Authors of Greece

T >> T. W. Lumb >> Authors of Greece

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Disheartened at his defeat, Agamemnon freely acknowledged his fault
and suggested flight homewards. Nestor advised him to call an Assembly
and depute some of the leading men to make up the quarrel with
Achilles. The King listened to him, offering to give Achilles his own
daughter in wedlock, together with cities and much spoil of war. Three
ambassadors were chosen, Phoenix, Ajax and Odysseus. Reaching
Achilles' tent, they found him singing lays of heroes, Patroclus his
friend by his side. When he saw the ambassadors, he gave them a
courtly welcome. Odysseus laid the King's proposals before him, to
which Achilles answered with dignity.

"I hate as sore as the gates of Death a man who hideth one thing in
his heart and sayeth its opposite. Do the sons of Atreus alone of
men love their wives? Methinks all the wealth which Troy contained
before the Greeks came upon it, yea all the wealth which Apollo holds
in rocky Pytho, is not the worth of life itself. Cattle and horses
and brazen ware can be got by plunder, but a man's life cannot be
taken by spoil nor recovered when once it passeth the barrier of his
teeth. Nay, go back to the elders and bid them find a better plan
than this. Let Phoenix abide by me here that he may return with me
to-morrow in my ships if he will, for I will not constrain him by
force."

Phoenix had been Achilles' tutor. In terror for the safety of the
Greek fleet, he appealed to his friend to relent.

"How can I be left alone here without thee, dear child? Thy father
sent me to teach thee to be a speaker of words and a doer of deeds.
In thy childhood I tended thee, for I knew that I should never have a
son and I looked to thee to save me from ruin. Tame thy great spirit.
Even the gods know how to change, whose honour is greater, and their
power. Men in prayer turn them by sacrifice when any hath sinned and
transgressed. For Prayers are the daughters of great Zeus; they are
halt and wrinkled and their eyes look askance. Their task it is to go
after Ruin; for Ruin is strong and sound of foot, wherefore she far
outrunneth them all and getteth before them in harming men over all the
world. But they come after; whosoever honoureth the daughters of Zeus
when they come nigh, him they greatly benefit and hear his entreaties,
but whoso denieth them and stubbornly refuseth, they go to Zeus and ask
that Ruin may dog him, that he may be requited with mischief. Therefore,
Achilles, bring it to pass that honour follow the daughters of Zeus,
even that honour which bendeth the heart of others as noble as thou."

When this appeal also failed, Ajax, a man of deeds rather than words,
deemed it best to return at once, begging Achilles to bear them no
ill-will and to remember the rights of hospitality which protected
them from his resentment. When Achilles assured them of his regard for
them and maintained his quarrel with Agamemnon alone, they departed
and brought the heavy news to their anxious friends. On hearing it
Diomedes briefly bade them get ready for the battle and fight without
Achilles' help.

When the Trojan host had taken up its quarters on the plain, Nestor
suggested that the Greeks should send one of their number to find out
what Hector intended to do on the morrow. Diomedes offered to
undertake the office of a spy, selecting Odysseus as his comrade.
After a prayer to Athena to aid them, they went silently towards the
bivouac. It chanced that Hector too had thought of a similar plan and
that Dolon had offered to reconnoitre the Greek position. He was a
wealthy man, ill-favoured to look upon, but swift of foot, and had
asked that his reward should be the horses and the chariot of
Achilles.

Hearing the sound of Dolon's feet as he ran, Diomedes and Odysseus
parted to let him pass between them; then cutting off his retreat they
closed on him and captured him. They learned how the Trojan host was
quartered; at the extremity of it was Rhesus, the newly arrived
Thracian King, whose white horses were a marvel of beauty and
swiftness. In return for his information Dolon begged them to spare
his life, but Diomedes deemed it safer to slay him. The two Greeks
penetrated the Thracian encampment, where they slew many warriors and
escaped with the horses back to the Greek armament.

When the fighting opened on the next day, Agamemnon distinguished
himself by deeds of great bravery, but retired at length wounded in
the hand. Zeus had warned Hector to wait for that very moment before
pushing home his attack. One after another the Greek leaders were
wounded, Diomedes, Odysseus, Machaon; Ajax alone held up the Trojan
onset, retiring slowly and stubbornly towards the sea. Achilles,
seeing the return of the wounded warrior Machaon, sent his friend
Patroclus to find out who he was. Nestor meeting Patroclus, told him
of the rout of the army, and advised him to beg Achilles at least to
allow the Myrmidons to sally forth under Patroclus' leadership, if he
would not fight in person. The importance of this episode is
emphasised in the poem. The dispatch of Patroclus is called "the
beginning of his undoing", it foreshadows the intervention which was
later to bring Achilles himself back into the conflict.

