will ... Continue reading

When Agamemnon wakes up from dreaming the False Dream, he experiences the sensation of an omphē ‘oracular voice’ that has just now been poured all over him. This idea of omphē as a ... Continue reading

The skēptron ‘scepter’ that is held by Agamemnon is described as golden, and gold is the symbol for the artificial continuum of immortality as expressed by the epithet aphthito- in ... Continue reading

The False Dream, personified, announces himself to the sleeping Agamemnon, describing himself as the Dios angelos ‘messenger of Zeus’. The False Dream, personified, announces himse ... Continue reading

analysis of the Iliadic theme of Achilles as the best of the Achaeans, and here, Agamemnon’s claim to the titleCountering the claim of Achilles to be the ‘best of the Achaeans’, Ag ... Continue reading

This expression needs to be added to the cumulative evidence showing that a person who holds a skēptron ‘scepter’ speaks with the authority of a king—an authority emanating from Ze ... Continue reading

In this verse, I.02.094, the epithet Dios angelos ‘messenger of Zeus’ applies to the noun ossa ‘oracular voice’ as found in the previous verse, I.02.093. In this verse, I.02.094, t ... Continue reading

In the Homeric Iliad, the hero Pelops figures as an archetype of political power. The sequence of kings in the Peloponnesus is limited to the dynastic lineage starting with Pelops. ... Continue reading

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analysis of the phrase therapōn of Ares (here, as applied to the Achaeans as an aggregate of warriors)This is the second occurrence of the noun therapōn in the Iliad; the plural fo ... Continue reading

The words of this challenge directed against the over-king Agamemnon by Sthenelos, chariot driver of Diomedes, recall the epic traditions of the Epigonoi = Sons-of-the-Seven-agains ... Continue reading

discussion of gold as symbol of culture, here with regards to the golden scepter ... Continue reading

This word indicates the language of blame vs. praise. Such words can refer to blame as a foil for epic. This word indicates the language of blame vs. praise. Such words can refer t ... Continue reading

The expression erizemenai basileusin ‘engage in strife against kings’ is a programmatic way of referring to the language of blame as a challenge to royalty. In the Iliad, Thersites ... Continue reading

The programmatic representation of Thersites as an exponent of blame poetry is summed up in the description of this character as aiskhistos ‘most disgraceful’. In the Poetics of Ar ... Continue reading

The content of the words of Thersites as blame poetry is matched by the form of the blame poet: just as the content is ugly, the form too is ugly. Thersites actually looks ugly. If ... Continue reading

As an exponent of blame poetry, which is antithetical to the poetry of epic as a vehicle for praising what is good about heroes, Thersites is truly ekhthistos ‘most hateful’ to the ... Continue reading

Besides the noun neikos (plural neikea) ‘quarrel’ and the verb neikeîn ‘quarrel with’, on both which see the comment on I.02.221, another set of words referring to the poetics of b ... Continue reading

Here again, the verb neikeîn ‘quarrel with’ refers to the poetics of blame. Here again, the verb neikeîn ‘quarrel with’ refers to the poetics of blame. Here again, the verb neike ... Continue reading

Epic quotes here directly the poetry of blame as displayed by Thersites. His words of blame are introduced and concluded at I.02.224 and I.02.243 respectively by way of the word ne ... Continue reading

Thersites directs his blame at the Achaeans, ridiculing them by feminizing them. The noun elenkhos ‘disgrace’ is meant to shame the persons insulted by the poetics of blame. Thers ... Continue reading

Here the words of blame uttered by Thersites insult Achilles, calling into question the motives of that hero. It is as if the anger of Achilles were not real. This kind of misrepre ... Continue reading

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Thersites here is insulted by words of blame because he has used the words of blame to insult the noble. Nobility, when insulted by words of blame, can stoop to insult in return by ... Continue reading

Throughout this speech, Thersites is insulted by words of blame because he has used the words of blame to insult the noble. Throughout this speech, Thersites is insulted by words ... Continue reading

The insulting language of Thersites is here being insulted in return: his discourse is described as a-krito-mūthos ‘having words that cannot be sorted out’. So, the blame poetry of ... Continue reading

Here again, the expression erizemenai basileusin ‘engage in strife against kings’ is a programmatic way of referring to the language of blame as a challenge to royalty. Here again, ... Continue reading

Just as Achilles and Odysseus are the ‘best of the Achaeans’, Thersites is the ‘worst’, according to the insulting words of counter-blame spoken by Oydsseus. Just as Achilles and O ... Continue reading

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This word kertomeîn ‘say words of insult’ is yet another term referring to the act of insulting by way of blame poetryThis word kertomeîn ‘say words of insult’ is yet another term ... Continue reading

analysis of the episode of Thersites, here specifically his being reproached for reproaching (and comparison with Ktesippos in the Odyssey) ... Continue reading

analysis of Agamemnon’s skēptron and gold as symbol for the artificial continuum of immortality (aphthito-) and the relevance of this for Achilles’ oath ... Continue reading

Thersites, by blaming the heroes of the Iliad, had intended to turn them into objects of laughter by way of ridicule. But the blame is reversed, and now it is Thersites who becomes ... Continue reading

This word epes-bolos ‘thrower of words’ is yet another term referring to the act of insulting by way of blame poetry. A possible parallel is Latin iocus, if derived from iaciō / ia ... Continue reading

list of words indicating blame as a foil for Epos (in the passage about Thersites), here oneidos ... Continue reading

Here in the Iliad, the telos or ‘fulfillment’ of the plot is being realized only in the form of a prophecy—by contrast with the epic Cycle, where the conquest of Troy is the ultima ... Continue reading

The omen of the serpent in Iliad 2 is comparable to the omen of the serpent in Virgil Aeneid 2.199–227. The omen of the serpent in Iliad 2 is comparable to the omen of the serpent ... Continue reading

The omen of the serpent that devours the nine birds is a sēma ‘sign, signal’ that calls for interpretation. This interpretation is needed, in terms of the poetry itself, for unders ... Continue reading

argument for the standard version making as much sense as the non-standard version of 318-319The serpent, once it is petrified, is arizēlon / aridēlon ‘most visible’; according to ... Continue reading

analysis of Aristarchus’ treatment of and opinions about verses 318-319The reading aïdēlon ‘invisible’ at I.02.318, adduced by Aristarchus, is incompatible with this verse, I.02.31 ... Continue reading

discussion of formulae with kleos and aphthito-The expression kleos oupot’ oleitai ‘its glory [kleos] will never perish’ (κλέος οὔποτ’ ὀλεῖται), as here at I.02.325, is parallel wi ... Continue reading

The expression mōlos Arēos ‘struggle of Ares’ refers to a war-dance. It is as if the violence of warfare were primarily a war-dance. To be compared is the Arcadian festive event of ... Continue reading

Epitomized from Nagy 2015 §85. Here at I.02.402–429, when Agamemnon sacrifices an ox to Zeus, I.02.402–403, 422, he makes a wish-in-prayer, as expressed by the verb eukhesthai, I.0 ... Continue reading

Epitome from Nagy 2015 §§103:Menelaos seems to be idiosyncratic in his arrivals at sacrifices. A striking example is the passage here at I.02.402–429 where Agamemnon sacrifices an ... Continue reading

Menelaos in his thūmos ‘heart, mind’ knows what Agamemnon is feeling. Menelaos in his thūmos ‘heart, mind’ knows what Agamemnon is feeling. Menelaos in his thūmos ‘heart, mind’ kno ... Continue reading

Epitome from Nagy 2015 §104: Point 1. The ability of Menelaos to read the mind of Agamemnon indicates a special meaning for the adjective automatos here. On the one hand, if Menela ... Continue reading

comment on the idea of division in dais (daitos eisēs) ... Continue reading

The immediacy of the Master Narrator’s performance here is counterbalanced by an attitude of remoteness from the composition. Such a counterbalance indicates the Narrator’s deferen ... Continue reading

In this verse, which can be translated ‘tell me now, you Muses who have your dwellings on Mount Olympus’, we see a rhyming of … Mousai, situated before the primary mid-verse word-b ... Continue reading

The ‘I’ of Homer is interchangeable with ‘we’. The ellipsis of successive ‘I’-s in this ‘we’ indicates a vertical succession of performers. The ‘I’ of Homer is interchangeable with ... Continue reading

The performer here is re-experiencing the here-and-now of his own performance. |488 πληθὺν δ’ οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι οὐδ’ ὀνομήνω, |489 οὐδ’ εἴ μοι δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι, δέκα δὲ στόματ’ ... Continue reading

What the Muses do is ‘put the mind in touch’: this translation of mimnēskein is more accurate than ‘remind’, since the idea of ‘reminding’ in a language like English restricts the ... Continue reading

We see here a transition from the prooimion ‘proemium, prelude’ that introduces the Catalogue of Ships to the actual narration of the Catalogue. The transition is formalized by way ... Continue reading

Here is the first Iliadic occurrence of the epithet ozos Arēos, which can be translated generally as ‘attendant of Ares’. The application of this epithet to a hero indicates that s ... Continue reading

Pictured here is the installation of the hero Erekhtheus within the sacred precinct of the goddess Athena in Athens. |546 Οἳ δ' ἄρ’ Ἀθήνας εἶχον ἐϋκτίμενον πτολίεθρον |547 δῆ ... Continue reading

The name of the goddess Athena and the name of the citadel of Athens were originally the same, as we see from O.07.078–081 The name of the goddess Athena and the name of the citade ... Continue reading

analysis of en-poiein not as ‘interpolate’ but as make poetry fit inside poetry that has already been made and as integral to the making of Homeric poetryAlthough Erekhtheus here i ... Continue reading

For the first time in the Iliad, we see here the epithet Dios thugatēr (/thugatēr Dios) ‘daughter of Zeus’, applied in this case to the goddess Athena. This epithet is also applied ... Continue reading

The word homoios ‘the same as, like’, used in comparisons, is essential for understanding the semantics of relativism as well as absolutism in Homeric diction. See the comment on O ... Continue reading

The narrative as presented here is significantly different from the corresponding narrative as presented in Hesiod F 204.44–51. The narrative as presented here is significantly di ... Continue reading

Tradition has it that the Athenian statesman Solon once cited these verses in the context of a territorial dispute between the city-states of Athens and Megara. Such a tradition sh ... Continue reading

The Iliadic entitlement of Achilles as the ‘best of the Achaeans’ is confronted here with a rival theme: Agamemnon too claims the title. The Iliadic entitlement of Achilles as the ... Continue reading

This verse expands on the rivalry of Achilles and Agamemnon for the title of ‘best of the Achaeans’. This verse expands on the rivalry of Achilles and Agamemnon for the title of ‘ ... Continue reading

This negative encounter between Thamyris and the Muses in the Iliad is to be contrasted with the positive encounter between Homer and the Delian Maidens in the Homeric Hymn to Apol ... Continue reading

analysis of Eustathius’ notion (1.9) of the ancient rationale of distinct color schemesThe ships of Odysseus here are described by way of the epithet milto-parēioi ‘with cheeks of ... Continue reading

We see here the earliest attestation of a reference to ktisis-poetry, which is a special form of poetry centering on the colonization of daughter-cities by mother-cities. We see he ... Continue reading

The division of the island of Rhodes into three cities is comparable to the division of any given Dorian city into three phūlai ‘subdivisions’. The division of the island of Rhode ... Continue reading

The name of Hēraklēs is linked with the epic theme of biē in the sense of martial ‘force, violence’; even the name of Hēraklēs can be formulated periphrastically as ‘the force of H ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.12.188.See anchor comment at I.12.188.See anchor comment at I.12.188. ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and the traditional linking of the Herakles figure and biē on the level of themeSee the comment on I.02.658. See the comm ... Continue reading

The tripartition of the whole island of Rhodes kata-phūladon ‘by way of subdivision’ is comparable to the traditional tripartition of many Dorian cities into three phūlai ‘subdivis ... Continue reading

The first part of this micro-narrative, I.02.681–685, highlights various territories unified here under the leadership of Achilles, who sails in fifty ships with warriors originati ... Continue reading

These verses at I.02.689–694 focus on Briseis, war-prize of Achilles. An aristocratic woman, she was taken captive by Achilles when he conquered the city of Lyrnessos and killed he ... Continue reading

The Iliad refers to a variety of epic deeds performed by Achilles, and the relative chronology of these deeds is in many cases situated before or after the time-frame of the Iliad ... Continue reading

This micro-narrative tells how Protesilaos, who was the first Achaean to die in the Trojan War, was sorely missed by his people back home in his native land of Thessaly. At I.02.70 ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.12.188.See anchor comment at I.12.188. ... Continue reading

comment on the connections of ozos Arēos and isos ArēiSee anchor comment at I.12.188.See anchor comment at I.12.188.See anchor comment at I.12.188. ... Continue reading

The Master Narrator addresses here a singular Muse: see the comment on I.02.761. The Muse is asked for an answer to the Iliadic question: who is the ‘best of the Achaeans’? The ans ... Continue reading

Unlike what we see at I.02.484, I.02.761, Ι.11.218, I.14.508, I.16.112, where the Muses are invoked as plural goddesses, the Muse here at I.02.761 is invoked as a singular goddess ... Continue reading

The word kolōnē ‘tumulus’ here at I.02.811 refers to the place where, as we read further at I.02.814, the sēma ‘tomb’ of an otherworldly femaie named Murinē is located; she is pict ... Continue reading

There is a wide variety of myths about anthropogony. According to one version, the first human was the first mantis ‘seer’. According to another version, the first human was genera ... Continue reading

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See anchor comment at I.12.188.See anchor comment at I.12.188. ... Continue reading

In Homeric poetry, both in the Iliad and Odyssey, there is a pattern of avoidance in making overt references to the twelve confederated states known as the Ionian Dodecapolis. In H ... Continue reading

Hector quarrels with Paris, as signaled by the verb neikeîn ‘quarrel with’. He aims words of blame at Paris, and these words are aiskhra ‘disgraceful, shameful’ because they are me ... Continue reading

In situations of strife among heroes as warriors, there is contention over status. Quarreling happens, as indicated here by way of the verb neikeîn ‘quarrel with’. Positive things ... Continue reading

The Trojan War is eris ‘strife’. See also eris ‘strife’ at Pindar Paean 6.50–53. That is how this war is seen in the words of Menelaos the Achaean, who claims a juridical grievanc ... Continue reading

Analysis of the survival of weaving and sewing as metaphors for songmaking. Emphasis on the narration woven into the diplax of Helen and its links to that of Andromache and the ove ... Continue reading

This word en-passein ‘sprinkle’ conveys a metaphor for the process of pattern-weaving. See further at I.22.441. This word en-passein ‘sprinkle’ conveys a metaphor for the process o ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.12.188.See anchor comment at I.12.188. ... Continue reading

By referring to the will of the gods in general instead of the Will of Zeus in particular, Priam avoids saying directly that the abduction of Helen is part of the overarching plot ... Continue reading

Kastōr and PoludeukēsKastōr and Poludeukēs, latinized as Castor and Pollux, are the Divine Twins, sons of Zeus. Another name for them is Dioskouroi ‘sons of Zeus’. Kastōr and Polud ... Continue reading

The noun aiskhos ‘disgrace, shame’ is used here as a synonym of the noun oneidos ‘words of insult’. The noun aiskhos ‘disgrace, shame’ is used here as a synonym of the noun oneidos ... Continue reading

The epithet xanthos ‘golden’ (with reference to hair) is a stylized signal of a mystical immortalization after death for mortal heroes in Homeric poetry. In the case of Menelaos, h ... Continue reading

The epithet Dios thugatēr / thugatēr Dios ‘daughter of Zeus’, applied here to Aphrodite, can signal the beneficence of such goddesses toward privileged heroes like, in this case, P ... Continue reading

A deeper meaning of the noun dais is revealed here in the wording of Zeus, who says that his bōmos ‘altar’—which is ‘mine’, he adds—has never lacked an equitable dais or ‘portion’ ... Continue reading

The collocation ērare tektōn (ἤραρε τέκτων) ‘the joiner joined together’ is relevant to the etymologies of both the verb and the noun here, which are respectively ar-ar-iskein ‘fit ... Continue reading

Epitomized from Nagy 2015 §85. When the hero Pandaros makes his announcement-in-prayer, as expressed by the verb eukhesthai, I.04.119, he says that he will perform an animal sacrif ... Continue reading

The epithet Dios thugatēr / thugatēr Dios ‘daughter of Zeus’, applied here to Athena, can signal the beneficence of such goddesses toward privileged heroes like, in this case, Mene ... Continue reading

