“Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,

murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,

hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,

great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,

feasts for the dogs and birds,

and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.

Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,

Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles.”

So begins Homer’s epic poem, written in the late 8th century BC, The Tale of the Trojan War, which has survived for almost 3,000 years. The influence of The Iliad and its second part The Odyssey is truly unmeasured. The 10-year-long conflict we know as the Trojan War spans,, more than just Homer. In fact, the complete story of the Trojan War, “The Epic Cycle” spans eight completed works among seven different authors; only two, The Iliad and The Odyssey, still survive in their entirety.

Many people have heard of The Iliad, but what is it about? This will be going through “spoilers,” however, this is a 3,000-year-old story. This review will also include my analysis on the text based. Spread throughout this article I’ve included shortened quotations to give you a taste of the language used. Brace yourself.

DIVINE INTERVENTION

The Iliad tells of the last weeks of the Trojan War, focusing on the consequences of a fight between Agamemnon, an Achaean king, and the famous warrior, Achilles. The poem begins with the Wrath of Achilles, ignited by Agamemnon for his refusal to return a captured girl, Chryseis, to her father Chryses, a priest of Apollo. Apollo then begins raining down a “plague of arrows” on the Achaean troops, devastating them. The Achaean generals call Chalcas, an Achaean “Seer” who interprets that Apollo is avenging Chryses due to Agamemnon’s treatment of Apollo’s priest and daughter and that the only way to appease him is to return the girl to her father. This results in Agamemnon demanding Briseis, the “bride prize” of Achilles, which Achilles is none too happy about, hence the[“Rage”. Achilles later complies and Apollo’s demands are met. While this appeases Apollo,  Achilles then refuses to fight in the war as payback to Agamemnon. He goes as far as asking his mother Thetis, a minor sea goddess, to have Zeus turn the tide of battle against the Achaeans; she does and Zeus obliges, making the war even worse for the Greeks. This is the setup for The Iliad. Every event told in Homer’s poem stems from the root of the clash between Achilles and Agamemnon; the deaths, plans, discussions, and battles play the way that they do because of this fight, because of Achilles’ absence in battle, because of his Rage [against the dying of the light].

This brings me to my first point:interference. Many if not all of the events in not just The Iliad, but in the entire story of the Trojan War occur due to divine intervention or are the work of a king, royal, or important hero. In fact, that is how the entire war starts. Eris, goddess of discord, arrived at a wedding with a golden apple set to be given to “the fairest of them all.” Three goddesses, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, want to claim the apple, so they bring in Paris, a young Trojan prince, to declare the winner, offering him prizes if he chooses them. Paris chooses Aphrodite, who rewards Paris with Helen. Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, is considered one of the most beautiful mortals alive. There’s just one problem: Helen is already married to Menelaus, a king of Sparta, and brother of Agamemnon. Paris absconding with Helen, (to no one’s surprise), angers Menelaus, so he goes about calling all Greek armies and allies to make war on Troy and bring Helen back. The entire war is fought over a woman. 

Throughout the story, the tide of battle turns by the will of the gods. If a god wants to, they can make the war go towards the side they favor; which happens time and time again. If a king or ruler does something to offend a god (as mentioned previously), the whole army pays for it. The lives of soldiers are entirely dependent on the will of the gods and powerful men; if at any moment the powerful clash or disagree, it’s the masses that pay for it. (Isn’t that how all wars go?) There was a point in the beginning of the story when both armies agreed that the war should be resolved by the two who began it: Menelaus, the rightful husband of Helen, and Paris, her abductor, with both agreeing to duel. But in come the meddling gods again. Before Melelaus can finish off Paris (and stop the war), Aphrodite swoops in to save Paris and takes him away. Stunned, the Greek and Trojan armies agree to form a truce until the Return of Paris. The goal is that once he’s back, they can finish their duel and the war will be over. The gods, however, have other plans. Athena comes down and prompts Pandarus, a Trojan archer, to shoot an arrow at Menelaus, telling Pandarus that if he ended the war, he would be richly rewarded. Alas, Pandarus takes the shot but his arrow is deflected, rekindling, rather than ending the war. The truce is broken, and the Trojan War resumes thanks to godly intervention.