The Trojan host after an attempt to drive their horses over the trench
stormed it in five bodies. As they streamed towards the wall, an omen
of a doubtful nature filled Polydamas with some misgivings about the
wisdom of bursting through to the sea. It was possible that they might
be routed and that they would accordingly be caught in a trap, leaving
many of their dead behind them. His advice to remain content with the
success they had won roused the anger of Hector, whose headstrong
character is well portrayed in his speech.

"Thou biddest me consider long-winged birds, whereof I reck not nor
care for them whether they speed to right or left. Let us obey the
counsel of Zeus. One omen is the best, to fight for our country. Why
dost thou dread war and tumult? Even if all we others were slain at
the ships, there is no fear that thou wilt perish, for thy heart
cannot withstand the foe and is not warlike. But if thou holdest from
the fight or turnest another from war, straightway shalt thou lose
thy life under the blow of my spear."

Thus encouraged the army pressed forward, the walls being pierced by
the Lycian King Sarpedon, a son of Zeus. Taking up a mighty stone,
Hector broke open the gate and led his men forward to the final
onslaught on the ships.

For a brief space Zeus turned his eyes away from the conflict and
Poseidon used the opportunity to help the Greeks. Idomeneus the Cretan
and his henchman Meriones greatly distinguished themselves, the former
drawing a very vivid picture of the brave man.

"I know what courage is. Would that all the bravest of us were being
chosen for an ambush, wherein a man's bravery is most manifest. In
it the coward and the courageous man chiefliest appear. The colour of
the one changeth and his spirit cannot be schooled to remain stedfast,
but he shifteth his body, settling now on this foot now on that; his
heart beateth mightily, knocking against his breast as he bodeth death,
and his teeth chatter. But the good man's colour changeth not, nor is
he overmuch afraid when once he sitteth in his place of ambush; rather
he prayeth to join speedily in the dolorous battle."

Yet soon Idomeneus' strength left him; Hector hurried to the centre of
the attack, where he confronted Ajax.

At this point Hera determined to prolong the intervention of Poseidon
in favour of the Greeks. She persuaded Aphrodite to lend her all her
spells of beauty on the pretence that she wished to reconcile Ocean to
his wife Tethys. Armed with the goddess' girdle, she lulled Zeus to
sleep and then sent a message to Poseidon to give the Greeks his
heartiest assistance. Inspired by him the fugitives turned on their
pursuers; when Ajax smote down Hector with a stone the Trojans were
hurled in flight back through the gate and across the ramparts.

When Zeus awakened out of slumber and saw the rout of the Trojans, his
first impulse was to punish Hera for her deceit. He then restored the
situation, bidding Poseidon retire and sending Apollo to recover
Hector of his wound. The tide speedily turned again; the Trojans
rushed through the rampart and down to the outer line of the Greek
ships, where they found nobody to resist them except the giant Ajax
and his brother Teucer. After a desperate fight in which Ajax
single-handed saved the fleet, Hector succeeded in grasping the ship
of Protesilaus and called loud for fire. This was the greatest measure
of success vouchsafed him; from this point onwards the balance was
redressed in favour of the Greeks.

Achilles had been watching the anguish of Patroclus' spirit when this
disaster came upon their friends.

"Why weepest thou, Patroclus, like some prattling little child who
runneth to her mother and biddeth her take her up, catching at her
garment and checking her movement and gazing at her tearfully till
she lifteth her? Even so thou lettest fall the big tears."

Patroclus begged his friend to allow him to wear his armour and lead
the Myrmidons out to battle, not knowing that he was entreating for
his own ruin and death. After some reluctance Achilles gave him leave,
yet with the strictest orders not to pursue too far. Fresh and eager
for the battle the Myrmidons drove the Trojans back into the plain.
Patroclus' course was challenged by the Lycians, whose King Sarpedon
faced him in single combat. In great sorrow Zeus watched his son
Sarpedon go to his doom; in his agony he shed tear-drops of blood and
ordered Death and Sleep to carry the body back to Lycia for burial.

The great glory Patroclus had won tempted him to forget his promise to
Achilles. He pursued the Trojans back to the walls of the town,
slaying Cebriones the charioteer of Hector. In the fight which took
place over the body Patroclus was assailed by Hector and Euphorbus
under the guidance of Apollo. Hector administered the death-blow;
before he died Patroclus foretold a speedy vengeance to come from
Achilles.

