COMMENTARY ON THE ILIAD: BOOKS 23 AND 24
(all quotations from the Iliad are
from the
translation of
Richmond Lattimore, ©University of Chicago Press, 1951)
Books 23 and 24 of the Iliad bring the story
of Achilleus’ anger to a close. In different ways, each book
comments on the issues that had fueled Achilleus’ anger. At the
funeral games for Patroklos in book 23, Achilleus’ behavior provides a
striking contrast to his earlier quarrel with Agamemnon over prizes and
honor. In book 24, Achilleus’ meeting with Priam brings to the
surface the anger and grief that he feels over the death of Patroklos
and his own fate.
PATROKLOS’ FUNERAL...AND THAT OF ACHILLEUS
After the killing of Hektor, book 22 ends with
the Trojans mourning their slain hero. This sets the stage for
the description of Patroklos’ funeral in book 23. Once again,
Homer foreshadows Achilleus’ death. In his grief, the hero
acknowledges his own fate, declaring that “there will come no second
sorrow like this to my heart again while I am still one of the living.
(23.46-47).” Soon after, Patroklos’ ghost appears to Achilleus in
a dream. He begs his friend to bury
him quickly so that he can enter Hades, the realm of the dead. He
reminds him of how they grew up together, and, like so many others, he
prophesies Achilleus’ death: “And you, Achilleus like the gods, have
your own destiny; to be killed under the wall of the prospering
Trojans. (23.80-81)”
“Achilleus like the gods” is a common formula, but here it surely has
special
impact as we - and Achilleus - remember the most important way in which
he
is not like the gods: he is doomed to die. When Achilleus wakes
from
the vivid dream, he marvels that something - “a soul and an
image...(with)
no real heart of life in it (23.104)”- lingers after death. His
surprise
is an interesting insight into his own uncertainty about death, the
fate
he has struggled to escape.
Patroklos’ ghost asks that their ashes be
placed together, “Let one single vessel, the golden two-handled urn the
lady your mother gave you, hold both our ashes. (23.91-92)”. With
foreknowledge of Achilleus’ death, Thetis had apparently provided her
son with a funeral urn, and Achilleus had had this token of his
mortality present throughout his days at Troy. Patroklos’ request
is just one of several references to Achilleus’ own death and funeral:
Achilleus chooses a place “for a huge grave mound, for himself and
Patroklos (23.126),” he is described as escorting his friend towards
Hades (23.137), and, finally, he instructs Agamemnon to build a grave
mound that will later be enlarged to commemorate Achilleus as well
(23.245-48). As he prepares the corpse for burning, he cuts his
long hair in honor of his friend. His father, Peleus, had vowed
that Achilleus would only cut his hair in honor of Spercheios, one of
the rivers of his homeland, when he returned. Now, however,
Achilleus knows that he will not live to fulfill that vow (23.140-51).
The most moving reference to Achilleus’ death
is an indirect one that comes in a simile, as he mourns through the
night at the site of Patroklos’ funeral pyre:
“...And as
a father mourns as he burns the bones of a son, who was married
only now, and died to grieve his unhappy parents,
so Achilleus was mourning as he burned his companion’s
bones, and dragged himself by the fire in close lamentation.
(23.221-225)”
Like so many of Homer’s similes, it repays reflection: by comparing
Achilleus’ grief to that of a father for a son who dies young, Homer
evokes
the grief that Achilleus’ own father will feel when he learns that his
son will not return from Troy.
THE FUNERAL GAMES: REFLECTION AND
RECONCILIATION
After the funeral, Achilleus brings out prizes
- some of them, like the armor of Sarpedon (23.798-800), won by
Patroklos, others won by Achilleus on the battlefield (23.560-62,
827-29) - and he calls upon the men to participate in games in honor of
Patroklos. These
contests certainly provide some relief after the intensity of
Achilleus’ rampage, his slaying of Hektor and his grief over
Patroklos. We may laugh at the hulking figure of the boxer,
Epeios, threatening to smash the skin and break the bones of any
opponent (23.664-75), or at the description of Aias Oileus, slipping in
the cow dung and spitting shit from his mouth (23.773-83). The
gods’ meddling in the games is a more light-hearted affair than their
tragic deception and betrayal of Hektor on the battlefield, but the
games are more than just a comic interlude. Most are closely
related to war, many of the prizes are from the deadly competition on
the battlefield, and the struggle for honor and prizes is as keen as
the drive for glory in battle. Thus, they offer an opportunity to
reflect on the events that have taken place in the poem.
Consider, for example, the complexity of the
first event, the chariot race. Five contestants line up to take
part: Eumelos, Diomedes, Menelaos, Antilochos and Meriones
(23.288-351). Diomedes and Menelaos, of course, were leading
warriors, and Antilochos
was the son of Nestor. Eumelos might seem less important, but, in
the Catalog of the Ships, the poet had already praised his horses as
the
best of the Greek horses, for they were bred by Apollo
(2.763-67).
