Real Steel Zeus Drawing

[Adah]

Hithertothe Greeks have had a decidedadvantage in battle with the Trojans, and nothinghas been done to carry out the promise which Zeusmade to Thetis. But now the father of gods andmen begins to take decisive measures to fulfil hispledge; the gods are forbidden to interfere betweenthe rival armies, and in the next day's battle theGreeks are driven back in panic to their camp,while the Trojans, contrary to their custom, keepthe field all night, intending to attack the Greekstronghold in full force next day. So despondentare the Greeks that an embassy is sent with anoffer of magnificent gifts to Achilles, if he will layaside his anger and come to the help of hisdistressed countrymen. Achilles refuses all compromise,and the rest of the night is occupied by the boldraid undertaken by Diomede and Odysseus on theThracian camp.

At the opening of the eleventh book our attentionis concentrated on the valorous exploits ofAgamemnon, who is at length compelled to retire bya severe wound in the arm; Diomede is piercedthrough the foot by an arrow from the bow of Paris,and Odysseus, Machaon, and Eurypylus are alsodisabled. Patroclus is sent by Achilles to inquireof Nestor concerning the fortunes of the Greeks,and Nestor then makes the suggestion which marksthe turning-point in the first act of the great epicdrama: if, he says, Achilles will not go to the fieldhimself, at least let him send Patroclus to lead theMyrmidons[1] against the Trojans. Nothing comesof the proposal for the present, but it is to bearfatal fruit both for Patroclus and Achilles in thenear future. The Greeks are again driven behindtheir defences, and a furious struggle ensues, at theend of which the gates of the camp are demolished,and the Trojans, led by Hector, are on the point ofsetting fire to the ships.

At this moment the attention of Zeus iswithdrawn from the battle, and Poseidon seizes theopportunity to interfere in favour of the Greeks.By his influence the scale is turned again, Hectorreceives fearful injuries from a huge stone hurledby Ajax, and the Trojans are driven headlongacross the plain. Zeus is lulled to sleep by thecontrivance of Hera, and when he awakens it is to findhis whole scheme of vengeance on the point of beingfrustrated. In great anger he sends a peremptorymessage to Poseidon to withdraw from the battle,and lays his commands on Apollo, who brings backHector, healed and whole, to the field, and leadsthe Trojans once more to the assault of the camp.In spite of the desperate valour of Ajax, the Greeksare driven back to their ships, and the Trojansbring torches, with the intention of burning thewhole fleet.

Then at last Achilles, yielding to the earnestentreaty of Patroclus, sends him to the aid of theGreeks, equipped in his own armour, and leadingthe whole force of the Myrmidons. Patroclus easilydrives the Trojans back from the camp, and slaysSarpedon, one of the bravest warriors among theallies of Troy; but he himself falls by Hector'shand, and the armour of Achilles passes into thepossession of his slayer. A tremendous struggleensues over the body of Patroclus, which is onlyended by the appearance of Achilles himself, whocomes, attended by strange prodigies, to the wall,and, by the mere terror of his presence, scares theTrojans from the field, and saves his friend's bodyfrom outrage.

The rest of the story may be briefly told. Bythe intercession of Thetis, Hephstus, the divinesmith, makes a splendid suit of armour for Achilles,and, after a solemn scene of reconciliation withAgamemnon, Achilles leads the Greeks to battle.The whole torrent of his fury is now turned uponthe Trojans, and, after a wholesale massacre of lesservictims, he meets Hector in single combat, slayshim, and drags his body behind his chariot to thecamp. The funeral obsequies of Patroclus arecelebrated with great pomp, and then Achilles, whois possessed by a demon of rage and grief,continues for a space of twelve days to wreak hisvengeance on the lifeless body of Hector, which hedrags repeatedly behind his car round the tomb ofPatroclus. The gods interpose to make an end ofthis senseless fury, and Hector's body, which hasbeen miraculously preserved from harm, is restoredto Priam, who comes in the night, under theconduct of Hermes, and redeems the corpse with aheavy ransom. With the burial of Hector the poemreaches its conclusion.

Such, in the briefest and baldest outline, is thestory of the Iliad. Space does not allow us todiscuss the various objections which have been raisedagainst some of the details of the narrative, still lessto enumerate the reconstructions and mutilationsto which the great epic has been subjected in thedissecting-room of criticism. Where opinion isstill so much divided, we may be allowed to stateour conviction that the Iliad, though wanting thestructural perfection of the Odyssey, is one poem,and the work of one master mind.