A mighty struggle arose over his body. Menelaus slew Euphorbus, but
retreated at the approach of Hector, who seized the armour of Achilles
and put it on. A thick cloud settled over the combatants, heightening
the dread of battle. The gods came down to encourage their respective
warriors; the Greeks were thrust back over the plain, but the bravery
of Ajax and Menelaus enabled the latter to save Patroclus' body and
carry it from the dust of battle towards the ships.

When the news of his friend's death came to Achilles his grief was so
mighty that it seemed likely that he would have slain himself. He
burst into a lamentation so bitter that his mother heard him in her
sea-cave and came forth to learn what new sorrow had taken him. Too
late he learned the hard lesson that revenge may be sweet but is
always bought at the cost of some far greater thing.

"I could not bring salvation to Patroclus or my men, but sit at the
ships a useless burden upon the land, albeit I am such a man as no
other in war, though others excel me in speech. Perish strife from
among men and gods, and anger which inciteth even a prudent man to
take offence; far sweeter than dropping honey it groweth in a man's
heart like smoke, even now as Agamemnon hath roused me to a fury."

Being robbed of his armour he could not sally out to convey his
companion's body into the camp. Hera therefore sent Iris to him
bidding him merely show himself at the trenches and cry aloud. At the
sound of his thrice-repeated cry the Trojans shrank back in terror,
leaving the Greeks to carry in Patroclus' body unmolested; then Hera
bade the sun set at once into the ocean to end the great day of
battle.

Polydamas knew well what the appearance of Achilles portended to the
Trojans, for he was the one man among them who could look both before
and after; his advice was that they should retire into the town and
there shut themselves up. It was received with scorn by Hector. In the
Greek camp Achilles burst into a wild lament over Patroclus, swearing
that he would not bury him before he had brought in Hector dead and
twelve living captives to sacrifice before the pyre. That night his
mother went to Hephaestus and persuaded him to make divine armour for
her son, which the poet describes in detail.

On receiving the armour from his mother Achilles made haste to
reconcile himself with Agamemnon. His impatience for revenge and the
oath he had taken made it impossible for him to take any food. His
strength was maintained by Athena who supplied him with nectar. On
issuing forth to the fight he addressed his two horses:

"Xanthus and Balius, bethink you how ye may save your charioteer
when he hath done with the battle, and desert him not in death as
ye did Patroclus."

In reply they prophesied his coming end.

"For this we are not to blame, but the mighty god--and violent Fate.
We can run quick as the breath of the North wind, who men say is
the swiftest of all, but thy fate it is to die by the might of a
god and a man."

The Avenging Spirits forbade them to reveal more. The awe of the
climax of the poem is heightened by supernatural interventions. At
last the gods themselves received permission from Zeus to enter the
fray. They took sides, the shock of their meeting causing the nether
deity to start from his throne in fear that his realm should collapse
about him. Achilles met Aeneas and would have slain him had not
Poseidon saved him. Hector withdrew before him, warned by Apollo not
to meet him face to face. Disregarding the god's advice he attacked
Achilles, but for the moment was spirited away. Disappointed of his
prey Achilles sowed havoc among the lesser Trojans.

Choked by the numerous corpses the River-God Scamander begged him
cease his work of destruction. When the Hero disregarded him, he
assembled all his waters and would have overwhelmed him but for Athena
who gave him power to resist; the river was checked by the Fire-God
who dried up his streams. The gods then plunged into strife, the sight
whereof made Zeus laugh in joy. Athena quickly routed Aphrodite and
Hera Artemis. Apollo deemed it worthless to fight Poseidon.

"Thou wouldst not call me prudent were I to strive with thee for
cowering mortals, who like leaves sometimes are full of fire, then
again waste away spiritless. Let us make an end of our quarrel;
let men fight it out themselves."

Deserted by their protectors the Trojans broke before Achilles, who
nearly took the town.

Baulked a second time of his vengeance by Apollo, Achilles vowed he
would have punished the god had he the power. Hector had at last
decided to face his foe at the Scaean Gate. His father and his mother
pleaded with him in a frenzy of grief to enter the town, but the dread
of Polydamas' reproaches fixed his resolve. When Achilles came rushing
towards him, his heart failed; he ran three times round the walls of
the city. Meanwhile the gods held up the scales of doom; when his life
sank down to death Apollo left him for ever.