Several mishaps in the course of the race spark controversy over the
order
of finish. Not surprisingly, the gods, Apollo and Athene,
interfere
and, as a result of Athene’s actions, Eumelos’ chariot is broken and he
- the leader early on - comes in last. Then, in the fight for
second,
Antilochos forces his way past Menelaos through reckless driving, and
Menelaos
feels that he has been cheated. The order of finish is Diomedes,
Antilochos, Menelaos (a very close third!), Meriones and Eumelos, but
the distribution of prizes promises to be anything but simple.
Diomedes takes first prize easily enough
(23.509-13), but tensions rise when Achilleus proposes to award the
second prize to the unfortunate Eumelos, who finished last
(23.536-38). Achilleus recognizes the excellence of his
horsemanship, and sees that he suffered an accident of some kind on the
racecourse. Antilochos, though, objects, and
claims the second prize that he feels he earned. Achilleus yields and
produces
an extra prize for Eumelos (23.557-62). Now, it is Menelaos’ turn
to protest. He complains that Antilochos cheated and stole second
place
by driving recklessly, and he demands that Antilochos swear by the gods
that he played fair. Antilochos backs down, blames his
recklessness on his youth, and agrees to cede the prize to
Menelaos. Menelaos, in turn, graciously accepts the apology and
concedes second prize to Antilochos (23.566-611). After Menelaos
is given third prize, and Meriones fourth prize, Achilleus finds he
still has one prize left - remember, Eumelos had been given a special
prize! With a generous gesture, Achilleus gives the fifth prize
to Nestor, as a remembrance of Patroklos and as a way of
honoring the age of a man who will no longer compete in the games in
which
he once excelled (23.618-23).
Achilleus not only heads off and settles
disputes among the contestants, he also keeps the unruly fans under
control! While the men are watching the race and straining to see
who is ahead, Idomeneus exclaims that Diomedes is leading
(23.469-72). This innocent remark provokes a storm of abuse from
Aias Oileus who dismisses it as “windy talk” and insults Idomeneus by
saying “Forever you are windy with your words,
and you should not be a windy speaker. There are others here
better
than you are. (23.478-79)” The two men argue - and nearly come to
blows, but Achilleus stops the quarrel by reminding them that they
would be angry if someone else acted that way:
“‘No longer now, Aias and Idomeneus, continue
to exchange this bitter and evil talk. It is not becoming.
If another acted so, you yourselves would be angry.’”
This is evidently an indirect acknowledgement of the Greeks’
disapproval of his earlier anger and its devastating consequences.
Similarly, his gracious gift to Agamemnon at
the end of the book would seem, finally, to show the respect that lays
to rest the quarrel between the two men. Agamemnon had stepped
forward to compete in the spear throwing contest, but Achilleus
immediately stopped the competition and offered him a prize:
“‘Son of Atreus, for we know how much you surpass all others,
by how much you are greatest for strength among the spear-throwers,
therefore take this prize and keep it and go back to your hollow ships
(23.890-93).’”
To a degree, Achilleus has learned from his
mistakes. Here, he acts as a mediator, resolving conflicts,
compensating men for the injustices caused by the gods’ interference,
and offering everyone the honor due them. Of course, it is easier
to achieve this in the artificial world of the games: intense though
they are, they are not life and death struggles, and, when necessary,
more prizes can be produced. Perhaps the games are an idealized
vision of how things might be - or ought to be, but it is also clear
that Achilleus’ quarrel with Agamemnon and his anger over the
distribution of prizes had already become less important. For
some time, his anger had been directed against Hektor, and that rage
was
not quieted by the games. He continues to grieve for Patroklos,
and,
every morning, he ties Hektor’s corpse to his chariot and drags him
round
and round the tomb of Patroklos, before dumping him face down in the
dirt.
THE HEART OF ENDURANCE
This behavior provokes an angry response from
Apollo who appeals to the gods to end the disgraceful treatment of
Hektor’s corpse. Apollo criticizes Achilleus because he gains
nothing by his brutal actions: “nothing is gained thereby for his good,
or his honour (24.52).” More important, he recognizes the reason
for Achilleus’ brutal rage. The hero is unable to accept his
friend’s death, though it is man’s lot
to endure the death of loved ones:
“For a man must some day lose one who was even closer
than this; a brother from the same womb, or a son. And yet
he weeps for him, and sorrows for him, and then it is over,
for the Destinies put in mortal men the heart of endurance. (24.46-49)”
In acting this way, Achilleus is being inhuman, “fierce, like a lion
(24.41)”. Apollo echoes Odysseus’ earlier advice to Achilleus to
mourn
the dead, put aside his grief and go on with his life
(19.225-32). The close identification of Patroklos’ death and
that of Achilleus makes us wonder, though, whether it isn’t his own
death that he can’t come to terms with. We are reminded of that
almost immediately when Zeus responds
to Apollo’s plea and calls on Thetis to go to Achilleus to tell him to
accept
ransom for Hektor. Iris carries the message to Thetis and finds
her
“mourning the death of her blameless son, who so soon was destined to
die
in Troy of the rich soil, far from the land of his fathers (24.85-86).”
