Homer's Iliad

Magdalene Stoevesandt, Stuart Douglas Olson, Benjamin Millis, Sara Strack

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781501501807
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

This commentary on the 6th book of the Iliad concentrates on the interpretation of two episodes which have received a great deal of scholarly attention: the encounter between Diomedes and Glaukos, which surprisingly ends with an exchange of weapons and not a duel, and the series of scenes 'Hector in Troy', which reveal the hero's conflicting roles as defender of the city and father of his family.

Commentary

Book 6 of the Iliad takes place during day 22 of the action of the epic – the first of four days of battle described in detail (see STR 21, fig. 1). Achilleus has withdrawn from battle in anger after his fight with Agamemnon; via his mother Thetis, he has obtained Zeus’ support for the Trojans henceforth (days 1–21: Il. 1.12b–2.47). But Zeus’ plan, containing a decisive Greek defeat (1.495b–530, 2.3 f.), remains suspended for the time being: during the first day of battle (2.48–7.380), the Greeks remain in overall control, several minor setbacks notwithstanding. This is because Books 2–7 represent a sort of latent external analepsisP (STR 22 with fig. 2): although the narrative ostensibly takes place during year 9/10 of the war, it contains elements that within the logic of the narrative are placed at the beginning of the Trojan War. The minor episode of Achilleus’ wrath is thus embedded in the larger context of the myth of Troy (STR 22–24); at the same time, the delay of the anticipated Greek defeat serves to increase suspense (retardationP; Morrison 1992, 35–43). In addition to the catalogue of forces (2.484 ff., 2.816 ff.), the duel between Paris and Menelaos over Helen (see 3.67–75n.), the teichoscopia (3.121– 244n.), etc., the elements referred to above include the Greek successes described in Il. 4–7, which reflect the course of battle at the beginning of the Trojan campaign (Latacz [1985] 1996, 126–132; cf. also KAKRIDIS [1956] 1971, 61; KULLMANN 1960, 278). The situation as outlined at the beginning of the work is only considered insofar as the narrator repeatedly recalls Achilleus’ angry boycott (LATACZ loc. cit. 123 f., 127 f.); other Greek heroes emerge in his place on the first day of battle. The most successful is Diomedes, whose aristeia occupies all of Book 5 and still reverberates in the following Books (cf. 96–101n.). In Book 6, this occurs in a twofold manner: Diomedes himself has a further significant appearance in 119–236 (see ad loc.), and the terror he spreads forms the background of the scene sequence ‘Hektor in Troy’, which provides the narrator with an occasion for an impressive portrayal of the situation within the besieged city (237–529n.). There, the end of the Trojan War, which is not told as part of the Iliad, is also already anticipated in the dark forebodings of those concerned (esp. 447 ff.; see STR 22 fig. 2; on the position of Book 6 within the overall structure of the Iliad, see also GRAZIOZI/HAUBOLD, Introd. 24–26).

Diomedes’ prominent role in Book 6 is also reflected in the fact that Hdt. 2.116.3 cites verses 289–292 as coming from the part of the Iliad entitled Διομήδεος ἀριστείη; later, as attested in Eust. 621.17 f. (introduction to Il. 6) and in the medieval mss., Book 6 has the title Ἕκτορος καὶ Ἀνδρομάχης ὁμιλία, while Διομήδους ἀριστεία denotes only Book 5 (cf. Jensen 1999, 10; 2011, 330 f.; on the division of the Iliad into Books, see 1n.).

1–72 After a phase of indecisive fighting, Aias manages to break through the opposing front, causing a mass flight among the Trojans.

In the battle scenes of the Iliad, two basic situations alternate: (1) phases of indecisive fighting, (2) flight/withdrawal of one party (followed by the fleeing fighters assembling and forming a new front). The narrator sometimes uses comprehensive descriptions of mass battle to depict both phase types, and in a few verses these convey an overview of the entire battle situation/action; at other times, he uses (much more detailed) descriptions of individual engagements that exemplify the course of battle at that point or single out highlights (LATACZ 1977 passim, esp. 75 ff.; VAN WEES 1997, 673–687; somewhat differently HELLMANN 2000, esp. 91–150; on this, STOEVESANDT 2004, 48–51 nn. 187, 189, 194, 198). Here, the portrayal of an indecisive battle from a bird’s-eye view (verses 1–4; similarly e.g. 4.446–451 = 8.60–65, cf. KELLY 2007, 106–108) is followed by a phase of Trojan flight, illustrated by a catalogue of killing scenes: pursuing their fleeing opponents, various Greek heroes kill one or more of them (likewise 5.37–83, 14.511–522, 16.306–351; with reversed roles 15.328–342, briefly indicated at 7.8–16; cf. KELLY loc. cit. 267 f.).

