Disclaimer: I am not an ancient Greek scholar. For the full disclaimer, read here.
“Olympian Jove has indeed vouchsafed me the fulfilment of my prayer, but what boots it to me, seeing that my dear comrade Patroclus has fallen—he whom I valued more than all others, and loved as dearly as my own life?”
Iliad, Book 18; Samuel Butler translation
Book 18 Summary
Antilochus finds Achilles and tells him Patroclus is dead and everyone is fighting over his body. Achilles is deeply grieved and his cries make it to his mother, the sea goddess Thetis. She visits Achilles to comfort him and Achilles tells her that, though it will cost him his life, he will enter the war and avenge Patroclus’ death. However, since Hector took Achilles’ armor which Patroclus was wearing, he has nothing to equip himself with. Thetis tells him she will take care of it and to stay out of the war until she comes back with armor for him.
Thetis visits Hephaestus and asks him to make armor for Achilles. He readily agrees, since she was one of the goddesses that nursed him back to health after Hera ejected him from Olympus for having an infirmity from birth. Hephaestus forges new armor and the famous Shield of Achilles, of which the artwork on it vividly depicts human civilization. When it is all finished, Thetis rushes out to deliver the armor.
Meanwhile, the Trojans have once again pushed the Achaeans back to their camp in an effort to get Patroclus’ body. They almost succeed at getting it until Hera and Athena give Achilles a terrifying presence and encourage him to approach the battlefield. He approaches the place where the two sides are fighting and gives a few great shouts. This causes the Trojans to back off in a panic and gives the Achaeans enough time to get Patroclus’ body out of harm’s way. Hector decides that, rather than return to the city, the Trojans will camp outside the Achaeans’ camp and renew their attack in the morning.
For a list of the major characters, with Greek and Latin names, go here.
The Anger Of Achilles Transforms
I mentioned in Book 8 that the anger of Achilles will take on a different meaning as we get through the story. We see that happening here in Book 18.
Achilles finds out his closest and dearest friend is dead and the armies are fighting over his body. Achilles is grief stricken. Antilochus, who broke the bad news, takes his hands because he’s afraid he’ll kill himself in his grief.
Achilles’ mother, the sea goddess Thetis, hears Achilles and knows what happened. Perhaps she always knew what would happen.
The anger of Achilles is no longer about being dishonored and disrespected by Agamemnon in front of the war council. It is no longer about his revenge against Agamemnon—about watching him and his army struggle and suffer without Achilles’ help.
The anger of Achilles is now directed at Hector.
“I will not live nor go about among mankind unless Hector fall by my spear, and thus pay me for having slain Patroclus son of Menoetius."
Iliad, Book 18; Samuel Butler translation
More still, the anger of Achilles is directed at himself.
“I would die here and now, in that I could not save my comrade. He has fallen far from home, and in his hour of need my hand was not there to help him.”
Iliad, Book 18; Samuel Butler translation
First, the anger of Achilles cost the lives of many Achaeans and Trojans in his revenge against Agamemnon. Then, it cost the life of his best friend Patroclus. Soon, it’s going to cost even more lives in his revenge against Hector. And, in the end, it will cost him his own life.
If only strife could die from the lives of gods and men
and anger that drives the sanest man to flare in outrage—
bitter gall, sweeter than dripping streams of honey,
that swarms in people’s chests and blinds like smoke—
just like the anger Agamemnon king of men
has roused within me now…
Enough.
Let bygones be bygones. Done is done.
Despite my anguish I will beat it down,
the fury mounting inside me, down by force.
But now I’ll go and meet that murderer head-on,
that Hector who destroyed the dearest life I know.
For my own death, I’ll meet it freely—whenever Zeus
and the other deathless gods would like to bring it on!
Not even Heracles fled his death, for all his power,
favorite son as he was to Father Zeus the King.
Fate crushed him, and Hera’s savage anger.
And I too, if the same fate waits for me…
I’ll lie in peace, once I’ve gone down to death.
Iliad,18.131-143; Robert Fagles translation; Penguin Classics; 1990
The Cool Contraptions Of Hephaestus
I wanted to take a break from the heavy stuff to point out the contraptions that Hephaestus has in his workshop.
The first are the self-moving tripods he’s making.
“He was making twenty tripods that were to stand by the wall of his house, and he set wheels of gold under them all that they might go of their own selves to the assemblies of the gods, and come back again.”
Iliad, Book 18; Samuel Butler translation
Hephaestus invented the Roomba?
Jokes aside, tripods were used to hold things like cauldrons or provide a flat surface. So, like the Roomba, they were self-moving machines used for housekeeping.
The other inventions mentioned are even more striking.
“There were golden handmaids also who worked for him, and were like real young women, with sense and reason, voice also and strength, and all the learning of the immortals.”