A POINTLESS WAR

The truce was possible for one reason, bringing me to my next point; no one wants to fight this war. The war started because Aphrodite gave Helen, a married woman, to Paris as a reward, against the will of Helen’s husband, a powerful king. Why then do hundreds of thousands of soldiers have to fight and die for this? They fight, to put it simply, because they are obligated to; save Achilles who doesn’t have to be there. For that reason only, they kill. After both armies form the truce, saying that the war will end when the duel does:

“You could hear some Trojan or Achaean Pleading, 

‘Father Zeus!

Ruling over us all from Ida, god of greatness, glory!

Whoever brought this war on both our countries,

Let him rot and sink to the House of Death–

But let our pacts of friendship all hold fast.’”

Both armies are desperate to stop fighting, pleading to their gods to allow the nine-year long battle to end with the duel. But as we know, that fails. Later on in the story, we get another, similar situation where it is agreed by both armies to have another duel, this time between Hector, brother of Paris, and Ajax, a Greek warrior. They fight…for the entire day. Both Hector and Ajax find each other to be great fighters and competent soldiers. When the day is over they decide to call a draw, then they exchange “gifts of friendship” with both soldiers holding great admiration and respect for each other. That night, the Trojan armies meet with Paris, and beg him to return Helen to Menelaus so the war can finally end. Paris, however, refuses, saying he’ll give back some of the treasure he stole, but not Helen. The Trojans, desperate, send a messenger to convey their proposal to the Achaeans, who reject the offer. No matter how desperate, every attempt at peace fails. The Trojan War will have to end with one side’s complete destruction.

CHARACTER’S AGENCY

Following this discussion, I want to go back to the beginning of The Iliad. The first few lines tell us everything that happens in this story and I feel it is worth talking about.

“Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,

murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,

hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,

great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,

feasts for the dogs and birds,…”

These words talk about the rage of Achilles and its effects on the Achaeans. Rage. I believe the word to be the key idea in this entire poem. It was the Rage of Achilles that “…cost the Achaeans countless losses.” It was his Rage that shifted the war, giving the enemy army the lead to which the Achaeans had to catch up. His rage and his rage alone is what cost the life of his best friend, Patroclus.

“and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.”

This to me, was the most interesting line of the “prologue.” One of the most talked-about studied, and adapted aspects of The Iliad, is the relationship between Achilles and Patrocolus. After his clash with Agamemnon and subsequent refusal to fight, Achilles leaves the battlefield with Patroclus, his best friend. If you, like me, are somewhat familiar with Greek mythology, you know what happens to Patroclus. Patroclus wears Achilles’ armor and goes out into the battlefield, giving the appearance of Achilles being in battle. This in turn instills fear in the Trojans, primarily Hector, who at this point is the driving, unstoppable force giving the Trojans victory. Achilles tells Patroclus to lead the armies but only long enough to fool the Trojans, not engage in actual combat. Patroclus goes into the battlefield and the tide of battle turns, with the Achaeans gaining ground on the Trojans. Alas, similarly to the story of Icarus and Daedalus, Patroclus keeps moving forward, imposing heavy losses on the Trojans. It’s at this point in which Hector sees who really is under that armor, and after an awful lot of help from Apollo, Hector kills Patroclus and takes Achilles’ armor. At first, I believed this event was one of the few times the gods didn’t interfere, but I was wrong. In fact, Zeus explains how it will all shake down in the previous chapter.

“…Summon Apollo…lord of the famous bow…

Let Apollo drive Prince Hector out into battle,

Breathe power back into his lungs, make him forget

The pains that rack his heart. Let him whip the Achaeans

In headlong panic rout and roll them back once more,

Tumbling back on the oar-swept ships of Peleus’ son Achilles.

