Homer's Iliad: summary, analysis and characters of the epic

The Iliad is an epic genre poem that deals with the siege of the city of Troy by the Achaeans, to rescue Helen, wife of King Menelaus, who was kidnapped by Paris, a Trojan prince. After this fact, a war between Achaeans and Trojans ensues.

It is made up of a total of 24 songs in which different events that occurred during the last year of the Trojan War are narrated, which lasted for a period of 10 years.

In particular, he cares for the anger of Achilles, a Greek warrior who decides to stay out of the conflict after getting angry with Agamemnon, leader of the Achaean army who snatches his slave Briseida.

The Iliad, Next to the Odyssey, is an epic attributed to Homer. The two poems are a compendium of traditional texts that had been transmitted verbally by the rhapsodies for centuries.

The Iliad resume

Song 1: Plague and Wrath

After nine years from the beginning of the Trojan War, a warlike conflict between Achaeans and Trojans, the plague broke out in the Achaean camp.

Calcante, a soothsayer, assures that the disease will not cease unless Agamemnon delivers Criseida to Crises, his progenitor.

When Agamemnon gives in to his slave, he kidnaps Achilles' slave Briseis, thus causing his anger. So, Achilles decides to withdraw from the camp and Zeus supports his decision.

Canto 2: The Dream of Agamemnon and Boeotia

Zeus sends a message to Agamemnon through a dream to warn him that he must go ahead with the taking of Troy.

Agamemnon decides to send the population to their respective homes. However, the exodus ceases when Agamemnon prepares to go to war and begins to list the different vessels available to battle.

Song 3: The Oaths and Helen on the Wall

The Trojans and the Achaeans join in battle. Paris challenges Menelaus for a unique duel. Meanwhile, Helena watches the combat, since she is seen as a reward for whoever wins the battle.

When Menelaus is about to kill Paris, Aphrodite, his mother, appears to save his life.

Canto 4: Violation of the oaths and review of the troops

The gods are reunited and Zeus wants to stop fighting. Although, finally, they decide that the war must continue and Athena comes down to earth in disguise and incites Pándaro to shoot an arrow at Menelaus.

The truce ceases when Agamemnon finds out what happened and decides to encourage his troops to continue the battle. So, the two armies face off on the battlefield.

Canto 5: Principality of Diomedes

Athena advises Diomedes and transmits anger and courage to fight in battle.

On his side, Pándaro wounds Diomedes with an arrow, but Athena comes to his rescue and manages to rebuild him. Afterward, he warns her that he must avoid attacking other gods, unless he meets Aphrodite.

Finally, Diomedes attacks Aeneas, the son of Aphrodite.

Song 6: Héctor and Andrómaca

The war continues without the help of the gods, and the Achaeans have an advantage over the Trojans.

Hellenus, prince of Troy, asks Hector to travel to Troy to order his mother and the Trojan women Let them go to the temple of the goddess Athena and make an offering for her to take pity on them during the war.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Diomedes and Glaucus meet and exchange armor as a sign of respect.

Hector urges his brother Paris to fight the battle. Later, he meets her wife Andromache, who cries inconsolably because she fears losing her husband in the war.

Song 7: Battle on the Wall

Héctor wants to face the Achaeans and challenges one of them to a duel. Ajax Telamonio is in charge of confronting him. The battle transcends until nightfall, when the combatants give themselves a truce.

For his part, Nestor orders the Achaeans to build a wall to protect their camp and takes the opportunity to incinerate the corpses. Likewise, the Trojans are wondering whether or not to hand over Helena.

Song 8: Battle Interrupted

Zeus forbids the gods to help the Achaeans and Trojans in war. Athena opposes her firm decision and requests that the deities be able to advise the men during battle even if they cannot intervene.

Later, Zeus sends a thunderbolt and the Achaeans flee. However, Nestor is unable to escape and one of his horses dies.

Agamemnon requests the help of Zeus and this benefits the Achaean troops. Hera and Athena come down from Olympus to help the Greeks but Isis stops them.

Canto 9: Embassy to Achilles

Agamemnon summons his own and proposes that they withdraw from the war and return home. Diomedes criticizes her decision and warns her that he will continue to fight.

Afterwards, Nestor advises Agamemnon to apologize to Achilles, and he promises that he will return his wife to him. However, Achilles is very offended and does not accept his forgiveness.

Canto 10: Gesta de Dolon

Agamemnon and Menelaus decide to spy on the Trojan camp. Thus, Diomedes and Odysseus are in charge of carrying out the mission.

On his part, Hector also resolves to send Dolon to watch over the Achaeans. However, he is intercepted by Diomedes and Odysseus, who interrogate him for information.