The syntax here conveys a wish for a general situation based on a specific situation. The syntax here conveys a wish for a general situation based on a specific situation. The synt ... Continue reading

The epithet applied to the hair of Menelaos, xanthos/xanthē ‘golden’, is a marker of the hero’s future immortalization. The epithet applied to the hair of Menelaos, xanthos/xanthē ... Continue reading

The plural toxa here and at I.04.206 is elliptic: whereas singular toxon as at I.04.124 means ‘bow’, plural toxa as at I.04.196 and I.04.206 means not ‘bow+bow+bow+bow…’ but rather ... Continue reading

What is penthos ‘grief’ for the Achaeans becomes a kleos ‘glory’ for the Trojans. We see here a clear example of penthos ‘grief’ as a synonym of akhos ‘grief’ in Homeric diction. I ... Continue reading

This is the first Iliadic occurrence of the noun therapōn in the singular; at I.01.321, this noun occurs in the dual; at I.02.110, it occurs in the plural. Besides the surface mean ... Continue reading

The verb neikeîn ‘quarrel with’ here again marks the language of blame as opposed to the language of praise. The verb neikeîn ‘quarrel with’ here again marks the language of blame ... Continue reading

The objects of blame here are those who hesitate in battle, described as elenkhees, plural of the adjective elenkhēs ‘disgraceful’, which is a derivative of the noun elenkhos ‘disg ... Continue reading

The expression of admiration here is amplified by way of a wish. And the admiration is the premise for the wish. For more on this kind of correlation of wishes and premises, see th ... Continue reading

Menestheus, as the leader of the Athenians who came to fight at Troy, is stationed here next to Odysseus and Agamemnon. On the significance of such proximity, see the comment on I. ... Continue reading

Agamemnon starts quarreling with Diomedes, as signaled by neikeîn ‘quarrel with’ at I.04.368. The over-king’s language of blame here is meant to diminish the epic reputation of Dio ... Continue reading

The periphrasis of the name Eteokléēs here as bíē Eteoklēeíē is comparable to the periphrasis of the name Hērakléēs as biē Hēraklēeíē. See the comment on I.02.658. The element kleo ... Continue reading

This verse indicates that the goddess Athena can be responsible for the nīkē ‘victory’ of a hero in an athletic event, not only in events of warfare. In most Homeric situations, ho ... Continue reading

The idea of mulling one’s kholos ‘anger’, where a more literal translation of pessein would be ‘cooking’ or ‘digesting’ the anger, is a theme that marks the epic traditions about n ... Continue reading

In this context, plural therapontes indicates the ‘attendants’ of the king Idomeneus.For a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of therapōn see the comment on I.01.321.In this cont ... Continue reading

This micro-narrative about Phereklos, a master carpenter who built that ships sailed by Paris=Alexandros for the abduction of Helen, concerns epic events that precede the narrative ... Continue reading

The collocation of tektonos huion (τέκτονος υἱόν) ‘son of the joiner [tektōn]’ at I.05.059 with Harmonideō (Ἁρμονίδεω) ‘son of Harmōn’ at I.05.059 indicates three generations of ‘j ... Continue reading

The epithet arkhe-kakoi ‘beginning the evil’ at I.05.063 describes the ships in the previous verse, at I.05.062. These ships, as we have seen, were sailed by Paris=Alexandros for t ... Continue reading

Wherever priests (as here at I.05.077–078 and at I.16.604–605) or kings (as in other Homeric contexts: I.10.032–033, I.13.217–218) are said to receive honor as conveyed by the verb ... Continue reading

Wherever priests (as here at I.05.077–078 and at I.16.604–605) or kings (as in other Homeric contexts: I.10.032–033, I.13.217–218) are said to receive honor as conveyed by the verb ... Continue reading

This verse-final adjective krataiḗ can be explained as a morphologically leveled replacement of an older feminine form, to be reconstructed as *krataí-u̯i-ă and meaning ‘whose powe ... Continue reading

This verse shows that the hero Diomedes has a chance to qualify as the ‘best of the Achaeans’, aristos Akhaiōn. In the long run, however, in line with the plot or narrative arc of ... Continue reading

Here the verb eukhesthai ‘declare’ expresses a hero’s superiority not overall but only in a one given area of heroic endeavor, archery.Here the verb eukhesthai ‘declare’ expresses ... Continue reading

This is the first occurrence of the noun hēni-okhos ‘chariot driver’ in the Iliad. Literally, the word means ‘he who holds the reins’.This is the first occurrence of the noun hēni- ... Continue reading

The genealogy of the Trojan Dardanidai is appropriated here into the genealogy of Athenian kings, and the references to a four-horse chariot team at I.05.271 is an Athenian signatu ... Continue reading

In the combination θήλεας ἵππους, the first-declension accusative plural in ‑as, positioned before a vowel, is scanned here as a short rather than long syllable. The attestation of ... Continue reading

At the moment of his death here, the hero’s menos ‘mental power’ is released from his body, and this moment of release is expressed metaphorically by way of the verb luein ‘release ... Continue reading

The epithet Dios thugatēr / thugatēr Dios ‘daughter of Zeus’, applied here to Aphrodite, can signal the beneficence of such goddesses toward privileged heroes like, in this case, A ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

The function of Aphrodite as Dios thugatēr / thugatēr Dios ‘daughter of Zeus’, as at I.03.374, is reinforced here at I.05.370–371 by the designation of this same goddess as the dau ... Continue reading

The wounding of the god Hādēs here with an arrow shot by Hēraklēs is associated with the place-name Pylos, Pulos, which is figured at I.05.397 here as a ‘gateway’ of the sun as it ... Continue reading

In this context, Paiēōn (from Paiāwōn) is still distinct from rather than identical to Apollo. In this context, Paiēōn (from Paiāwōn) is still distinct from rather than identical ... Continue reading

analysis of the application of aristos Akhaiōn to Diomedes in his aristeiaAlthough Diomedes is recognized as aristos Akhaiōn ‘best of the Achaeans’ here at I.05.416, in the present ... Continue reading

The adjective thoós ‘running, swift’ is derived from the verb theein ‘run’. The god Ares is traditionally pictured as thoós ‘running, swift’; by implication, he is as swift as a vi ... Continue reading

analysis of the ritual antagonism between a god and a hero, here in the case of DiomedesApollo is engaged here with Diomedes in a deadly form of antagonism between immortal and mor ... Continue reading

Diomedes is daimoni īsos ‘equal to a superhuman force [daimōn]’ when this hero dares to attack the god Apollo. Ultimately, he backs off. The use of this expression daimoni īsos ‘eq ... Continue reading

These verses show the fatally serious difficulties encountered in differentiating between mortals and immortals, in the context of similes comparing mortals to immortals by way of ... Continue reading

The word phūlon marks a given group as distinct from another group. In this case, the grouping of humans is marked as distinct from the grouping of gods as superhumans. Comparable ... Continue reading

As the god Apollo says at I.05.441–442, the immortals as a ‘grouping’, phūlon, are different from mortals as a ‘grouping’, phūlon. So, he goes on to say, immortals and mortals are ... Continue reading

analysis of the ritual antagonism between a god and a hero, here in the case of DiomedesRetrospectively, Apollo in his own words is saying that Diomedes was daimoni īsos ‘equal to ... Continue reading

analysis of Hektor’s name as derived from ekheinThe “speaking name” (nomen loquens) of Hector, Hék-tōr, is morphologically an agent noun derived from the verb ekhein ‘hold’, which ... Continue reading

The goddess Demeter is the only divinity in Homeric poetry who is described by the epithet xanthē ‘golden’ (with reference to hair).The goddess Demeter is the only divinity in Home ... Continue reading

analysis of the applications of phrase “best of the Achaeans”, and here pointing out the exception that instances of aristos in the plural (as in this verse) are not countedAeneas ... Continue reading

analysis of interconnections of swiftness, Ares, and heroic/warrior functionsThe use of this adjective thoós ‘running, swift’ as a generic epithet of a warrior, as here, is related ... Continue reading

The hero Mudōn is identified here as both a therapōn ‘attendant, ritual substitute’ and a hēni-okhos ‘chariot driver’. The collocation of these nouns therapōn ‘attendant, ritual su ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and the traditional linking of the Herakles figure and biē on the level of themeSee the comment on I.02.658. ... Continue reading

Herakles as the only one besides Achilles who qualifies as thumoleōnIn the Iliad, Hēraklēs as the only hero besides Achilles who qualifies as thūmoleōn ‘having the heart [thūmos] o ... Continue reading

The idea of the ‘gates’ or pulai of Hadēs is a variant of the idea of a ‘gate’ or Pulos of the Sun, where the mythical idea of such a Pulos is parallel to the ritual reality of Pyl ... Continue reading

analysis of noein, here in context of “taking initiative” (applied to Odysseus in this verse)This verb noeîn ‘take note (of), notice’ is attracted to contexts where the subject of ... Continue reading

analysis of anapsukhein as implying that death somehow precedes the ultimate state of immortality, and swooning, like dying, being conveyed by the theme of losing one’s psukhē (her ... Continue reading

analysis of dēmos as originally meaning something like “district” as is still overt for example in this verseIn this context, the localized meaning of dēmos in the sense of ‘distri ... Continue reading

analysis of kúklos as a metaphor for the sum total of Homeric poetry and the craft of the carpenter to the art of the poet. See Pindar Pythian 3.112-114, Il. IV.110, Il. XXIII.712. ... Continue reading

analysis of Athena’s peplosWhen the goddess slips out of her peplos ‘robe’ and into the khitōn ‘tunic’ that belongs to her father Zeus, there is an intervening moment of nudity. (S ... Continue reading

analysis of the ritual reweaving of Athena’s Peplos and the achievement of a notional permanenceThe peplos ‘robe’ made by the goddess Athena is seen as a prototype of a perfect mas ... Continue reading

analysis of anapsukhein as implying that death somehow precedes the ultimate state of immortality and meaning “bring back to vigor,” as in this verseIn this context, the hero is si ... Continue reading

analysis of the application of aristos Akhaiōn to Diomedes in his aristeia (in this line he is only described as ariston, without Achaiōn)The description of Diomedes here as aristo ... Continue reading

analysis of the applications of phrase “best of the Achaeans,” here restrictions to the way others besides Diomedes, Agamemnon, Ajax, and Achilles may be best, in particular, Perip ... Continue reading

comment on the application of the words characterizing Achilles at I.01.177 (eris, wars, and battles are dear to him) to Ares in this verse, complaints lodged by Agamemnon and Zeus ... Continue reading

In this context, Paiēōn (from Paiāwōn) is still distinct from rather than identical to Apollo.In this context, Paiēōn (from Paiāwōn) is still distinct from rather than identical to ... Continue reading

The hero Kalēsios is identified here at I.06.018 as the therapōn ‘attendant’ of the hero Axulos, who is named at I.06.12–13. In the immediate context, at I.06.018, only the surface ... Continue reading

In the immediate context, at I.06.053, only the surface meaning of therapōn as ‘attendant’ is evident.For a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of therapōn see the comment on I.01 ... Continue reading

analysis of the phrase therapōn of Ares (here, as applied to the Achaeans as an aggregate of warriors)In contexts where the plural therapontes in combination with Arēos ‘of Ares’ i ... Continue reading

Helenos is telling Hector what to tell Hecuba to do, which is, to offer a peplos ‘robe’ for Athena as the goddess of the citadel of Troy.Helenos is telling Hector what to tell Hecu ... Continue reading

The encounter of Glaukos and Diomedes prompts an exquisite meditation on the opposition of heroic mortality vs. immortality in terms of nature vs. culture. The encounter of Glauko ... Continue reading

comment on the meaning of pateres as “ancestors,” in the context of analyzing the semantics of PatroklosThe singular noun patēr ‘father’ has an elliptic meaning in the plural: pate ... Continue reading

comment on the different meanings of genos and geneē, in the context of the analysis of the opposition immortality/death as represented in terms of nature and culture, respectively ... Continue reading

analysis of the peplos presented to Athena and comparison with the quadrennial Panathenaic Peplos, and of split referencingHector is telling Hecuba what to do, which is, to offer a ... Continue reading

analysis of the affinities of Hektor and Athena, as the guardian of the city (ritual antagonism of the two)The general hostility of the divinity Athena toward the Trojans in this n ... Continue reading

analysis of the peplos presented to Athena and comparison with the quadrennial Panathenaic Peplos, and of split referencingHecuba goes ahead and does what she has been told to do, ... Continue reading

analysis of Herodotus’ concept of Homer and distinguishing him from the poet of the Cyprialemmatizing: παμποίκιλοι vs. παμποίκιλα There are variant stories about detours experience ... Continue reading

analysis of the peplos presented to Athena and comparison with the quadrennial Panathenaic Peplos, especially regarding pan-poikilos and poikilmaThe noun poikilma at I.06.294 refer ... Continue reading

analysis of the peplos presented to Athena and comparison with the quadrennial Panathenaic Peplos, and of poetic virtuosity and split referencingWith each repetition of the wording ... Continue reading

analysis of blame and aiskhros, and Hektor’s words of blame to Paris being aiskhra not because Hektor is, but because Paris is soHector quarrels with Paris, as signaled by the verb ... Continue reading

comment on aisa in the context of analyzing blame and praise (poetry)Here at I.06.333 as also at I.03.059, Paris actually accepts the words of blame directed at him by his quarreli ... Continue reading

contrasting of the narrative in the Iliad with Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian versions, here regarding the death/survival of Astyanax/ScamandriusThe first name for the son of Hector, A ... Continue reading

Here at I.06.407–439, the wording of Andromache in addressing her departing husband Hector, whom she will never again see alive, is not just a speech expressing her sorrows: it is ... Continue reading

In the Iliad, Andromache is represented as singing three songs of lament for Hector. Each one of these three laments is quoted, as it were, by the Master Narrator, and each one of ... Continue reading

The wording of Hector, addressed to Andromache here at I.06.447–464, reveals a morbid but realistic premonition of the grim future that awaits her. This kind of premonition is typi ... Continue reading

analysis of the last meeting of Hector and Andromache, and the picturing of his wearing a horsetail-crested helmet as going back to the Bronze AgeThe “great floating horsetail cres ... Continue reading

As Andromache watches her husband Hector embracing their child and then giving him back into her arms, she ‘smiles through her tears’, or, more literally, she ‘smiles a smile that ... Continue reading

After they say farewell to each other, Hector turns away and goes off to the battlefield, facing the certainty of death, while Andromache turns away and goes off to her chamber. Bu ... Continue reading

The hero Dexiades is described at I.07.015 by way of the participle epi-almenos meaning ‘one who leaps on’, and the preverb epi- ‘on’ of the participle takes as its object the noun ... Continue reading

In general, the noun hippoi/hippō as elliptic plural/dual means not ‘horses’ but ‘chariot’ when this noun functions as a grammatical object in the genitive (G) or dative (D) or acc ... Continue reading

this passage as the place where the mutual function of Athena and Apollo as the ritual antagonists of Hektor and Achilles, respectively, becomes overtThe divinities Athena and Apol ... Continue reading

analysis of Zeus’ role in awarding nikē as primary and Athena’s as secondaryThe role of Athena in awarding nīkē ‘victory’ to the Achaeans is only secondary, while the corresponding ... Continue reading

comment on the name Phrixos as illuminated by phrix in these versesThe noun phríx ‘shuddering’, which conveys the subjectivized feeling of an observer who shudders when he looks at ... Continue reading

Whoever is ‘best of the Achaeans’ is challenged by Hector to fight him in a one-on-one duel. Hector boasts that he will kill this fighter, still to be named, who will then be entom ... Continue reading

As noted in the comment to lines I.07.067–091, the tomb of the hero whom Hector imagines he will kill is the tomb of Achilles, who in fact will kill Hector before he dies his own d ... Continue reading

internal cross reference to the genre of epigram within Homeric poetry, in the context of discussing that writing is not essential to the composition, performance and reperformance ... Continue reading

In Hector’s imagined scenario of an outcome for his duel with whoever is the ‘best of the Achaeans’, the warrior he will kill be ‘striving to be the best’, as expressed by the verb ... Continue reading

The Achaeans, faced with Hector’s challenge, hesitate, I.07.092–093. Their hesitation seems to indicate that not one of them is really the ‘best of the Achaeans’. Finally, Menelaos ... Continue reading

While volunteering to accept the challenge of Hector, Menelaos blames the other Achaean chieftains for hesitating. He engages them in ‘quarrel’, neikos, and ‘he says words of insul ... Continue reading

