Throughout the iliad of homer, the constant theme of death is inherently apparent. The fate of patroclus in the iliad of homer schoolworkhelper. So patroclus made his request, fool that he was, for his own doom and an evil death were. Euphorbus attempts to strip patroclus armor, but menelaus kills him. As they fought on around the benched ship, patroclus, hot tears pouring down his face like a stream of dark water flowing in dusky streaks down the face of a sheer cliff, returned to achilles, leader of men. Meanwhile, patroclus goes to achilles tent and begs to be allowed to wear achilles armor if achilles still refuses to rejoin the battle himself. Revisiting the apostrophes to patroclus in iliad 16 chs. When patroclus comes on the field dressed as achilles in book 16, the greeks think their star quarterback is back off the bench, and they get pumped way up. Hektor was only the third person to strike him though he was the only one to deliver a fatal blow. The sixth battle, the acts and death of patroclus the iliad. Achilles declines to fight but agrees to the exchange of armor, with the understanding that patroclus will fight only long enough to save the ships. Euphorbus strikes at him and misses only to be killed by menelaus. We linger over the deaths of patroclus and hector because we get to know them so well. Sarpedon to glaucus, allies of troy, book 12 susan bertolinothe iliadmosaic 2 14 15.
Book 17, line 5 the trojan euphorbus comes to take the body but king menelaus will not yield. And the brilliant runner achilles saw him coming, filled with pity and spoke out winging words. In the 16th book of homers iliad, zeus seems destined to fulfill his promise to achilles mother, thetis, to give glory to achilles. Books 15 16 book 15 marks the beginning of the end for hector and the trojans, who have reached the height of their power and now face a downhill slope. Murray 1 and the son of atreus, menelaus, dear to ares, failed not to mark that patroclus had been slain in battle by the trojans, but fared amid the foremost fighters, harnessed in flaming bronze, and bestrode the dead, as over a calf standeth lowing plaintively its mother, that hath brought forth her firstborn, ere then knowing naught of motherhood. First, the priest chryses comes to ask their leader, king agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom agamemnon was holding captive.
The battle rages on between the trojan and achaean forces, and patroclus devises a scheme to free the achaean ships from the trojans. The sixth battle, the acts and death of patroclus, the iliad, lit2go edition, 1899, accessed may, 2020. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Zeus knows that the death of patroclus will force achilles to fight for the greeks achaeansdanaansargives. If youve read book 16, youll know that what patroklos says is technically true. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the iliad and what it means. He tells patroclus that achilles cannot save him now. Achilles prays to zeus for patroclus protection, futilely. Achilles agrees but tells patroclus he should only drive the trojans back from the ships, not follow them to troy. The myrmidons swarm like bees as patroclus sounds the charge and fills them with courage. Achilles and patroclus are so emotionally close that patroclus. Wounds are inflicted on almost every part of the anatomy, and the only field surgery described consists of bandaging and tying a sling around an injured limb to support it, bathing a wound in warm water, and applying external herbal painkillers.
The death of patroclus is one of the most powerful scenes in homers iliad. Then patroclus drew near to achilles with tears welling from his eyes, as from some spring whose crystal stream falls over the ledges of a high precipice. Patrokloss overstepping the bounds set him by first achilles see above, then apollo lines 707709, effectively dooming himself. Patroclus arms for battle in all respects but for achilles weighted, heavy, tough spear 16.
When patroclus comes on the field dressed as achilles in book 16, the greeks think their star quarterback is back off. Throughout the iliad, gods and goddesses intervene in the action, and this scene is no exception. There is no dramatic character development, but one does see patroklos as a character perpetrates dramatic events and provides a. Achilles retrieves a special cup and pours libation to zeus praying for patroclus to come back unharmed having gained glory. When patroclus answers achilless call to question nestor, homer says from that moment on his doom was sealed. Deaths in the iliad, ian johnston greek mythology link. Achilless reappearance in the narrative at the end of book 11 starts the progression of events that leads to the fated deaths of patroclus, hector, and after the end of the poem achilles himself.
Although modern critical descriptions of the iliad never fail to acknowledge the major role battles play in the poem, these scenes are rarely at the center of commentary. For zeus son, sarpedon, it was a spear through the heart, and for hector, it was the bronze. Murray 1 thus then they were warring around the wellbenched ship, but patroclus drew nigh to achilles, shepherd of the host, shedding hot tears, even as a fountain of dark water that down over the face of a beetling cliff poureth its dusky stream. The list below has been prepared by ian johnston of malaspina universitycollege, nanaimo, bc, and later adapted by carlos parada to fit the transliteration used in the greek mythology link. A comparison with those addressed to menelaus at other points in the poem will enable me to pinpoint the unique manner in which the pathos of patroclus death is enhanced at the end of book 16. Menelaus observes the death of patroclus and runs to guard his body like a mother cow lowing over a calf. Patroclus killed many trojans and trojan allies, including a son of zeus, sarpedon.