Diomedes and Odysseus discover the Trojans' plan and decide to assassinate the Thracian soldiers and their King Reso, who were going to help the Trojans in the war.

Song 11: Agamemnon's Gestation

The battle begins again. Agamemnon participates and excels in it by killing many Trojans.

Zeus warns Hector that if they succeed in wounding Agamemnon, the Trojans will be victorious. In this way, Agamemnon falls wounded and the Trojans take the reins of the battle.

Meanwhile Achilles, who refuses to fight, sends Patroclus to find out how he is developing in combat.

Song 12: Battle on the Wall

The Trojans begin the attack very close to the wall of the Achaeans.

Héctor throws a stone and manages to pass through the gate of the wall. In this way, he makes way for the Trojans, who enter the rival camp destroying everything in their path.

Canto 13: Battle alongside the ships

The battle continues. Poseidon advises the Achaeans to resist Trojan attacks. Héctor continues to win the conflict and advances with an advantage.

Canto 14: Deception of Zeus

Hera tricks Zeus into making him sleepy. Meanwhile, Agamemnon is about to surrender again and Poseidon helps the Achaeans in battle.

On his side, Ajax attacks Hector, who is wounded and has to withdraw from combat. Later, the Achaeans manage to regain their advance.

Canto 15: New Offensive of the Ships

Zeus wakes up and gets angry with Hera. He also assures her that the battle will be won by the Trojans unless Achilles returns to the fray.

In this way, Zeus gives forces to Hector and the Trojans, who manage to reach the ships of the Achaeans and manage to raise their position in battle.

Canto 16: Gesta de Patroclus

Hector burns the ships of the Achaeans. On his side, Patroclus seeks Achilles' help and asks for his weapons to help the Greeks.

Thus, Patroclus arrives at battle dressed in Achilles' armor and manages to scare the Trojans, who mistake him for himself and flee.

Later, Apollo helps the Trojans and hits Patroclus from behind. Finally, he dies at the hands of Hector.

Canto 17: Gesta de Menelao

The Achaeans avenge the death of Patroclus and fight. For their part, the Trojans want to get Achilles' armor, which is stolen by Hector.

Finally, the Achaeans manage to take the body of Patroclus to the ships.

Canto 18: Manufacture of weapons

Antilochus informs Achilles of the death of his friend Patroclus. Afterwards, Achilles decides to avenge his death and confront Hector.

The Trojans meet and deliberate how to continue the battle. While some want to protect themselves behind the walls of Troy, Hector intends to fight in the open field.

On the other hand, Thetis, mother of Achilles, gets a new armor for her son through Hephaestus, god of fire.

Canto 19: Achilles Deposes Anger

Achilles prepares to fight in the new armor that his mother has given him. But first, she makes peace with Agamemnon, who returns her slave, Briseida, and a few more gifts.

Song 20: Battle of the Gods

Zeus discovers that Achilles has returned to battle and allows the gods to intervene and help whichever side they choose.

Achilles fights on the battlefield and leaves many dead in his wake. He also finds Aeneas and attacks him. Finally, Poseidon manages to save Aeneas' life.

Canto 21: Battle by the River

Achilles mercilessly kills all Trojans who cross his path.

Encamandro, the river god, becomes enraged and asks Achilles to stop killing people. Faced with Achilles' refusal, the god surrounds him with his waters and Hera comes to rescue him.

Likewise, the gods fight among themselves, some in defense of the Trojans and others of the Achaeans.

On his side, Priam orders the city gates to be opened and Apollo manages to drive Achilles away from the walls of Troy.

Canto 22: Death of Hector

The battle between Hector and Achilles takes place around the city walls. Achilles attacks Hector and he tries to flee.

In a final duel, Hector is killed by Achilles, who then ties his corpse to a tank and drives him through the city.

Canto 23: Games in Honor of Patroclus

The Achaeans hold a funeral in honor of Patroclus. During the act, the deceased appears to his friend Achilles and asks her to bury his body so that he can rest in the land of the dead. Finally, some games take place in his honor: chariot racing, wrestling, shot put, among others.

Song 24: Rescue of Hector

Priam goes to Achilles' camp and asks him to return Hector's body to the Trojans.

Then, they both mourn their respective losses and, finally, Achilles hands over Hector's body. Likewise, he accepts an eleven-day truce to celebrate Hector's funeral, after which Achaeans and Trojans would fight again.

Finally, Hector's body reaches Troy, where a funeral is held in his honor.

Analysis of the Iliad

Structure

It is a poem divided into 24 songs with 15693 hexameter verses, a metric form typical of classical Greek and Latin literature.

Omniscient narration

On The Iliad the narrator is of the omniscient type, since he relates events that are foreign to him in an objective way, that is, he reduces himself to describing what happens in the third person.