12nd VH = 5.379; ≈ 4.65, 16.256. — Achaians: one of the Homeric terms for the Greeks (1.2n.; HE s.v.). — left to itself: sc. by the gods, who until now had taken part in battle. The verse picks up from the preceding narrative in the manner of a summary: the high point of Diomedes’ aristeia was his battle with Ares, in which he was supported by Athene (and indirectly Hera); in 5.864 ff. Ares leaves the battle, and in 5.907 ff. he is followed by Athene and Hera (in West’s edition of the text, 5.907–6.1 are printed as a single paragraph). At the same time, the verse introduces a change of scene by making a transition to a bird’s-eye view (DE JONG/NÜNLIST 2004, 74). Such ‘hinge’ points were frequently chosen as boundaries in the (likely post-Homeric) division of the Iliad into 24 Books (EDWARDS 2002, 39–47 [with bibliography]; cf. also HT 5; STR 21 n. 22; NÜNLIST 2006; an argument for the division into Books by the poet of the Iliad himself is made by JENSEN 2011, 329–362; cf. also HEIDEN 2008, 37–65, esp. 61 ff.). – A complete withdrawal of the gods from battle remains the exception in the Iliad (FRONTISI-DUCROUX 1986, 50). At 7.17 ff., Athene returns to the battlefield together with Apollo; beginning in Book 8, Zeus attempts to direct the action of battle by himself, but his ban on interference is repeatedly circumvented by the other gods; he permits Apollo to return to the battle in 15.220 ff., Athene in 17.544 ff., and all the gods in 20.22 ff. The present situation is matched most closely by 11.73 ff. and the brief moment before the arrival of the gods in 20.41 ff.

φύλοπις αἰνή: an inflectible VE formula (nom./acc.; in total 11x Il., 1x Od., 2x Hes., 1x h.Hom.. φύλοπις (etymology uncertain: FRISK, DELG, BEEKES) is part of the semantic field ‘battle, combat’, although the exact nuance in meaning is uncertain (see LfgrE s.v. and GRAZIOZI/HAUBOLD ad loc. : φύλοπις may denote an aspect of πόλεμος, cf. the phrase φυλόπιδος … πτολέμοιο [13.635, similarly Od. 11.314, ‘Hes.’ Sc. 113 f.] and the common collocation πόλεμος … καὶ φύλοπις [4.82 etc.]). Like all other terms from this semantic field, it generally has a negative connotation in early epic (epithets: 15x αἰνή as well as 2x κρατερή and 1x each ἀργαλέη and κρυερή; cf. also Il. 19.221 φυλόπιδος … κόρος): TRÜMPY 1950, 165 f.; see also DE JONG (1987) 2004, 231–233 (collection of all epithets used with μάχη, π(τ)όλεμος, ὑσμίνη and φύλοπις); DE ROMILLY 1997, 69 f.; 1.162n., 2.401n., 6.77n.

2now one way, now in another: During indecisive phases of battle, there are repeated episodes of temporary retreat and renewed rousing of one party (e.g. 4.505–514, 16.569–602), creating the impression that the battle surges forward and back on a broad front (LATACZ 1977, 91).

ἴθυσε μάχη: Word end between the two shorts of the 4th metrum is unusual (against so-called ‘Hermann’s bridge’, see M 9; HOEKSTRA 1969, 62–65...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Table of contents
• Preface to the German Edition
• Preface to the English Edition
• Notes for the Reader (including list of abbreviations)
• 24 Rules Relating to Homeric Language (R)
• Overview of the Action in Book 6
• Commentary
• Bibliographic Abbreviations
• Endnotes