Mythology
Delahoyde & Hughes

HOMER'S ILIAD:

BOOK X: Marauding Through the Night

Questions for Book X:

Who among the Greeks goes on the spy mission?

What animal imagery do you see in this book?

Odysseus and Diomedes kill Dolon, twelve Thracians, and then the Thracian king, yet in reporting events afterwards, Odysseus refers to only thirteen killings, Dolon being the thirteenth. Why?

Insomnia is rampant among the Greeks (and related to rage), and Agamemnon says to Menelaus, "Tactics, / my noble Menelaus. That's what we need now" (10.49-50) -- the old vaudeville joke: "Ah! An idea!" "What?" "That's what we need. An idea."

Odysseus tried to get out of joining the war initially (his shame over this is alluded to), and he has ended up with the burden always dumped on the competent: more work; it's the curse of competence. He's roped into being one of the two spies, Diomedes being the other. The Trojans have a similar plan but send only one guy, Dolon.

A layer of animalism resides in this book. Odysseus and Diomedes go like lions, and all the spies wear animal pelts -- but note Dolon's "cap of weasel skin" (10.391). Dolon's name itself is associated with "trickery." These guys also have to act like, and pretend to be, animals -- scavengers on the battlefield at night.

The two Greeks pursue Dolon and fire a warning shot. The Trojan is a big disappointment and immediately wimps out: "Take me alive! / I'll ransom myself! Treasures cram our house ... father would give you anything, gladly" (10.442-445). Odysseus asks him why he's out at night: 1) to loot the dead, or 2) are you on a mission assigned by Hector, or 3) you had a wild scheme of your own? Obviously Dolon should give #3 as his answer, but what a cheese-wienie! He fesses up that it was Hector's idea, and blurts, "I'll tell you everything, down to the last detail!" (10.479). He spills all, pointing out vulnerabilities and the location of the Thracian allies. Afterwards the two Greeks slaughter Dolon in the manner of an animal sacrifice to Athena. Diomedes beheads him--which I suppose underscores the just fate of any warrior who chooses to betray his friends and offer strategic information to the enemy (in an attempt to save his own life).

Odysseus and Diomedes butcher the sleeping Thracians and stop only when Athena infuses some restraint in Odysseus. Note that Diomedes kills the king, identified as "the thirteenth man" (10.572). They make their escape and return exhausted but triumphant to the Greek camp. Odysseus praises the gods and says first about the Thracian king, "Brave Diomedes killed him off, / twelve of his cohorts too, all men of rank. / And a thirteenth man besides, a scout we took" (10.647-649). Why this misnumbering? There were actually fourteen killed, and Dolon was the first. Apparently the idea here is to reorganize, contort, and use fuzzy math in order to be able to identify Dolon illogically as "thirteenth" -- the traditional number of unluckiness and maybe betrayal or underhandedness.

What are we to think of a deliberate plan that begins with ripping away the life of a warrior while he sleeps? Is this part of the heroic code?