Athena then took the shape of Deiphobus, encouraging him to face
Achilles. Seeing unexpectedly a friend, he turned and stood his
ground, for she had already warned Achilles of her plot. Hector
launched his spear which sped true, but failed to penetrate the divine
armour. When he found no Deiphobus at his side to give him another
weapon, he knew his end had come. Drawing himself up for a final
effort, he darted at Achilles; the latter spied a gap in the armour he
had once worn, through which he smote Hector mortally. Lying in
approaching death, the Trojan begged that his body might be honoured
with a burial, but Achilles swore he should never have it, rather the
dogs and carrion birds should devour his flesh. Seeing their great foe
dead the Greeks flocked around him, not one passing by him without
stabbing his body. Achilles bored through his ankles and attached him
to his car; then whipping up his horses, he drove full speed to the
camp, dragging Hector in disgrace over the plain. This scene of pure
savagery is succeeded by the laments of Priam, Hecuba and Andromache
over him whom Zeus allowed to be outraged in his own land.

That night the shade of Patroclus visited Achilles, bidding him bury
him speedily that he might cross the gates of death; the dust of his
ashes was to be stored up in an urn and mixed with Achilles' own when
his turn came to die. After the funeral Achilles held games of great
splendour in which the leading athletes contended for the prizes he
offered.

Yet nothing could make up for the loss of his friend. Every day he
dragged Hector's body round Patroclus' tomb, but Apollo in pity for
the dead man kept away corruption, maintaining the body in all its
beauty of manhood. At last on the twelfth day Apollo appealed to the
gods to end the barbarous outrage.

"Hath not Hector offered to you many a sacrifice of bulls and
goats? Yet ye countenance the deeds of Achilles, who hath forsaken
all pity which doth harm to men and bringeth a blessing too. Many
another is like to lose a friend, but he will weep and let his
foe's body go, for the Fates have given men an heart to endure.
Good man though he be, let Achilles take heed lest he move us to
indignation by outraging in fury senseless clay."

Zeus sent to fetch Thetis whom he bade persuade her son to ransom the
body; meanwhile Iris went to Troy to tell Priam to take a ransom and
go to the ships without fear, for the convoy who should guide him
would save him from harm.

On hearing of Priam's resolve Hecuba tried to dissuade him, but the
old King would not be turned. That night he went forth alone; he was
met in the plain by Hermes, disguised as a servant of Achilles, who
conducted him to the hut where Hector lay. Slipping in unseen, Priam
caught Achilles' knees and kissed the dread hands that had slain his
son. In pity for the aged King Achilles remembered his own father,
left as defenceless as Priam. Calling out his servants he bade them
wash the corpse outside, lest Priam at the sight of it should upbraid
him and thus provoke him to slay him and offend against the commands
of Zeus. As they supped, Priam marvelled at the stature and beauty of
Achilles and Achilles wondered at Priam's reverend form and his words.
While Achilles slept, Hermes came to Priam to warn him of his danger
if he were found in the Greek host. Hastily harnessing the chariot, he
led him back safely to Troy, where the body was laid upon a bed in
Hector's palace.

The laments which follow are of great beauty. Andromache bewailed her
widowhood, Hecuba her dearest son; Helen's lament is a masterpiece.

"Hector, far the dearest to me of all my brethren, of a truth Paris
is my lord, who brought me hither--would I had died first. This is
the tenth year since I left my native land, yet have I never heard
from thee a word cruel or despiteful; rather, if any other chode me,
thy sister or a brother's wife or thy mother--though thy father is
gentle to me always as he were my own sire--thou didst restrain such
with words of persuasion and kindness and gentleness all thine own.
Wherefore I grieve for thee and for myself in anguish, for there is
no other friend in broad Troy kind and tender, but all shudder at me."

Then with many a tear they laid to his rest mighty Hector.

Such is the _Iliad_. To modern readers it very often seems a little
dull. Horace long ago pointed out that it is inevitable that a long
poem should flag; even Homer nods sometimes. Some of the episodes are
distinctly wearisome, for they are invented to give a place in this
national Epic to lesser heroes who could hardly be mentioned if
Achilles were always in the foreground. Achilles himself is not a
pleasing person; his character is wayward and violent; he is sometimes
childish, always liable to be carried away by a fit of pettishness and
unable to retain our real respect; further, a hero who is practically
invulnerable and yet dons divine armour to attack those who are no
match for him when he is without it falls below the ordinary
"sportsman's" level. Nor can we feel much reverence for many of the
gods; Hera is odious, Athena guilty of flat treachery, Zeus, liable to
allow his good nature to overcome his judgment--Apollo alone seems
consistently noble. More, we shall look in vain in the _Iliad_ for any
sign of the pure battle-joy which is so characteristic of northern
Epic poetry; the Greek ideal of bravery had nothing of the Berserker
in it. Perhaps these are the reasons why the sympathy of nearly all
readers is with the Trojans, who are numerically inferior, are aided
by fewer and weaker gods and have less mighty champions to defend
them.