In the immediate context, only the surface meaning of therapontes as ‘attendants’ is evident.For a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of therapōn see the comment on I.01.321.In t ... Continue reading

Not only Menelaos but Nestor too blames the other Achaean chieftains for hesitating. He goads them into action not only by blaming them but also by telling a story about one of his ... Continue reading

Nestor’s story of his fight with Ereuthalion amounts to a lesson about strategy in warfare. A pivotal figure in the story is the predecessor of Ereuthalion: he is Arēi-thoos, at I. ... Continue reading

comparison of molos Arēos and Arcadian Mōleia, dramatization of martial biēSee the comment at I.02.401. See the comment at I.02.401. ... Continue reading

In the immediate context, only the surface meaning of therapōn as ‘attendant’ is evident.For a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of therapōn see the comment on I.01.321.In the i ... Continue reading

By goading the Achaeans, Nestor is engaged in the act of neikeîn: so he ‘quarrels with’ the Achaeans. This way, he engages in the language of blame as opposed to praise. And, even ... Continue reading

analysis of who is the best of the Achaeans in the context of Hektor’s challenge to the duel and Nestor’s reproach to the Achaeans and the narrowing down of the focus on the pan-Ac ... Continue reading

analysis of who is the best of the Achaeans in the context of Hektor’s challenge to the duel and Ajax’s fighting himAjax boasts that he is superior to other Achaeans both by way of ... Continue reading

analysis of Zeus’ role in awarding nikē as primary and Athena’s as secondaryThe role of Zeus in awarding nīkē ‘victory’ to the Achaeans is primary, while the corresponding role of ... Continue reading

analysis of Achilles’ similarity/comparison to a lion in terms of his thumos (thumoleōn) ... Continue reading

analysis of who is the best of the Achaeans in the context of Hektor’s challenge to the duel and Ajax’s fighting himEven Hector acknowledges the superior status of Ajax among the A ... Continue reading

comment on eukhesthai being used of Hektor, in the context of analysis of how Hektor mirrors Athena (his ritual antagonist), here, with regard to being Dios paisHector seems to be ... Continue reading

analysis of the notion of division latent in dais and meaning of eisē “equal” shareThe theme of awarding the choice cut of meat to the foremost warrior in the context of a dais ‘fe ... Continue reading

analysis of mētis and biē and their application to Odysseus and Achilles (in the context of the embassy to Achilles in I.09)The choice of the word mētis ‘mind, intelligence’ in the ... Continue reading

Nestor, in speaking to the assembled Achaeans, prescribes that they build a Wall for the purpose of protecting both them and their ships from the attacks of the Trojans. This purpo ... Continue reading

In contexts where the plural therapontes in combination with Arēos ‘of Ares’ is applied to the Achaeans=Danaans=Argives (at I.07.382 here, to the Danaoi) as a grouping of warriors, ... Continue reading

comment on the role of Okeanos as a boundary delimiting light from darkness, life from death, wakefulness from sleep, in the context of analyzing themes of death, regeneration and ... Continue reading

Within these verses I.07.433–465 is a description of the building of the Achaean Wall at I.07.434–442 that matches the prescription given by Nestor at I.07.336–343. While the Wall ... Continue reading

This compound noun terpi-kéraunos, interpreted here as ‘he whose bolt strikes’, is an epithet that applies exclusively to Zeus: a parallel epithet, also applied exclusively to Zeus ... Continue reading

analysis of the coextensiveness of Zeus’ Will and Achilles’ prayer in his mēnis and their marking by the selas of Zeus/of Hektor at the shipsThe momentum of the fighting between th ... Continue reading

Seeing the lightning sent by Zeus, I.08.076, the Achaean chieftains are now thunderstruck with fear, I.08.076–077. Mentioned by name at I.08.078–079 as those chieftains who now ret ... Continue reading

This whole epic narrative about Nestor’s entanglement and his rescue by Diomedes is evocative of another epic narrative where the old hero gets entangled—and gets rescued this time ... Continue reading

In contexts where the plural therapontes in combination with Arēos ‘of Ares’ is applied to the Achaeans=Danaans=Argives (here, to the ‘two Ajaxes’) as a grouping of warriors, the d ... Continue reading

analysis of therapōn, this verse as an example of the prevailing application of the word as ‘warrior’s companion’Diomedes is speaking to Nestor, saying that the old hero’s chariot ... Continue reading

example of ‘standard’ usage in Homeric quotations of PlatoWhen a word break occurs before the final metrical sequence – uu – u of the dactylic hexameter, the wording before the bre ... Continue reading

The dual theraponte here at I.08.113 is referring to Sthenelos and Eurymedon, named at I.08.114, who as we know from related contexts are respectively the chariot drivers of Diomed ... Continue reading

The hero Eniopeus son of Thebaios is here both the hēni-okhos ‘chariot driver’ and the therapōn ‘attendant, ritual substitute’ of Hector. When Diomedes throws his spear at Hector, ... Continue reading

At the moment of his death here, the hero’s menos ‘mental power’ is released from his body, and, in the present context, the noun psūkhē ‘spirit’ is used as a synonym of menos.At t ... Continue reading

analysis of the coextensiveness of Zeus’ Will and Achilles’ prayer in his mēnis and their marking by the selas of Zeus/of Hektor at the shipsHere is where the momentum of Diomedes, ... Continue reading

Three times Zeus thunders from on high on top of Mount Ida, I.08.170, making a sēma ‘sign’, Ι.08.171, signaling that nīkē ‘victory’ will now go to the Trojans, not to the Achaeans, ... Continue reading

analysis of Achilles as pēma to Achaeans when he withdraws from fighting and when he dies and to Trojans when he fights, and this matching the Will of ZeusHector recognizes the Wil ... Continue reading

analysis of the coextensiveness of Zeus’ Will and Achilles’ prayer in his mēnis and their marking by the selas of Zeus/of Hektor at the shipsHector predicts that there will be mnēm ... Continue reading

analysis of the appropriation of the Trojan genealogy of the Dardanidai into the Athenian genealogy of kings and the Iliadic references to four-horse chariot teams as an Athenian s ... Continue reading

analysis of designating heroes as equal to Ares, here specifically Hektor (and Patroklos) when wearing Achilles’ armor (and being a therapōn of Ares)Hector here is said to be atala ... Continue reading

By blaming or insulting his fellow Achaeans for not daring to stand up to the onslaught of Hector, Agamemnon is goading them into action. His insulting words recall a scene that to ... Continue reading

At the moment of his death here, the hero’s menos ‘mental power’ is released from his body, and, in the present context, the noun psūkhē ‘spirit’ is used as a synonym of menos.At t ... Continue reading

analysis of the language of praise poetry as presenting the language of unjustified blame as parallel to the eating of heroes’ corpses by dogsThe verb haptesthai ‘grab a hold of’ h ... Continue reading

discussion of the meaning of aethlos, here as life-and-death struggle (Labors of Herakles)The noun aethlos (āthlos) ‘ordeal’ in the plural, aethloi, programmatically refers to the ... Continue reading

The constellation of words linked with pulē in the sense of ‘gate’, such as pul-artēs ‘gate-closer’ here (genitive πυλάρταο), is linked with the idea of the pulai ‘gates’ of Hādēs. ... Continue reading

analysis of the language of praise poetry as presenting the language of unjustified blame as parallel to the eating of heroes’ corpses by dogsThe very idea of exposing a dead body ... Continue reading

comment on the role of Okeanos as a boundary delimiting light from darkness, life from death, wakefulness from sleep, in the context of analyzing themes of death, regeneration and ... Continue reading

The words spoken by Hector here reveal an overweening desire to be an immortal god, not a mortal human. By speaking this way, the hero is challenging the cosmic order.The words spo ... Continue reading

analysis of van der Valk’s argument that Zenodotus’ reading ἔλπομαι εὐχόμενος is superior to the Aristarchus’ and manuscript tradition’s reading (van der Valk 1964.76). Argues that ... Continue reading

analysis of how Hektor mirrors Athena (his ritual antagonist), here, with regard to his aspirations to timē like Athena and Apollo (and with regard to being Dios pais)Here is a wor ... Continue reading

The beginning of Rhapsody 9 picks up where Rhapsody 8 ended. There is a brief reference at I.09.001 to the ending of Rhapsody 8. Then, in the rest of the verse at I.09.001 and cont ... Continue reading

The name Phúza, which is a personification of phúza ‘running away out of fear’ is described here at I.09.02 as the hetaírē ‘companion’ of Phóbos, which is a personification of phób ... Continue reading

analysis of akhos and penthosAs the Achaeans are being routed by the Trojans, I.09.1–2, they are afflicted with penthos ‘grief’. Whenever the Achaeans are losing and the Trojans ar ... Continue reading

The penthos ‘grief’ felt by the losing Achaeans is now compared, by way of a simile, to a seastorm brought by the North Wind and the West Wind personified respectively as Boreas an ... Continue reading

analysis of the epithet ikhthuoeis of pontos as indicative of its dangersAs an epithet describing the noun pontos ‘crossing [of the sea]’, the adjective ikhthuoeis ‘fish-swarming’ ... Continue reading

After the intervening simile, at I.09.004–008, of the storm at sea, the penthos ‘grief’ felt by the Achaeans at I.09.003 is described further: this grief, it is said at I.09.008, i ... Continue reading

on Diomedes as a stand-in for Antilokhos (in driving Nestor’s chariot and saving him) as at I.08.80ff. and comparison with Pindar Pythian 6Here at I.09.057–058, Nestor makes a rema ... Continue reading

analysis of the translation of the Will of Zeus into the fire of Hektor’s onslaught against the Achaean shipsNestor makes a remark about the watchfires of the Trojans: these fires, ... Continue reading

analysis of the skēptron as a sign of a king’s authority (in this passage) and its use not to indicate it (elsewhere), and comparison of litigation scene on Achilles’ Shield, Hesio ... Continue reading

comment on the use of noeō in contexts of “taking the initiative”This verb noeîn ‘take note (of), notice’, corresponding to the noun nóos ‘mind’, is used in contexts where the subj ... Continue reading

analysis of atē and the Litai in Phoenix’s speech, here also the apoina offered by Agamemnon for his atēAgamemnon here at I.09.115 admits that it was atē for him to dishonor Achill ... Continue reading

Agamemnon here formulates the terms of the compensation that he offers to Achilles. The last four verses of his formulation, I.09.158–161, bluntly reassert his claim to be superior ... Continue reading

Among the prizes that Agamemnon at I.09.128–131 offers as compensation to Achilles are seven captive Aeolian women who were captured by Achilles when he conquered the Aeolian islan ... Continue reading

The story that is being told here at I.09.128–131 and retold at I.09.270–272 centers on one single stunning event: Achilles captured the entire island of Lesbos. By implication, th ... Continue reading

in the context of the analysis of Messon as the setting of the seasonally recurring festival of the federation of the Aeolian citiesThe description of the women from Lesbos as vict ... Continue reading

Here is where Agamemnon reasserts his claim to be superior to Achilles. See the comment on the whole passage, I.09.120–161.Here is where Agamemnon reasserts his claim to be superio ... Continue reading

analysis of the change of leader from Phoinix to Odysseus and the dual verb (I.09.192) in the passage on the embassy to AchillesHere is where Nestor formulates the sequence of spea ... Continue reading

analysis of the self-assertion of Odysseus as a part of the embassy, and Nestor’s stressing his role in itNestor signals to the three ambassadors, glancing at them with coded looks ... Continue reading

As the three ambassadors and the two heralds proceed toward the shelter of Achilles, a series of dual forms is activated in the narrative, starting already with the very first vers ... Continue reading

As the three ambassadors and the two heralds enter the shelter of Achilles, they find the hero singing klea andrōn ‘the glories [klea] of men’ while his companion Patroklos is list ... Continue reading

analysis of who is most philos to AchillesAchilles greets the ambassadors in the dual, I.09.197–198, and not in the plural. And he refers to them first as philoi ‘near and dear’, I ... Continue reading

Here again this verb noeîn ‘have in mind, take note (of)’ applies to the actions of Odysseus, who is specially linked with the meaning of noeîn, ‘have in mind’.Here again the verb ... Continue reading

Here is the speech of Odysseus to Achilles. It is the first of the three speeches to be delivered by the three ambassadors, and it is now being delivered out of sequence, in contra ... Continue reading

comparison of the conflict between Achilles and Odysseus in the Iliad and O.08.072-082, regarding it being an omen of Troy’s destruction, but preceded by pēmaThe wording of this ve ... Continue reading

The thunder and lightning of Zeus are interpreted here as a sēma ‘sign, signal’ of the Will of Zeus.The thunder and lightning of Zeus are interpreted here as a sēma ‘sign, signal’ ... Continue reading

The fear of the Achaeans is that Hector’s fire will reach their ships beached at the Hellespont, and such a disaster would surely destroy them. The fear of the Achaeans is that He ... Continue reading

analysis of Achilles as a man of constant sorrow (from Agamemnon’s taking away of Briseis onwards), contrasted with Demeter whose mēnis and akhos cease at the same timeAs Odysseus ... Continue reading

analysis of Odysseus’ delivering Agamemnon’s terms to Achilles, putting at risk of Achilles’ heroic stature in the IliadEmbedded here within the speech of Odysseus is his restateme ... Continue reading

The wording of Odysseus refers here to the kholos ‘anger’ of Achilles. But this word is only a partial synonym of mēnis ‘anger’, which is a more specialized word that suits more ac ... Continue reading

The story that is being told here at I.09.270–272 and retold earlier at I.09.128–131 centers on one single stunning event: Achilles captured the entire island of Lesbos. By implica ... Continue reading

Among the prizes that Agamemnon at I.09.128–131 offers as compensation to Achilles are seven captive Aeolian women who were captured by Achilles when he conquered the Aeolian islan ... Continue reading

Whereas the Master Narrator did not use formal wording to introduce the speech of Odysseus at I.09.225–306, he does use formal wording both to introduce at I.09.307 the speech of A ... Continue reading

Achilles’ rejection of Odysseus’ speechIn these four verses, Achilles begins his own speech in response to the speech of Odysseus, and he rejects straightaway Agamemnon’s offer for ... Continue reading

analysis of Socrates’ argument that Achilles, like Odysseus, is capable of falsehoods (here, with regards to legein in the sense of ‘speaking’ the words of homer and ‘speaking’ the ... Continue reading

Achilles’ rejection of Odysseus’ speechThe response of Achilles to the speech of Odysseus continues. The passion intensifies even further. The response of Achilles to the speech o ... Continue reading

I suggest that the story embedded here about 11 cities that Achilles conquers on foot, I.09.329–333, may be an indirect reference to the 12 cities of the Aeolian Dodecapolis minus ... Continue reading

There are ten points in this anchor comment, epitomized mostly from Homer the Preclassic (HPC) 131–146:Point 1. Our point of departure is New Ilion, which in the historical period ... Continue reading

Briseis’ being philē to Achilles, and his contrast of that with the Atreidai and their wives (specifically, Helen)By now the feelings of Achilles about the captive woman Briseis wh ... Continue reading

Achilles in his speech here returns to something that Odysseus had said at I.09.241–243: how the Achaeans are afraid that Hector’s fire will reach their ships beached at the Helles ... Continue reading

analysis of the connection of Achilles with the Hellespont As we will see in later comments, Achilles has a special relationship with the Hellespont. As we will see in later comme ... Continue reading

analysis of the epithet ikhthuoeis of pontos (here, of the Hellespont) as indicative of its dangersAt I.07.063–064, we saw that a young hero named Phríxos escaped the dangers of th ... Continue reading

In the Iliad and Odyssey, Apollo at Delphi is mentioned only here at Ι.09.404–405 and at O.08.079–081. In the Iliad and Odyssey, Apollo at Delphi is mentioned only here at Ι.09.40 ... Continue reading

From the standpoint of its etymology, derived as it is from the verb keirein ‘cut, slice’, the noun kḗr in the sense of a ‘cut’ or a ‘slice’ or a ‘portion’ need not convey the nega ... Continue reading

analysis of kleos as used of stories of conflict by Herodotus and in the Iliad where Achilles’ referring to the Iliadic tradition as kleos aphthiton (and so, Homer of Herodotus, as ... Continue reading

analysis of the designations of the pairs Ajax-Phoinix – in dual – and Ajax-Odysseus – in plural – in the embassy sceneThe syntax for referring to the pair of Ajax and Odysseus her ... Continue reading

analysis of the self-assertion of Odysseus as a part of the embassy (order of the speeches)Here, finally, is the speech of Phoenix, postponed because Odysseus took the initiative o ... Continue reading

analysis of the translation of the Will of Zeus into the fire of Hektor’s onslaught against the Achaean shipsPhoenix speaks here about the need for Achilles to prevent the fire of ... Continue reading

analysis of atē and the Litai in Phoenix’s speechThe words of Phoenix warn against the dangers of atē ‘aberration’, I.09.512. The Litai, goddesses of supplication personified, I.09 ... Continue reading

comparison of the conflict between Achilles and Odysseus in the Iliad and O.08.072-082, regarding who are designated as aristoi and philoi and the applicability of these to the thr ... Continue reading

