Homer’s Iliad tells only part of the Trojan War

Homer:in medias res

Apollodorus’ Library narrates, encyclopedically, the Trojan War — from “Paris carried off Helen in accordance with the will of Zeus” through “After they killed the Trojans and burned the city...” — in 58 paragraphs.

Homer’s narrative covers the material covered by paragraphs 36 through 43 of those: “Achilles became angry ....” thru “... Priam ransomed Hector’s body and buried it.”

Classical playwrights and others reverently resisted the temptation to tread Homeric turf; but he left lots to discuss Cf. the contest for the arms of Achilles, the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the death of Achilles, the Trojan Horse, etc. etc. etc. By the way: Have you noticed this bust in

“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” The standarddepiction of Homer was copied many timesin antiquity, and many copies survive.

Caetani Homer, this copy at the Louvre

Some haikus of the Trojan War• Samantha Ellsworth

Arms and men; shoulderson thighs, heads off kingly necks.Leather through tendons.

• Eliza CiccottiDiscordant gold appleTen years of war on Troy's shoreWho will make it home?

• Rebecca AllenPelides killed hope.Andromache wails in griefO Astyanax!

• Liz LasleyApples, favors causeWar death destruction confusedNot sure what's the point

Hector and Andromache, Iliad 6, the first passage in Greek literature that makes Macfarlane cryAstyanax gives Hector and Andromache something to worry about at their last farewell.

Iliad 6. 475ff.“In the same breath, shining Hector reached down / for his son — but the boy recoiled, / cringing against his nurse’s full breast, / screaming out at the sight of his own father, / terrified by the flashing bronze, the horsehair crest, / the great ridge of the helmet nodding, bristling terror — / so it struck his eyes. And his loving father laughed , / his mother laughed as well, and glorious Hector, / quickly lifting the helmet from his head, set it down on the ground, fiery in the sunlight, and raising his son he kissed him, tossed him in his arms...” Fagles trans.

De Chirico’s “Hector and Andromache” (1917) does not make Macfarlane cry... In case you cared. http://bubuina.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/giorgio-de-chirico-hector-and-andromache.jpg

Priam and Achilles, Iliad 24: the humanization of AchillesAchilles relents and allows Priam to recover Patroclus’ body.

Priam: “Revere the gods, Achilles! Pity me in my own right, remember your own father! I deserve more pity. I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before — I put to my lips the hands of the man who killed my son.”

Those words stirred within Achilles a deep desire to grieve for his own father.” Fagles trans.

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/larrymyth/images/trojanwar/XD-Priam-Achilles.jpg

Iliou Persis, Sack of TroyAthenian red-figure amphora The decoration around the neck of this amphora shows the Greeks ransacking the house of Priam during the sack of Troy. The Greek term is Iliou Persis.

Above, Neoptolemus slays Priam, his son Polites gashed and dead across his lap. Neoptolemus is the son of Achilles, and his name means “new warrrior”.

Below, Cassandra clutches the Palladium, as Ajax steps over the corpse of a fallen Trojan and grasps her by the nape of the neck.

Vergil, Aeneid 2: the best surviving version of the sack of TroyAeneid 2 contains the narrative of Aeneas’ escape from burning Troy.

Read Aeneid 2 for the death of Laocoon the Trojan Horse the death of Priam Aeneas’ escape from Troy

Cunning irony in the fact that Aeneas narrates the whole to Dido.

At right, Bernini’s Aeneas: the dutiful Aeneas carries Anchises on his shoulder, his own son Ascanius at his heel. Note the ancestral gods born in effigy on Anchises’ shoulder. This is all Vergil all the way.

The second passage... Aen. 2.526 ff.

Vergil, Aeneid 2: the best surviving version of the sack of TroyAeneid 2 contains the narrative of Aeneas’ escape from burning Troy.

Read Aeneid 2 for the death of Laocoon the Trojan Horse the death of Priam Aeneas’ escape from Troy

Cunning irony in the fact that Aeneas narrates the whole to Dido.

