HOMER, THE ILIAD, Pt. 3
Books V-VI

STUDY QUESTIONS

In Book V we have this chiasm;

It is a redo of Agamemnon’s accusation that, "You are not as good as your fathers, live up to their reputation!"

(Line 921)

A "So Tydeus’ son is half the size of his father,
B and he was short and slight-but Tydeus was a fighter!
C Even then, when I forbade him to go to war
D or make show of himself in others’ eyes...
that time, alone, apart from his men, he marched
the message into Thebes, filled with hordes of Thebans,
I told him to banquet in their halls and eat in peace.
But he always had that power, that courage from the first---
and so he challenged the brave yound blades of Thebes
to tests of strength and beat them all with ease,
I urged him on with so much winning force.
c But you, Tydides, I stand by you as well,
I guard you too. And with all good will I say,
fight it out with the Trojans here! But look at you---
b fatique from too much changing has sapped you limbs,
that or some lifeless fire has paralyzed you now.
a. So you’re no offspring of Tydeus
a the gallant, battle-hardened Oeneus’ son!"

    Chiasm in Book 6 (Lines 142-168):

A.

Who are you, my fine friend?- another born to die?
I’ve noticed you on the line where we win glory,
not till not. But here you come, charging out
in front of all the rest with such bravado--
daring to face the flying shadow of my spear.
Pity the ones whose sons stand up to me in war!
B.
But if you are an immortal come from the blue,
C.
I’m not the man to fight the gods of heaven.
D.
Not even Dryas’ indestructible son Lycugus,
not even he lived long...
that fellow who tried to fight the deathless gods.
E.
He rushed at the maeneds once, nurses of wild Dionysus,
scattered them breakneck down the holy mountain Nysa.
A rout of them strewed their sacred stave on the ground,
raked with the cattle prod by Lycurgus, murderous fool!
And Dionysus was terrified, he dove beneath the surf
where the sea-nymph Thetis pressed him to her breast--
Dionysus numb with gear: shivers racked his body
thanks to the racous onslaught of that man.
But the gods who live at ease lashed out against him--
worse, the son of Cronus struck Lycurgus blind.
d.
Nor did the man live long, not with the hate
of all the gods against him.
c.
No my friend,
I have not desire to fight the blithe immortals.
b.
But if you’re a man who eats the crops of the earth,
a mortal born for death--here, come closer,
a.
the sooner you will meet your day to die!"
Here is the general sense echoed between each pair of sections.

Take some time to make sure you can see the idea repeated in each section.

A-a. Who are you? Surely you will meet your death at my hands.
B-b. Unless you are an immortal, but if you are mortal then you will die.
C-c. I do not desire to fight immortals
D-d. Even the great mortal Lycurgus was no match for the immortals.
E Story of the foolish Lycurgus who taught he could fight the gods.

Keep looking for chiasms as we read through the Iliad; there are lots of them, especially in important sections.

It is difficult not to be quite moved by Hector’s conversation with his wife Andromache. What more do we learn from this conversation about Hector’s motivation for fighting the war? (lines 461-588)

Andromache must know that Hector’s absence from the battle would only lead to the Trojan’s sure defeat. Doesn’t her pleading with Hector show that she thinks more of her own good than that of the city?

Besides the fact that Hector is her husband, why does Andromache have an especially great desire for his well-being?

Homer begins the Iliad by telling us that it will be about the Rage of Achilles. You might think that Homer has gotten quite side-tracked as we are nearly half-way through the book and do not know much about his conflict with Agamemnon then we did at the end of book 1. Why do you think Homer does not return to the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon until here in book 9?

There is another Chiasm in (lines 148-187) Nestor’s speech. See if you can find it for yourself!

Phoenix, Ajax and Odysseus are chosen as the embassy to Achilles. When they approach Achilles, they find him in a very un-warlike activity- playing a lyre and singing songs about the great deeds of the ancient warriors. What does Achilles interest  in these songs tell us about his character?

Even though Odysseus’ speech show Achilles fairly reasonable grounds for return to the battle-lines, he takes quite poorly to this first speech- "I hate that man who says one things but hides another in his heart."(lines 378-379) Here he is probably refering to Agamemnon, but he could also be insulting the crafty Odysseus. Achilles has nothing but scorn for all the gifts that Agamemnon offers. If it was the removal of Briseus that was the cause of Achilles anger, why does the prospect of her return not persuade him more?

Even though Achilles does make concessions to the embassy, when Odysseus returns to camp he only tells Agamemnon what Achilles told him, i.e. that Achilles will sail home tomorrow, rather than the modified answers that Achilles gave Phoenix and Ajax. Why do you think Odysseus doesn’t tell the full truth?