The stage is set for the final dramatic
encounter between the aged king Priam and Achilleus, the slayer of so
many of his sons. Hermes, the messenger god and escort of the
dead, guides Priam to the tent of Achilleus where he will offer his
ransom for the return of Hektor’s corpse. Hermes advises Priam to
appeal to Achilleus in the name of Achilleus’ father, mother and
son. In fact, Priam only mentions his father, Peleus:
“Achilleus like the gods, remember your father, one who
is of years like mine, and on the door-sill of sorrowful old age.
And they who dwell nearby encompass him and afflict him,
nor is there any to defend him against the wrath, the destruction.
Yet surely he, when he hears of you and that you are still living,
is gladdened within his heart and all his days he is hopeful
that he will see his beloved son come home from the Troad (24.486-92).”
When Priam tells Achilleus to think of his father awaiting his return,
his appeal is more effective than he can possibly imagine.
Achilleus, knowing that he will not return, imagines his father
grieving - just like Priam - over his son’s death. As he breaks
down and weeps with Priam, “now for his own father, now again for
Patroklos (24.511-12)”, it seems that he is grieving over his own death
as well and expressing some acceptance of it.
THE URNS OF ZEUS AND THE FATE OF NIOBE
To console Priam, Achilleus tells him the
story of the urns of Zeus (24.527-33). In short, Zeus bestows
gifts on man from an urn of evils and an urn of blessings.
Sometimes he mixes the two, but sometimes he doles out only
sorrows. This, man must learn to endure, for, as Achilleus
explains,
“Such is the way the gods spun life for unfortunate mortals,
that we live in unhappiness, but the gods themselves have no sorrows
(24.525-26).”
Now, Achilleus is giving Priam the same advice that Odysseus had given
him earlier and that Apollo had echoed in his complaint about
Achilleus’ abuse of Hektor’s corpse. Priam must put an end to his
grief because it is man’s fate to suffer and man must accept his lot.
If Achilleus has learned - and accepted - that
it is man’s lot to suffer, we may question whether he has come to
understand the reasons for such suffering. He blames Zeus for
man’s misfortunes, but, in this story, some of Zeus’ most fateful
actions were in response to his own prayers. In fact, when Thetis
had come to console him for Patroklos’ death, she had asked him
pointedly why he was grieving if Zeus had fulfilled his prayers
(18.72-77).
The final story that Achilleus tells provides
an interesting commentary on the limits of his understanding of the
causes for the suffering he has reluctantly come to accept. It is
the story of Niobe whose twelve children were slain by the gods, Apollo
and Artemis (24.602-17). Achilleus tells Priam the story to
convince him to share a meal, despite his grief (24.601, 618-19).
Like Priam, Niobe lost many children, but, as Achilleus explains, “she
remembered to eat when she was worn out with weeping (24.613).”
Again, we are reminded of Odysseus’ advice to Achilleus to end his
grief over Patroklos’ death and take a meal (19.225-32).
Niobe’s story, however, was about more than
sorrow or having a meal. Niobe had boasted that she was superior
to
the goddess Leto because she had twelve children and Leto only had
two. Leto’s children, however, were the god and goddess, Apollo
and Artemis, and
they killed all of Niobe’s children to teach her a lesson about
comparing oneself to the gods. Like many figures in Greek
mythology, Niobe claimed - like Achilleus - descent from the gods, but
she was a mortal. The story offers a powerful lesson about the
tragic consequences of trying to be “godlike”.
Whether Achilleus has appreciated that message
is unclear. He seems to have accepted sorrow and loss as part of
the human condition, and his story is designed to help Priam accept his
own losses. For Achilleus, though, the story reinforces the point
of his tale of the urns of Zeus, namely, that suffering comes from the
capricious
and vindictive gods. For the poet and his audience, however, the
story
of Niobe, set against the backdrop of Achilleus’ own tragic effort to
be
like a god, carries a warning about the consequences of trying to be
“godlike”.
Implicitly, it reminds us that we, as human beings, bear responsibility
for
the consequences of our actions. If the plan of Zeus was
fulfilled
in the Iliad, it was, in part, a plan which Achilleus was responsible
for.
Homer shows the dangers of trying to be like
the gods and the need to accept limits: the limits of mortality, the
human condition; the limits imposed by a society - even a warrior
society - and by one’s obligations to one’s fellows. Homer also
presents us with the possibility of achieving greatness because of
one’s humanity, not in spite of it. Whether the characters have
fully understood these lessons is unclear. Fighting will resume
and Troy will eventually fall. Achilleus, himself, fears that he
might explode in rage and kill Priam,
if the old man shows his anger over the condition of Hektor’s corpse
(24.581-86). Most curious of all, Achilleus reminds us of how
fragile the resolution
to the initial quarrel was, when he warns Priam to sleep outside the
tent,
lest Agamemnon discover that he has come to the camp (24.650-55).
If Agamemnon finds Priam, “there would be delay in the ransoming of the
body.” Presumably, Agamemnon might object to Achilleus’ cutting
his
own deal with Priam, and a disastrous quarrel could break out again...