At right, Laocoon: the priest of Neptune is no longer protected by his patron, as snakes from Tenedos grip Laocoon and his sons in their sinuous embrace.s

The second passage... Aen. 2.526 ff.Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis. (... I fear the Greeks, especially when they are bearing gifts)

Vergil, Aeneid 2: the best surviving version of the sack of TroyAeneid 2 contains the narrative of Aeneas’ escape from burning Troy.

Read Aeneid 2 for the death of Laocoon the Trojan Horse the death of Priam Aeneas’ escape from Troy

Cunning irony in the fact that Aeneas narrates the whole to Dido.

At right, Tiepolo : The Trojans deny Laocoon’s advice, breach the walls, and introduce the Trojan Horse.

The second passage... Aen. 2.526 ff.

Tiepolo’s Trojan Horse (different from the 1773 variant in ML p. 511) is a mastery image.

Vergil, Aeneid 2: the best surviving version of the sack of TroyAeneid 2 contains the narrative of Aeneas’ escape from burning Troy.

Read Aeneid 2 for the death of Laocoon the Trojan Horse the death of Priam Aeneas’ escape from Troy

Cunning irony in the fact that Aeneas narrates the whole to Dido.

At right, Bernini’s Aeneas: Priam is killed by Neoptolemos

The second passage... Aen. 2.526 ff.

Universality of the Iliad (cf. ML p. 507)

• Goethe’s Faust admired Helen and conjured her up; Christopher Marlowe has his Dr. Faustus ask “Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?”

• Hamlet conjures up in his own way the Death of Priam as an exemplum his mother might heed.

• Jonathon Shay, Achilles in Vietnam: combat trauma and the undoing of character (Scribner: New York and Toronto, 1995).

• “’I died in Vietnam’ is a common utterance of our patients. Most viewed themselves as already dead at some point in their combat service, often after a close friend was killed. Homer shows Achilles as ‘already dead’ before his death....” Shay p. 51.

Chapter 19: The Trojan Saga and the Iliad

The Children of LedaLeda and Zeus (as a swan)Castor and Clytemnestra (mortal egg); Helen and Polydeuces (immortal egg)

The Dioscuri (“sons of Zeus”)Castor, tamer of horses and mortalPolydeuces (Roman Pollux), skilled in boxing and immortalQuarrel with Idas and Lynceus

Rape of the Leucippides (“daughters of Leucippus”)Death of CastorShared immortality of Castor and PolydeucesPatrons of sailors (St. Elmo’s fire)

HelenMenelaüs, king of Sparta and HelenHermioneParis (Alexander), son of Priam and Hecuba, the king and queen of TroyThe seduction of Helen and the start of the Trojan WarVariant: Stesichorus’ Palinode: the real Helen and the phantom Helen

The Judgment of ParisWedding of Peleus and ThetisEris, goddess of discord, and the golden apple (“for the most beautiful”)Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite vie for honorParis chosen by Zeus to settle dispute

Hecuba’s dream: Paris as firebrandExposure as an infantHermes leads goddesses to Paris for his judgment.Aphrodite wins with offer of Helen

Lucian (Dialogue of the Gods 20)

NOTE: The following slides are derivatives from ML materials. They are too lengthy for real use, except review.

The Trojan SagaTroy and its Leaders

LaomedonKing of TroyApollo and Poseidon commissioned to build walls of TroyPlague and sea monster sent as punishmentExposure of HesioneHeracles and the first Greek expedition to TroyPriam (Podarces) becomes king of Troy

Priam and Hecuba50 sons and 12 (or 50) daughtersHecuba as tragic figure

Paris (Alexander)Paris and Oenone, a nymph with power to healParis grows to maturity and is received back into Priam’s houseFavorite of AphroditeVanity and sensualityParis will ultimately kill Achilles

Hector, Andromache, and AstyanaxHector, brother of Paris

Greatest of Troy’s defendersAndromache, Hector’s wifeAstyanax, infant son of Hector and Andromache

Helenus, Deïphobus, and TroïlusHelenus, prophet who knew the course of the war’s end

Caught by Odysseus; survives warMarries Andromache

Deïphobus, husband of Helen after death of ParisTroïlus, killed by Achilles; story of Troïlus and Cressida a later development

