Disclaimer: I am not an ancient Greek scholar. For the full disclaimer, read here.
“And now the son of Saturn as he looked down from Ida ordained that neither side should have the advantage, and they kept on killing one another.”
Iliad,Book 11; Samuel Butler translation
Book 11 Summary
As soon as morning breaks, the two armies clash once again. Agamemnon rampages on the battlefield, killing many Trojans, but is wounded and has to exit the fighting. Diomedes is wounded by one of Paris’ arrows. Odysseus is left alone on the battlefield and gets wounded. Telamonian Ajax covers Odysseus with his shield, but gets surrounded. Eurypylus is wounded while helping Telamonian Ajax escape. Machaon, one of the Achaeans’ chief physicians, is also wounded by one of Paris’ arrows and Nestor has to carry him back to camp while Idomeneus covers his escape. Meanwhile, Hector, who is told by Zeus he would dominate the field as soon as Agamemnon left, begins to ravage the Achaeans and push them back.
At camp, Achilles sends Patroclus to see Nestor after watching him carry back the wounded physician. Nestor implores Patroclus to convince Achilles to return to battle. If he won’t, at least let Patroclus lead the Myrmidons into battle wearing Achilles’ armor. Patroclus agrees to do so, but stops to treat Eurypylus who comes back to camp.
For a list of the major characters, with Greek and Latin names, go here.
War Is A Harsh Mistress
Book 11 is probably the most chaotic of the “war books” in the Iliad so far. There is a lot of action and a lot of back and forth between both armies. However, by the end, it’s pretty obvious the Trojans are going to gain the upper hand once again.
As I’ve mentioned before, Homer does a good job of showing the realities of war. You can gain a lot in war: honor, fame, plunder…
You can also die painfully and your guts unceremoniously spilled all over the ground. And leave your parents childless, your wife a widow, and your children fatherless.
Since I haven’t done one since Book 7, here’s another recap of Homer showing the brutal realities of war:
Book 4: Enemies die side-by-side. In life, they fought on opposite sides of the war. In death, they are no different from each other. We also get heartrending statements like:
“But he did not live to pay his parents for his rearing, for he was cut off untimely”
“He fell to the ground on his back, and in his death throes stretched out his hand towards his comrades.”
Book 5: The dire consequences of hubris in Pandarus’ vain attempt to kill warriors better than him—all for a little bit of glory. We also get a heart wrenching scene:
“Xanthus and Thoon, the two sons of Phaenops, both of them very dear to him, for he was now worn out with age, and begat no more sons to inherit his possessions. But Diomed took both their lives and left their father sorrowing bitterly, for he nevermore saw them come home from battle alive, and his kinsmen divided his wealth among themselves.”
Book 6: A man almost has his life spared by Menelaus, only for that hope to be taken away at the last second. Also, a man loved by many is killed on the battlefield, showing that past good deeds will not save you from the realities of the battlefield:
“Then Diomed killed Axylus son of Teuthranus, a rich man who lived in the strong city of Arisbe, and was beloved by all men; for he had a house by the roadside, and entertained every one who passed; howbeit not one of his guests stood before him to save his life”
Book 7: Both armies stop fighting to gather and grieve for their dead:
“The sun was beginning to beat upon the fields, fresh risen into the vault of heaven from the slow still currents of deep Oceanus, when the two armies met. They could hardly recognize their dead, but they washed the clotted gore from off them, shed tears over them, and lifted them upon their waggons.”
In Book 11, we see two fathers lose two of their sons each during Agamemnon’s rampage. Homer highlights the two fathers one after the other in what appears to be a very deliberate compare and contrast.
The first father is Antimachus:
It was Antimachus who had been foremost in preventing Helen’s being restored to Menelaus, for he was largely bribed by Alexandrus...
Iliad, Book 11; Samuel Butler translation
So, Antimachus is in cahoots with Paris and is therefore just as responsible for this war as him. When Antimachus’ sons beg for their lives, Agamemnon reveals to the reader something shocking:
“If,” said Agamemnon, “you are sons of Antimachus, who once at a council of Trojans proposed that Menelaus and Ulysses, who had come to you as envoys, should be killed and not suffered to return, you shall now pay for the foul iniquity of your father.”
Iliad, Book 11; Samuel Butler translation
Antimachus tried to mess with Menelaus. We all know what that means: he is public enemy #1 in Agamemnon’s eyes.
So, Antimachus is a corrupt Trojan elder who is partly to blame for this war and tried to do something unthinkable to foreign envoys. His sons die as a result. Antimachus gets his just desserts.
