Delahoyde
Orpheus
HOMER'S ILIAD:
BOOK XII
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Questions for Book XII:
- Why does Homer give us a flashforward to the destruction of the
rampart?
- Why do you think Hector rejects the bird-omen and Polydamas'
logical interpretation of it?
"So in the years to come Poseidon and god Apollo
would set all things to rights once more" (12.41-42).
We first hear of the destruction of the rampart which will take place
in the future. It's a peculiar flashforward, possibly for a momentary
melancholic perspective. We will later get flashforwards related to
individuals. Here we get only a taste of the future desolation on the
wider scale.
The Trojans have pushed back the Greeks, and Polydamas advises not
to cross the trench, with its spikes, in chariots, but to continue
the assault on foot. Hector agrees, and the Greeks at this point are
struggling to defend their ships.
"Bird-signs!
Fight for your country -- that is the best, the only omen!"
(12.280-281).
A bird omen occurs. An eagle flying by with a serpent in its beak is
bitten by the prey. The bird shrieks and flings the serpent amid the
Trojan warriors. Polydamas, anticipating Hector's objections, interprets
this in a grim way, which seems appropriate: do not attack the Greeks
beside their ships. Hector, on the other hand, may be growing reckless;
he rejects this as an omen. The Trojans are doing well and indeed, with
Zeus guarding his Trojan son Sarpedon, by the end of the book have
pushed the Greeks back to their ships, and Hector has used a boulder to
smash through their gated protection.
"No one could fight him, stop him,
None but the gods as Hector hurtled through the gates
And his eyes flashed fired. And whirling round
he cried to his Trojans, shouting through the ruck.
"The wall, storm the wall!" They rushed to obey him,
some swarming over the top at once, others streaming in
through the study gateways--Argives scattering back in terror,
back by the hollow hulls, the uproar rising, no way out, no end --"
(12.540-547).
This is exciting and impressive, but must strike us with a note of
doom, because we know that this is as far as the Trojans will be allowed
to progress in this war.
Iliad: Book XIII
Iliad Index
Orpheus:
Greek Mythology