And he, he will launch his comrade Patroclus into action

And glorious Hector will cut him down with a spear

In front of Troy…

But then–enraged for Patroclus–

Brilliant Achilles will bring prince Hector down.”

“The will of Zeus was moving towards its end.” “Zeus’ will was done.” “So the Plan of Zeus unfolded.” “The Plan of Zeus was fulfilled.” “The will of Zeus was accomplished.” Through the centuries, translators have phrased and rephrased the same lines, all coming to the same conclusions. The gods hold the lives of mortal men and do with them as they please. When Patroclus leaves to fight, Achilles prays a final prayer for his friend, asking Zeus to grant Patroclus safety and victory. We are told, however,

“…Zeus in all his wisdom heard those prayers.

One prayer the Father granted, the other he denied:

Patroclus would drive the onslaught off the ships—

That much Zeus granted, true, 

But denied him safe and sound return from battle.”                                                                               

There is a sense of irony here, that Zeus chooses to grant one prayer but denies the other, only demonstrating the vanity in the desires of mortals. Prayers and sacrifices are futile devices to the life of Patroclus, as the hero’s end was already declared. The Rage of Achilles drove the will of Zeus to completion. Or did Zeus’ will mandate the rage of Achilles? It makes you think, how much agency do these characters really have? 

THE TRAGEDY OF DEATH

Something I found Homer to be very eloquent and expressive in, is in death. Through the unfolding and the entirety of the story, it is made clear that The Iliad concerns itself with the tragic loss of human life on both Greek and Trojan sides. Homer strikes a notable balance between acknolwedging the glory of war while still emphasizing its violence and death.  Homer writes death in a very poetic way; driving the point home that every soldier, Greek or Trojan, is a human being, with a life outside the war; with loved ones, friends, and family whothey wish to return to. One example that sticks out to me is the following:

“And Telamonian Ajax struck Anthemion’s son, 

The hardy stripling Simoisius, still unwed…

His mother had borne him along the Simois’ banks

When she trailed her parents down the slopes of Ida

To tend their flocks, and so they called him Simoisius.

But never would he repay his loving parents now

For the gift of rearing–his life cut short so soon,

Brought down by the spear of lionhearted Ajax.”

This is the only time we hear of Simoisius, but in his death, we get a little glimpse of his life and what he meant to his parents. . In just a few lines, Homer gives humanity to a previously unknown soldier, who otherwise would be nothing more than one more kill for the Achaeans. Like us, he had a name, and loving parents who treasured him. Homer tells us that he was still unwed, still young, but his life was cut short. This, I believe, is the tragedy of war, and something that Homer writes incredibly well. In most modern media, in stories involving wars and battles, there is usually a “good side” as well as a “bad side.” In these stories, grief is only extended to the lives of the “good guys”. They are on the “right side” and therefore justified to kill the “bad guys,” who are generally only one-dimensional enemies. They get killed and we move on. This is not The Iliad. Time and time again we get detailed descriptions of the deaths of both Greek and Trojan soldiers. Just because a man is fighting on a certain side, doesn’t mean that his death is more justified or less important than one on the other side. 

This empathy shown to dying soldiers is made most apparent in the death of Prince Hector, Paris’ brother. Early on in the story we are given a glimpse of his life outside the war. He has a wife, Andromache, and a baby son, Astyanax. It is here, in book six that we get one of the most quoted pieces of the poem. During the war, Hector makes his way to Troy to try and appease the gods so that they might give them an upper hand. While in Troy, he goes to see his wife and son. Andromache tells him not to go back, crying and pleading for her husband, afraid of what may happen to him.

“So Hector prayed,

And placed his son in the hands of his loving wife.

Andromache pressed the child to her…

Smiling through her tears. Her husband noticed, 

And filled with pity now, Hector stroked her gently,

Trying to reassure her, repeating her name: ‘Andromache,

Dear one, why so desperate? Why so much grief for me?

No man will hurl me down to Death, against my fate…

So please go home and tend to your own tasks…

and keep the women Working hard as well.

As for the fighting, Men will see to that…

But I most of all.’’’