The Trojan Saga

Cassandra and PolyxenaCassandra, daughter of PriamProphetess, though never believedKilled by Clytemnestra

Polyxena, final virgin sacrifice before the tomb of Achilles

AeneasSon of Anchises and AphroditeProphecy about Aeneas and his descendants: future rulers of TroySignificant in Roman legends

AntenorBrother of HecubaCounsels return of HelenSpared by GreeksWith wife, Theano, he founds Patavium (Padua) in Italy

Glaucus and SarpedonLeaders of Lycian contingentGlaucus, hereditary guest-friend of Diomedes

Killed by Ajax (son of Telamon)Sarpedon, son of Zeus and Laodamia

Zeus’ Struggle with Sarpedon’s Fate (moira )Sarpedon, second to Hector in nobility on Trojan sideExpounds the demands of heroic arete (“excellence”)

RhesusLeader of ThraciansNight raid of Odysseus and Diomedes

The Trojan SagaThe Achaean Leaders

Independent commanders of their contingents

Agamemnon King of Mycenae“Lord of Men”Leader of expedition against TroyGreatest in prestige

MenelaüsKing of Sparta

Brother of AgamemnonHusband of Helen

DiomedesKing of Argos and a great warriorFavored of AthenaWounds Ares and AphroditeAssociated with OdysseusThe Palladium (statue of Pallas), talisman for Troy

NestorKing of PylosOldest and wisest“His speech flowed more sweetly than honey.”Survives war

Ajax the Greater of SalamisSon of TelamonBulwark of the AchaeansFoil and rival of OdysseusStraightforward, brusque

The Trojan Saga

Ajax the Less (or Lesser)Prince of Locrians, son of OïleusViolation of Cassandra and his punishment

IdomeneusLeader of Cretans, son of DeucalionVoluntary ally

OdysseusAttempt to avoid war by feigning madnessCrafty, cunning, of persuasive speech

Achilles and His Son Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus)Prince of the Myrmidons in PhthiaGreatest of Greek warriorsSwift-footed, handsomeSon of Peleus and Thetis

PeleusPrince of Phthia, father of Achilles, son of Aeacus (king of Aegina),

and brother of TelamonDeath of Phocus, exile of Peleus to Phthia, and his purification by

EurytionParticipation in the Calydonian boar huntAccidental death of EurytionPurification by Acastus, son of Pelias and king of IolcusAcastus’ wife, Astydamia, falls in love with PeleusAcastus attempts to kill Peleus but failsSon of Peleus and Thetis destined to be greater than the

fatherAchilles

The Trojan Saga

Thetis Unwilling wife of Peleus A Nereid (“child of Nereus”) Attempts to escape from Peleus Wedding of Peleus and Thetis She leaves Peleus not long after the birth of Achilles Thetis attempts to make Achilles immortal Achilles’ heel

Educated by the centaur ChironAchilles’ fate: early death with glory, or long life without gloryDisguised as girl and sent to ScyrosAchilles’ disguise unmasked by OdysseusAchilles and Deïdamia, daughter of Lycomedes, King of ScyrosNeoptolemus (Pyrhhus)

Phoenix and Patroclus Phoenix Banished by his father Welcomed by Peleus

Companion and tutor to AchillesPatroclus Also received by Peleus Closest companion of Achilles Later tradition would see them as lovers

The Trojan Saga

The gathering of the expedition at AulisAulis, on the coast of Boeotia, opposite EuboeaRoughly 1,200 shipsThe sacrifice of Iphigenia

The anger of Artemis and the prophet CalchasCalchas’ prophecy about the length of the war

The Arrival at TroyPhiloctetes

Son of PoeasIsland of Chryse and Philoctetes’ woundAbandonment of Philoctetes on LemnosBow of Heracles and the fate of TroyPhiloctetes kills Paris

Achilles heals TelephusMysian Hero, son of Heracles“He that wounded shall heal.”