The story told by Phoenix about Meleagros and Kleopatra is introduced at the very beginning, I.09.524, by the expression houtō ‘this is how’, which conventionally introduces a disc ... Continue reading

Here at I.09.561–564, it is revealed that Kleopatra had a second name, and that this name had to do with the singing of laments. Her second name was Alkuónē, I.09.562, which was gi ... Continue reading

For Meleagros, what elevates Kleopatra to the top of his own ascending scale of affection is her lament at I.09.590–594 expressing her grim premonition about a destroyed city. Sudd ... Continue reading

analysis of the translation of the Will of Zeus into the fire of Hektor’s onslaught against the Achaean shipsOnce again, the fire of Hector looms as a threat to the salvation of th ... Continue reading

The speech of Achilles in response to Phoenix is remarkably brief in comparison to his speech in response to Odysseus. If Phoenix had spoken first, the response of Achilles would h ... Continue reading

analysis of the designations of the pairs Ajax-Phoinix – in dual – and Ajax-Odysseus – in plural – in the embassy scene, and the distinguishing of Phoinix from the others (plural)O ... Continue reading

analysis of the self-assertion of Odysseus as a part of the embassy (order of the speeches)This speech is not even addressed to Achilles: Ajax speaks to Odysseus, telling him that ... Continue reading

analysis of who is most philos to Achilles and specifically Ajax’s understanding of the situation, the coded message of the ascending scale of affection in the Meleager story and i ... Continue reading

analysis of who is most philos to Achilles, the rankings in Meleager’s “ascending scale of affection” and its applicability to Achilles’ situationAs Ajax declares, the three ambass ... Continue reading

The response of Achiles to Ajax is stark, as we see in common on I.09.650–653.The response of Achilles to Ajax is stark, as we see in common on I.09.650–653. ... Continue reading

This time, Achilles himself declares that he will not concern himself with the Trojan War until Hector’s fire reaches the Achaean ships beached on the Hellespont.This time, Achille ... Continue reading

analysis of the designations of the pairs Ajax-Phoinix – in dual – and Ajax-Odysseus – in plural – in the embassy scenePhoenix stays behind in the shelter of Achilles while the res ... Continue reading

In this passage, two more women whom Achilles had captured are named: (1) Diomede, daughter of Phorbas, from Lesbos and (2) Iphis from Skyros. In this passage, two more women whom ... Continue reading

Now Agamemnon is asking Odysseus whether Achilles is willing to ward off the fire of Hector from the beached ships of the Achaeans. The obsession with this fire has lost none of it ... Continue reading

At the very beginning of the Iliadic text of Rhapsody 10, we find an interesting claim in the accompanying annotations known as the T Scholia, which stem from Homeric research ongo ... Continue reading

Agamemnon in his role as king here is described in a way that goes beyond the epic action of the moment: the idea that he is honored as a god in his community back home evokes the ... Continue reading

analysis of how Hektor mirrors Athena (his ritual antagonist), here, with regard to mētisIn these verses, Agamemnon worries about the partiality shown by Zeus to Hector. According ... Continue reading

Nestor is speaking to the assembled Achaean chieftains about a spying mission to be undertaken by a volunteer Achaean: whoever succeeds in accomplishing such a mission will have kl ... Continue reading

conventional linking of ep’ anthrōpous with kleos and aoidēThe syntax of this expression ep’ anthrōpous, meaning ‘throughout humankind’, is unusual in Homeric diction, since there ... Continue reading

comment on the use of noeō in contexts of “taking the initiative”In the wording of Diomedes here, it all comes down to the need for noeîn ‘take note (of), notice’ in the special se ... Continue reading

The catalogue here of heroes who volunteer to accompany Diomedes on his nighttime spying mission is organized by way of repeating the verb (e)thelein ‘wish’ in the specialized sens ... Continue reading

In contexts where the plural therapontes in combination with Arēos ‘of Ares’ is applied to the Achaeans=Danaans=Argives (here, to the ‘two Ajaxes’) as a grouping of warriors, the d ... Continue reading

Diomedes has to choose among the volunteers who are willing to accompany him on his nighttime spying mission. Agamemnon addresses Diomedes at this point, urging him to choose the h ... Continue reading

Diomedes chooses Odysseus as the most qualified to accompany him, saying at I.10.247 that he and Odysseus would have the best chance at ‘having a (successful) homecoming’, expresse ... Continue reading

The words of Odysseus here, I.10.249–253, spoken in response to the preceding words of Diomedes, I.10.241–247, highlight the need for balancing the positive force of praise poetry ... Continue reading

the one exception to the rule that Achilles is the only hero in the Iliad who is called podōkēs (or variations), namely, DolonExcept for this verse, where Dolon is described as pod ... Continue reading

analysis of histor as ‘witness’ and the juridical sense of it and e.g. historia in HerodotusThis expression, imperative perfect of eidénai, which is normally translated ‘know’, nee ... Continue reading

analysis of Ilos as the Trojans’ cult hero in the Iliad and the ancestry of Croesus in HerodotusHector here is reportedly ‘planning plans’: boulas bouleuei, at the sēma ‘tomb’ of I ... Continue reading

analysis of interconnections of swiftness, horses and wind, and then also of Ares, and heroic/warrior functionsThere is a hint here, but only a hint, of a Homeric themes linking th ... Continue reading

The simile here is activated by the adjective homoios ‘similar to’, where the likeness expressed by simile does not have to be permanently applicable.The simile here is activated b ... Continue reading

The goddess Athena is engaged here in the act of en-pneîn ‘breathing into’ the hero Diomedes something called menos ‘mental power’, I.10.482. Such ‘mental power’ makes the hero awa ... Continue reading

At O.05.001–002 and here at I.11.001–002, Ēōs as goddess of the dawn is linked with a myth that tells how she abducted the young hero Tīthōnos. The myth is narrated at HH Aphrodite ... Continue reading

As indicated in the comment for I.08.220–227, the ships of the Achaeans are beached along the shores of a large U-shaped bay that opens into the Hellespont. See Map 1 and Map 2 at ... Continue reading

Crates’ interpretation of Agamemnon’s shield in terms of an allegory about the cosmos, in the context of similar interpretation of the Homeric Shield of AchillesIn the ancient worl ... Continue reading

analysis of Athena’s helmet at I.05.743 as not unique, compared to Agamemnon’s helmet in this verse and tetraphalēros and tetraphalos as formulaic variantsThe description of the he ... Continue reading

comment on the appropriateness of the language to a cult hero (on Aeneas’ receiving timē like a god)The description of the epic hero Aeneas here indicates that there were rituals h ... Continue reading

in a list of the Iliad’s references to epic traditions about expeditions to other places (than Troy), and their stressing Achilles’ heroic preeminenceThis narrative alludes to the ... Continue reading

analysis of how Hektor mirrors Athena (his ritual antagonist), here, with regard to mētisThe description of Hector here as comparable to the god Zeus himself with regard to mētis ‘ ... Continue reading

This narrative centers on the aristeiā ‘epic high point’ of Agamemnon in the Iliad. On aristeiā ‘epic high point’, see the comment on I.05.103.This narrative centers on the aristei ... Continue reading

reference to instances of the line ‘tell, Muse!’ (See Martin 1989.238)lemmatizing: ἔσπετε νῦν μοι Μοῦσαι Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσαιIt has already been noted in the comment on I.02 ... Continue reading

example of Homeric poetry referring to itself as kleosEven the most minor character in the Iliad—and the hero Iphidamas here is a striking example—is willing to die simply for the ... Continue reading

who is the best of Achaeans, analysis of the application of aristos to AgamemnonHere at I.11.288, Hector is boasting that Agamemnon, ‘the best man’, ho aristos, is now out of the p ... Continue reading

The description of Hector as īsos Arēi ‘equal to Ares’ here at I.11.295 is parallel to his being described as atalantos Arēi ‘equal to Ares’ at I.08.215. For Hector and in fact for ... Continue reading

The onslaught of Hector and his Trojans against the Achaeans is pictured here as a violent blast of wind in a storm that churns up the sea, which is called the pontos here at I.11. ... Continue reading

Here at I.11.297, two verses after I.11.295, where Hector is described as īsos Arēi ‘equal to Ares’ (ἶσος Ἄρηϊ), the same Trojan hero is now further described as īsos aellēi ‘equal ... Continue reading

analysis of the imagery of fire and wind in descriptions of kratos of Trojans and akhos/penthos of AchaeansIn the words of Diomedes, the Will of Zeus is now in effect: the plan of ... Continue reading

Diomedes and Odysseus agree to fight as a team, I.11.310–319. Diomedes throws a spear at Thumbraios, who is riding on a chariot and who gets knocked to the ground by the piercing w ... Continue reading

comment on Hektor as pēma, in the context of discussing Achilles as pēma to TrojansIn the words of Diomedes, Hector is a pēma ‘pain’ for the Achaeans, I.11.347. The pain that he in ... Continue reading

The immediate context here shows that the therapōn ‘attendant, ritual substitute’ is a chariot driver. He is not named. Nor is he described explicitly as a hēni-okhos ‘chariot driv ... Continue reading

Hector does not yet notice that Ajax is fighting on the right-hand side of the battleground since he, Hector, is at this moment fighting on the left-hand side, near the banks of th ... Continue reading

comment on the diction of Homeric poetry affirming that the wounding of a hero thwarts his aristeiaThe wounding of a hero, as in the case of the wound suffered by the hero Makhaon ... Continue reading

The idea of ‘breathing out’ something called menos ‘mental power’ implies that such power was previously ‘breathed in’, that is, ‘breathed into’ the hero, by a divine force. Such a ... Continue reading

evidence for polu- meaning not just ‘many’ or ‘much’ but ‘many different’The epikouroi ‘allies’ of the Trojans are described as polu-ēgerées, which means not ‘consisting of many gr ... Continue reading

comment on the precision of the Iliadic visualization of what Achilles sees when observing the battle from his shipThe perspective of Achilles in viewing from his shelter the scene ... Continue reading

application of isos Arēi to Patroklos (the only instance where it is not applied to Hektor or Achilles), marking his identification with Achilles (in the context of analyzing the a ... Continue reading

Eurymedon here is explicitly called the therapōn of Nestor, functioning as the ‘attendant’ of the old hero: at this moment, Eurymedon is taking care of the horse team of Patroklos, ... Continue reading

The references at I.09.128–131 and at I.09.270–272 to the story about the conquest of the Aeolian island of Lesbos by Achilles are complemented by the reference here at I.11.624–62 ... Continue reading

The narrative here at I.11.624–626 refers to the epic deeds of Achilles on the Aeolian island of Tenedos. These deeds, taking place before the time dramatized in the Iliad, are ana ... Continue reading

The Aeolian captive woman Hekamede excels in intelligence, as does Nestor, and such excellence is expressed here by way of the noun boulē in the specific sense of ‘plan, planning’, ... Continue reading

Achilles is said here to be uncaring whether Hector sets fire to the ships of the Achaeans.Achilles is said here to be uncaring whether Hector sets fire to the ships of the Achaean ... Continue reading

is as synonymous with biēThis noun īs ‘force, violence, strength’ is a synonym of the noun biē. ... Continue reading

is as synonymous with biēThis noun īs ‘force, violence, strength’ is a synonym of the noun biē. ... Continue reading

The idea of a ‘gate’ of the Sun is linked here with Nestor’s Pylos and with the underworldly Pylos of I.05.397.In the course of this lengthy narrative, I.11.671-761, the idea of a ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and the traditional linking of the Herakles figure and biē on the level of themeIn a later posting, the links that connect ... Continue reading

comment on Homeric references to four-horse chariot teams as confined to chariot racing as distinct from warfare, except for the chariot teams of Anchises and Hector, in the contex ... Continue reading

There are links that connect phaethōn ‘shining’ as epithet of Helios with the names Phaethōn and Phaethousa.In a later posting, the links that connect phaethōn ‘shining’ as epithet ... Continue reading

analysis of who is the best of the Achaeans in the context of Hektor’s challenge to the AchaeansTo ‘strive to be the best always’, that was the instruction of Peleus to his son Ach ... Continue reading

biē as conventional Iliadic measure of Achilles’ superiority, in the context of analyzing the conflict between Achilles and Odysseus (and biē and mētis)Conventionally, the heroic s ... Continue reading

Here as well as earlier at I.08.220–227 and at I.11.005–016, also later at I.14.027–036, the headquarters of the Achaeans are said to be located at the same place where the ship of ... Continue reading

analysis of the language of praise poetry as presenting the language of unjustified blame as parallel to the eating of heroes’ corpses by dogsFor Patroklos to picture here the devo ... Continue reading

on Cheiron as the Centaur who has the most dikē in the context of analyzing the savage thumos of Achilles in the narrative of his boyhoodThe description of Cheiron as dikaiotatos ‘ ... Continue reading

analysis of therapōn, this verse as an example of the prevailing application of the word as ‘attendant’In the immediate context, only the surface meaning of therapōn as ‘attendant’ ... Continue reading

comment on the Achaean warriors as perceived as heroes of cult (hēmitheoi) rather than heroes of epic (hēroēs) in this passage that switches to the here-and-now of the Homeric audi ... Continue reading

among examples of passages Strabo interprets to mean that the destruction of Troy was totalThis reference here to the future destruction of Troy leaves the question open: was the W ... Continue reading

Not only heroes (and their horses) but also forces of nature—such as rivers, as here—can have menos. In the comments so far, menos has been consistently translated as ‘mental power ... Continue reading

As the rivers of the Trojan landscape flood away all traces of the Achaean Wall, they also obliterate all traces of the epic battles fought by the Achaean heroes in the mise-en-scè ... Continue reading

comment on the Achaeans as potentially nōnumnoi if they were destroyed at Troy without succeeding to capture the city, the same term as used of the Bronze Generation in Hesiod, W&D ... Continue reading

In the immediate context, the plural therapontes functions as a virtual synonym of a word used elsewhere, hēni-okhoi ‘chariot drivers’.For a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of ... Continue reading

Here is the first explicit reference to the objective of the Trojans to break through the Wall of the Achaeans. For further references, see the list in the comment for I.12.198.Her ... Continue reading

The immediate context shows that the hero Asios has a hēni-okhos ‘chariot driver’ who is also the therapōn ‘attendant, ritual substitute’ of Asios precisely because he is the chari ... Continue reading

Reference is made at I.12.118 to the left-hand side of the encampment protecting the ships of the Achaeans. So, in terms of the Master Narrator’s perspective, the positioning refer ... Continue reading

comment on the connections of ozos Arēos and isos Arēi, as both of which Leontes qualifiesBesides Hector (I.11.295, I.13.802), Patroklos (I.11.604), and Achilles (I.20.046) this he ... Continue reading

In Homeric diction, a neuter plural subject can “take” a verb in the plural instead of the singular.In Homeric diction, a neuter plural subject can “take” a verb in the plural inst ... Continue reading

comment on the connections of ozos Arēos and isos Arēi, as both of which Leontes qualifiesAs noted in the comment on I.12.130, Leonteus is the only Iliadic figure who is called ‘eq ... Continue reading

analysis of the translation of the Will of Zeus into the fire of Hektor’s onslaught against the Achaean shipsIn the Battle for the Ships, the objective of Hector is for the Trojans ... Continue reading

analysis of hupokrinesthai and the coextensiveness of epic with oracular poetryThe meaning of the noun theopropos as ‘interpreter of signs’ is defined clearly in this verse: the ro ... Continue reading

Hektor’s recognizing that the Will of Zeus entails the kudos of victory for the Trojans and pēma for the AchaeansHector here says that he understands the Will of Zeus, and that the ... Continue reading

Zeus as terpi-kéraunos ‘he whose bolt strikes’ is asserting here his authority as the god of thunder and lightning. He now sends a violent windstorm from the heights of Mount Ida, ... Continue reading

Zeus, sending a violent windstorm from the heights of Mount Ida at I.12.252–254, now signals at I.12.255 that this kūdos or ‘sign of glory’ goes to the Trojans, who are already sta ... Continue reading

