iliad - virtualavenueotsr.virtualave.net/hammond/world literature - the iliad.pdf · iliad revolves...

Name Date Class

W O R L D L I T E R A T U R E S E L E C T I O N

Scholars believe that the Iliad was written around750 B.C., but the events it describes take place dur-ing the tenth year of the Trojan War, 500 yearsearlier. When the epic opens, Agamemnon isforced by Apollo to return the captive girl Chryseisto her father. Agamemnon replaces Chryseis withAchilles' captive, Briseis. As a result, Agamemnonand Achilles quarrel, and Achilles withdraws fromthe Trojan War, leaving his fellow Greeks to sufferterrible defeats at the hands of the Trojans. TheIliad revolves around the results of Achilles' fury atbeing dishonored.

A B O U T T H E A U T H O R

Nothing certain is known about Homer's life.According to legend, he was a blind bard, apoet who traveled from place to place. Sincethe word homer means "hostage," many schol-ars believe that he was a slave. Some sourcesstate that he came from Ionia in the easternMediterranean, but Homer could have beenfrom any area in the region.

In addition to the Iliad, Homer wrote theOdyssey, which describes the adventures of theMycenaean king Odysseus. The Iliad andOdyssey are the two most famous Greek epics.

Guided Reading As you read this excerpt from the Iliad, think about how the ancient Greeks defined honorand what it meant to them.

from the IliadBook 1: The Quarrel

The Wrath of Achilles is my theme, that fatal wrath which, in fulfilment of the will of Zeus, brought theAchaeans so much suffering and sent the gallant souls of many noblemen to Hades, leaving their bodies ascarrion for the dogs and passing birds. Let us begin, goddess of song, with the angry parting that took placebetween Agamemnon King of Men and the great Achilles son of Peleus. Which of the gods was it that madethem quarrel?

It was Apollo, Son of Zeus and Leto, whostarted the feud, when he punished the Kingfor his discourtesy to Chryses, his priest, by

inflicting a deadly plague on his army anddestroying his men. Chryses had come to theAchaean ships to recover his captured daughter.He brought with him a generous ransom andcarried the chaplet of the Archer-god Apollo ona golden staff in his hand. He appealed to thewhole Achaean army, and most of all to its twocommanders, the sons of Atreus.

"My lords, and you Achaean men-at-arms;you hope to sack King Priam's city and gethome in safety. May the gods that live onOlympus grant your wish—on this condition,that you show your reverence for the Archer-godApollo Son of Zeus by accepting this ransomand releasing my daughter."

The troops applauded. They wished to seethe priest respected and the tempting ransom

taken. But this was not at all to KingAgamemnon's liking. He cautioned the manseverely and rudely dismissed him.

"Old man," he said, "do not let me catch youloitering by the hollow ships to-day, nor comingback again, or you may find the god's staff andchaplet a very poor defence. Far from agreeingto set your daughter free, I intend her to growold in Argos, in my house, a long way from herown country, working at the loom and sharingmy bed. Off with you now, and do not provokeme if you want to save your skin."

The old man trembled and obeyed him. Hewent off without a word along the shore of thesounding sea. But when he found himself alonehe prayed fervently to King Apollo, Son of Letoof the Lovely Locks. "Hear me, god of the SilverBow, Protector of Chryse and holy Cilia, andLord Supreme of Tenedos. Smintheus, if ever Ibuilt you a shrine that delighted you, if ever I

World Literature Selections World History

Name Date Class

W O R L D L I T E R A T U R E S E L E C T I O N

X

burnt the fat thighs of a bull or a goat, grant methis wish. Let the Danaans pay with your arrowsfor my tears."

Phoebus Apollo heard his prayer and camedown in fury from the heights of Olympus withhis bow and covered quiver on his back. As heset out, the arrows clanged on the shoulder ofthe angry god; and his descent was like nightfall.He sat down opposite the ships and shot anarrow, with a dreadful twang from his silverbow. He attacked the mules first and the nimbledogs; then he aimed his sharp arrows at themen, and struck again and again. Day and nightinnumerable fires consumed the dead.

