Disclaimer: I am not an ancient Greek scholar. For the full disclaimer, read here.
“Menelaus, we both of us need shrewd counsel to save the Argives and our ships, for Jove has changed his mind, and inclines towards Hector’s sacrifices rather than ours.”
Iliad, Book 10; Samuel Butler translation
Book 10 Summary
Neither Agamemnon nor Menelaus can sleep due to their current plight, so Agamemnon calls a war council while Menelaus checks on the night watch to make sure no one is being derelict. Nestor suggests that some of them infiltrate the Trojan camp and learn anything that would be of use. Diomedes offers to go and chooses Odysseus to go with him.
Meanwhile, Hector holds a war council of his own and wants to send someone into Achaean territory and find out whether the Achaeans are keeping watch of their ships. A man named Dolon volunteers for the task, but is quickly caught by Diomedes and Odysseus before he can even enter the Achaean camp. They interrogate Dolon and he answers every question they ask him. When they are finished, Diomedes kills him.
Diomedes and Odysseus use the information they gathered to enter the part of the Trojan camp where the Thracians are camped out. Since the Trojans are in charge of the night watches, their allies sleep soundly and keep no watch. Using this to their advantage, Diomedes kills twelve Thracian warriors and the Thracian king in their sleep while Odysseus steals their horses. The Trojans are aroused by the commotion, but the duo safely return to the Achaean camp with the horses and other plunder in tow.
For a list of the major characters, with Greek and Latin names, go here.
In The Shadow Of His Brother
I spent a lot of time in my post on Book 9 talking about Agamemnon and his dismal leadership. At the end, I compared him with King Priam because they were both unwilling to do what needed to be done as the supreme leaders and it was costing their people dearly.
Here’s another point of comparison between the two: they are both overprotective to a fault. Priam with Paris, and Agamemnon with Menelaus.
We finally figure out why Menelaus is not the one leading the Achaean army. While Agamemnon is seeking Nestor’s council, Nestor questions Agamemnon about why he is up and about and not Menelaus. Before Agamemnon assures him that Menelaus is also up and about, he says this:
“He is often remiss and unwilling to exert himself—not indeed from sloth, nor yet heedlessness, but because he looks to me and expects me to take the lead.”
Iliad, Book 10; Samuel Butler translation
So, Menelaus doesn’t take charge because he prefers to rely on Agamemnon? It’s actually a bit more complicated than that. Menelaus defers to Agamemnon, but Agamemnon doesn’t give him much of a choice. Here’s what we’ve seen so far:
Book 4: Agamemnon freaks out over Menelaus when he gets shot by Pandarus. I’ve pointed this out previously as a black mark on Agamemnon’s leadership because he was letting his emotions get the better of him in front of his army. However, in this new context, it’s clear that it was more than that. Agamemnon was revealing his protectiveness toward Menelaus.
Book 6: Agamemnon overrides Menelaus’ decision to spare one of the Trojan allies who begged for his life
Book 7: Agamemnon stops Menelaus from taking up Hector’s challenge to duel one of the Achaeans
Side note: Another instance, though this doesn’t involve Agamemnon directly, is Book 5. Antilochus stopped Menelaus from confronting Aeneas (although Homer makes it clear if Menelaus had confronted Aeneas he would have died). Could it be argued that Agamemnon’s protectiveness indirectly played a role in this moment?
Now we get to Book 10. The war council has decided to send spies into the Trojan camp and Diomedes has volunteered. Multiple people volunteer to go with Diomedes, including Menelaus. Notice how Agamemnon responds:
“Take the best man of those that have offered, for many would now go with you. Do not through delicacy reject the better man, and take the worst out of respect for his lineage, because he is of more royal blood.” He said this because he feared for Menelaus.
Iliad, Book 10; Samuel Butler translation
Once again, Agamemnon interferes to keep Menelaus from acting on his own.
If we combine all of this, along with the background information about what led to the Trojan War (see Book 7), a picture begins to form.
Menelaus relies on Agamemnon to a fault, but Agamemnon enables this behavior. In Agamemnon’s mind, he is protecting his brother from bad decisions, but in reality he is preventing Menelaus’ growth as a man. And worse, Agamemnon has made Menelaus dependent on him and either doesn’t realize it or pretends to not see it.
