The Iliad by Homer
This post is part of my journey through the classic texts of Western civilization.
"No unseemly thing is it for him to die while fighting for his country. Nay, but his wife is safe and his children after him, and his house and his portion of land are unharmed..."
- Hector, Iliad book XV
Finally, I have completed Homer's Iliad, the first step of my journey through the classic texts of Western civilization. The first thing to say about the Iliad is that to describe it as "containing a lot of violence" would be a severe understatement. One can only take so many extremely graphic descriptions of a man getting a bronze spear thrust through his eye socket before it starts to get old.
I endeavor here to lay out a few observations made during the read. They are somewhat scattered—perhaps for future works I will be able to string my thoughts together in a more connected fashion.
War
Even in an epic saturated from beginning to end with fighting that does much to showcase the glories attained by warriors like Achilles, Homer includes a few tender moments that remind us of the great tragedies wrought by war. Consider, for instance, the scene in book VI where Hector returns back to Troy briefly only to be instantly met by concerned wives and daughters.
"round about him came running the wives and daughters of the Trojans asking of their sons and brethren and friends and husbands..."
- Iliad book VI
Or consider the scene where Hector speaks to his wife of how more than even the fall of Troy does the thought of his wife in slavery move him.
"the day shall come when sacred Ilios shall be laid low, and Priam, and the people of Priam with goodly spear of ash. Yet not so much doth the grief of the Trojans that shall be in the aftertime move me, neither Hecabe’s own, nor king Priam’s, nor my brethren’s, many and brave, who then shall fall in the dust beneath the hands of their foemen, as doth thy grief, when some brazen-coated Achaean shall lead thee away weeping and rob thee of thy day of freedom..."
- Hector, Iliad book VI
For every dead, unnamed soldier there are those to whom that man is not unnamed. But it is no unseemly thing for such a man to fight for the real and tangible things close to him: his country, his wife, his children, his house, his portion of land...
Gods
Finally, it would be worth briefly touching upon the gods, who throughout the whole story strike the reader as remarkably human. Human in their passions, desires, thoughts, quarrels, vices, etc. It often seems that the only thing that distinguishes the gods from men is the fact that the gods cannot die.
There is something that can be appreciated about the ancient Greeks' attitude regarding the gods that we see so clearly in the Iliad. Clearly they did not have the view of the gods merely spectating or vaguely governing the affairs of men; rather, they saw the gods involved in the littlest and most specific of actions: from the missing of a spear throw, to the rousing of a man, to the flying by of a bird. With the influence of things such as naturalism and materialism, it is easy for us to dismiss the notions of spiritual beings taking actions in this world. Christians should not dismiss such notions, though we might not necessarily affirm it is Apollo or Athena acting.
We are thankful, though, that our God is unlike the gods of the Greeks. Zeus can be deceived; our God cannot. Poseidon has limited authority; Jesus Christ has been given all authority on heaven and earth. The gods that sit in Olympus are troubled by mortal men; the LORD that sits in the heavens laughs at the schemes of evil kings and rulers.