The two warriors who are jointly named by way of the dual form Aiante here are urging the Achaeans to keep up the fight. To encourage the Achaeans, the dual Aiante say that it does ... Continue reading

The objective of the hero Sarpedon, as he declares here at I.12.318 to his fellow warrior Glaukos, is that the two of them must not be akléees ‘without epic glory [kleos]’. The peo ... Continue reading

The reference here to Sarpedon’s diet of mutton in the context of his dwelling in his native land of Lycia can be correlated with archaeological evidence showing that cult heroes r ... Continue reading

The wording of Sarpedon implies here that he is already assured of immortalization as a cult hero, but now he desires another form of immortalization as well, which is the immortal ... Continue reading

comment on Menestheus, the leader of Athenians, being stationed next to the political centerpoint of the Achaeans along with Odysseus and AgamemnonMenestheus, the leader of the Ath ... Continue reading

The two warriors who are jointly named by way of the dual form Aiante here are to be identified as the greater and the lesser Ajax—in contexts where the hero Teukros, who is the ba ... Continue reading

analysis of the kind of boasting a hero seeks to avoid hearing from his opponent in order to protect his epic prestige (eukhesthai and epea, with the latter as words spoken by a ch ... Continue reading

See the comment at I.12.335–336.See the comment at I.12.335–336. See the comment at I.12.335–336. ... Continue reading

Most appropriately, Hector is the very first of the Trojan warriors to break through the Achaean Wall.Most appropriately, Hector is the very first of the Trojan warriors to break t ... Continue reading

comparison of Poseidon’s grand entrance driving his horse-drawn chariot here with how Athena’s ceremonial arrival in the Iliou Persis was likely to have been represented, in the co ... Continue reading

On the two warriors who are jointly named here by way of the dual form Aiante, see especially the comment on I.12.335–336.On the two warriors who are jointly named here by way of t ... Continue reading

Hektor’s aspirations to immortality and comparison with Athena and Apollo (hero of epic and of cult)As noted in the comment on I.01.091, the meaning of the verb eukhesthai as ‘decl ... Continue reading

The reference here to the lesser Ajax shows that the dual Aiante at I.13.046–047 refers in this case to the greater and the lesser Ajax together, not to the greater Ajax and to his ... Continue reading

analysis of anapsukhein as implying that death somehow precedes the ultimate state of immortality and meaning “bring back to vigor,” as in this verseAs at I.05.795, the heroes are ... Continue reading

In the words of the god Poseidon, it is conceded that Agamemnon is aitios ‘responsible’, I.13.111, for having ‘dishonored’ Achilles, I.13.113, as expressed by the verb a-tīmân. In ... Continue reading

In this context, as also at I.13.201, the referents for the dual Aiante are Ajax the greater and Teukros, his bastard brother.In this context, as also at I.13.201, the referents fo ... Continue reading

See the note on I.13.197.See the note on I.13.197.See the note on I.13.197. ... Continue reading

Here the reference of Aiante shifts away from referring to the pair of Ajax the greater and Teukros. That is because the spotlight on the action shifts from Teukros to Ajax the les ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.05.077–078.See anchor comment at I.05.077–078.See anchor comment at I.05.077–078. ... Continue reading

comment on the Achaeans as potentially nōnumnoi if they were destroyed at Troy without succeeding to capture the city, the same term as used of the Bronze Generation in Hesiod, W&D ... Continue reading

Zeus, in the act of launching his thunderbolt, can be visualized simultaneously in two ways, as here. First, he can be seen as casting his thunderbolt by throwing it with his own d ... Continue reading

The lightning made by Zeus is a sēma ‘sign, signal’ that needs to be interpreted.The lightning made by Zeus is a sēma ‘sign, signal’ that needs to be interpreted. The lightning ma ... Continue reading

analysis of therapōn, this verse as an example of the prevailing application of the word as ‘warrior’s companion’In the immediate context, where Meriones is highlighted as therapōn ... Continue reading

analysis of the applications of phrase “best of the Achaeans,” here restrictions to the way others besides Diomedes, Agamemnon, Ajax, and Achilles may be best, in particular, Teukr ... Continue reading

Idomeneus together with Meriones as his therapōn ‘attendant, ritual substitute’ take their stand side by side on the battlefield.Idomeneus together with Meriones as his therapōn ‘a ... Continue reading

analysis of Zeus’ role in awarding nikē as primary and Athena’s as secondaryThe role of Zeus in awarding nīkē ‘victory’ is primary, while the corresponding role of Athena is second ... Continue reading

While the hero Asios is fighting pezos ‘on foot’ against the Achaeans, I.13.385, the two horses that draw his chariot are right behind him, practically breathing down his neck—that ... Continue reading

Variants like stenakhonta and stenakhonte at I.13.423 can be seen as formulaic—in terms of the overall system of Homeric diction. ... Continue reading

eyes as direct object of thelgein, in the context of analyzing thelgein and the Wooden HorseIn this context, the use of a noun for ‘eyes’ as the direct object of the verb thelgein ... Continue reading

At the very moment when the hero dies here, the war-god Ares literally takes away the hero’s life or menos ‘mental power’. To be compared is I.05.296, where the hero’s menos ‘menta ... Continue reading

analysis of the parallelism between Aeneas and Achilles in their mēnis against Priam and Agamemnon, respectivelyBesides Achilles, another epic hero who experiences mēnis ‘anger’ is ... Continue reading

A nameless therapōn is mentioned here in passing: he happens to be the ‘attendant’ of the hero Agenor.For a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of therapōn, see the comment on I.0 ... Continue reading

analysis of the translation of the Will of Zeus into the fire of Hektor’s onslaught against the Achaean shipsSee the anchor comment at I.12.198 on: Battle for the Ships, fire of He ... Continue reading

comparison with Pindar Pythian 11.33-34 on the luxuriance of Troy and the theme of hubris in both (though with a different focus)This insulting epithet hubristai ‘men of outrage’ a ... Continue reading

use of poinē in the sense of wergild in the context of discussing the litigation scene on Achilles’ ShieldAn analysis of this word is postponed for a comment elsewhere. To be adde ... Continue reading

location of the ship of Protesilaos as the first to beach and so also the nearest target for Hector, in the context of the analysis of the location of the naustathmonPostponed for ... Continue reading

note on the correlation of Ionians with BoeotiansHere is the only direct reference to Ionians in Homeric Iliad and Odyssey. The juxtaposition of Ionians with Boeotians is significa ... Continue reading

The comparison of Hector here to a phlox ‘burst of flame’ is relevant to the overall theme of Hector’s fire. See the anchor comment at I.12.198 on: Battle for the Ships, fire of He ... Continue reading

It is significant that the Ionians, mentioned only at I.13.685, are drawn into proximity with the Athenians.It is significant that the Ionians, mentioned only at I.13.685, are draw ... Continue reading

note on the correlation of Ionians with BoeotiansIt is also significant that the Ionians and Athenians are together drawn into proximity with the Boeotians. ... Continue reading

It is said here that the nóos ‘mind’, I.13.732, enables the hero to ‘recognize’, gignōskein, I.13.734.It is said here that the nóos ‘mind’, I.13.732, enables the hero to ‘recognize ... Continue reading

analysis of the implications of Sthenelos’ taunt to Agamemnon and comparison of the Epigonoi with Agamemnon’s host at TroyThe taunting here of Agamemnon by Sthenelos, chariot drive ... Continue reading

See the anchor comment at I.12.198 on: Battle for the Ships, fire of Hector, breaking through the Wall of the Achaeans.See the anchor comment at I.12.198 on: Battle for the Ships, ... Continue reading

analysis of designating heroes as equal to Ares, here specifically Hektor (and Patroklos) when wearing Achilles’ armor (and being a therapōn of Ares)Hector here is said to be īsos ... Continue reading

Here is a working translation: ‘|825 If only I could be the child of aegis-bearing Zeus |826 for all days to come, and the Lady Hērā could be my mother, |827 and if only I could be ... Continue reading

analysis of the language of praise poetry as presenting the language of unjustified blame as parallel to the eating of heroes’ corpses by dogsHector’s threat, to feed to dogs and b ... Continue reading

analysis of the naustathmon as the topographical, political and sacral centerpoint of the Achaeans and Agamemnon’s, Diomedes’, Nestor’s and Odysseus’ ships location in this spaceNe ... Continue reading

comment on the Achaeans as potentially nōnumnoi if they were destroyed at Troy without succeeding to capture the city, the same term as used of the Bronze Generation in Hesiod, W&D ... Continue reading

analysis of the meaning of kosmos, and here, example of it being the ‘arrangement’ of beautiful adornmentAs Hērā readies herself for her sexual encounter with Zeus, her cosmetic se ... Continue reading

Hera’s wording here rationalizes her initiating a sexual encounter with Zeus. The idea of such an encounter is conventionally known as hieros gamos—in the sense of ‘sacred sexual i ... Continue reading

comment on the role of Okeanos as a boundary delimiting light from darkness, life from death, wakefulness from sleep, in the context of analyzing themes of death, regeneration and ... Continue reading

The goddess Hērā promises to commission the making of a beautiful thronos ‘throne’, I.14.238. The maker will be the divine artisan Hephaistos, son of Hērā, I.14.239–240. This thron ... Continue reading

analysis of the theme of Okeanos in Crates’ edition of Homer, its difference from Aristarchus’ edition, and how the passage appears in modern editionsOur source for this set of ver ... Continue reading

Gods can take an irrevocable oath in the form of swearing by the waters of the underworld river Styx, which is what the goddess Hērā is asked to perform here at I.14.271–276 and wh ... Continue reading

this passage as an example of an Aeolian vantage point in visualizing the Trojan topography in the IliadThe visualization of the landscape here, as the narrative views the goddess ... Continue reading

comment on the role of Okeanos as a boundary delimiting light from darkness, life from death, wakefulness from sleep, in the context of analyzing themes of death, regeneration and ... Continue reading

After Hector faints, he ‘comes to’, as it were, and now his life’s breath returns to him. The verb that expresses this idea of revival is ana-pneîn (ἀμπνύνθη)—variant en-pneîn (ἐμπ ... Continue reading

use of poinē in the sense of wergild in the context of discussing the litigation scene on Achilles’ ShieldAn analysis of this word is postponed for a comment elsewhere. To be add ... Continue reading

reference to instances of the line ‘tell, Muse!’ (See Martin 1989.238)lemmatizing: ἔσπετε νῦν μοι Μοῦσαι Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσαιThis re-invocation of the Muses signals a false ... Continue reading

When gods swear by the waters of the underworld river Styx, as the goddess Hērā does here, I.15.037, their oath must be irrevocable and therefore absolute. The basis for the absolu ... Continue reading

Zeus here reaffirms what he wishes or wills, that is, he reaffirms his plan. And this Plan of Zeus, which is the wish or Will of Zeus, will be coextensive with the plot or narrativ ... Continue reading

The god Apollo is about to be engaged here in the act of en-pneîn ‘breathing into’ the hero Hector something called menos ‘mental power’, I.15.060. See the comment on I.15.262.The ... Continue reading

The rapid retelling by way of foretelling here, starting from the time when Achilles will send forth Patroklos to stop the attack of the Trojans and continuing all the way to the t ... Continue reading

The use of the word boulai ‘plans’ at I.15.071 (Ἀθηναίης διὰ βουλάς) conveys not only the idea of Athena’s divine planning as a prime motivation for the overall epic plotline but a ... Continue reading

The three-way division of the cosmos among the sons of Kronos is an example of various models of tripartition as studied in other comments.The three-way division of the cosmos amon ... Continue reading

The Hellespont is a focal point for the heroic essence of Achilles: Homeric poetry presents his tomb as overlooking its dangerous waters, the setting for violent storms expressed b ... Continue reading

As foretold at I.15.059–060, the god Apollo is engaged here in the act of en-pneîn ‘breathing into’ the hero Hector something called menos ‘mental power’, I.15.262. To be compared ... Continue reading

As the divine artisan or craftsman, the god Hephaistos is conventionally called a khalkeus ‘bronze-smith’, as here. It will become clear from later contexts, like I.18.474–475, tha ... Continue reading

This noun īs ‘force, violence’ is a synonym of the noun biē. Here, as elsewhere, it refers to the elemental force or violence of a storm.See also the comment at I.11.670.This noun ... Continue reading

References to the topography of the Troad in the Iliad reveal a remarkable consistency and precision in visualizing that topography. But there is more to it than consistency and pr ... Continue reading

A nameless therapōn is mentioned here in passing: he happens to be the ‘attendant’ of the hero Eurypylos.A nameless therapōn is mentioned here in passing: he happens to be the ‘att ... Continue reading

Even though the attacking Trojans here are fewer in number than the defending Achaeans, they are evenly matched in strength. This detail is relevant to the taunt of Sthenelos when ... Continue reading

Hector and Ajax are struggling one-on-one with each other here: Hector is trying to set on fire the ship that Ajax is protecting from the fire. No clear outcome of the struggle is ... Continue reading

The ships of the Achaeans, as a sum total of all the ships, are pictured here as an agōn in the sense of ‘coming together’. See the comment on I.23.257–258.The ships of the Achaean ... Continue reading

Hector is throwing his spear at the hero Ajax but misses, and the flying spear hits instead the hero Lykophron, described here as the therapōn of Ajax, I.15.431. So, Lykophron as t ... Continue reading

What follows is an epitome from Homer the Classic 4§268. These verses containing the words of Hector, I.15.494–499, are quoted in a speech delivered by the Athenian statesman Lycur ... Continue reading

In urging his fellow-warriors to fight on, Ajax says that there is no ownership of kleos ‘glory’ for those who flee in battle. The implications here are most threatening for the ep ... Continue reading

This adjective (thóos) is conventionally associated with the war-god Ares, pictured as the swiftest of runners.This adjective is conventionally associated with the war-god Ares, pi ... Continue reading

Zeus has been waiting for the selas ‘flash of light’. It will appear when the first of the beached Achaean ships is set on fire, I.15.600. Once the god sees that fire with his own ... Continue reading

We can understand bíē 'force, violence' as a key to the kléos 'glory' of Achilles/Odysseus in the Iliad/Odyssey, as well to the kléos of other heroes in the epic tradition. In the ... Continue reading

Here at last begins the final push made by the Trojans in the Battle for the Ships—before Patroklos enters the fighting. Hector and his Trojans have broken through the Wall of the ... Continue reading

The ship of Protesilaos, which had been the first of all the Achaean ships to be beached on the shores of the bay of the Hellespont, now becomes the prime target for the fire of He ... Continue reading

In contexts where the plural therapontes in combination with Arēos ‘of Ares’ is applied to the Achaeans=Danaans=Argives (at I.06.067, to the Danaoi) as a grouping of warriors, the ... Continue reading

Here the idea of ‘best of the Achaeans’ is expressed by way of phertatos ‘best’. In the Iliad, only Achilles is designated as phertatos in comparison with the rest of the Achaeans ... Continue reading

the Achaeans being overwhelmed (by akhos) by Trojans who have kratos as conveyed in terms of akhos and biē, in the context of analyzing *akhai-ui- as “whose is has akhos”See the co ... Continue reading

Examining the word loigós beyond its use here, I.16.032, we find that its accusative λοιγόν occurs exclusively in combination with the same verb ἀμυν- 'ward off' that we find in th ... Continue reading

Here, akhos functions as a formulaic variant of penthos, specifically the grief of Achilles over his loss of timē 'honor'. See the comments on I.01.188, I.01.407–412, I.01.503–510, ... Continue reading

equation of akhos with pathon algea (and akhos’ signaling le transfer du mal)See the comments on I.01.188, I.01.407–412, I.01.503–510, I.01.509, I.01.558–559, I.09.003, I.09.008–00 ... Continue reading

In this verse, Achilles is speaking about Briseis. In the Scholia T for this same verse, I.16.057, a variant tradition is reported about this captive woman: it comes from the epic ... Continue reading

See the comment on I.01.320–348; see also I.16.032. Here the subject of the verb amunein ‘ward off’ switches from Achilles to Patroklos. This way, Patroklos becomes the savior of t ... Continue reading

Here, as at I.16.075, the subject of the verb amunein ‘ward off’ switches from Achilles to Patroklos. This way, Patroklos becomes the savior of the Achaeans by rescuing them from t ... Continue reading

Achilles tells Patroklos not to go beyond the limits that he sets for him in these verses. If Patroklos does exceed these limits, as he will, he will lose his shared identity with ... Continue reading

The heroic tendency of Achilles to behave as a lone warrior, not as a member of a group of warriors, is comparable to heroic tendencies that play out in the Indic epic known as the ... Continue reading

