So opens the SWCHS Iliad advent calendar...
It
could be argued that the main theme in book one of the Iliad is honour, also known as time (τῑμή). During their argument,
both Agamemnon and Achilles feel as if they have been dishonoured by the other,
leading their fight to get out of hand, and two plagues set down upon the Greek
camp.
Within
the first book, we are able to see the wrath and anger (menis: μῆνις) that some
of the characters have the ability to display. The fact that it is within both
the commander of the Greek army and their greatest soldier, who fits the ideal
of the Heroic Code, shows the immanent character flaws that make the epic so
realistic. These character flaws make them more dynamic, and so more themes can
be presented – each character has a ‘fall from grace’, if you will, that
reveals how they must reconcile themselves.
As
mortals, Achilles and Agamemnon could be considered as the most powerful. However
their power is nothing compared to that of the gods. They do not correlate with
modern ideas of what God is: they are active in the world and choose sides. In
book one, after Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to ask Zeus a favour (he owes
her one), Achilles is faced with a dilemma, but ultimately shows an extreme
power over mortality that no man could rival. Thus, a second plague is set upon
the Greek camp (after the first one from Apollo), representing the theme of the
reality of war and death and mortality. As such, the first image of the Greek
camp we get is not a good one – it is split into two and is being destroyed by
illness.
Not
to be forgotten is that the initial cause of the argument was the women
Achilles and Agamemnon had taken as war prizes. Here, women are portrayed as
less than men – merely objects to argue over – and simultaneously as slaves –
they had been taken from their homes. Whilst Chryseis is taken back to her home
after Apollo sets the plague upon the camp, she still only becomes property of
her father, and Briseis remains to be a war bride. So women, as written by
Homer, could be seen as nothing more than the property of men – their fathers,
husbands, and brothers, passed from one to the other without consideration –
they are almost treated as slaves.
The
female gods, on the other hand, may be slightly different. During their
argument, Zeus and Hera appear to be on almost equal terms, and are matched in
their strength or will. Zeus is wary of his wife, and so, perhaps, the role of
women (albeit, as goddesses) is elevated. The argument is, however, very short-lived,
and they revert to their original state of happy marriage, and hold a feast.
So, their hospitality (xenia: ξενία, Homeric ξεινίη) is shown as bringing people (gods) together, highlighting the
importance of family and friendship in the Iliad.
That cannot be said as much for the mortals in book one.
EH
Comments
Post a Comment