What then is left to admire in the _Iliad_? It is well to remember
that the poem is not the first but the last of a long series; its very
perfection of form and language makes it certain that it is the result
of a long literary tradition. As such, it has one or two remarkable
features. We shall not find in many other Epics that sense of wistful
sorrow for man's brief and uncertain life which is the finest breath
of all poetry that seeks to touch the human heart. The marks of rude
or crude workmanship which disfigure much Epic have nearly all
disappeared from the _Iliad_. The characterisation of many of the
figures of the poem is masterly, their very natures being hit off in a
few lines--and it is important to remember that it is not really the
business of Epic to attempt analysis of character at all except very
briefly; the story cannot be kept waiting. But the real Homeric power
is displayed in the famous scenes of pure and worthy pathos such as
the parting of Andromache from Hector and the laments over his body.
Those who would learn how to touch great depths of sorrow and remain
dignified must see how it has been treated in the _Iliad_.

A few vigorous lines hit off the plan of the _Odyssey_.

"Sing, Muse, of the man of much wandering who travelled right far
after sacking sacred Troy, and saw the cities of many men and knew
their ways. Many a sorrow he suffered on the sea, trying to win a
return home for himself and his comrades; yet he could not for all
his longing, for they died like fools through their own blindness."

Odysseus, when the poem opens, was in Calypso's isle pitied of all the
gods save Poseidon. In a council Zeus gave his consent that Hermes
should go to Calypso, while Athena should descend to Ithaca to
encourage Odysseus' son Telemachus to seek out news of his father.

Taking the form of Mentes, Athena met Telemachus and informed him that
his father was not yet dead. Seeing the suitors who were wooing his
mother Penelope and eating up the house in riot, she advised him to
dismiss them and visit Nestor in Pylos. A lay sung by Phemius brought
Penelope from her chamber, who was astonished at the immediate change
which her son's speech showed had come upon him, transforming him to
manhood.

Next day Telemachus called an Assembly of the Ithacans; his appeal to
the suitors to leave him in peace provoked an insulting speech from
their ringleader Antinous who held Penelope to blame for their
presence; she had constantly eluded them, on one occasion promising to
marry when she had woven a shroud for Laertes her father-in-law; the
work she did by day she undid at night, till she was betrayed by a
serving-woman. Telemachus then asked the suitors for a ship to get
news of his father. When the assembly broke up, Athena appeared in
answer to Telemachus' prayer in the form of Mentor and pledged herself
to go with him on his travels. She prepared a ship and got together a
crew, while Telemachus bade his old nurse Eurycleia conceal from his
mother his departure.

In Pylos Nestor told him all he knew of Odysseus, describing the
sorrows which came upon the Greek leaders on their return and
especially the evil end of Agamemnon. He added that Menelaus had just
returned to Sparta and was far more likely to know the truth than any
other, for he had wandered widely over the seas on his home-coming.
Bidding Nestor look after Telemachus, Athena vanished from his sight,
but not before she was recognised by the old hero. On the morrow
Telemachus set out for Sparta, accompanied by Pisistratus, one of
Nestor's sons.

Menelaus gave them a kindly welcome and a casual mention of his
father's name stirred Telemachus to tears. At that moment Helen
entered; her quicker perception at once traced the resemblance between
the young stranger and Odysseus. When Telemachus admitted his
identity, Helen told some of his father's deeds. Once he entered Troy
disguised as a beggar, unrecognised of all save Helen herself. "After
he made her swear an oath that she would not betray him, he revealed
all the plans of the Greeks. Then, after slaying many Trojans, he
departed with much knowledge, while Helen's heart rejoiced, for she
was already bent on a return home, repenting of the blindness which
Aphrodite had sent her in persuading her to abandon home and daughter
and a husband who lacked naught, neither wit not manhood." Menelaus
then recounted how Odysseus saved him when they were in the wooden
horse, when one false sound would have betrayed them. On the next
morning Telemachus told the story of the ruin of his home; Menelaus
prophesied the end of the suitors, then preceded to recount how in
Egypt he waylaid and captured Proteus, the changing god of the sea,
whom he compelled to relate the fate of the Greek leaders and to
prophesy his own return; from him he heard that Odysseus was with
Calypso who kept him by force. On learning this important piece of
news Telemachus was eager to return to Ithaca with all speed.

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