Homeric Greek

To the variant of Greek that Homer uses in the Iliad it is known by this denomination. In this epic an artificial language is used, since there is no dialect of any particular time or region that resembles the one used in this poem.

Topics

It is a military-type text, in which the value and the strengh. Likewise, it presents a pessimistic conception of man, seen as a miserable being who cannot escape the will of the gods. The poem begins with the anger of Achilles and ends with the death of Hector.

Also, this epic is loaded with universal themes, these are the main ones:

Anger

It is the issue around which the conflict develops. The anger of Achilles is perceived in the first song, sentiment provoked by the acts of Agamemnon, who takes his slave Briseida from him. So Achilles decides to stay out of the war against the Trojans.

Sing, oh goddess, the anger of Pelida Achilles; fatal anger that caused infinite evils to the Achaeans (...)

War

This topic appears as a backdrop throughout the epic. In it, not only the heroes fight on the battlefield, but the gods also intervene in the conflict to favor one side or another.

Also, the Iliad reveals the horrors of war and the collateral effects. This can be seen, for example, in the suffering of family members who see her loved ones leave or die in the war, such as Andromache who says goodbye to her along with her son from her husband Hector.

Andromache, tearful, stopped next to her (Hector's) of her and taking hold of her hand said:

Your courage will lose you. Have no pity on the tender infant or on me, unfortunate one, who will soon be your widow.

Honor and pride

Achilles, an example of a Greek hero, is the representation of pride in the poem. As a hero he seeks to preserve his honor and puts him above the interest of his own. When Agamemnon abducts his slave, Achilles feels that he has lost his honor. Then his arrogance causes him to withdraw from the war and, consequently, the deaths of many of his companions take place at the hands of the Trojan army.

The humanity

Most of the events that are narrated in the Iliad they are cruel. However, there is a time when consideration appears. The end of this epic could be considered an example of piety, of truce, between two heroes belonging to two rival sides.

Achilles and Priam pause the conflict to mourn the death of Patroclus and Hector. This fact shows a small gesture of humanity in the midst of horror.

The will of the gods and fate

This theme is related to the power that the gods have in the future of the conflict and in the destiny of the heroes itself.

Sometimes the deities, led by Zeus, intervene in the war and are divided to support one side or another, in some way they also intervene in the fortunes of the heroes. For example, Athena intervenes so that Achilles does not murder Agamemnon and, on another occasion, Aphrodite rescues Aeneas when he is about to die at the hands of Diomedes.

Death

Death is present throughout the entire epic. Heroes are not immortal. They may be invincible, like Achilles, but none can escape death.

In the words of Glaucus, when he is in front of Diomedes, the life of mortals is equated to that of leaves when they are blown away by the wind:

Like the generation of leaves, like that of men. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, and the forest, turning green, produces others when spring arrives: in the same way, a human generation is born and another seems.

Characters

In the Iliad There are countless characters lacking psychological depth, in the middle of an action that takes place without rest, where description prevails and enumerations and reiterations abound.

The characters in this epic could be classified into three groups: Achaeans, trojans Y gods.

Aqueos

It is the name by which the Greeks are known. Of this group the most prominent characters are Achilles, a Greek warrior, and Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaean army. However, there are other names related to this side:

• Achilles: he is one of the main characters of the Iliad. Son of Peleus and the nymph Tethys, he is considered one of the best Achaean warriors and one of the fastest, in this way he is known in Homeric poems as "the one with light feet."

• Agamemnon: he is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Aéroe, also the brother of Menelaus. He is one of the most distinguished Achaeans, the head of the Greek army. He often has clashes with Achilles.

• Patroclus: He is the son of Meneceo and the faithful friend and companion of Achilles. He dies during the war in a dispute with Hector.

• Menelaus: is the king of Sparta and the brother of Agamemnon. He is the central point by which the Trojan War is unleashed. The Achaeans fight for her honor when Helen, her wife, is kidnapped by the Trojan prince Paris.

• Helena: she is the daughter of Zeus and Leda, she is also the wife of Menelaus. She is described as a very beautiful woman. Her flight with Paris to Troy is the trigger for the war.

• Ajax the Great: also known as Ayante, he is the son of Telamon and Peribea. He is one of the strongest and most feared Achaeans in his army. He fights Hector, whom he nearly kills on one occasion.

• Diomedes: He is one of the most representative and powerful heroes of the Achaean side, who manages to successfully confront a good number of Trojans.

• Odysseus or Ulysses: he is an Achaean warrior noted for his cunning. His leading role becomes important in The odyssey, whose plot centers on his return to Ithaca after the war.

