#3: The Iliad: Compiled by Brook Griffin, edited by Matthew Phan  

I. A) Philia-love among friends, family, and comrades

B) Ekthros- enemy, is used only to describe one who was formerly a philos (or loved one) The relationship between Agamemnon and Achilleus represents this transition from philos to ekthros. Achilleus and Agamemnon are friends until Agamemnon dishonors Achilleus by taking away his war prize, Briseus, at which point Achilleus makes Agamemnon his ekthros (or enemy).

C) There are several instances of philia in Book 6

D) In one scene Glaukos and Diomedes encounter each other on the battlefield but do not fight one another because they find out that they have ties through a guest/host relationship their grandfathers shared (they learn of these ties through each telling a story of his lineage. This scene underscores the importance of storytelling as well as philia because if these two had not told each other their backgrounds (and hence not discover the ties they share) they would have proceeded to fight to the death.

E) The scene between Hektor, Andromache, and their son illustrates philia among family members. Hektor, momentarily leaving the war and returning to his home, finds his wife, Andromache, crying. Andromache is crying because she is uncertain about whether Hektor is alive or not and she cannot endure waiting for news of his condition. When Andromache sees Hektor, she tries persuading him to remain with her and their son, Asytyanax. She says (to Hektor), "thus you are my father to me, and my honored mother, you are my brother, and you it is who are my young husband." Hektor, however, decides against staying. He feels a pressing obligation to be out there on the battlefield stirring up his Trojan soldiers (who are now suffering in battle). Thus, he kisses his son and leaves for battle. (Compare this scene to the scene earlier in Book 6 in which Helen of Troy (Hektor’s sensuous sister-in- law) tries to persuade Hektor to stay with her. Helen says to Hektor, "But come now, come in and rest on this chair, my brother, since it is on your heart beyond all that the hard work has fallen..." I do not see Helen's attempt to persuade Hector to stay as an act of philia, though Hektor says, "Do not, Helen make me sit with you, though you love me." It lacks those central elements present in the scene between Hektor and Andromache (elements which make this scene a representation of philia). Helen's call to Hektor lacks the urgency I interpret in Adromache's call to sway Hektor. Helen's beckons Hektor to stay on the grounds that it is she who is the reason why Hektor is fighting. In comparison, Andromache (weeping) asks Hektor to stay for the sake of their son and because her whole existence (according to her) is contingent upon his presence now that her family has been killed. I also do not pick- up on any element of pathos in the scene between Hektor and Helen whereas the scene between Adromache and Hektor is rich with pathos (i.e. Andromache crying, Hektor holding his son in his hands).

F) Some argue that the Greek warriors are not living for philia but rather just to fight, sack cities for loot, and then repeat this process. I, however, agree with the person who conversely argued that these Greeks do live for philia, though in the forefront it might seem as if they are only preoccupied with these other things (fighting, sacking cities, etc..). This person said that in the background of their interactions, there is always this "communal binding sentiment of philia." I understand the idea of philia as being "a binding communal sentiment" in the foreground of Greek interactions as I understand the relationship between Americans and the idea of freedom. Freedom is an idea which is deeply ingrained in our political culture; our communal belief in this value is a major component of what binds us together as Americans. Thus, (because of this “communal binding sentiment”) we for the most part treat our fellow Americans “as philos” rather than enemies.

II

A) Fate- In this poem, the gods have foreknowledge but cannot change fate. "Often, they are the agencies by which fate is accomplished. Fate is humanly experienced as that set of historical set of conditions within which we live and must make individual choices that is beyond our individual control. Even the consequences of our individual choices are beyond are knowledge and control. This framework of the unknown in which we operate is fate (Prof Eileen Gilloly)."

B) Fatalism- idea that events are predetermined and that human beings have no influence in affecting the outcome of these events C) Characters in the Iliad do not surrender to fatalism. Hektor continues to fight though he knows Troy is fated to fall. In Book six Hektor says, "For I know this thing well in my heart, and my mind knows it: there will come a day when sacred Ilion shall perish." Achilleus also fights though he knows he is prophesied to be killed. In Book 19, Achilleus says, "I myself know well it is destined for me to die here far from my beloved father and mother." Glaukos and Sarpedon also fight, though as they say in Book twelve, "[the] spirits of death stand close about us."

D) Why then do these characters fight (almost as if in opposition to their fates)? Sarpedon fights for kleos (glory). He says to Glaukos, "let us go on and win glory for ourselves (Book 12)." Achilleus too fights for kleos. This motive (for kleos) is seen in a scene in Book 16 where Achilleus tells Patroklos, "obey to the end this word I put upon your attention so that you can win, for me, great honor and glory." Kleos is the mode by which these warriors hope to attain immortality. Immortality is given to these warriors as they are remembered in song and in tale.

III.

