The Wrath of Peleus’ Son, Homer’s Iliad Book I

“The wrath of Peleus' son, the direful spring Of all the Grecian woes, O Goddess, sing !

That wrath which hurled to Pluto's gloomy reign

The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain, Whose limbs, unburied on the naked shore, Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore:

Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,

Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove!” -Homer

If you have not read the Iliad, I very much encourage you to start with either the Richard Lattimore or Stanley Lombardo translation. They are much easier to read and understand. With the right mindset, you will get the message Homer is trying to convey. This series will be on Alexander Pope’s translation which was published in 1715. Pope sought to create a more poetic telling of the Iliad and he spent five years translating Homer’s Iliad. The language, of course, is older. Not as easy to understand and if you’re like me with a pedestrian public school education, it might appear daunting. Read or listen to the Lattimore translation first. The Lombardo audiobook is well done, but it is not as faithful as Lattimore’s.

The story of the Iliad is simple, as said by Alexander Pope, but in its simplicity springs forth the vital fire of life. Of what it means to be a man. At the heart of the Iliad is the struggle between King Agamemnon, the leader of the Grecian hosts, and Achilles, the leader of the Myrmidons. Agamemnon leads because he commands the most men. This is what gave the right of kingship over all the other chiefs gathered for the cause. Agamemnon and Achilles represent two archetypes the Greks saw as at odds. Their quarrel is over the prize girl, Briseis, who was given to Achilles by the army and taken by a wrathful Agamemnon who was forced to give up his own prize girl.

If you haven’t, I recommend you read Selective Breeding and the Birth of Philosophy by Costin Alamariu for a more in-depth analysis of these two archetypes. Agamemnon represents the legacy of NOMOS. He reigns not by his superior prowess, but out of convention. Achilles has the superior physical prowess. He’s considered the best of the Hellenes, but he is subject to the rule of Agamemnon because of tradition. The two archetypes, he who is best by convention and he who is best by nature find themselves opposed. Nature vs nomos is a part of Homer’s tale.

The Iliad begins with a priest of Apollo seeking the return of his daughter from King Agamemnon. He brings gifts to pay a ransom for her return. The girl was a gift to Agamemnon from the army. The Hellenes thought the ransom was sufficient and believed Agamemnon should return the girl, but he refused and rudely sent the priest away. This priest begs Apollo the mouse god for vengeance. Yes, you should be able to ask the gods for vengeance. There is nothing wrong with this.

“For nine long nights, through all the dusky air The pyres thick-flaming shot a dismal glare.

But ere the tenth revolving day was run, Inspired by Juno, Thetis' god-like son Convened to council all the Grecian train;

For much the goddess mourned her heroes slain.” -Homer

Apollo heard the priest’s prayer and rained fire and plague upon the Greks as punishment. It was then that Juno, the wife of Zeus had Achilles call a council of chiefs. Where the argument between Agamemnon and Achilles begins. An augur is made to explain that the Greks have angered Apollo. To stay the god’s wrath, they would have to return the girl and offer sacrifice. Agamemnon blows up on the priest and says that if he must give up his prize, the army should offer up a replacement for him, maybe perhaps, he should take Achilles’ prize girl? This sets off Achilles.

“‘Is this the pay our blood and toils deserve, Disgraced and injured by the man we serve?

And darest thou threat to snatch my prize away, Due to the deeds of many a dreadful day?

A prize as small, O tyrant! matched with thine, As thy own actions if compared to mine.

Thine in each conquest is the wealthy prey, Though mine the sweat and danger of the day.

Some trivial present to my ships I bear, Or barren praises pay the wounds of war.

But know, proud monarch, I'm thy slave no more:

My fleet shall waft me to Thessalia's shore.

Left by Achilles on the Trojan plain, What spoils, what conquests, shall Atrides gain?’” —Achilles, Homer

Achilles was the workhorse of the Grek army. He put the entire army on his back, many times. He sacked many cities in the ten years of the war. Heraclitus says, “One man is ten thousand to me if he be the best.” The best was Achilles. In war, it’s these types that turn the tides of battles. It’s these types we must preserve. His prize girl, Briseis, was given to him by the army. He did not choose her. He was too tired from winning the actual battle to worry about what his loot was to be.

Few understand what it meant to put an army on your back in the ancient world. Being a general in the ancient world meant you were on the frontlines. Battle in the Iliad were champions calling out champions on the other side to single combat. They used chariots oftentimes or fought on their feet, hoplite style. Achilles would fight the best the Trojans and their allies had to offer, again and again, for ten years. This is what it meant to be a king or a chief in the ancient world.