For nine days the god's arrows rained on thecamp. On the tenth the troops were called toAssembly by order of Achilles—a measure thatthe white-armed goddess Here prompted him totake, in her concern for the Danaans whosedestruction she was witnessing. When all hadassembled and the gathering was complete, thegreat runner Achilles rose to address them:

"Agamemnon my lord, what with the fight-ing and the plague, I fear that our strength willsoon be so reduced that any of us who are notdead by then will be forced to give up the strug-gle and sail for home. But could we not consult aprophet or priest, or even some interpreter ofdreams—for dreams too are sent by Zeus—andfind out from him why Phoebus Apollo is soangry with us? He may be offended at some bro-ken vow or some failure in our rites. If so, hemight accept a savoury offering of sheep or offull-grown goats and save us from the plague."

Achilles sat down, and Calchas son ofThestor rose to his feet. As an augur, Calchashad no rival in the camp. Past, present andfuture held no secrets from him; and it was hissecond sight, a gift he owed to Apollo, that hadguided the Achaean fleet to Ilium. He was aloyal Argive, and it was in this spirit that he tookthe floor.

"Achilles," he said, "my royal lord, you haveasked me to account for the Archer-KingApollo's wrath; and I will do so. But listen to mefirst. Will you swear to come forward and use allyour eloquence and strength to protect me? I askthis of you, being well aware that I shall makean enemy of one whose authority is absolute

among us and whose word is law to allAchaeans. A commoner is no match for a kingwhom he offends. Even if the king swallows hisanger for the moment, he will nurse his griev-ance till the day when he can settle the account.Consider, then, whether you can guarantee mysafety."

"Dismiss your fears," said the swift Achilles,"and tell us anything you may have learnt fromHeaven. For by Apollo Son of Zeus, the verygod, Calchas, in whose name you reveal youroracles, I swear that as long as I am alive and inpossession of my senses not a Danaan of themall, here by the hollow ships, shall hurt you, noteven if the man you mean is Agamemnon, whobears the title of our overlord."

At last the worthy seer plucked up hiscourage and spoke out. "There is no question,"he said, "of a broken vow or any shortcoming inour rites. The god is angry because Agamemnoninsulted his priest, refusing to take the ransomand free his daughter. That is the reason for ourpresent sufferings and for those to come. TheArcher-King will not release us from this loath-some scourge till we give the bright-eyed ladyback to her father, without recompense or ran-som, and send holy offerings to Chryse. Whenthat is done we might induce him to relent."

Calchas sat down, and the noble son ofAtreus, imperial Agamemnon, leapt up in anger.His heart was seething with black passion andhis eyes were like points of flame. He roundedfirst on Calchas, full of menace.

"Prophet of evil," he cried, "never yet haveyou said a word to my advantage. It is alwaystrouble you revel in foretelling. Not once haveyou fulfilled a prophecy of something good—you have never even made one! And now youhold forth as the army's seer, telling the menthat the Archer-god is persecuting them becauseI refused the ransom for the girl Chryseis,princely though it was. And why did I refuse?Because I chose to keep the girl and take herhome. Indeed, I like her better than my consort,Clytaemnestra. She is quite as beautiful, and noless clever or skilful with her hands. Still, I amwilling to give her up, if that appears the wisercourse. It is my desire to see my people safe andsound, not perishing like this. But you must let

U/ni-M History World Literature Selections

Name.... Date Class

W O R L D L I T E R A T U R E S E L E C T I O N

me have another prize at once, or I shall be theonly one of us with empty hands, a mostimproper thing. You can see for yourselves thatthe prize I was given is on its way elsewhere."

The swift and excellent Achilles leapt to hisfeet. "And where," he asked, "does your majestypropose that our gallant troops should find afresh prize to satisfy your unexampled greed? Ihave yet to hear of any public fund we have laidby. The plunder we took from captured townshas been distributed, and it is more than we canask of the men to reassemble that. No; give thegirl back now, as the god demands, and we willmake you triple, fourfold, compensation, if Zeusever allows us to bring down the battlements ofTroy."

King Agamemnon took him up at once. "Youare a great man, Prince Achilles, but do notimagine you can trick me into that. I am notgoing to be outwitted or cajoled by you. 'Giveup the girl,' you say, hoping, I presume, to keepyour own prize safe. Do you expect me tamelyto sit by while I am robbed? No; if the army isprepared to give me a fresh prize, chosen to suitmy taste and to make up for my loss, I have nomore to say. If not, I shall come and help myselfto your prize, or that of Aias; or I shall walk offwith Odysseus's. And what an angry man I shallleave behind me! However, we can deal with allthat later on. For the moment, let us run a blackship down into the friendly sea, give her a spe-cial crew, embark the animals for sacrifice, andput the girl herself, Chryseis of the lovelycheeks, on board. And let some Councillor ofours go as captain—Aias, Idomeneus, the excel-lent Odysseus, or yourself, my lord, the mostredoubtable man we could choose—to offer thesacrifice and win us back Apollo's favour."