This gives prince Hector, a Trojan character, the humanity and dignity needed for us to feel the weight and tragedy of his death. We feel for his wife, Andromache, who never spoke to him again. We feel for his son, Astyanax, who never got to get to know him. We feel for his father, Priam, who loved him dearly We feel for Troy, his city, which he loved and that he died protecting. We feel for Hector himself, who died for the mistakes of his brother.

THE SUBSIDENCE OF RAGE

At the end of the story, after the death of Hector, Achilles, still raging about  the death of Patroclus, retaliates by abusing Hector’s lifeless body. Achilles ties Hector’s corpse  to his chariot and drives it around the city, parading Hector’s mutilated body in front of his loved ones. The gods, however, take pity on Hector and so Apollo shields the body to protect it from all the abuse. Eventually, Achilles takes the body back to the Achaean camp. That night, Zeus sends a message to Achilles, telling him to give the body back to whoever ransoms it, while sending a message to King Priam to ask for Hector’s body in exchange for a ransom. Priam complies, and guided by Apollo, makes his way into the Achaean camp where he encounters Achilles. In some of the most beautiful dialogue in the poem, Priam asks Achilles to have mercy on him, encouraging Achilles to empathize and to put himself in his shoes, to think about his own father. Achilles complies and gives Priam his son’s body, adding that he and his armies won’t attack until the funeral ceremonies and burial take place. They do, and so the Iliad ends after the burial of Hector.

BY ALL MEANS

The Iliad is not the story of the Trojan War, it ends before the war does. It is not the story of the hero Achilles, it ends before his death. Instead, it is a story about Rage, The rage of Achilles. The Iliad opens when Achilles’ rage first starts, after he has a clash with Agamemnon. The poem covers everything that happens because of his rage, and ends after the death of Hector and his talk with Priam, when Achilles’ rage finally subsides. 

 The Iliad stands today as a testament to humanity, culture, and history; to the persistence of war. In the present day, we have different ideas of morality and heroism, but we still share many ideas with the Greeks. Wars are fought and won differently but are ever ongoing. Soldiers fight wars deemed pointless and die far from their native countries. Those who are lost are mourned and those who come back, appalled from their memories of war. Modern soldiers, much like those in The Iliad, fight wars due only to a sense of duty. Trapped in an endless cycle of violence, they fight under leaders and generals, godlike in power and corruption, with idealisms which seem far and distant to those of the soldiers themselves. They are used like pawns in a game of badly-played chess; disposable and minor in the bigger picture of war, even though oftentimes, it is they who turn the tide just as well. 

WWII can be looked at the same way modern people view The Iliad. It is easy to think only of Churchill and Truman as great leaders as one views Achilles, Hector and Odysseus as  great warriors. They made all of the big decisions and the war played out the way in which it did due to their efforts, as the Trojan War did due to those heroes. It is easy to focus solely on Hitler, his ideologies and how it was he who commenced the great atrocity which was WWII as it is so very easy to hate Agamemnon and his pettiness. And while the soldiers in both wars are discussed in a larger, generalized context, such as how many deaths there were and which battalion did what, I ask you to think of the individual. It wasn’t until I visited the “Mémorial de Caen” museum in Normandy, France that this thought occurred to me in such a big way. Whilst reading The Iliad the only thoughts I had constantly were those that I remembered from the museum. When reading about Simoisius, I was back 

Homer’s epic is a poem. Beautiful language and word choices are used throughout the entirety of the text, ever flowing to a satisfying conclusion. Although some chapters may be slow and a little off-putting, they all make up one of the best stories ever told.

Originally written in Greek, The Iliad has been translated into a  myriad of languages . I read and recommend Robert Fagles’English translation which includes explanatory notes which I always enjoy. If you’re planning on reading The Iliad, I recommend you familiarize yourself with the story and plot points to fully understand what happens and why it does. The language can be a bit tricky at times, though beautiful once you look back on it.

I give Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, 8.5 out of 10 stars, and so I conclude. Thanks for reading.