Clearly, humans have little if any to say about their own condition, except to the extent that the gods are fickle and be made grumpy. It's hard to say that there is any such thing as "fate" or "destiny" when the gods can change their mind at any moment and even then bicker among themselves, but regardless we all know where the power lies.
I'm not going to lie, with this chapter I'm starting to feel a little battle fatigue. Book after book, their fighting spirits and fury keep getting roused seemingly more and more, like they're now at 234% effort? I'm still enjoying it, but it's page after page of new names felled along with their missing body parts! I could use a change of pace. :)
I feel the battle fatigue too and even considered laying the Ilias aside for a while. But I’m glad I finished the chapter and am grateful for Matthews summary and analysis - I thought this one was especially good. Sometimes I find the sections on modern relevance a bit forced and grave for a more detached literary analysis. Not this time though, I think the political references were spot on and indirect enough not to turn it into a political piece in itself. Thanks Matthew!
I only joined this read a week ago, so have had a lovely Easter catching up with both the reading itself, and the weekly emails, which are very useful, thanks Matthew. I particularly like the character summary that you do at the end.
I last read both poems at University 40 years ago, as a 17 year old partying her way through a Bachelor of Arts, so I have no real memory of them. I had the Wilson sitting on my shelf and then saw this read listed on Footnotes & Tangents, so decided to join.
I also thought I’d share a book I ordered last night, which some may be interested in. It’s called “Mythica, a new history of Homer’s world, through the women written out of it’ by Emily Hauser, a British classics scholar. I am interested in having some focus on the women in the poems, as I read.
Anyway, thought I’d pop in and say hello, and I’m looking forward to continuing this journey 😊
The deep dive on Apollo in the essay is excellent and appreciated. I had only a general sense of Apollo's place in the pantheon, and the breadth of his role as a deity is interesting. The manner in which he revives and leads Hector seems to be more direct and hands-on as compared to the interventions of the other gods.
My immediate reaction after reading the opening verses was, "wow, what a liar Hera is." Not only does she seduce Zeus as part of her plan to subvert the will of Zeus, she denies all when caught. Hera is flawed like all gods, but she, at least so far, is the only one who is both a deceiver and unwilling to take responsibility for her behavior.
It is interesting to me that the Iliad clearly telegraphs what will happen next: "Then, from that point on he'd thrust the Trojans breakneck back from the fleet and give the Argives glory." Lines 698-700. This makes me wonder if the Iliad was generally recited/sung to an audience who knew the story well. In other words, perhaps the Iliad is a beautifully rendered tale taking the audience on a familiar road with no unexpected twists and turns.
I also found all the spoilers interesting. The past 3-4 chapters have revealed plot twists that are coming. Such an different idea of storytelling than we have now
Clearly, humans have little if any to say about their own condition, except to the extent that the gods are fickle and be made grumpy. It's hard to say that there is any such thing as "fate" or "destiny" when the gods can change their mind at any moment and even then bicker among themselves, but regardless we all know where the power lies.
I'm not going to lie, with this chapter I'm starting to feel a little battle fatigue. Book after book, their fighting spirits and fury keep getting roused seemingly more and more, like they're now at 234% effort? I'm still enjoying it, but it's page after page of new names felled along with their missing body parts! I could use a change of pace. :)
I feel the battle fatigue too and even considered laying the Ilias aside for a while. But I’m glad I finished the chapter and am grateful for Matthews summary and analysis - I thought this one was especially good. Sometimes I find the sections on modern relevance a bit forced and grave for a more detached literary analysis. Not this time though, I think the political references were spot on and indirect enough not to turn it into a political piece in itself. Thanks Matthew!
Too true. Battle weary but soldiering on.
Hi fellow readers,
I only joined this read a week ago, so have had a lovely Easter catching up with both the reading itself, and the weekly emails, which are very useful, thanks Matthew. I particularly like the character summary that you do at the end.
I last read both poems at University 40 years ago, as a 17 year old partying her way through a Bachelor of Arts, so I have no real memory of them. I had the Wilson sitting on my shelf and then saw this read listed on Footnotes & Tangents, so decided to join.
I also thought I’d share a book I ordered last night, which some may be interested in. It’s called “Mythica, a new history of Homer’s world, through the women written out of it’ by Emily Hauser, a British classics scholar. I am interested in having some focus on the women in the poems, as I read.
Anyway, thought I’d pop in and say hello, and I’m looking forward to continuing this journey 😊
The deep dive on Apollo in the essay is excellent and appreciated. I had only a general sense of Apollo's place in the pantheon, and the breadth of his role as a deity is interesting. The manner in which he revives and leads Hector seems to be more direct and hands-on as compared to the interventions of the other gods.
My immediate reaction after reading the opening verses was, "wow, what a liar Hera is." Not only does she seduce Zeus as part of her plan to subvert the will of Zeus, she denies all when caught. Hera is flawed like all gods, but she, at least so far, is the only one who is both a deceiver and unwilling to take responsibility for her behavior.
It is interesting to me that the Iliad clearly telegraphs what will happen next: "Then, from that point on he'd thrust the Trojans breakneck back from the fleet and give the Argives glory." Lines 698-700. This makes me wonder if the Iliad was generally recited/sung to an audience who knew the story well. In other words, perhaps the Iliad is a beautifully rendered tale taking the audience on a familiar road with no unexpected twists and turns.
I also found all the spoilers interesting. The past 3-4 chapters have revealed plot twists that are coming. Such an different idea of storytelling than we have now