Disclaimer: I am not an ancient Greek scholar. For the full disclaimer, Read here.
And now no man would have made light of the fighting if he could have gone about among it scatheless and unwounded, with Minerva leading him by the hand, and protecting him from the storm of spears and arrows. For many Trojans and Achaeans on that day lay stretched side by side downwards upon the earth.
Iliad, Book 4; Samuel Butler translation
Book 4 Summary
In Olympus, Hera and Athena are unhappy that the war is at a stand still because they want Troy to be destroyed. Zeus, though he is unhappy with Hera’s and Athena’s ire toward Troy because he likes the Trojan people, allows Athena to enter the battlefield. Meanwhile, both the Achaean and Trojan armies are unsure what is going to happen next, whether the fighting will continue or whether the war will come to an end. Athena entices Pandarus, an archer on the Trojan side, to fire an arrow at Menelaus. Thanks also to her intervention, the arrow narrowly misses a vital spot.
Agamemnon, enraged that his brother was shot and the Trojans broke the truce, moves through his army praising those who are ready for battle and admonishes those who are not. Afterward, the two armies clash and the first casualties in the Iliad occur.
For a list of the major characters, with Greek and Latin names, go here.
The Realities of War
Whether Homer is simply telling a dramatic and entertaining story or providing some sort of social commentary, or whether Homer thinks there is glory in war or not, he does not pull his punches when it comes to the battlefield. Homer is not a propagandist that is trying to minimize how brutal and destructive war is. A showcase of good leaders and bad leaders, leaders fighting amongst themselves, warriors fed up with the war and desperate to get home to their families, and the politics of war have been what the reader has been exposed to so far.
Now, we are given a clear picture of life and death battles. They are gut-wrenching to read. It’s clear that Homer is intimately familiar with what weapons at that time could do to a human body. He also seems to be familiar with how warriors behaved when they were victorious as well as when they were cut down and their life slipped away. Here are two big examples from Book 4:
1) Telamonian Ajax’ victory
Forthwith Ajax, son of Telamon, slew the fair youth Simoeisius, son of Anthemion, whom his mother bore by the banks of the Simois, as she was coming down from Mt. Ida, where she had been with her parents to see their flocks. Therefore he was named Simoeisius, but he did not live to pay his parents for his rearing, for he was cut off untimely by the spear of mighty Ajax, who struck him in the breast by the right nipple as he was coming on among the foremost fighters; the spear went right through his shoulder, and he fell…
Iliad, Book 4; Samuel Butler translation
This is one kind of description you’ll get throughout the Iliad: you’ll get a brief background of the person slain. And pay attention to this statement: but he did not live to pay his parents for his rearing, for he was cut off untimely… It tugs at your heart. These parents’ baby boy won’t be coming back to them. Simoeisius had a story, youth, a home, and parents. And now, he’s just a corpse.
2) Two enemies die side-by-side
Then fate fell upon Diores, son of Amarynceus, for he was struck by a jagged stone near the ancle of his right leg. He that hurled it was Peirous, son of Imbrasus, captain of the Thracians, who had come from Aenus; the bones and both tendons were crushed by the pitiless stone. He fell to the ground on his back, and in his death throes stretched out his hand towards his comrades. But Peirous, who had wounded him, sprang on him and thrust a spear into his belly, so that his bowels came gushing out upon the ground, and darkness veiled his eyes. As he was leaving the body, Thoas of Aetolia struck him in the chest near the nipple, and the point fixed itself in his lungs. Thoas came close up to him, pulled the spear out of his chest, and then drawing his sword, smote him in the middle of the belly so that he died…
Thus the two corpses lay stretched on earth near to one another…
Iliad, Book 4; Samuel Butler translation
The other kind of description you’ll get in the Iliad are detailed descriptions of someone’s death. The bones and both tendons were crush; his bowels came gushing out upon the ground. And another heart wrenching sentence: and in his death throes stretched out his hand towards his comrades.
