Mythology

Delahoyde & Hughes

 

HOMER'S ILIAD:

BOOK VIII

Questions for Book VIII:

When the gods stop interfering in worldly events, who or what takes over control of those events?

What is the instrument that symbolizes that controlling force, an instrument that Zeus holds up?

Zeus lays down the policy of non-interference among the gods, and he threatens, to paraphrase, "make my day" (8.20). When the gods stop interfering, another force takes over control, and has final control anyway: fate. Zeus holds up the Golden Scales of Fate to determine to whom the day will go. Soon he breaks his own law by zapping some thunderbolts at Diomedes' horses. Nestor catches what's going on.

We hear some fine epic similes in this book, such as the charming image of the lovely flower illustrating Gorgythion's broken head. The final simile is truly artistic though. While it meanders on, line after line, it effectively captures of what is also happening in the drama: the warriors are waiting and waiting. The book ends just as it began -- check the first and last lines.

In Book VIII, the last stanza is significant in another way too. Zeus' promise to Thetis--that the war will go badly for the Greeks--has been delayed up until now. In the fighting in Book V, for instance, you may have wondered "what's up?" as the Greeks seem to be winning the battle when they are supposed to be losing. This delay in the fulfillment of Zeus' promise creates dramatic tension in the story. Whatever the case, in Book VIII, the promise to Thetis is finally becoming reality--the Trojan warriors, with spirits soaring, are camped on the plains of Troy just beyond the Greek ships, their watchfires blazing.