• Nestor: He is a warrior of the Achaean army and provides wisdom, as due to his advanced age he cannot fight at the front.

• Thersites: He is an Achaean warrior, whose role does not excel in the Iliad. Homer describes him as an unattractive, vulgar, and ridiculous Greek.

• Idomeneo: he is the grandson of King Minos, one of Helena's suitors. Likewise, he is one of the bravest soldiers in the Achaean army during the Trojan War.

• Phoenix: he is one of Achilles' advisers during the war. He is one of the Myrmidons who supported the Achaeans during the Trojan War.

• Tetis: is the mother of Achilles and in the Iliad she has the function of protecting her child.

Trojans

Settled in Troy, this side fight to protect the city under the command of King Priam. In this group the character of Héctor stands out, direct enemy of Achilles after causing the death of his best friend.

• Hector: he is the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. He is another of the main characters in the poem of the Iliad. His mission is to safeguard the security of the city of Troy until his death at the hands of Achilles, one of his main enemies.

• Paris: also called Alexander in mythology, he is Hector's brother. Also, he is the cause of the Trojan War as he kidnaps Helen, the wife of King Menelaus.

• Priam: he is the king of Troy, father of Hector and Paris. His age prevents him from participating in the war, yet he struggles to regain the body of his son when he dies. To do this, he goes into the enemy camp and talks to Achilles.

• Andromache: she is the daughter of King Ethion and the wife of Hector. During the war she witnesses the death of her husband along with hers, her son Astianacte.

• Aeneas- He is one of the most daring heroes of the Trojan army. During the war he is wounded by Diomedes, although Aphrodite, his mother, manages to save him.

• Cassandrashe: she is the daughter of King Priam and Hecuba. Her role during the war is to predict the destruction of Troy and other misfortunes of the conflict, although no one believes her.

• Hecuba: she is the queen of Troy, wife of Priam, and the mother of Hector, Cassandra and Paris.

• Astianacte or Escamandro: he is the son of Héctor and Andrómaca.

• Glaucous: he is a soldier of the Trojan side. He fights alongside Héctor and dies because of Ajax Telamonio.

• Deiphobus: he is the brother of Héctor and son of Príamo and Hécuba.

• Pandar: he is an archer who participates in war and defends the Trojans. During the conflict he wounds Menelaus with an arrow, thus he breaks the truce established between sides.

• Dolon: he is the son of Eumedes and participates in the war on the Trojan side. He is in charge of carrying out the espionage work in the enemy camp but, finally, he is kidnapped by Odysseus and Diomedes for questioning, which leads to his death.

• Antenor: he is the advisor to King Priam.

• Polishing agent: He is a Trojan warrior in charge of giving Hector advice on several occasions, although he rejects it.

• Euphorbo: he is a young Trojan warrior with little experience on the battlefield. His luck leads him to death at the hands of Menelaus.

• Agénor: he is the first Trojan who dares to confront Achilles and is later saved by Apollo, who spreads a thick fog to distract the Greek army.

Gods

From Olympus, the deities control the fate of men who fight in war and even change the course of events to favor one side or another.

• Zeus: He is the god of the gods and plays a fundamental role in warfare.
• Aphrodite: she is the goddess of beauty and love. During the war she stands in favor of the Trojan army.

• Hephaestus: He is the god of fire and the forge who is in charge of making Achilles' armor and saves his life during the battle with the river god.

• Ares: she is the god of war. Son of Zeus and Hera. He fights for both sides, first for the Achaeans and then for the Trojans.

• Sagebrush: she is the goddess of the hunt, daughter of Zeus and Leto, and sister of Apollo. She acts on behalf of the Trojans during the war and confronts Hera.

• Hermes: He is the messenger god of Olympus. During the Trojan War she took a stand in favor of the Greek army.

• Eris: she is the goddess of chaos and discord. In the Iliad she is the sister of Ares and the daughter of Zeus and Hera.

• Athena: she is the goddess of wisdom and war who stands with the Achaean side.

• Apollo: she is the god of the sun, logic and reason. Son of Zeus and Leto. He is in charge of spreading the plague in the Achaean camp.

• Hera: she is the protective goddess of marriage and family. She too, she is the wife of Zeus and mother of Ares and Hephaestus.

Homer

Homer is the name to which the Iliad and the Odyssey. Little is known about this figure surrounded by mystery, whose existence is still doubted.

Homer is believed to have lived in the 8th century BC. C. and modern research assures that he may have been originally from the Ionian colonial zone of Asia Minor.

In any case, his works form the foundations of Western culture and had a great influence on the daily life of ancient Greece. They have also managed to transcend and survive the passage of time.

If you liked this article, you can also read Homer's Odyssey