You can picture it in your mind. You’re on the battlefield. You watch as one of your fellow warriors gets struck by a projectile and fall to the ground. He stretches out his hand toward you, crying out. The very man who hit him with the projectile walks up to him, and without mercy finishes him off and spills his insides all over the ground. Then one of your comrades attacks this enemy and, equally without mercy, cuts him down. The two corpses lay side-by-side.
In life, these two men were enemies on the battlefield. They had their own lives. Through skill or luck, one triumphed over the other but did not enjoy that victory for very long. Now both are equals in death. They are just two dead bodies on the battlefield.
There may be glory on the battlefield. There may be honor in defending your home and your family. It’s possible Homer wanted to extol those values while telling a good story. But, he wasn’t going to take the easy way out. You can win a lot on the battlefield, but you can also lose it all. Painfully. Gruesomely.
The Divine Conspiracy, Part 3.1 - What Are Mortals Worth?
The opening scenes of Book 4 focus on the divine drama that you as the reader are aware of, but the other characters aren’t. We get a better sense of how aloof they are and their perspectives on the mortals.
First, we get a scene between Hera, Athena, and Zeus. Zeus proposes that they let the results of the duel between Menelaus and Paris stand as it is—that Menelaus is the default winner since Aphrodite intervened to remove Paris from the duel. Athena and Hera both are extremely unhappy with this and say as much. Zeus questions them as to why they hate Troy so much, saying that he likes Troy a lot. This is how Hera responds:
“My own three favourite cities… are Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae. Sack them whenever you may be displeased with them. I shall not defend them and I shall not care. Even if I did, and tried to stay you, I should take nothing by it, for you are much stronger than I am, but I will not have my own work wasted… Let it be a case, then, of give-and-take between us, and the rest of the gods will follow our lead. Tell Minerva to go and take part in the fight at once, and let her contrive that the Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon the Achaeans.”
Iliad, Book 4; Samuel Butler translation
There are two things that stand out with Hera’s response:
Hera does not answer Zeus’ question as to why she has such a grudge against Troy
Hera is willing to allow her three favorite cities to be destroyed, without complaint or intervention, if it means her plans to destroy Troy come to fruition
Hera has a serious ax to grind with Troy. She’s also treating her favorite cities like playing cards, or chess pieces in a game. It must also be noted that Agamemnon is the king of Mycenae, while Menelaus is the king of Sparta. This means Hera is willing to forsake Agamemnon and Menelaus and their peoples in the future if it meant Troy is sacked and the Trojans slaughtered in the present. Also, Troy happens to be favored by Zeus, but he is willing to let it be destroyed. To make his wife happy? It’s scenes like these that make the gods look petty, vindictive, and aloof—especially toward mortals. However, we’re also going to see scenes and dialogue later on that make you wonder if something more is pushing the gods forward.
The Divine Conspiracy, Part 3.2 - What Are Oaths Worth?
If you thought that scene was bad, the very next scene is possibly worse. Athena comes down to the battlefield, takes the form of a Trojan, and entices the Trojan ally Pandarus to shoot Menelaus. She then intervenes to make sure the arrow does not kill him.
Do you remember when I told you to keep the statements about oaths in mind in my write up of Book 3 when reading through Book 4? Here are the quotes again:
“The oaths of Jove must not be transgressed or taken in vain.”
“Jove, most great and glorious, and ye other everlasting gods, grant that the brains of them who shall first sin against their oaths—of them and their children—may be shed upon the ground even as this wine, and let their wives become the slaves of strangers.”
Iliad, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
Oaths are serious business. And yet, here we have a goddess entice a Trojan ally to break the oath that was made between the Trojans and Achaeans. The oath that led to a truce between them so that Menelaus and Paris could duel for Helen and end the war. All in order to get the war raging again. A war that neither the Trojans nor the Achaeans really want. Thanks to Athena and Hera (and Zeus for allowing it), a Trojan ally, whom the two goddesses loathe, became an oathbreaker, causing the war to break out again and leading to more slaughter on the battlefield.
With gods like these, who needs the devil?
And it’s times like these that I have to keep reminding myself it’s just a story. Another testament to Homer’s storytelling ability.
That’s all for Book 4 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: Menelaus Wounded by John Michael Rysbrack. Created around 1763-67. Taken from National Trust Collections.