At the head of the Olympian hierarchy standsZeus the lord of the sky, who divides with hisbrothers, Hades and Poseidon, the empire of theuniverse. He is the highest in power and authority,and with him rests the final decision in all thedisputes of Olympus. But this genial andpatriarchal deity is not without his troubles: he rulesover a disorderly household, and his purposes areconstantly thwarted by the lesser powers who reignunder him. In his heart of hearts he favours Priamand the Trojans, but he is a fond and indulgentfather and husband, and Hera, his wife, and Athene,his daughter, cherish an implacable hatred againstTroy and all things Trojan. The reason for thisbitter animosity does not appear: for the judgmentof Paris, which is the cause assigned by laterlegends, is only mentioned in one passage, ofdoubtful authenticity. Hera is described as a lady ofshrewish and vixenish temper; she will never besatisfied, says Zeus, until she has gone down intoTroy and eaten Priam and all his people raw!Her human counterpart is Hecuba, who would like,she says, to tear out the heart of Achilles, and devourit. On the side of the Trojans are Apollo, Artemis,Hephstus, the river-god Scamander, and Leto.

Such are the gods of Homer, and such thenational divinities of Greece. For the poems ofHomer and Hesiod, as Herodotus informs us, arethe chief sources of the popular theology. Smallwonder, then, that the more earnest minds of alater age were much occupied by the endeavour toraise and purify the accepted mythology, or thatPlato excludes Homer, "the great magician," fromhis scheme of reformed education.

Of Achilles and Odysseus we have already spokenat some length, so that we have only to noticebriefly the other chief characters. At the head ofthe Greek army stands Agamemnon, whose authorityrests on his personal prowess, his vast wealth, andthe extent of his dominions. In the absence ofAchilles he shares with Ajax and Diomede thehighest place among the warriors of Greece. Acertain strain of weakness runs through his character.He is jealous of his authority, and somewhat covetous,and at moments of crisis and peril he is alwaysforemost in the counsels of despair. Next to himin rank comes Menelaus, his brother, an amiable butsomewhat feeble prince, to whom the poet shows acertain playful tenderness, such as is felt bychivalrous natures towards a woman or a child.

The most knightly figure on the Greek side isthe young Diomede, whose wonderful exploits fillso large a space in the earlier part of the poem.His gallant and buoyant spirit shines brightestwhen the fortunes of the Greeks are at their lowestebb; and the beautiful episode of his meeting withGlaucus on the battlefield is a rare exception to thesavage ferocity of Homeric warfare.

After Achilles, the mightiest champion of Greeceis the great Telamonian Ajax. He is a giant instature and strength, and is the chief bulwark ofthe Greeks against the impetuous valour of Hector.In character, he is modest and unassuming; helacks the brilliant qualities of Achilles, though equalto him in sheer physical force. He is the type ofthe rugged soldier, such as we find among theSpartans of a later date, loyal to his prince, afaithful comrade, ever at the post of danger, ever promptto help where the need is sorest. His plain, franknature views with contempt the fantastic pride ofAchilles, whose frightful egoism, and indifference tothe sufferings of his countrymen, revolt and disgusthim.

A bare mention must suffice for Priam, thewhite-haired King, and the most tragic figure in thepoem; Paris, the curled darling of Aphrodite, amere beautiful animal, without soul or conscience,and the lovely passion-stricken Helen, whosestrange story seems to have a closer affinitywith medival romance than with classical antiquity.

One word must be added on the frequentcomparisons, or similes, which form one of the mostcharacteristic features of the poem. At least halfthe Iliad is occupied with descriptions of battle,and Homeric warfare is exceedingly simple anduniform, consisting almost entirely of single combatsbetween individual chieftains, or wholesale slaughterwrought by some puissant arm on the promiscuousherd of soldiers. To render so unpromising a themeinteresting and attractive must have taxed the skilland invention of the poet to their utmost limit; andhis principal resources for attaining this end is inthe lavish use of the simile. In those parts of thepoem where much is to be told in little space thisornament occurs rarely, or not at all. In the firstbook, which is crowded with incidents, not a singlesimile is used. But where the action is to bedelayed or elaborated, and especially in the battlepieces, the similes are flung broadcast, shining likestars among the racing clouds of a stormy sky.Every corner of nature, and every province ofhuman life, are ransacked to furnish illustrationsof the eternal drama of "battle, and murder, andsudden death." In a moment we are rapt by themagic of the poet from the steam and squalor ofslaughter to some busy scene of human industry,or some living picture, grand, lovely, or terrible,drawn from the great panorama of nature. Nothingis too great, nothing too little, to furnishmaterial for this splendid treasury of poetry. Itwould be easy to discourse for pages on thisfascinating subject; but we must content ourselves withthe above brief hint, and will conclude our remarksby declaring our full agreement with those whoregard the similes in the Iliad as the chief gloryand beauty in the first and greatest of epic poems.

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