Achilles the great runner gave him a blacklook. "You shameless schemer," he cried,"always aiming at a profitable deal! How canyou expect any of the men to give you loyal ser-vice when you send them on a raid or into bat-tle? It was no quarrel with the Trojan spearmenthat brought me here to fight. They have neverdone me any harm. They have never lifted cowor horse of mine, nor ravaged any crop that thedeep soil of Phthia grows to feed her men; forthe roaring seas and many a dark range of

mountains lie between us. The truth is that wejoined the expedition to please you; yes, youunconscionable cur, to get satisfaction from theTrojans for Menelaus and yourself—a fact whichyou utterly ignore. And now comes this threatfrom you of all people to rob me of my prize, myhard-earned prize, which was a tribute from theranks. It is not as though I am ever given asmuch as you when the Achaeans sack somethriving city of the Trojans. The heat and burdenof the fighting fall on me, but when it comes todealing out the loot, it is you that take the lion'sshare, leaving me to return exhausted from thefield with something of my own, however small.So now I shall go back to Phthia. That is the bestthing I can do—to sail home in my beaked ships.I see no point in staying here to be insultedwhile I pile up wealth and luxuries for you."

"Take to your heels, by all means,"Agamemnon King of Men retorted, "if you feelthe urge to go. I am not begging you to stay onmy account. There are others with me who willtreat me with respect, and the Counsellor Zeus isfirst among them. Moreover, of all the princeshere, you are the most disloyal to myself. Toyou, sedition, violence and fighting are thebreath of life. What if you are a great soldier—who made you so but God? Go home now withyour ships and your men-at-arms and rule theMyrmidons. I have no use for you: your angerleaves me cold. But mark my words. In the sameway as Phoebus Apollo is robbing me of Chry-seis, whom I propose to send off in my ship withmy own crew, I am going to pay a visit to yourhut and take away the beautiful Briseis, yourprize, Achilles, to let you know that I am morepowerful than you, and to teach others not tobandy words with me and openly defy theirKing."

This cut Achilles to the quick. In his shaggybreast his heart was torn between two courses,whether to draw his sharp sword from his side,thrust his way through the crowd, and kill KingAgamemnon, or to control himself and check theangry impulse. He was deep in this inward con-flict, with his long sword half unsheathed, whenAthene came down to him from heaven at theinstance of the white-armed goddess Here, wholoved the two lords equally and was fretting for

World Literature Selections World History

Name Date Class

W O R L D L I T E R A T U R E S E L E C T I O N

them both. Athene stood behind him and seizedhim by his golden locks. No one but Achilleswas aware of her; the rest saw nothing. Heswung around in amazement, recognized PallasAthene at once—so terrible the brilliance of hereyes—and spoke out to her boldly: "And whyhave you come here, Daughter of my aegis-bearing Zeus? Is it to witness the arrogance ofmy lord Agamemnon? I tell you bluntly—and Imake no idle threats—that he stands to pay forthis outrage with his life."

"I came from heaven" replied Athene of theFlashing Eyes, "in the hope of bringing you toyour senses. It was Here, goddess of the WhiteArms, that sent me down, loving the two of youas she does and fretting for you both. Comenow, give up this strife and take your hand fromyour sword. Sting him with words instead, andtell him what you mean to do. Here is a prophe-cy for you—the day shall come when gifts threetimes as valuable as what you now have lost willbe laid at your feet in payment for this outrage.Hold your hand, then, and be advised by us."

"Lady," replied Achilles the great runner,"when you two goddesses command, a manmust obey, however angry he may be. Better forhim if he does. The man who listens to the godsis listened to by them."

With that he checked his great hand on thesilver hilt and drove the long sword back into itsscabbard, in obedience to Athene, who then setout for Olympus and the palace of aegis-bearingZeus, where she rejoined the other gods.