I’ve said many times that the war band is the foundation of a people. The war band was devoted to a lord. This was not a one-way relationship. The lord was expected to fight at the head of the war band. To beat the enemy’s best and secure for the war band plunder and women. This was no modern army where you did patriotic service to country. The members of the war band expected privileges and rewards for their service.

Moderns place little faith in monarchs. They’re seen as inbred or insufficient to do what is right and just in the world. They are seen as undeserving of their royal bloodline. Even the Romans had a dislike of the king or tyrant and who is to disagree with the Romans? Who is to disagree with the legacy left behind by the Romans? They are the greatest empire this world has ever seen.

I would ask you to reconsider this modern notion. The Romans were led by the Patricians. The noble bloodlines descended from the first hundred men under their founder Romulus. The men he called the Fathers of Rome. The best of them took charge of the Romans. Their competition for distinction made them great. A culture of excellence is the ideal, but where does that culture start?

It starts with the war band and the lord who leads it. The man who must put his tribe on his shoulders. Who must defeat the enemy’s champions on the field and lead his war band to victory. But Achilles was more than this simple lord. He put a confederation of tribes on his back in the Trojan War. He brought victories on a scale not yet seen in the ancient world and this is how you have to view the legacy of the great runner. Achilles embodied the ideal of the Grek. He was both best in war and in the counsel of armed men.

“‘Now by this sacred sceptre hear me swear, Which never more shall leaves or blossoms bear, Which, severed from the trunk, as from thee, On the bare mountains left its parent tree ;

This sceptre, formed by tempered steel to prove An ensign of the delegates of Jove,

From whom the power of laws and justice springs-Tremendous oathl inviolate to kings

By this I swear, when bleeding Greece again Shall call Achilles, she shall call in vain.

When, flushed with slaughter, Hector comes to spread The purpled shore with mountains of the dead, Then shalt thou mourn the afiront thy madness gave, Forced to deplore, when impotent to save :

Then rage in bitterness of soul, to know This act has made the bravest

Greek thy foe.’

He spoke; and furious hurled against the ground His sceptre starred with golden studs around;” -Achilles, Homer

It’s worth noting that this passage is evidence of Alamariu’s thesis concerning the two archetypes that present themselves in Book I. Agamemnon is the best by convention, but Achilles the best by nature as he makes his oath on a scepter which itself was a branch from a tree — signifying nature.

What should you take away from the first book of the Iliad? Take away the competition between convention and nature. The foreign world of the ancients vs our modern world. You must remember that the ancients were much closer to nature than we are. Their actions represent the older understanding and dare I say, as a disciple of the barbaric world, the more correct understanding. That our so-called evolved society isn’t an evolution but a degeneration before the watchful eyes of God.

It is right and just for Achilles to withdraw from the war. It is right and just for ancient men to expect something from their service. The plunder and women belong to the stronger. The greatest sin a people could commit against nature is to lose a war. Never lose wars!

“‘Let this suffice: the immutable decree

No force can shake: what is, that ought to be.

Goddess submit, nor dare our will withstand,

But dread the power of this avenging hand;

The united strength of all the gods above In vain resists the omnipotence of Jove.’

The Thunderer spoke, nor durst the queen reply;

A reverend horror silenced all the sky.” -Homer

Another takeaway is the might of the thunderer over all the other gods which takes place at the end of Book I. Zeus makes sure his insolent wife understands just how much more powerful he is over all the other gods combined. That his will is the will of Heaven and none shall defy him without suffering punishment. His nod to Thetis, granting her wish to make the Greks lose until they’re forced to grovel before her son, makes all of Olympus tremble. I mentioned in prior Warrior Religion article, “Theology and Worldview,” that the gods of Olympus are not unlike the angels of Heaven. They are all subservient to the Father.

Book I ends with another, overlooked lesson that you will see Homer make again and again in the Iliad. The bad is all that is fat and deformed. Or as Nietzsche says, “All that is born from weakness.” Vulcan, the god with a limp, becomes the laughingstock of the other gods, bringing much-needed comedic relief to the tension created by Zeus’ oath. I will point out in future poasts how Homer mocks the fat and ugly. He goes out of his way to point them out. They are always trying to undermine the will of his heroes and they are always punished for these crimes by better men.

Stay tuned for Book II.

PREVIOUS PARTS:

1. Preface to Alexander Pope’s Translation of Homer’s Iliad