Disclaimer: I am not an ancient Greek scholar. For the full disclaimer, read here.
“If any of you is struck by spear or sword and loses his life, let him die; he dies with honour who dies fighting for his country; and he will leave his wife and children safe behind him, with his house and allotment unplundered if only the Achaeans can be driven back to their own land, they and their ships.”
Iliad, Book 15; Samuel Butler translation
Book 15 Summary
Zeus wakes up and is furious with what Hera and Poseidon have been doing doing. He threatens Hera, and when she is subdued, orders her to tell Apollo and Iris to meet him. He is going to have Apollo heal Hector’s wounds and lead the Trojans against the Achaeans and have Iris tell Poseidon to remove himself from the battlefield or face his wrath. Apollo heals Hector, and Poseidon, though offended at Zeus’ disrespect, removes himself.
After seeing Hector revived, and watching their trenches being filled with earth and their ramparts knocked down, the Achaeans are once more pushed back into their camp. This time, however, they are now all the way back to where their ships are beached on the shore. Zeus, still wishing to give him glory on the battlefield, makes Hector virtually unstoppable. The book ends with Hector at one of the Achaean ships calling for fire to burn it down while Telamonian Ajax fights to keep the fire away.
For a list of the major characters, with Greek and Latin names, go here.
The Truth
For those who have seen The X-Files, the series finale is an episode called “The Truth.” It’s when the main characters finally find out how much of their theories were true, what’s going to happen, and why the government has been doing what it’s doing.
It’s here in Book 15 of the Iliad that Zeus reveals to the audience “The Truth.” No more throwaway statements. No more cryptic remarks. No more ambiguous prophecies and omens. The full truth of what’s going to happen.
“[Hector] will thus forget his present sufferings, and drive the Achaeans back in confusion till they fall among the ships of Achilles son of Peleus. Achilles will then send his comrade Patroclus into battle, and Hector will kill him in front of Ilius after he has slain many warriors, and among them my own noble son Sarpedon. Achilles will kill Hector to avenge Patroclus, and from that time I will bring it about that the Achaeans shall persistently drive the Trojans back till they fulfil the counsels of Minerva and take Ilius. But I will not stay my anger, nor permit any god to help the Danaans till I have accomplished the desire of the son of Peleus, according to the promise I made by bowing my head on the day when Thetis touched my knees and besought me to give him honor.”
Iliad, Book 15; Samuel Butler translation
Zeus has pretty much given the basic outline of Books 16-22, although there are a lot of details left out that will make the Iliad exciting to read.
I’ll also say this right now: the Iliad ends before the sacking of Troy. I won’t spoil the last book, Book 24, though. It is the most moving book in the whole poem.
Before He Dies...
Although Hector’s life is going to be cut short, as Hector suspected might happen (see Book 6), Zeus plans on giving Hector glory on the battlefield. He will have Hector accomplish great feats so that his name will go down in history. In this way, both Hector and Achilles are alike.
“For he meant giving glory to Hector son of Priam, and letting him throw fire upon the ships, till he had fulfilled the unrighteous prayer that Thetis had made him; Jove, therefore, bided his time till he should see the glare of a blazing ship.”
Iliad, Book 15; Samuel Butler translation
“Jove from heaven was with him, and though he was but one against many, vouchsafed him victory and glory; for he was doomed to an early death, and already Pallas Minerva was hurrying on the hour of his destruction at the hands of the son of Peleus.”
Iliad, Book 15; Samuel Butler translation
As we can see, even though “The Truth” has been revealed, Homer is not going to stop with the cryptic statements. Remember these statements as you continue reading through the Iliad: “the unrighteous prayer that Thetis had made” and “already Pallas Minerva was hurrying on the hour of his destruction at the hands of the son of Peleus.”
Revisiting Homer’s Worldview
Back when I wrote on Book 5, I was trying to make sense of all the instances of divine intervention that happened in the Iliad. Were these literary devices or were they meant to be taken at face value? When the text says Athena guided an arrow to hit someone or prevented an arrow from hitting a vital spot (Book 4), did Athena really do that or was Homer just being poetic?
It seems to me that it is all of the above. However, the question then becomes: Did Homer, and perhaps his audience, have this worldview where the gods intervene to make sure certain outcomes take place? (i.e. Fate?). Or, are all of these moments of blatant divine intervention only for the Trojan War?
Why would these moments only apply to the Trojan War? It’s because the Trojan War is set during a period where mortals were closer to the gods. There are a number of characters, like Aeneas, Sarpedon, and Achilles, who have a god or goddess as one of their parents. Idomeneus is the grandson of Minos, and Minos’ father is Zeus, making Idomeneus 1/8th divine. Agamemnon and Menelaus’ great-grandfather was Tantalus, a son of Zeus, making them at least 1/16 divine.
Plus, the Trojan War is not that far removed from the days of Heracles and Jason the Argonaut. Nestor was a contemporary of both although he was young at the time.
Anyway, here are some significant moments of divine intervention since Book 5:
Book 8: Zeus comes down from Olympus and sends thunderbolts on the Achaeans to cause them to flee, giving the Trojans the upper hand
Book 11: Discord goes before the Achaeans and riles them up so they don’t completely give up hope and sail home
Book 13: Neptune directly causes someone’s death: “him did Neptune lay low by the hand of Idomeneus, blinding his bright eyes and binding his strong limbs in fetters so that he could neither go back nor to one side…"
Book 14: Poseidon encourages the Achaeans will a loud shout and leads the charge against the Trojans
Now, in Book 15, Apollo:
Uses Zeus’ aegis to cause the Achaeans to panic and flee to their camp
Fills in a large section of the spiked-filled trench the Achaeans dug around their camp so the Trojans can safely cross over (especially with their chariots)
Knocks down the wall the Achaeans had built around their camp
And right after that, Zeus breaks the string on Teucer’s bow to keep him from shooting and killing Hector.
As we’re seeing right now, the diving interventions starting in Book 15 are getting more and more blatant. This trend will continue for the rest of the Iliad. It will even get to the point where it appears the gods make sure someone dies who probably wouldn’t have died had not the gods intervened.
As I showed when I wrote about this in Book 5’s post, I’m more fascinated by the philosophical (or perhaps metaphysical?) aspect of this. The gods are directly intervening in this war. In doing this, they defy logic, gravity, and in some cases the morality they insist mortals follow… for what? To get their way? To toy with mortals because they’re bored or tyrannical? Or is there something more going on?
Like I said, if it was truly the worldview of Homer and his contemporaries that the gods could just willy-nilly intervene and destroy structures, ensure people die, or change the flow of events, then it sounds absolutely exhausting and terrifying. They would simply be worshiping and obeying the gods out of sheer trepidation because the gods are nothing more than extremely powerful toddlers.
All of this ties in with all the times I’ve talked about the “divine conspiracy” and the “divine comedy.” The gods very much come across as petulant and aloof. However, it’s my opinion that, maybe, there is something more going on. Unfortunately, to fully flesh it out would require parts of the story from Book 16 and Book 20—at the minimum.
For now, I’ll just reemphasize that I don’t blame Plato who, in the Republic, has Socrates ban the elites of his city-state from reading the Iliad because of its portrayal of the gods.
That’s all for Book 15 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: Ajax Defending the Greek Ships Against the Trojans by John Flaxman. Created 1911. Public domain.