“Now I must go to look for the destroyer
of my great friend. I shall confront the dark
drear spirit of death at any hour Zeus
and the other gods may wish to make an end.
Not even Herakles escaped that terror
Though cherished by the Lord Zeus. Destiny
And Hera’s bitter anger mastered him.
Likewise with me, If destiny like his
awaits me, I shall rest when I have fallen!
Achilles, son of Peleus [i]
I listened to The Iliad for the first time at the beginning of last year. If my memory serves me, I began with a strong engagement and excitement. Around this same time, my wife Hayley and I were carpooling to work together. She also was pregnant and trying not to vomit all over the car each morning. The traffic, my driving, and the gratuitous references to spears going through key parts of the human body caused Hayley to have a deep reservation to all things The Iliad. This worked on me too for a bit. However, I knew there was more to be gained by an actual reading of one of the Western Canon’s greatest books. The decision was a good one.
What You Need to Know
The Iliad is the story of a few days in the midst of a more-than-ten-year war between the Greeks and the Trojans. From my understanding, no one is positive whether this is a true story or if it basically fiction. Of course, the extensive mentions of the gods and their conversations between men and each other make it very unlikely to be the former.
There is an ample amount of violence—it is a war after all. However, it does not come off as unnecessary. As man after man falls, you begin to feel the heaviness of all of the death surrounding the story. This is what The Iliad brings. It examines life, love, war, death, and the divine. How many books can say that?
What I Want You to Know
There were many scenes in The Iliad that are heart-wrenching. When Hektor, his wife Andromache, and their son spend some of their final moments together discussing fear of the future without Hektor, if he falls in battle, and what that means for all of them (many terrible things). Homer is able to connect through the generations, especially through the familial relationships.
There is also much-to-do about glory throughout the entire book. In the Greek, there are two types of glory: honor and fame. [ii] This honor comes from getting prizes, gifts, or the spoils of war. Each warrior is interested in increasing each of those throughout. However, at the beginning of the book, Agamemnon takes from Achilles, the Greeks greatest warrior, his concubine Briseis, which causes Achilles to refrain from entering the battle for most of the book. Considering the honor and shame context, Agamemnon took not only his prize or spoil away, but shamed him and took his honor away. And all of this without cause. What is glory then? Or maybe the better question is: is it worth it?
Lastly, I appreciated the perspective of the gods. While I am definitely not a Greek god worshiper, it was interesting to consider the gods points of view. Unfortunately, the Greek gods are not like the Christian God in many ways. But at the same time, the questions that come up in war are hard questions. The slaughtering of image bearers all because a man of prominence lost his divinely-attractive wife and wants her back. That is a whole other blog post though.
How I Scored It
My scoring system is made up of a 5-point scale for writing, content, enjoyment, and re-readability with weighting 20 percent, 15 percent, 40 percent, and 25 percent, respectively.
The Iliad received a 4.3 out of 5.0. It is absolutely re-readable. After a second read-through, I see the depths that Homer explores and I want to spend more time pondering those things. As I grow in interest in classical education, Homer’s The Iliad is one of the jumping-off points. I can understand why.
How About a Taste
As I mentioned above, Hektor’s conversation with his wife Andromache and their son is stirring.
“And seeing you in tears, a man may say:
‘There is the wife of Hektor, who fought best
of Trojan horseman when they fought at Troy.’
So he may say—and you will ache again
for one man who could keep you out of bondage.
Let me be hidden dark down in my grave
before I hear your cry or know you captive!
As he said this, Hektor held out his arms
to take his baby. But the child squirmed round
on the nurse’s bosom and began to wail,
terrified by his father’s great war helm—
the flashing bronze, the crest with horsehair plume
tossed like a living thing at every nod.
His father began laughing, and his mother
laughed as well. Then from his handsome head
Hektor lifted off his helm and bent
to place it, bright with sunlight, on the ground.
When he had kissed his child and swung him high
to dandle him, he said this prayer:
‘O Zeus
and all immortals, may this child, my son,
become like me a prince among the Trojans.
Let him be strong and brave and rule in power
at Ilion; then someday men will say
‘This fellow is far better than his father!’
seeing him home from war, and in his arms
the bloodstained gear of some tall warrior slain—
making his mother proud.’
After this prayer,
into his dear wife’s arms he gave his baby,
whom on her fragrant breast
she held and cherished, laughing through her tears. [iii]
[i] Fitzgerald, Robert. The Iliad. New York: Anchor Press, 1989.
[ii] Vandiver, Elizabeth. “The Iliad of Homer.” The Great Courses. The Teaching Company, 1999.
[iii] Fitzgerald, Robert. The Iliad. New York: Anchor Press, 1989.