ἔσπετε νῦν μοι Μοῦσαι Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσαι: On the use of the plural (Μοῦσαι) here, see the comment on I.02.484. I repeat here the translation: ‘tell me now, you Muses who have y ... Continue reading

Here is where it all comes together: what the Muses are re-invoked to sing is ‘how the fire of Hector finally reached the ships of the Achaeans’, I.16.113: ὅππως δὴ πρῶτον πῦρ ἔμπε ... Continue reading

Ajax sees, to his horror, that the dreaded moment has arrived. Now that the fire of Hector is about to reach the ships of the Achaeans, the Will of Zeus is finally about to be fulf ... Continue reading

location of the ship of Protesilaos as the first to beach and so also the nearest target for Hector, in the context of the analysis of the location of the naustathmonAjax makes ano ... Continue reading

Patroklos wears the armor of Achilles, but he leaves behind that hero’s meliē ‘ash spear’ I.16.143. Only Achilles can wield that weapon, I.16.140–144. The symbolism of this spear c ... Continue reading

On the word harpuia, personified as ‘Harpy’, see Parts 3 and 4 of the comment at O.15.250–251. On the word harpuia, personified as ‘Harpy’, see Parts 3 and 4 of the comment at O.1 ... Continue reading

analysis of therapōn, this verse as an example of where Patroklos’ being Achilles’ therapōn takes the meaning beyond ‘warrior’s companion’Here, for the first time in the Iliad, Pat ... Continue reading

as an epithet, kratero- as a variant of hiero- in combinations with is + gen. of the hero’s name, here note on krateron menos (cp. hieron menos)Postponed for a later comment is an ... Continue reading

analysis of the theme of biē, specifically in its elemental dimension, here the power of winds as designated by it or its synonym is (as in this verse)This word biē ‘force, violenc ... Continue reading

comment on the meaning of hupophētai, here referring to priests of oracular ZeusThis word hupophētai ‘spokesmen’ refers to interpreters of oracular pronouncements. ... Continue reading

interconnections of Achilles’ timē, the Will of Zeus and the grief of Achaeans at the Battle of the ShipsAs it was noted in the comment on I.13.111–113, Agamemnon ‘dishonored’ Achi ... Continue reading

Achilles is sending off Patroklos to fight in his place, but he is not sure whether he can identify himself with his best friend when Patroklos goes off on his own. This uncertaint ... Continue reading

Here, for the second time in the Iliad, Patroklos is marked as the therapōn of Achilles. His dual role as ‘attendant’ and ‘ritual substitute’ is already implicit.For a complete lis ... Continue reading

location of the ship of Protesilaos as the first to beach and so also the nearest target for Hector and Achilles’ seeing the event from his klisia, in the context of the analysis o ... Continue reading

The wording of Patroklos describes Achilles as the ‘best of the Argives’—which is another way of saying that Achilles is ‘the best of the Achaeans’.The wording of Patroklos describ ... Continue reading

analysis of therapōn, Patroklos’ qualifying as Achilles’ therapōn only so long as he stays by Achilles’ sideIn the words of Patroklos, there are warriors and then there are therapo ... Continue reading

For Agamemnon to dishonor the status of Achilles as ‘the best of the Achaeans’, as Achilles himself says at I.01.412, is a sign of the over-king’s atē ‘aberration’. Patroklos says ... Continue reading

As Patroklos rides off to battle, soon to die as the ritual substitute of Achilles, we see here standing next to him on the chariot his very own therapōn. It becomes clear, as the ... Continue reading

analysis of Patroklos as restoring philotēs between Achilles and the AchaeansFor Achilles to renounce his mēnithmos ‘anger’ is equated, already here, to his restoring the relations ... Continue reading

location of the ship of Protesilaos as the first to beach and so also the nearest target for Hector, in the context of the analysis of the location of the naustathmonPatroklos, has ... Continue reading

At I.16.287–292, Patroklos successfully defends the beached ships of the Achaeans: he kills Puraikhmēs, the foremost attacker, and he puts the other attackers to flight, thus savin ... Continue reading

location of the ship of Protesilaos as the first to beach and so also the nearest target for Hector, in the context of the analysis of the location of the naustathmonPatroklos now ... Continue reading

The successful action so far is now summed up here: the Achaeans=Danaans, led by Patroklos, have succeeded in pushing back from their beached ships the fire that had threatened the ... Continue reading

At I.16.287–292, Patroklos successfully defends the beached ships of the Achaeans: he kills Puraikhmēs, the foremost attacker, and he puts the other attackers to flight, thus savin ... Continue reading

analysis of Zeus’ role in awarding nikē as primary and Athena’s as secondarySo, Zeus has now shifted the momentum of the battle, and nīkē ‘victory’ has gone over to the side of the ... Continue reading

analysis of Zeus’ role in awarding nikē as primary and Athena’s as secondaryThe victory that Zeus is now making possible for the Achaeans is compared here to a storm that is stirre ... Continue reading

The momentum of Hector’s chariot, as he is driving away from the ships, is compared to the flooding caused by a violent rainstorm stirred up by Zeus against the unrighteous. Since ... Continue reading

analysis of dēmos as originally meaning something like “district” as is still overt for example in this verseIn this context, the localized meaning of dēmos in the sense of ‘distri ... Continue reading

The description here of an impending funeral and entombment for Sarpedon is replete with references to hero cult. Some of these references, as we will now see in detail, indicate t ... Continue reading

The symmetry of personified Sleep and personified Death here is comparable to Homeric attestations of parallel syntax for describing explicitly an awakening after sleep and implici ... Continue reading

In this context, the localized meaning of dēmos in the sense of ‘district’ is still overt.In this context, the localized meaning of dēmos in the sense of ‘district’ is still overt. ... Continue reading

These two verses, repeated at I.16.674–675 and foreshadowed by three verses at I.07.084–086 containing an indirect reference to the funeral and entombment of Achilles, refer to the ... Continue reading

In the first round of this duel of Patroklos and Sarpedon as chariot fighters, Patroklos is the first to aim his spear at Sarpedon, and then Sarpedon in turn aims at Patroklos, I.1 ... Continue reading

analysis of dēmos as originally meaning something like “district” as is still overt for example in this verseIn this context, the localized meaning of dēmos in the sense of ‘distri ... Continue reading

collective aspect of penthosThe Trojans experience collective penthos ‘grief’, I.16.548, over the death of Sarpedon. On the collective aspects of penthos ‘grief’ see the comment on ... Continue reading

hero’s getting timē from the community, epic vs. cult hero, and Hektor’s statusSee anchor comment at I.05.077–078. See anchor comment at I.05.077–078. ... Continue reading

analysis of therapōn, this verse as an example of where Patroklos’ being Achilles’ therapōn takes the meaning beyond ‘warrior’s companion’Before the duel of Patroklos and Hector as ... Continue reading

We see here further indications of Sarpedon’s impending immortalization: Apollo anoints the hero’s body with ambrosiē ‘immortalizing substance’ and clothes him in vestments that ar ... Continue reading

The symmetry of personified Sleep and personified Death here is comparable to Homeric attestations of parallel syntax for describing explicitly an awakening after sleep and implici ... Continue reading

In this context, the localized meaning of dēmos in the sense of ‘district’ is still overt.See the comment on I.16.455. See the comment on I.16.455. ... Continue reading

These two verses, repeated at I.16.456–457 and foreshadowed by three verses at I.07.084–086 containing an indirect reference to the funeral and entombment of Achilles, refer to the ... Continue reading

We see here further indications of Sarpedon’s impending immortalization: Apollo anoints the hero’s body with ambrosiē ‘immortalizing substance’ and clothes him in vestments that ar ... Continue reading

The symmetry of personified Sleep and personified Death here is comparable to Homeric attestations of parallel syntax for describing explicitly an awakening after sleep and implici ... Continue reading

In this context, the localized meaning of dēmos in the sense of ‘district’ is still overt.See the comment on I.16.455. See the comment on I.16.455. ... Continue reading

analysis of atē and the Litai in Phoenix’s speech and how for Achilles atē would be the death of PatroklosAt I.16.685, Patroklos experiences a personal atē ‘aberration’, as express ... Continue reading

analysis of the diction associated with Patroklos’ confronting Apollo four times (daimoni isos, mēnin aleuamenos) and the climax of ritual antagonism between the god and the heroPa ... Continue reading

We see at I.16.722 a wish that is predicated on confidence in some specific certainty: αἴθ ὅσον ἥσσων εἰμί, τόσον σέο φέρτερος εἴην ‘If only I could be superior to you—as surely as ... Continue reading

meliē as a word for both “ash tree” and “ash spear”Here the word means ‘ash tree’; elsewhere, as we saw in the comment on I.16.140–144, it means ‘ash spear’, I.16.143. ... Continue reading

Patroklos’s identification not with Achilles but with Ares at the moment of his deathPatroklos has reached the point where he is about to die by way of Apollo’s direct intervention ... Continue reading

analysis of Achilles’ armor as immortal, and making its wearers (here, Patroklos) immune from deathPatroklos confronts Apollo four times and then, the fourth time around, he fails ... Continue reading

At this climactic moment of the hero’s death, the Master Narrator addresses Patroklos in the second person. Such poetic conventions reflect a phase of epic poetry when it was not y ... Continue reading

analysis of atē and the Litai in Phoenix’s speech and how for Achilles atē would be the death of PatroklosAs Apollo strips away the protective armor from the body of Patroklos, pie ... Continue reading

Patroklos is now gumnos ‘stripped’ of all his armor, ready to be killed. While he was still wearing the armor, he would have been been invulnerable. At a later point, after Hector ... Continue reading

analysis of Zeus’ role in awarding nikē as primary and Athena’s as secondaryThe nīkē ‘victory’ of Hector over Patrokos was granted, says Patroklos, by Zeus and Apollo. In most Home ... Continue reading

The psūkhē ‘spirit’ of Patroklos leaves him at the precise moment of his death. Here we see the most basic Homeric way of visualizing the psychology, as it were, of dying.The psūkh ... Continue reading

After having just killed Patroklos, Hector goes after Automedon, who is evidently still standing on the platform of the chariot and who is marked here as the therapōn of Achilles. ... Continue reading

The hero Euphorbos, fighting on the Trojan side of the war, has just been killed by Menelaos the Achaean. The corpse of Euphorbos is described here as a generic beau mort, that is, ... Continue reading

analysis of the association of kharis with the blossoms of festive garlandsThe droplets of blood that are foregrounded on the hair of the fallen hero Euphorbos are compared here to ... Continue reading

The comparison of the dead Euphorbos to an olive ‘seedling’ or ernos that has just been uprooted by a violent gust of wind corresponds to conventional descriptions of the dead in s ... Continue reading

analysis of designating heroes as equal to Ares, here specifically Hektor (and Patroklos) when wearing Achilles’ armor (and being a therapōn of Ares)Hector is said to be atalantos ... Continue reading

analysis of the imagery of fire and wind (of Zeus’ thunderstorm) in descriptions of kratos of Trojans/Hektor’s onslaught and akhos/penthos of AchaeansHector is compared here to a p ... Continue reading

analysis of pēma to both Patroklos and the Achaeans caused by Patroklos’ death, and so applicable to Achilles’ death, too, and association of Achilles with the theme of griefThe de ... Continue reading

In this retrospective, it is said that Patroklos has been killed as a therapōn of Achilles, who is described here as ‘best of the Achaeans’. The immediate context accommodates here ... Continue reading

The Argives=Achaeans are described here as attended by therapontes who are ankhe-makhoi ‘fighting side by side’ with them.For a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of therapōn, se ... Continue reading

In most Homeric situations it is Zeus who is primarily responsible for heroic victory. In most Homeric situations it is Zeus who is primarily responsible for heroic victory. ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and other heroic names built with kleos besides Herakles found in the naming construct with biēLike other names containing ... Continue reading

When Zeus sees Hector putting on the armor of Achilles, he nods his divine head, thus signaling his will, which in this case is a specific plan to make into a part of the overall n ... Continue reading

tradition of Achilles armor, two occasions when he was given armor made by Hephaistos (one here), in context of comparing Achilles with ArjunaThe armor that was given to Achilles b ... Continue reading

The armor of Achilles, which had covered the body of Patroklos and which is now about to cover the body of Hector, is not just ‘immortal’: it is ‘immortalizing’. It will make you i ... Continue reading

comment on Enūalios becoming an epithet of Ares, as in this verseThe name Enūalios can function as an epithet of Ares as war god. In other contexts, the same name can refer to a se ... Continue reading

analysis of designating heroes as equal to Ares, here specifically Hektor when wearing Achilles’ armor (and being a therapōn of Ares)Hector here is quite the picture, looking like ... Continue reading

analysis of therapōn, this verse as an example of where Patroklos’ being Achilles’ therapōn takes the meaning beyond ‘warrior’s companion’Another retrospective: Patroklos has been ... Continue reading

heroic status of Ajax as second best after Achilles, in the context of analyzing the applications of the epithet “best of the Achaeans”Ajax is described here as second-best to Achi ... Continue reading

Achaeans’ almost capturing Troy with their own kratos as therefore untraditional, in the context of analyzing kratos as awarded by ZeusHere the Achaeans almost win the Trojan War. ... Continue reading

analysis of Zeus’ role in awarding nikē as primary and Athena’s as secondaryApollo, disguised as a Trojan, is claiming that Zeus still ‘wishes’, as expressed by the verb bouletai a ... Continue reading

analysis of therapōn, this verse as an example of where Patroklos’ being Achilles’ therapōn takes the meaning beyond ‘warrior’s companion’Yet another retrospective: Patroklos has b ... Continue reading

Patroklos as the most philos hetairos of Achilles, in the context of analyzing the significance of the Meleager story (ascending scale of affection, Patroklos/Kleopatre) to Achille ... Continue reading

analysis of the Hellespont as the heroic essence of Achilles and, as indicated by this passage, of all the Achaeans who came to fight at TroyThe Hellespont is pictured here, in a g ... Continue reading

The horses that draw the chariot of Achilles are energized by the menos ‘mental power’ that Zeus literally breathes into them. Their animal mentality can now enable them to perform ... Continue reading

Automedon, who has been the chariot driver for Patroklos, calls out to Alkimedon to take his place as the driver, since he now wants to become the chariot fighter, thus stepping of ... Continue reading

analysis of the etymology of Iris, proposing that it derives from the root *uī- as in is ‘force, might,’ and her associations with windspeed, which in turn is association with is/b ... Continue reading

Hector is said to have the menos ‘mental power’ of fire itself. See the comment on I.12018, where it is noted that forces of nature can have a mind of their own, as it were, becaus ... Continue reading

analysis of Zeus’ role in awarding nikē as primary and Athena’s as secondaryEven at this relatively late stage in the plot of the Iliad, Zeus is still being perceived as giving nīk ... Continue reading

Patroklos as the most philos hetairos of Achilles, in the context of analyzing the significance of the Meleager story (ascending scale of affection, Patroklos/Kleopatre) to Achille ... Continue reading

analysis of pēma to both Patroklos and the Achaeans caused by Patroklos’ death, and so applicable to Achilles’ death, too, and association of Achilles with the theme of griefThe ne ... Continue reading

The heat of battle is being compared here to the fire of lightning, I.17.737, in a thunderstorm that ravages the habitations of humankind with its selas ‘flash of light’ amidst the ... Continue reading

analysis of the application of the epithet “best of the Achaeans” and here, “best of the Myrmidons” to Patroklos and his identification with AchillesBefore he has even been told ab ... Continue reading

At I.18.015–021, Achilles gets the grim news: that Patroklos has been killed by Hector, and that the fighting to recover his body, despoiled of the armor of Achilles, is still unde ... Continue reading

Thetis not only mourns her son Achilles as if he were already dead: she formally laments him in song. The wording of the verses spoken by Thetis here at I.18.051–060 corresponds mo ... Continue reading

The grieving Achilles, shown lying prone here as if he himself were a corpse that needed to be mourned, is now held by the head from behind by her lamenting mother Thetis, Ι.18.071 ... Continue reading

akhos and penthos as formulaic variants, here, as designating the grief of AchillesThe akhos ‘grief’ experienced by Achilles at I.18.022 upon hearing the news about the death of Pa ... Continue reading

Achilles’ prayer specifically entailing that Trojans should prevail until they reach the ships of the Achaeans, coextensiveness of the Will of Zeus and Achilles’ prayerIn this retr ... Continue reading

analysis of the internal evidence for (the topography of) the naustathmon of the Achaeans in the IliadThis compressed reference to the positioning of the beached ships of the Achae ... Continue reading