Combine this with Menelaus’ insecurities, and it’s no wonder he’s a weak man that Helen rejected. It’s no wonder Agamemnon is the commander of the army and not him.
Side note #2: One flaw in this observation is that Agamemnon didn’t stop Menelaus from dueling Paris. If I had to guess as to why, it’s because Agamemnon knew Menelaus was the better warrior and had nothing to worry about.
Dolon – Yet Another Liability to the Trojans
Dolon is the spy Hector decided to send at approximately the same time the Achaeans sent Diomedes and Odysseus. Here’s the description given about him:
“The famous herald… a man rich in gold and bronze… ill-favoured, but a good runner, and was an only son among five sisters.”
Iliad, Book 10; Samuel Butler translation
Basically, Dolon is that one rich kid who:
Got most of the attention from his parents
Has one talent that he is too prideful about
Is barely tolerated by his peers
Throws his money around to get out of situations
Doesn’t take responsibility for his actions
In the end, Dolon ends up being yet another liability to the Trojans. After being caught by Diomedes and Odysseus, he promises them a lot of money and spills the beans on everything they want to know about, thinking they would spare his life. He was wrong and Diomedes decapitates him.
Dolon becomes the second Trojan whose actions seriously hurt the Trojans (the other one being Pandarus who shot Menelaus in Book 4 and reignited the war). If you include Paris, he’s the third.
The Trojans need better allies. That, or Hector needs better discernment in choosing personnel.
The Controversial Odysseus
Book 2 was the last time the story focused on Odysseus in any meaningful way. In Book 2, he rallied the troops together and showed his rhetorical skill after Agamemnon’s stupid loyalty test almost ended their war effort. Odysseus recognized the troops’ longing to go home, but encouraged them hold on just a little bit longer. He also swiftly dealt with Thersites when he was out of line.
Here in Book 10, we see another display of those rhetorical skills, but also why he’s widely considered one of the most cunning of the Achaeans. After Dolon begs for his life, this is what Odysseus says:
“Let no thought of death be in your mind.”
Iliad, Book 10; Samuel Butler translation
Notice that Odysseus didn’t tell Dolon he was going to live or die. All he told him was to not think about it. And that was enough to get Dolon to talk. Through feigned friendliness, Odysseus was able to milk a lot of information out of him.
There’s another interesting fact about Odysseus: he is highly favored by Athena. And who else is favored by Athena? Diomedes. I wonder if that’s why Diomedes picked Odysseus to help with this spy mission?
Diomedes and Odysseus both embody the traits that make up Athena’s domain. Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom. Diomedes embodies the war part as a very capable warrior while Odysseus embodies the wisdom part as a very cunning strategist with a silver tongue.
One last interesting fact I want to mention is Odysseus’ overall reception. In the Iliad and the Odyssey, Odysseus is seen pretty favorably (although he makes some morally questionable decisions in the Odyssey). However, outside of Homer, he is viewed in a more mixed light. Sophocles and Euripides are less flattering toward Odysseus (see Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes; see Euripides’ Hecuba and Iphigenia in Aulis), and much later on it becomes clear the Romans really disliked Odysseus (see Virgil’s Aeneid).
I think Odysseus’ reception is much like how people receive a politician or a salesman. Some people will like him, some will be wary of him, and some will downright dislike him.
I think it’s a good lesson to learn for someone who develops a good wit and rhetorical skills. You have to be careful how you use those skills, and how you present yourself, in order to minimize how shady you may appear to others.
That’s all for Book 10 of the Iliad.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
The booklist I am going through can be found here.
If you want to learn a little more about the Iliad, I have a page devoted to it.
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Thumbnail: Diomedes, Odysseus and Dolon by Bonaventura Genelli. I couldn’t find when it was created. Published 1883. Public domain.
In The Trojan Women, Euripides paints Odysseus as a cold, intelligent and logical heartless monster. The story is told from the perspective of the captive Trojan women after the fall of Troy, and is very powerful. The scene where Odysseus kills Andromache's little boy Astyanax, so there will be no descendants of Hector to rally and resurrect Troy is palpably painful.