This lesson will summarize the events surrounding the heros end, and explain its significance for the epic as a whole. He has made a fatal decision, and the deaths of sarpedon, patroklos, hektor, achilles himself, and the fall of troy all inevitably follow. The iliad book 16 death of patroclus american literature. Patroclus adresses achilles at the start of book 16 described as flesheating wolves, hearts filled with boundles son of zeus, leader of the lycians, killed by patroclus. Even though patroklos is an important character in the iliad, homer gives little attention to him until the ninth book, and even then, the focus is not on patroklos himself, but on his relationship to achilles. Each main character, either by a spear or merely a scratch from an arrow, was wounded or killed during the progression of the story. Patroclus begs achilles to send him back to the war to help the achaeans. Read about how death is described in the iliad, plus the names of the combatants and types of death described in homers great epic of the trojan war. In the tenth year of the trojan war, tensions are running high among the achaians a superancient name for the ancient greeks. Two hundred forty battlefield deaths are described in the iliad, 188 trojans, and 52 greeks. Homer, iliad book 17 theoi classical texts library. The god apollo sides with the trojans, like zeus, and steps in to stop patroclus, who is wounded. Read powerpoints on achilles in books 118 and the homeric gods.
The iliad blog 7, the deaths of patroclus and hector the iliad blog 7, the deaths of patroclus and hector. In fact, the majority of apostrophes addressed to patroclus in the iliad occur in scenes in which the hero is explicitly threatened by death. In the iliad, patroclus is a close friend and confidant of achilles, who leads the greeks in war against the trojans. Thoughout the whole book, zeus outlines the rest of the iliad and beyond, predicting even the eventual fall of troy, which occurs after the end of the poem. So they fought to the death around that benched beaked ship as patroclus reached achilles, his great commander. Hector consults within himself what measures to take. Tragically, patroclus is begging for his own death. At the end of book 16, hector kills patroclus, fulfilling zeus prophecy. Set during the trojan war, the tenyear siege of the city of troy ilium by a coalition of greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the. Iliad xxii 337366 essay dickinson college commentaries. The deaths of sarpedon and patroklos in this book introduce an elegiac tone into the last part of the iliad, as the characters that the reader sees as sympathetic are killed. Menelaus intends to strip him of his armor but apollo inspires hector in the shape of a trojan to stop. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the iliad, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fighting for the body, patroclus charges the trojans force repeatedly and kills many men, but on his fourth charge apollo knocks patroclus over from behind. To the dismay of peaceful readers, homers descriptions of wounding and killing are copious and exquisitely detailed. The death of patroclus in the iliad full free lesson. Sent tumbling, patroclus is speared by the young trojan euphorbus. Menelaus, fighting nearby, watches the death of patroclus. Patroclus dying says to hector that zeus and apollo have made hector the victor, although he shares the mortal share of death with euphorbus. Thus disguised, he encourages the two aeantes great ajax and little ajax, when they are named as a pair and gives them new strength before he flies away. Hector sees this move, advances, and putting a spear through patroclus belly, kills him. Zeuss speech makes it clear to the reader that a predestined. The poetry is in the killing, and excerpt from the mourner. The trojans see the coming myrmidons and believe that achilles has finally come to battle. Noble achilles, the fleet of foot, saw and pitied him, and spoke to him with winged words. For a description of the chimera and the story of its death at the hands of bellerophon, see iliad, book 6. Patroclus soon spears sarpedon, and both sides fight over his armor.
Homer, iliad, book 16, line 1 perseus digital library. This lesson focuses on book 16 of the iliad by homer. Poseidon comes down to the battlefield and takes the form of calchas the seer. Patroclus adds that achilles will soon kill hector. Achilles does bury patroclus, and the iliad dedicates a chapter to the funeral games of patroclus, where all greeks compete in athletic games. Some noteworthy aspects of that encounter you can tease out their implications for yourself are.
Little ajax knows then that some god has spoken to them, and the aeantes spirits rise. When achilles saw him thus weeping he was sorry for him and said, why, patroclus, do you stand there weeping like some silly child that comes running to her mother, and begs to be taken up. Achilles pursues him thrice round the walls of troy. Homer, iliad book 16 theoi classical texts library. So they fought to the death around that benched beaked ship as patroclus reached achilles, his great commander, and wept warm tears like a dark spring running down some desolate rock face, its shaded currents flowing. Heres a clickable link to ian johnstons work on the iliad. How experts track north koreas leader nyt news duration. However, the original version of this list could be useful when consulting the online translation of the iliad by ian johnston, to which the line numbers in the right column refer. In twentyfour scrolls, containing 15,693 lines of dactylic hexameter, it tells the wrathful withdrawal from battle of. In fact, one rarely sees patroklos as an individual.
Hector taunts the fallen man, but with his dying words patroclus foretells hectors own death. The echoes of patroclus death in hectors continue as hectors soul psyche flies off to hades. All the same, it definitely sounds like patroklos is trying to knock hektors ego down a few notches, basically telling him he talks the talk, but doesnt walk the. Read book 16 death of patroclus of the iliad by homer. This is a crucial book and a turning point because in it zeus sits idly by knowing his son sarpedon will be killed, and achilles friend patroclus is also killed.
59 1630 754 1156 1126 1639 615 772 1573 380 16 742 988 858 656 74 597 632 1640 1191 1672 918 224 169 493 1354 459 577 1297 1223 607 278 958