The restoration of honor for Achilles can now give him no pleasure, since the price for this restoration has been the death of the hetairos ‘companion’ who was most philos ‘near an ... Continue reading

tradition of Achilles armor, two occasions when he was given armor made by Hephaistos (one here), in context of comparing Achilles with ArjunaThe armor of Achilles has been strippe ... Continue reading

opposition of kleos and akhos/penthos, and Achilles’ entering the battle (the realm of kleos) as penthos for Thetis (and his choice between kleos and nostos)Thetis calls Achilles ō ... Continue reading

Achilles, recognizing his immeasurable loss in having caused the death of Patroklos, who was all along his nearest and dearest hetairos ‘companion’, has only now come to recognize ... Continue reading

Now that Patroklos has been killed, Achilles can finally recognize what he has to do. He has to kill Hector, thus ensuring his own death soon thereafter, and by doing so he will wi ... Continue reading

analysis of the Hellespont as the heroic essence of Achilles and, as indicated by this passage, of all the Achaeans who came to fight at TroyNow that Patroklos has been killed, the ... Continue reading

Yet again, a retrospective: Patroklos has been killed as a therapōn of Achilles.For a complete list of Iliadic occurrences, see the comment on I.01.321.Yet again, a retrospective: ... Continue reading

As Achilles gets ready to rejoin his companions in the war against the Trojans, his head catches on fire, lit up by the power of the goddess Athena. This fire is described at I.18. ... Continue reading

The word here for the fire bursting from the head of Achilles is selas ‘flash of light’. On this word, which signals the Will of Zeus, see especially the note on I.19.003.017.Other ... Continue reading

The word here for the fire emanating from the head of Achilles is simply pūr ‘fire’, I.18.225.The word here for the fire emanating from the head of Achilles is simply pūr ‘fire’, I ... Continue reading

comment on the application of kratero- to phulopis and homoiios to polemos (in the context of comparing akhos to kratos in analyzing the association of akhos with Akhaioi)Postponed ... Continue reading

analysis of the Council of the Trojans as motivating Hektor’s death (and overlap between Athena and Hektor as paragons of mētis and guardians of the city)At this assembly, Polydama ... Continue reading

The particle de (δέ) of I.18.356 is syntactically correlated with the particle men (μέν) in a preceding verse, I.18.354. But a rhapsode (rhapsōidos) could begin his performance wit ... Continue reading

analysis of Agamemnon’s skēptron and gold as symbol for the artificial continuum of immortality (aphthito-) and the relevance of this for Achilles’ oath, here specifically the conv ... Continue reading

analysis of the Orphic dimensions of the Shield of Achilles, here Okeanos and the idea of coming full circleThe cosmic river Ōkeanos is described here at I.18.399 as apsorhoos ‘bac ... Continue reading

Here is what the divine artisan wishes as he proceeds to make a new set of armor for Achilles: ‘|464 If only I could have the power to hide him from sorrowful death, |465 when his ... Continue reading

tradition of Achilles armor, two occasions when he was given armor made by Hephaistos (one here), in context of comparing Achilles with ArjunaThe god Hephaistos makes a new set of ... Continue reading

analysis of the Orphic dimensions of the Shield of Achilles, here the image of the cosmos defined by Okeanos on its outermost limitAs noted in the previous comment, which analyzes ... Continue reading

The antux ‘rim’ that is being made for the shield of Achilles, mentioned here at I.18.479 and again at I.18.608, is triplax ‘threefold’, I.18.480, and the outermost fold or circle ... Continue reading

The mapping here of earth and sky on the Shield shows the centrality of the physical cosmos in the overall design of the visual narrative. The mapping here of earth and sky on the ... Continue reading

reference reference to Zenodotus’ opinion that Homer could not have composed the Shield of Achilles. See scholia Il. XVIII.483 (A)Beginning at I.18.483 and ending at I.18.603 are t ... Continue reading

analysis of the astral scheme of Orion and Arktos, the roles of Eos and Artemis in abducting and killing Orion, and the significance of the constellations to Odysseus (and Kalypso) ... Continue reading

continuity of the natural and human cosmos and their narration as represented on the ShieldThe tale of two cities begins here. So, there is a transition from the realm of a natural ... Continue reading

The first scene to be featured in the city at peace is a wedding. But there is not just one wedding: rather, there is a distributive sequence of wedding scenes to be viewed one aft ... Continue reading

reference to the fact that númphē can mean not only “bride,” as here, but also “goddess.” See Il. XXIV.616This word numphē, meaning ‘local goddess’ as at I.06.420, can refer to a ‘ ... Continue reading

analysis of the litigation scene on Achilles’ shieldThe litigants in this litigation scene are anonymous, but the noun neikos ‘quarrel’ at I.18.497 and the verb neikeîn at I.18.498 ... Continue reading

The anonymous dead man whose life has been lost is described at I.18.499 as apophthimenos (ἀποφθιμένου), that is, as someone who ‘perished’. This reading comes from the base text o ... Continue reading

Now the narrative turns from the first city, viewed in a time of peace, to the second city, viewed in a time of war. The city at war is under siege, and the warriors who are besieg ... Continue reading

The scene picturing the besieged city now shifts to a scene picturing warriors on the attack. Leading them are the divinities Ares and Athena, I.18.516, who are pictured here as pi ... Continue reading

the pairing of Ares and Athena as martial divinities as traceable back to the Bronze Age (details such as this one, considered Orphic and ‘newer’ than aspects considered genuinely ... Continue reading

analysis of the differentiation of the singer/lyre player from the choral groupAfter an extensive description of life in the countryside, I.18.541–566, the vision centers on occasi ... Continue reading

analysis of stathmos (and klisia and sekos), in the context of the analysis of references to the tomb of Achilles in the IliadIn this compressed pastoral scene, we see at I.18.589 ... Continue reading

analysis of the connection of the picture of the khoros made by Daedalus on the Shield of Achilles created by Hephaistos with the Bronze Age and the metaphor of pattern-weaving for ... Continue reading

At I.18.479–480, we saw a crossover between the artistic worlds of metalworking and weaving. The metalwork of Hephaistos in manufacturing the Shield of Achilles was metaphorized as ... Continue reading

In the Homeric textual tradition, there are traces of a longer version of the narrative here, containing verses 603–604–605–606, to be contrasted with a shorter version containing ... Continue reading

The goddess of dawn, Eos, is pictured here as emerging from the streams of the cosmic river Ōkeanos at sunrise. The dawn emerges just as the sun itself is pictured as emerging from ... Continue reading

The goddess Thetis proceeds to bring for Achilles the armor that was made for him by the god Hephaistos, I.19.003, and she finds the hero embracing the body of Patroklos and weepin ... Continue reading

This detail about Achilles as the only hero who can look at the selas ‘flash of light’ streaming from his Shield, I.19.017, is relevant to a myth about the blinding of Homer. I epi ... Continue reading

analysis of designating heroes as equal to Ares, here specifically Ares as the divine embodiment of murderous war, inherent also in adjectives such as Arēiphatos in this verseThis ... Continue reading

analysis of Achilles’ special relationship to the dais, proper allotments and dikēThis reference made by Achilles to workers whose work it is to divide meat at feasts is relevant t ... Continue reading

In contexts where the dual theraponte in combination with Arēos ‘of Ares’ is applied to the Achaeans=Danaans=Argives (here, to the pair of Diomedes and Odysseus) as a grouping of w ... Continue reading

In this speech of Achilles, he himself refers to his mēnis ‘anger’ by way of the verb apomēniein at I.19.062 (ἀπομηνίσαντος). This anger has been the main theme of the Iliad ever s ... Continue reading

In referring to Briseis here, the words of Achilles briefly retell the story about his conquest of Lyrnessos and his capture of Briseis. I refer here again to my three anchor comme ... Continue reading

comparison of the semantics of Khari-laos and Akhi-laos, here kharis of Achaeans at Achilles’ setting aside his mēnisThe mēnis ‘anger’ of Achilles has now finally been ‘un-said’ by ... Continue reading

In seeking to settle his quarrel with Achilles, Agamemnon claims that he was not aitios ‘responsible’, I.19.086. Rather it was atē ‘aberration’ or ‘derangement’ that that made him ... Continue reading

The following is epitomized from The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, 1§36. Agamemnon, who is the high king among all the kings of the Achaean warriors participating in the war at T ... Continue reading

analysis of the phrase therapōn of Ares (here, as applied to the Achaeans as an aggregate of warriors)Agamemnon addresses his fellow warriors here as therapontes (plural) of Ares. ... Continue reading

Instead of competing with Achilles as a public speaker, Agamemnon says that all he wants to do now is to make Achilles an offer.Instead of competing with Achilles as a public speak ... Continue reading

Agamemnon says that he will say a mūthos, and the word occurs twice here: I.19.084, I.19.085. As Richard Martin (1989) has shown, this word as used in Homeric poetry means ‘wording ... Continue reading

According to Agamemnon, the myth about Hēraklēs has been used against him by the Achaeans. But he will now try to use the same myth to excuse himself.According to Agamemnon, the my ... Continue reading

analysis of who is aitios in causing Achilles’ mēnis and the ensuing troubles, the theme of the Will of Zeus, and the responsibility of humans for the misfortunes they sufferAgamem ... Continue reading

The word atē, which I translate as ‘aberration’ or ‘derangement’ or even ‘mistake’ in the general comment on I.19.076–138, is both a passive experience, as described here by Agamem ... Continue reading

The application of the epithet Dios thugatēr ‘daughter of Zeus’ to the personified Atē as goddess confers on her an Olympian status here, despite her impending demotion from Olympu ... Continue reading

The epic narrative about Hēraklēs as retold here by Agamemnon, would never have happened if Zeus had not made a mistake, as indicated by the verb aâsthai ‘make a mistake’ at I.19.0 ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and the traditional linking of the Herakles figure and biē on the level of theme See the comment on I.02.658. See the comm ... Continue reading

The wording of Zeus hides the fact that Hēraklēs was fathered directly by him.The wording of Zeus hides the fact that Hēraklēs was fathered directly by him. The wording of Zeus hi ... Continue reading

The wording of Hērā hides the fact that she is speaking about the mother-to-be of Eurystheus, and that this woman is the wife of the hero Sthenelos, who is the son of the hero Pers ... Continue reading

analysis of who is aitios in causing Achilles’ mēnis and the ensuing troubles, the theme of the Will of Zeus, and the responsibility of humans for the misfortunes they sufferHaving ... Continue reading

analysis of therapōn, this verse as an example of the prevailing application of the word as ‘attendant’Agamemnon here refers to his unnamed attendants as therapontes. Agamemnon her ... Continue reading

theoeikelos applied only to Achilles in the Iliad (as in this verse), in the context of analyzing the convergences between the (wording) of Sappho 44 and the Iliad, here specifical ... Continue reading

analysis of Achilles’ special relationship to the dais, proper allotments and dikēThe wording of Odysseus here refers to the special relationship of Achilles to the dais ‘feast’, I ... Continue reading

The use of this word moira in the sense of ‘portion; fate, destiny’ is relevant to the need felt by Achilles to get his equitable share. See the comment on I.03.059.The use of this ... Continue reading

analysis of Achilles’ special relationship to the dais, proper allotments and dikēThis speech is relevant to the need felt by Achilles to get his equitable share. This speech is r ... Continue reading

This speech is relevant to the need felt by Achilles to get his equitable share. This speech is relevant to the need felt by Achilles to get his equitable share. ... Continue reading

The addressing of Achilles here as phertatos ‘best’ of the Achaeans is most distinctive. See the comment on I.16.021. The addressing of Achilles here as phertatos ‘best’ of the Ac ... Continue reading

The application of this noun to Zeus as the ultimate ‘divider’ of the portions of war is relevant to the need felt by Achilles to get his equitable share.The application of this no ... Continue reading

analysis of the reference to the Kallisteia and Briseis’ Aeolian cultural formation in the Iliad, in the context of the argument that the dominantly Ionic tradition as represented ... Continue reading

The property that Agamemnon promised to give as compensation to Achilles is now being delivered for possession. This property to be possessed by Achilles includes not only material ... Continue reading

In this brief speech by Achilles, he seems to be holding Zeus responsible for causing the atai ‘aberrations’ that have led to this point in the epic. See the comment on I.19.086–08 ... Continue reading

analysis of Achilles’ special relationship to the dais, proper allotments and dikēAchilles concedes here that the Achaeans must feast on meat before they can fight again. But Achil ... Continue reading

analysis of Briseis (along with Andromache and Chryseis) as an Aeolian choral personalityThe wording of Briseis in addressing the corpse of Patroklos is not just a speech expressin ... Continue reading

comparison of Briseis’ lamenting over Patroklos with the unnamed woman lamenting over her husband in the simile in O.08.527, in the context of analysis of the prophasis and the cau ... Continue reading

Laments performed by women can focus on personal as well as communal sorrows. See the general comment on I.19.282–302.Laments performed by women can focus on personal as well as co ... Continue reading

analysis of the savage dimension of Achilles’ heroic temperament (comparison to a lion, thumos, menos, dais, terpesthai)See the comment on I.19.275. ... Continue reading

analysis of the savage dimension of Achilles’ heroic temperament (comparison to a lion, thumos, menos, dais, terpesthai)See the comment on I.19.275. ... Continue reading

After the epic is done with quoting, as it were, the lament of Briseis for Patroklos, I.19.282–302, it proceeds to quote the lament of Achilles himself for his best friend, I.19.31 ... Continue reading

analysis of the savage dimension of Achilles’ heroic temperament (comparison to a lion, thumos, menos, dais, terpesthai)See the comment on I.19.275. ... Continue reading

The name Phthiē here at I.19.323 is associated with the verb phthinesthai ‘wilt, perish’ at I.19.322. See also the comment on I.01.155 and I.19.329–330, 337. The name Phthiē here ... Continue reading

comment on the variant for this verse, with Purēs instead of NeoptolemosIn the textual transmission of this verse, there is a trace of a variant form for the name of Pyrrhos(/Neopt ... Continue reading

The name Phthiē here at I.19.330 is associated with the verb (apo-)phthinesthai ‘wilt, perish’ at I.19.329 and at I.19.337. See also the comments on I.01.155 and I.19.322–323. The ... Continue reading

analysis of kleos aphthiton, Phthiē, Achilles’ two choices, and a comment on the ring composition in the placement of phthi- at 1.19.322 and 337The name Phthiē here at I.19.330 is ... Continue reading

Achilles finally puts on the armor that had been made for him by the divine artisan Hephaistos. What dominates the visualization of this armor is the Shield.Achilles finally puts o ... Continue reading

As Achilles lifts the mighty Shield, there is a selas ‘flash of light’ that streams from its bright surface, I.19.374, which is compared to the radiant light that streams from the ... Continue reading

Zeus convenes a council of divinities. Many gods and goddesses are invited, and they all assemble, I.20.005–006. Included are all kinds of local divinities who preside over locales ... Continue reading

Aeneas tells about a past encounter with Achilles in an epic story that is situated outside the time-frame of the Iliad, I.20.089–102. At a later point, I.20.187–194, the story wil ... Continue reading

In this speech, Achilles speaks to Aeneas from the standpoint of an epic tradition that glorifies primarily Achilles. On the other hand, in the corresponding speech of Aeneas to Ac ... Continue reading

Achilles tells about a past encounter with Aeneas in an epic story that is situated outside the time-frame of the Iliad, I.20.187–194. The story supplements what Aeneas says at I.2 ... Continue reading

In the wording of Achilles here, his boast about his swift-footedness is a paraphrase, as it were, of the epithets that describe him as swift-footed. There are over 30 occurrences ... Continue reading

In this speech, Aeneas speaks to Achilles from the standpoint of an epic tradition that glorifies primarily Aeneas, not Achilles. At I.20.200, Aeneas uses the word epea ‘words’ in ... Continue reading

So, Aeneas in the Homeric Iliad can boast about the eternal genes that make him the ideal ancestor of any dynasty that claims to be descended from him. And that is how, from the hi ... Continue reading

In boasting about his own genealogy, the hero Aeneas uses the verb eukhesthai ‘declare’ here at I.20.209, thus making a most definitive epic statement of identity. When the genealo ... Continue reading

The use of the verb eidénai ‘know’ in both verses here at I.20.213–214 is relevant to the poetics of knowing something by way of hearing the authoritative testimony of epic. There ... Continue reading

Erikhthonios, son of Dardanos, is figured here at I.20.215–219 as a kind of proto-Trojan king who was an ancestor of Aeneas. The name of this foundational king Erikhthonios, I.20.2 ... Continue reading