Protesilaüs and LaodamiaProtesilaüs killed by Hector as the Greeks come ashoreLaodamia’s griefBrief return of Protesilaüs and Laodamia’s suicideCycnus, son of Poseidon, turned into a swan

The Trojan SagaThe Iliad

From the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon to the burial of HectorChryseïs, daughter of Chryses, priest of ApolloPlague sent by ApolloBriseïs taken from Achilles as recompenseWrath of Achilles and his refusal to fightHeroic arete (“excellence”) woundedEpiphany of Athena to AchillesThetis and ZeusTruce and duel between Menalaüs and ParisThe farewell of Hector and AndromacheEmbassy to Achilles

Odysseus’ attempt to soften Agamemnon’s wordsAchilles’ responseRoles of Phoenix and Ajax

Trojan victory and fire at the Greek shipsPatroclus enters struggleDeath of SarpedonPatroclus killed by HectorAchilles’ unquenchable grief and rageShield of Achilles fashioned by HephaestusAchilles’ returnDeath of HectorMutilation of Hector’s corpsePriam’s journey to ransom the body of HectorAchilles relentsBurial of Hector

The Olympian Gods in BattleIntimate involvement in conflictTheomachies (“conflicts between gods”)

The Universality of the IliadWar as universal human experience

The Trojan Saga

The Fall of TroySources: summaries of lost epics, tragedy, representations in art, and Vergil ’s Aeneid

Achilles and Penthesilea, leader of the AmazonsAchilles and Memnon, son of Eos (Aurora), leader of the EthiopiansDeath of Achilles

Wounded in the heel by Paris with the aid of ApolloCorpse recovered by AjaxGhost of Achilles and the sacrifice of Polyxena

Odysseus and Ajax Compete for the Armor of AchillesDisgrace of Ajax, his madness, and suicideSophocles’ Ajax

The Deaths of Paris and PriamSummons of Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus) and PhiloctetesPhiloctetes kills Paris.Neoptolemus butchers PriamVergil’s Aeneid

The Wooden HorseEpeusHomer’s Odyssey and the song of DemodocusVergil’s Aeneid, Book 2: a detailed account of the sack of TroyOdysseus’ roleSinonLaocoön’s fear of the horse and his death, along with his two sons

The Trojan Saga

The Sack of TroyThe wooden horse is brought inside TroyGreeks return from TenedosSlaughter of TrojansViolation of Cassandra and her eventual murderHecuba’s transformation; Cynossema (“dog’s tomb”)

The Trojan Women of EuripidesDeath of Astyanax

The Sack of Troy in the Aeneid Witness of Troy’s death throes, Aeneas, survives sackAnchises and Ascanius (Iulus)Creusa, Aeneas’ wife; her appearance as a ghost

The Trojan Saga

AppendixMeleager and the Calydonian boar huntThe embassy to Achilles and Phoenix' cautionary tale of Meleager

After the Calydonian boar hunt Meleager, in a quarrel, killed his uncle, brother of his mother Althaea

In grief Althaea prays for the death of her sonIn anger Meleager withdraws from battleCleopatra, Meleager’s wife, successfully appeals to him, but he returns to battle too late to receive the earlier offer of rewardIn the Book 9 of the Iliad Phoenix uses the argument of lost rewards to try and

persuade Achilles to return to battleCalydonian boar hunt

The François VaseOvid’s version in the Metamorphoses

Oeneus, descendant of Aeolus, king of Calydon, father of Deïanira

Meleager, son of OeneusAlthaea, mother of Meleager, and the prophecy

of the logOeneus’ offense against ArtemisArtemis sends a huge boar to ravage CalydonGathering of heroes by MeleagerAtalanta, daughter of Schoenus, a Boeotian kingAtalanta is first to wound the boar; Meleager

delivers the killing blowMeleager favors AtalantaDeath of Althaea’s brothersThe burning of the log and the death of MeleagerMourning women turned into guinea fowl

(meleagrides)

The Trojan SagaHomer’s version

Boar sent by Artemis during war between Calydonians and CuretesMeleager kills boarCurse of Althaea; Meleager withdraws from the warMeleager relents, and returns and saves Calydon

Bacchylides’ fifth Epinician OdeGhost of Meleager and Heracles

The tradition of AtalantaEuripides’ Phoenissae: Atalanta as the mother of Parthenopaeus, one of the Seven against Thebes