Iliad, Book 18; Samuel Butler translation
Hephaestus created androids with artificial intelligence and the ability to learn and grow in understanding.
It’s pretty amazing the Greeks thought up of technologies like this. I don’t know a lot about other ancient cultures, but I wonder if they imagined advanced technologies like these? Technologies that took until the current year to begin to scratch the surface of?
The Shield Of Achilles
First of all, I found this part funny. Achilles needs armor, like right now, and here is Hephaestus doodling intricate pictures on a shield whose only use is to take punishment. The second Hephaestus finishes everything, Thetis rushes out the door without so much as a “good bye.”
Hephaestus the tortured and unappreciated artist?
Anyway, this shield is pretty interesting. I pondered it for a short time, without looking up other people’s opinions about it (although, when I did, it didn’t really help much).
The shield obviously depicts human civilization and the various facets of it—celebration, law and order, war, agriculture, animal husbandry, the ever present reality and necessity of the celestial bodies and primordial waters…
However, why was this put on a shield of all things? The depiction of human civilization on an instrument of war and self-defense? I could only think of three reasons:
What is drawn on the shield is a reminder of what that shield is trying to protect.
What is drawn on the shield can be destroyed by the very events a shield would be used for (war, violence, actions that threaten self-preservation, etc.).
The pictures serve to distract or rattle the people being confronted by the shield, making them more vulnerable to attack.
It could be all of the above.
The Tragic Thetis
Thetis, despite being a lowly sea goddess, is actually quite a big deal. In Book 1, we found out she saved Zeus from a bad situation. That’s why Zeus was willing to listen to her petition. In Book 6, we found out she sheltered Dionysus when he was in a bad situation. And now, we find out in Book 18 she also took care of Hephaestus when he had been flung out of Olympus by Hera because of his birth defect (other traditions say Zeus threw him out and that’s how he was crippled). This is why he was willing to make the armor for Achilles.
However, those who know her background know that what she’s most known for far surpasses everything I listed above. And it goes all the way back to Prometheus.
Prometheus, particularly in modern times, is seen as a symbol of resisting tyranny (which, ultimately, he fails to do). He’s also seen as a savior of mankind.
Side note: For a modern negative perspective of Prometheus, see The New Man by Thomas Merton.
You see, Zeus refused to give fire to mankind. This was nothing short of a death sentence. Prometheus saved human civilization by giving them fire. Zeus punishes him by chaining him to a rock and an eagle would eat his liver. Every night his liver would grow back and every day the eagle would come back and eat it. Eventually, Zeus would allow his son Heracles (Hercules) to free him from his torment.
This was all despite the fact that Prometheus was instrumental in helping Zeus usurp the Titans and become the next ruler of the universe.
It turned out, though, that Prometheus knew something that Zeus didn’t. Something that would upend his supremacy. Zeus became aware of a prophecy that said a son would be born who would be more powerful than his father. Only Prometheus knew who the mother would be.
That meant, in his womanizing, if Zeus happened to produce a son with this woman, the son would be stronger than Zeus and would usurp him.
Side note: To read more about this, see Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus. It’s the first play in a trilogy, but unfortunately, the other two plays only exist in fragments (only a single line survived from the third play). I will be covering Prometheus Bound when I get to Aeschylus.
I don’t remember why, but eventually Prometheus tells Zeus the truth: Thetis, this lowly sea goddess that Zeus was having googly eyes for, is the woman who will produce a son stronger than the father.
Zeus then forces Thetis to marry the mortal man Peleus, and their son is the mighty Achilles.
Fun fact: It was at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis that the seeds for the Trojan War were sown. However, I will touch on that in a future post.
Thetis is a tragic character. She helped three different gods out of dangerous situations, including Zeus himself, and her reward?
“Me alone of the marine goddesses did [Jove] make subject to a mortal husband, Peleus son of Aeacus, and sorely against my will did I submit to the embraces of one who was but mortal, and who now stays at home worn with age. Heaven vouchsafed me a son, hero among heroes, and he shot up as a sapling. I tended him as a plant in a goodly garden and sent him with his ships to Ilius to fight the Trojans, but never shall I welcome him back to the house of Peleus.”
Iliad, Book 18; Samuel Butler translation
A forced marriage to a mortal, who will grow old and die, and a son who will win renown for himself but die young.
However, it’s undeniable that she loves her son dearly. Maybe, the point of her story, is that despite the injustices done to a person, they can always find that one thing which makes life worth living.
I don’t know anything else about Thetis beyond what’s in the Prometheus story and the Iliad, but I hope she got a good ending. If not, I hope someone else can write one for her.
That’s all for Book 18 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 image: Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus by Gavin Hamilton. Created 1760-1763. Taken from National Galleries Scotland. Image is Creative Commons.