As stated in the comment to I.20.215–219, the foundational proto-Trojan king named Erikhthonios was fathered by an even earlier proto-Trojan king named Dardanos. The narrative of t ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.12.188.See anchor comment at I.12.188. ... Continue reading

comment on eukhesthai in Aeneas’ boast to Achilles (with reference to Muellner 1976)In boasting about his own genealogy, the hero Aeneas started the boast by signaling it with the ... Continue reading

As noted in the general comment on I.20.200–258, Aeneas uses the noun neikea, plural of neikos ‘quarrel’, in referring to the mutual negativity that he and Achilles are expressing ... Continue reading

The word epea is used here at I.20.249 to mean not only ‘words’ but also, more specifically, ‘words of poetry’, such as the words of epic. The words of poetry are spoken here in an ... Continue reading

In the short-term logic of the narrative here about the one-on-one battle between Aeneas and Achilles, I.20.290–352, it becomes certain that Aeneas will lose the battle and be kill ... Continue reading

The four points that are made in the other comment to I.20.302–308 about Aeneas the Ionian need to be juxtaposed with twelve points that now need to be made about Aeneas the Aeolia ... Continue reading

The prophecy that is made by the god Poseidon here about the descendants of Aeneas as heirs to eternal rule over the Trojans—but not in Troy—is a basic theme that pervades Ionian e ... Continue reading

The etymology of this word can be explained as ‘returning to light and life’. See the anchor comment on O.09.566. ... Continue reading

[Epitomized from HPC 229–230.] Here at I.20.404–405, the bellowing of a mortally wounded Trojan warrior is compared to the bellowing of a bull that is about to be sacrificed on the ... Continue reading

First, the chariot fighter is killed. Then and only then is the chariot driver, the therapōn, also killed: he is pierced in the back by a javelin as he turns the chariot team aroun ... Continue reading

So long as the anger of Achilles remains in force, the Trojans will remain in possession of the east side of the river Skamandros, latinized as Scamander, while they continue to fi ... Continue reading

analysis of loigos as designating the plight of the Achaeans in Achilles’ absenceWe see here a retrospective reference to the loigos ‘devastation’, I.21.134, suffered by the Achaea ... Continue reading

In this speech of Achilles, the hero is boasting, as expressed by way of the solemn word eukhesthai ‘claim’, I.21.187, about his genealogy as son of Peleus son of Aiakos son of Zeu ... Continue reading

In his edition of Homer, Zenodotus athetized—that is, he rejected as non-Homeric—the verse at I.21.195, as we know from the scholia for this verse in the Geneva manuscript of the I ... Continue reading

Outraged by all the carnage caused by Achilles as that hero relentlessly keeps slaughtering droves of Trojans and clogs the river with their bloody corpses, Scamander as the divine ... Continue reading

In order to save the endangered Achilles, Hērā now induces her son Hephaistos to join the fray and to fight actively against the river god Scamander. Since Hephaistos is god of fir ... Continue reading

Following up on the combat between Hephaistos and Scamander, other gods now also join in the fight, and, the next thing you know, the cosmic conflict between the elemental forces o ... Continue reading

Hector is well aware that he may die at the hands of Achilles, but he wishes to die in a way that will assure him of having the kleos ‘glory’ of poetry, and such ‘genuine’ glory, a ... Continue reading

In this speech, Hector finally understands that he has been delusional all along in thinking that he could possibly defeat Achilles. Athena has actively contributed to the hero’s t ... Continue reading

Hector is now quite certain that he will in fact die at the hands of Achilles, but he wishes all the more to die in a way that will assure him of having the kleos ‘glory’ of poetry ... Continue reading

After wounding Hector mortally at I.22.326–330, Achilles now declares to his enemy his intention to expose Hector’s corpse as prey for dogs and birds to devour while Patroklos will ... Continue reading

Achilles declares to the dying Hector how certain he is about his ghastly intent to expose the corpse of his hated enemy for dogs and birds to devour, I.22.248 (also I.22.354). Thi ... Continue reading

Achilles strips the armor from the corpse of Hector, I.22.368–369, who is lying there naked on the battleground while the comrades of Achilles are jeering at him and taking turns a ... Continue reading

Further degradation awaits the naked corpse of Hector. Here at I.22.395–405, Achilles proceeds to subject the body of Hector to an act that is meant to disfigure it, and the Master ... Continue reading

Although Priam and Hecuba, the parents of Hector, have already seen with horror and sorrow what has happened to him at the hands of Achilles, Andromache does not yet know, I.22.437 ... Continue reading

Like Helen at I.03.125–128, Andromache is shown here at I.22.440–441 in the act of pattern-weaving. And, like Helen, she is not pictured as singing while weaving: rather, she weave ... Continue reading

This word en-passein ‘sprinkle’ conveys a metaphor for the process of pattern-weaving. As we learn from the AT Scholia for I.22.441, (en-)passein in the Cypriote dialect means poik ... Continue reading

The wording here at I.22.444 is part of the lead-up to the lament of Andromache, which formally gets underway only at I.22.476. And the wording in this part of the lead-up, I.22.44 ... Continue reading

At I.22.460, just as she is about to see with her own eyes the corpse of Hector, the distraught Andromache is already pictured as īsē ‘equal’ to a mainás ‘maenad’ (μαινάδι ἴση), th ... Continue reading

In the first lament of Andromache for Hector, as seen in the anchor comment at I.06.407–439, she was already lamenting the death of Hector before he was even dead. As for her secon ... Continue reading

In the lament of Andromache, she refers here at I.22.483 to the penthos ‘grief’ that the death of Hector has caused her. This word penthos ‘grief’ is a programmatic marker of lamen ... Continue reading

On the naming of the son of Hector, Astyanax, see the comment on I.22.506–507.On the naming of the son of Hector, Astyanax, see the comment on I.22.506–507. ... Continue reading

Here at I.22.506–507, the meaning of the name of Hector is made explicit. As noted in the comment on I.06.402–403, the first of two names given to the son of Hector, Astyanax [Astu ... Continue reading

Reaching the end of her lament for Hector, Andromache declares ruefully: all that Hector cares about is whether the men and women of Troy will in the end think of him as a hero who ... Continue reading

The lament of Andromache, as we see it come to a conclusion here at I.22.515, is a classic example of a group performance as rounded out here at I.22.515 by way of an antiphonal re ... Continue reading

While the Trojans are mourning Hector in Troy, I.23.001, Achilles and his fellow Achaeans have all returned to the ships beached at the Hellespont, I.23.001–002, and the hero now c ... Continue reading

analysis of the evidence of hero cult in the Iliad and the Odyssey (here, lamentation)This word arkhein ‘lead off [in performing]’ refers here to the performance of lament as song ... Continue reading

The Myrmidons, led by Achilles, ‘feel a longing’ for Patroklos as they mourn him here in lament, and this ‘longing’ is expressed by way of the verb potheîn ‘long for, desire’. The ... Continue reading

formalization of the akhos Patroklos gets from the Achaeans in Achilles’ leading the Achaeans in lamentation for PatroklosThe word ex-arkhein ‘lead off [in performing]’ refers here ... Continue reading

The sēma ‘tomb’ that will be made for Patroklos is visualized as a tumulus.The sēma ‘tomb’ that will be made for Patroklos is visualized as a tumulus.The sēma ‘tomb’ that will be m ... Continue reading

formalization of the akhos Patroklos gets from Achilles in the Funeral GamesThe word akhos ‘grief’ here at I.23.047, indicative of lament, is embedded in the actual words of lament ... Continue reading

At I.23.065, the psūkhē ‘spirit’ of the dead Patroklos appears to Achilles while the hero sleeps. Achilles is instructed by the ghostly spirit of Patroklos to cremate his corpse, I ... Continue reading

On the surface, what the psūkhē ‘spirit’ of Patroklos wants is a proper funeral for the corpse of Patroklos. But what does the psūkhē really want for itself? I ask the question thi ... Continue reading

The spirit of the dead Patroklos is recounting how Peleus had entrusted Patroklos as a therapōn to Achilles.See the comment for I.01.321 for a complete list of Iliadic occurrences ... Continue reading

Achilles responds to the apparition in his dream, I.23.094–096, declaring to the spirit of Patroklos that he intends to do exactly what this spirit has instructed him to do. But th ... Continue reading

While Achilles is still dreaming, he asks Patroklos to embrace him, I.23.097–098. With these words, Achilles finishes his speech to the spirit of Patroklos. Now the Master Narrator ... Continue reading

Now that the spirit of Patroklos has departed and Achilles has reacted to the evanescence of this spirit, morning comes. It is time for the Achaeans to gather the firewood that wil ... Continue reading

Meriones is consistently marked as the therapōn of Idomeneus, just as Patroklos is the therapōn of Achilles. Though Meriones as a therapōn of Idomeneus is a ritual substitute for t ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.23.113 on Meriones as therapōn of Idomeneus.For a complete list of the Iliadic occurrences therapōn see the comment on I.01.321.See anchor comment at I.23.1 ... Continue reading

The anchor comment here at I.23.125–126, combined with the anchor comments at I.23.245–248...256–257 and at O.24.076–084, add up to an overall commentary on the three direct refere ... Continue reading

At the place where the firewood is gathered for the funeral pyre, Achilles organizes a funeral procession of the Myrmidons in honor of Patroklos. The Myrmidons are in in full battl ... Continue reading

Now the making of the funeral pyre may begin. And, in preparation, Achilles will cut his own golden-blond hair, I.23.141, placing into the lifeless hands of Patroklos the long lock ... Continue reading

So far, the preparations for cremation, with all the preliminary rituals, have been open to all the Achaeans. But now Achilles urges Agamemnon to send them away to their dinners. S ... Continue reading

Now the cremation proceeds to the finish. The kēdemones or ‘mourning-relations’ who stayed behind may now complete the task of making a mighty funeral pyre, I.23.163–164, and then ... Continue reading

As we will now see, the gods are well aware of the ongoing pollution, and they counteract it by way of purification, which takes the form of preserving the body of Hector from the ... Continue reading

The tomb of Patroklos, called tumbos here at I.I.23.245, will also become the tomb of Achilles when his time comes to die. It is to be built on a small scale until Achilles is ento ... Continue reading

See also anchor comment at I.23.125–126 on: tomb of Achilles, part 1, and anchor comment at O.24.076–084 on: tomb of Achilles, part 3.The tomb of Patroklos, called tumbos here at I ... Continue reading

An agōn, as here at I.23.258, is literally a ‘coming together’ for competition; so, by extension, the word comes to mean ‘competition’. For more on the meaning and the etymology, s ... Continue reading

|326 σῆμα δέ τοι ἐρέω μάλ’ ἀριφραδές, οὐδέ σε λήσει. |327 ἕστηκε ξύλον αὖον ὅσον τ’ ὄργυι’ ὑπὲρ αἴης |328 ἢ δρυὸς ἢ πεύκης· τὸ μὲν οὐ καταπύθεται ὄμβρῳ, |329 λᾶε δὲ τοῦ ἑκάτερθεν ἐ ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.23.113 on Meriones as therapōn of Idomeneus.See the comment on I.01.321 for a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of therapōn.See anchor comment at I.23.11 ... Continue reading

comment on the connections of ozos Arēos and isos Arēi, as both of which Leontes qualifiesSee anchor comment at I.12.188. ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.23.113 on Meriones as therapōn of Idomeneus.See comment on I.01.321 for a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of therapōn.See anchor comment at I.23.113 on ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.23.113 on Meriones as therapōn of Idomeneus.See comment on I.01.321 for a complete list of Iliadic occurrences of therapōn.See anchor comment at I.23.113 on ... Continue reading

The agōn ‘competition’, that is, the ‘coming together’ for the sake of competition, is now over. Or, to say it in Greek, the coming-together is now undone, as expressed by the verb ... Continue reading

While the others sleep, Achilles is awake and restless, and he sorely misses Patroklos, as expressed by the verb potheîn ‘long for’. This verb potheîn ‘long for’, like the noun pot ... Continue reading

In these four verses, there is a compressed narration of what Achilles does over and over again during a sleepless night. He harnesses his chariot and drives it around the tomb of ... Continue reading

Once again, divine intervention prevents the disfigurement of Hector’s body. The intervention starts starts midline at I.24.018, and the narrative of the intervention extends throu ... Continue reading

The gods pity Hector and are on the verge of sending Hermes to hide the corpse of Hector, but this plan is vetoed by Hērā and Poseidon, in that order. They bear a grudge against Tr ... Continue reading

In the story about the Judgment of Paris, as we read in the plot-summary of the Cypria, Proclus 102.14–19 (ed. Allen 1912), Paris=Alexandros has to choose from among three goddesse ... Continue reading

In the speech of Apollo here, Ι.24.032–054, there is a compressed retelling of unseemly deeds committed by Achilles. At Ι.24.050–052, the god condemns especially the violence of Ac ... Continue reading

In the speech of Hērā here, Ι.24.055–063, there is a reference to a primal story that is connected to the Judgment of Paris. It is the story about the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, ... Continue reading

In the speech of Zeus here, Ι.24.064–076, an elaborate plan leads to a most elaborate plot for the conclusion of the Iliad. ... Continue reading

thematic connection with kleos in the application of alaston (coordinate with the theme of mnēmosune) to penthos (in the context of analyzing the relationship of penthos with kleos ... Continue reading

Zeus tells Thetis to tell Achilles that the gods are angry at him and want him to release to Priam the body of Hector. In this case, the Will of Zeus becomes an unambiguous moral f ... Continue reading

Thetis conveys the Will of Zeus to her son. Her role here in Iliad 24 is symmetrical with her role in Iliad 1.Thetis conveys the Will of Zeus to her son. Her role here in Iliad 24 ... Continue reading

See the anchor comment at O.07.256. See the anchor comment at O.07.256. ... Continue reading

See the anchor comment at O.07.256. See the anchor comment at O.07.256. ... Continue reading

In speaking to Priam, the god Hermes disguises himself as a therapōn of Achilles. It is as if he were the spirit of the dead Patroklos, the other self of Achilles himself.For a com ... Continue reading

See the comment on I.24.393.See again the comment on I.24.393.See again the comment on I.24.393. ... Continue reading

cited as examples when endukéōs is associated with the notion of an uninterrupted sequence. Hermes accompanies Priam endukéōs. A successful journey is pictured as sequence, a conti ... Continue reading

Here it is Alkimos who is called ozos Arēos ‘attendant of Ares’.See the anchor comment at I.12.188.Here it is Alkimos who is called ozos Arēos ‘attendant of Ares’. See the anchor c ... Continue reading

While Priam mourns for his own son Hector, Achilles alternates in mourning for his own father Priam and for Patroklos as his own other self. By mourning for both his father and for ... Continue reading

The two heroes Automedon and Alkimos are both marked as therapontes of Achilles, I.24.573, by virtue of this detail: Achilles honored the two of them more than anyone else after th ... Continue reading

The funeral of Hector may now begin. A funeral procession takes Hector to his bier, where the laments can begin.The funeral of Hector may now begin. A funeral procession takes Hect ... Continue reading

The word penthos ‘grief’ here at I.24.708 refers to the context for performing laments, I.24.720–776, on the occasion of Hector’s funeral. The word recurs in the actual words of th ... Continue reading

The laments for Hector at his funeral can be divided into two main parts, the second of which can be subdivided into three sub-parts. The first main part is at I.24.720–722, where ... Continue reading

In the first of the three laments performed by Andromache, as quoted by the Master Narrator at I.06.407–439, she is already lamenting the death of Hector before he is even dead. As ... Continue reading

See the anchor comment at I.24.720–776.See the anchor comment at I.24.720–776. See the anchor comment at I.24.720–776. See the anchor comment at I.24.720–776. ... Continue reading

See the anchor comment at I.24.720–776.See the anchor comment at I.24.720–776. See the anchor comment at I.24.720–776. ... Continue reading

It takes ten days inclusively for the people of Troy to gather the firewood needed to construct the funeral pyre for the cremation of Hector, I.24.784. See the comment on I.24.785– ... Continue reading

The corpse of Hector is placed on top of the funeral pyre, and then the pyre is lit, Ι.24.786–787. The next morning, the fires of the cremation are extinguished and the bones of He ... Continue reading

See also anchor comment at I.23.184–194.[epitome from HC 4§267]The focus of the Iliad on Hector as the ultimate beau mort is evident at the conclusion of this epic. The Iliad as we ... Continue reading

[epitome from HC 4§268]This foregrounding of Hector in the Iliad as we know it is a matter of politics as well as esthetics. The beautiful death of Hector, his belle mort, is for A ... Continue reading