Not that Achilles was appeased. He roundedon Atreides once again with bitter taunts. "Youdrunken sot," he cried, "with the eyes of a dogand the courage of a doe! You never have thepluck to arm yourself and go into battle with themen or to join the other captains in an ambush—you would sooner die. It pays better to stay incamp, filching the prizes of anyone that contra-dicts you, and flourishing at your people's costbecause they are too feeble to resist—feebleindeed; or else, my lord, this act of brigandagewould prove your last.

"But mark my words, for I am going to takea solemn oath. Look at this staff. Once cut fromits stem in the hills, it can never put out leavesor twigs again. The billhook stripped it of its

bark and foliage; it will sprout no more. Yet themen who in the name of Zeus safeguard ourlaws, the Judges of our nation, hold it in theirhands. By this I swear (and I could not choose abetter token) that the day is coming when theAchaeans one and all will miss me sorely, andyou in your despair will be powerless to helpthem as they fall in their hundreds to Hectorkiller of men. Then, you will tear your heart outin remorse for having treated the best man in theexpedition with contempt."

The son of Peleus finished, flung down thestaff with its golden studs, and resumed his seat,leaving Atreides to thunder at him from theother side. But Nestor now leapt up, Nestor, thatmaster of the courteous word, the clear-voicedorator from Pylos, whose speech ran sweeterthan honey off his tongue. He had already seentwo generations come to life, grow up, and diein sacred Pylos, and now he ruled the third.Filled with benevolent concern, he took the floor."This is indeed enough to make Achaea weep!"he said. "How happy Priam and Priam's sonswould be, how all the Trojans would rejoice, ifthey could hear of this rift between you two whoare the leaders of the Danaans in policy and war.Listen to me. You are both my juniors. And whatis more, I have mixed in the past with even bet-ter men than you and never failed to carryweight with them, the finest men I have everseen or shall see, men like Peirithous and Dryas,Shepherd of the People, Caeneus, Exadius, thegodlike Polyphemus and Aegeus' son, Theseusof heroic fame. They were the strongest men thatEarth has bred, the strongest men pitted againstthe strongest enemies, a savage, mountain-dwelling tribe whom they utterly destroyed.Those were the men whom I left my home inPylos to join. I travelled far to meet them, attheir own request. I played my independent partin their campaign. And they were men whomnot a soul on earth to-day could face in battle.Still, they listened to what I said and followedmy advice. You two must do the same; you willnot lose by it. Agamemnon, forget the privilegeof your rank, and do not rob him of the girl. Thearmy gave her to him: let him keep his prize.And you, my lord Achilles, drop your con-tentious bearing to the King. Through the

World History World Literature Selections

Name.. Date Class

W O R L D L I T E R A T U R E S E L E C T I O N

authority he derives from Zeus, a sceptred kinghas more than ordinary claims on our respect.You, with a goddess for Mother, may be thestronger of the two; yet Agamemnon is the bet-ter man, since he rules more people. My lordAtreides, be appeased. I, Nestor, beg you torelent toward Achilles, our mighty bulwark inthe stress of battle."

"My venerable lord, no one would cavil atwhat you say," replied King Agamemnon. "Butthis man wants to get the whip-hand here; hewants to lord it over all of us, to play the king,and to give us each our orders, though I knowone who is not going to stand for that. What ifthe everlasting gods did make a spearman of

him? Does that entitle him to use insultinglanguage?"

Here the noble Achilles broke in on the King:"A pretty nincompoop and craven I should becalled if I yield to you at every point, no matterwhat you say. Command the rest, not me. I havedone with obedience to you. And here is anotherthing for you to ponder. I am not going to fightyou or anybody else with my hands for thisgirl's sake. You gave her to me, and now youtake her back. But of all else I have beside mygood black ship, you shall not rob me of a singlething. Come now and try, so that the rest maysee what happens. Your blood will soon be flow-ing in a dark stream down my spear."

Directions Use the information from the reading to answer the following questions. If necessary, use a sepa-rate sheet of paper.

Interpreting the Reading1. What is the problem facing the characters in the beginning of the Iliad? Why is the problem

so important?

2. Why does Achilles decide to withdraw from battle?

3. How do the ancient Greeks seem to feel about honor? f

Critical Thinking4. Recognizing Ideologies To the ancient Greeks, warriors fought for honor and a lasting reputation.

Honor was shown by the prizes given to the warriors. Keeping this in mind, why does Achillesfeel so ashamed when he has to forfeit his prize?

I

p

5. Drawing Conclusions According to the passage, how are women valued in ancient Greece?

8 World Literature Selections World History