Mythology

Delahoyde & Hughes

 

HOMER'S ILIAD:

BOOK XV: The Achaean Armies at Bay

Questions for Book XV:

Fate clearly is set and it always seems pretty grim. So how do you live your life? How do you cope under such a system? What are you supposed to do and think to get through another day? Adopt a Les Nessman outfielder philosophy? (In one episode of WKRP the station forms a softball team but Les as a child always had to practice violin instead of learning to play outside, so he gets sent to the outfield and begs silently, "Please, Lord, don't let them hit it to me.") Is that the only hope -- that you're so insignificant that the gods don't notice you and you may not be the direct victim of nasty divine politics? Do you have to go through your life thinking, "Please, Lord, don't let them hit it to me"?

Zeus wakes up and pitches a fit. He realizes that he has be had. We hear of future fated events. Zeus basically maps out the rest of the war including the death of his own son Sarpedon. The Greeks will indeed have their victory but first he makes it clear that no single immortal God will be allowed to interfere on the side of the Argive forces until Achilles' prayer has been fulfilled:

So I vowed at first. I bowed my head in assent
that day the Goddess Thetis clutched my knees,
begging me to exalt Achilles scourge of cities.

Why is Zeus so all fired bent on carrying out his promise to Thetis? Aside from the notion that he owes her, the Greeks believed that Zeus was the protector and champion of suppliants. In Book I, Thetis takes the classic position of the supplicant, reaching up--which symbolizes the utter reliance of Thetis on the will of Zeus. The painting by Ingres portrays this abject dependence while simultaneously conveying that Zeus (as protector) will show physical constraint.

Zeus and Thetis, Ingres 1811

Ares learns of his son's death and Athena suggests self-restraint.

We also are given a brief flashforward to Hector's fate (15.711f). This confirms the attitude about Fate, but there's still glory in the moment despite ultimate futility. Hector is in the thick of it. He's doomed, but he participates enthusiastically. So maybe it's a matter of knowing your place and nevertheless taking your shot, like Hector does, even when unfairly pitted against the half-divine Achilles, Fate, the gods, Athena's tricks, etc. That's pretty impressive!

The book ends with Hector returning to the battle with more fury than ever before. Ajax is backed against the ships. The Trojan warriors threaten to burn the ships; spurred on by the desire to please Hector, each man--with torch ablaze in hand--struggles up to the hulls while Ajax fights in desperation to save the vessels. The Achaean army is nearly in ruin at this moment. The tide of the battle will shift again as Patroclus fights and dies in Book XVI. So this moment at the end of Book XV is the closest the Trojans will ever get to victory.