Right after this, though, we are shown the other father: Antenor.
Antenor, like Antimachus, is another Trojan elder, except we’ve already been introduced to him. In Book 7, it was him who called for Helen to be given back to Menelaus during a Trojan council:
“Let us give up Argive Helen and her wealth to the sons of Atreus, for we are now fighting in violation of our solemn covenants, and shall not prosper till we have done as I say.”
Iliad, Book 7; Samuel Butler translation
Antenor recognizes that the Trojans are in the wrong. It’s the Trojans who are holding Helen and it was the Trojans who broke the truce. Of course, Paris overrides him, and no one overrides Paris, so the war continues.
It is this man, who is much nobler than Antimachus and wants Troy to be at peace, who loses his two sons. The only consolation Antenor has is that his sons did not die begging for their lives, but fought Agamemnon to the end (unlike Antimachus’ sons). In fact, the first son almost kills Agamemnon while the other manages wounds him. It’s this wound that forces Agamemnon off the battlefield and gives Hector his chance to launch a counterattack.
Two men. One was bribed into keeping the war going while the other wanted to do what it took to end it. One was corrupt while the other was honorable. And yet, both of them lost their sons.
War doesn’t care whether you wanted it or not. If it arrives, it will claim you as a victim all the same. At that point, all you can really do is fight, survive, or die as respectably as possible.
Ill-Fated Patroclus
Patroclus gets far more attention in Book 11 than anytime before this point. Achilles sends him out to confirm who the wounded man was that Nestor brought back to camp. And then we get this ominous narration:
Here indeed was the beginning of the ill that presently befell him.
Iliad, Book 11; Samuel Butler translation
We learned in Book 8 that both armies will be fighting over the body of Patroclus. Homer is indicating here that this moment is the first step that will ultimately lead to his death. Patroclus’ end draws near.
By revealing early that Patroclus is going to die, Homer has now amplified the drama. We, the audience, are now watching this story unfold exclaiming, “No, Patroclus! Don’t listen to Nestor! Don’t get caught up in this!”
I’ve said this multiple times now, but this is proof of Homer’s master storytelling skills. He could have left out the fact that Patroclus is fated to die and then have his death happen in a very shocking scene. However, in Homer’s capable hands, he can reveal what’s going to happen and still tell a gripping story.
Grandpa Nestor
Let’s get to a more lighthearted subject.
Nestor in the Iliad cracks me up. He is, to a T, your stereotypical grandpa:
Complains about his old age (“if I were young again”)
Complains about the younger generation (“people in my day”)
Gives unsolicited advice to the younger men
Gives unsolicited long speeches
Randomly breaks out into stories of his past
It’s no different in Book 11. Patroclus visits Nestor after he witnesses him carrying a wounded man back to his tent. When Nestor goes to greet him and offer him hospitality, Patroclus immediately tells him he can’t stay long because he can’t keep Achilles waiting. Nestor then complains about Achilles and then breaks out into a story of his glory days that goes on for paragraphs and paragraphs. I can totally imagine this scene in a comedy:
PATROCLUS: Hey, Nestor? Is everything alright? Oh no, it was Machaon who got hurt!
NESTOR: Patroclus, my boy! Have a seat! Have a seat!
PATROCLUS: [winces] I, I, um… I can’t stay long. Yeah! Achilles just wanted me to find out who was wounded, that’s all. And I can’t keep Achilles waiting. You know how he is, ha ha...
NESTOR: Achilles! Pah! What a waste of talent! If I were young and strong again like that time I went cattle-raiding…
[Nestor proceeds to spend the next fifteen minutes reliving his past and going off on unnecessary tangents. Before Patroclus can interject, Nestor gives him a mercifully short lecture about what his father told him before leaving for the war].
NESTOR: You’re better than that lout Achilles! If he won’t do anything to help us with the war, you should!
PATROCLUS: O-okay. Thanks Nestor, bye!
[Patroclus runs out of the tent before Nestor can talk about the time he spent as an Argonaut for the 50th time].
NESTOR: That’s a good man, that Patroclus! He reminds me of myself when I was younger and a crew member of the Argo...
MACHAON: [groans] Why didn’t that arrow kill me?
That’s all for Book 11 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: Hecamede Mixing Kykeon For King Nestor. Art on a cup. c. 490 BC.
Very nicely done. "War is a harsh mistress" somehow makes me think fondly of the Heinlein classic, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Professor Bernardo de la Paz is such a wonderful character, who, like Odysseus, accomplishes more with his mind and tongue. “There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”