Battle for the Ships

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 Trojans led by Hector will be winning, on the verge of burning down al ... Continue reading

... amaging of the tīmē ‘honor’ of Achilles by the Achaeans will lead to the akhos ‘grief’ that they will experience at the Battle for the Ships, when their very survival will be threatened by the ... Continue reading

... ef’ of being on the losing side until the fire of Hector finally reaches the ships of the Achaeans at the climax of the Battle for the Ships. By way of this reversal, through the Will of Zeus, ... Continue reading

... l be mnēmosunē ‘memory’, I.08.181, of the moment when he will set fire to the beached ships of the Achaeans in the epic Battle for the Ships. And this moment will be in fact pivotal for the Wil ... Continue reading

... s, are too close for comfort—too close, that is, to the beached ships of the Achaeans. We see here a premonition of the Battle for the Ships and of the fire of Hector, which will threaten to bu ... Continue reading

... en the very survival of the Achaeans and even of all Greeks as notional descendants of the Achaeans. See further on the Battle for the Ships in the comment on I.01.320–348.The onslaught of Hect ... 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 to set on fire the beached ships of the Achaeans, and, for this objective to be realized, the Troj ... 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

... 017.For other instances of kūdos ‘sign of glory’, see I.01.473 and I.12.255–257.See also the comment at I.12.198 on the Battle for the Ships, the fire of Hector, and the breaking through the Wa ... 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 Achaeans, and now his fire threatens to set o ... 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

Ajax makes another strategic partial withdrawal, I.16.122. For an earlier reference to Ajax in the act of withdrawing, see I.15.727–732 and the comment on I.15.704–746. Meanwhile a ... Continue reading