A) Story telling plays a seminal role in Greek culture. It is a convention Greeks use to validate their arguments and perpetuate each others kleos. Greeks also use storytelling to express ideas not as easily expressed in argument. For example, it is easier for Phoinix to tell Achilleus a story of a man who neglects to honor philia and the consequences he faces than it would be for Phoinix to argue the finer points of philia and why one should invoke it. Achilleus is likely more affected by a story (because of the degree of familiarity a story can have with a person) than a distant, philosophical argument.

B) Phonieux tells Achiellus two stories to try and persuade Achillieus to reconcile his differences with Agammemnon and eneter the war. He first tells Achilleus a story about two goddesses Prayer and Ruin. He characterizes (the spirits of) Prayer as being "lame of their feet and wrinkled, " and conversely, Ruin as being “strong and sound on her feet, and therefore far outruns all Prayers, and wins into every country to force men astray; and the Prayers follow as healers after her.” “If a man denies the Prayers, the Prayers will supplicate to Zeus so that "Ruin might overtake him." Phoinix's purpose in telling Achilleus this parable is to dissuade Achilleus from being so unrelenting in his pride that he allows Ruin (i.e. the pain he might experience at the lost of many of his friends because he did not a id them) to come to him. Phoinix's second story is a tale about a great Aitolian warrior named Meleagros. In anger at his mother Althaia, Meleagros, who is fighting on behalf of the Aitolians in a war against the Kouretes, withdraws from the war lying apart with his Kleopatra, his wife; his presence lacking, the Aitolians begin to lose. The nobleman of Aitolia entreat Meleagros to return to the war by offering him land but he refuses. Meleagros’s own father, Oineus, entreats him to come back to the war. It is not until the Kouretes "[are] mounting along the towers and set fire to the great city [Aitolia]," that Meleagros decides to re-enter the war and push the Kouretes back. Clearly, Phoinix is trying to pull Achilleus into the war by presenting Meleagros [a character in a similar situation to Achilleus] and talking about the consequences Meleagros faced [he did not get any of the gifts] because he did not help his countrymen sooner.

C) Character Breakdown: Meleagros= Achilleus, Kleopatra= Patroklos (Kleopatra spelled backwards),Althaia= Agamemnon, Oineus= Phoinix

D) Phoinix has purposefully omitted a segment in the story of Meleagros that he tells. In the original story, Meleagros is killed by his mother in revenge for her brothers whom he killed. Althaia, Meleagros's mother, kills her son by throwing a stick, which contains the length of Meleagros's life span, into the fire. Achilleus is this stick. By entering the war, he has metaphorically set this stick to burning. And by staying out of battle, many of his brothers in battle have been killed.

IV.

A) Achilleus's shield- this is a shield which Hephaistos has constructed for Achilleus. It has five layers. On the outermost layer, the fifth layer, there is displayed the River and the Ocean. On the fourth layer, there are the images of cattle, sheep, and dance. On the third layer the themes, vintage, reaping, and ploughing are depicted. On the second layer, there is an image of a "city of war" and a "city of peace." On the innermost there are contained images of the sun, the sea, the earth, and the stars.

B) City of Peace- this city is depicted with images of marriage processions, festivals, and flute players. The city's imagery ( as displayed on the shield) serves to manifest Hephaistos construction of an ideal world. But this world is more than just a fantastical utopia which can never be realized but only toyed with, in theory. In the portrayal of the city, there is also an image of two men "disputing over the blood price of a man who has been killed." Although this last image is a little disquieting, it reflects the realness of human nature-people will always kill, steel, or commit wrongs against one other. It, however, is the solution that these two men take (assigning a price to pay as retribution for a man’s death) that in a sense redeems our inability to be perfect beings and thus makes this city an ideal yet tangible world. This is an illustration of justice.

C) City of War- the description of this city begins with the image of "two forces of armed men lying in their war gear." The army from one city devises an ambush against the other, but when this ambush is preemptively foiled by noise made from the scattering of cattle, the two armies begin to fight and decimate one another. "The clothing upon her shoulders showed strong red with the men's blood. All closed together like living men and fought with each other and dragged away from each other the corpses of those who had fallen." Clearly, this is Hephaistos representation of a city torn by war. It is the antithesis of his ideal world (which he represents in the city of peace). This city of war, I feel, is not so much characterized as Hephaistos’s representation of an idyllic world because of the conflict present in it. Perhaps, it is not so much that the two factions in the city resolve their conflict through fighting. More so, it is the sense of treachery (the ambushing), the deceit, and images of blood which makes this city an extreme representation of an imperfect world. Homer says the men are “all closed together like living men” as if to metaphorically suggest that these men are dead. They are dead because they have no sense of justice or that of culture.

Further Explication of Achilleus’s shield

Ploughing/Reaping/Vintage: agri/culture = culture of the fields. Agriculture is the beginning of technology and civilization. Herds: Cattle/Sheep/Dances: development of agriculture, moving beyond just grain and fields to husbandry. Dance is also an art form, culture develops after basic needs provided for. However, lions are among the cattle and the knives on the belts of the dancers. This shows that conflict is always present and that within culture violence always lurks.