what is The Iliad about what is it
actually about I mean this one is about
350 pages but I mean the plot well a lot
of you will be thinking to yourselves I
know what the iliad's about everyone
knows what the ilad is about it's the
story of the Trojan War isn't it you
know Paris of ducts Helen from King
menus of Sparta takes her to Troy king
menus goes to his brother AG agal of
minini says oi and his brother says
you're right we're not having this and
he puts together a massive Fleet of a
thousand ships and they go to Troy and
they fight a long war and then they make
a wooden horse and they take the wooden
horse into the City and then they come
out of the wooden horse and let the rest
of the Army in and the city then is
sacked and all that sort of stuff it's
the story of the Trojan War only it
isn't I think a lot of people buying
this buy it start reading get a little
bit confused and then realize oh we're
already deep into the war when this
starts and they get all the way to the
end they slog through it and they're so
disappointed no wooden horse that's
right it ends
before uh Achilles dies so we don't get
him being shot in the heel or any of
that and it ends before anyone even has
the idea of making a wooden horse so
what is The Iliad about then well
perhaps I should say first that The
Iliad is a stupendously important book
it was the nearest thing in the ancient
world to the Bible uh various people
like Alexander the Great are known to
have carried copies of it around with
them at all times and a huge amount of
of the Library of Alexandria you know
the one that burnt down you can tell how
middle class You Are by um how grieved
you are and how much you win every time
you someone mentions the fact that the
Library of Alexandria burned down oh
burnt down oh if only it hadn't those
anyway um a lot of those Scrolls in that
Library were in fact commentaries on
this a bit like a lot of medieval
literature was commentaries on the Bible
and was and theology dominated
University um courses similarly this was
the dominant book of its day far more so
than the Odyssey which is much more like
a modern novel in a lot of ways now this
looks like a novel it's a longish novel
by you in terms of the number of words
but actually it was an epic poem that
would be performed over several nights
by a poet um quite often uh we are told
that they would beat a stick to a strict
Rhythm as they spoke the the rhythmic
words and it would take a few nights for
them to get all the way through this and
yes they wouldn't have a script to work
from they had to memorize the entire lot
a feat that was made possible by an oral
tradition and the fact that there are a
lot of standard phrases and repetitions
within the uh the rhyme itself um and
when this was composed which was
somewhere between the 700s and 500s BC
the first writing down that we know of
was 500 and something BC um when this
was put together it it was assumed that
the listeners all knew the story so we
can dive straight in everybody knows
that Paris has abducted Helen and taken
her to Troy that's that's that's
happened already and everybody knows
that Achilles will die at some point and
there'll be a wooden horse and what have
you that is not what this is about this
is a story set over quite a short period
during the war all right so that's what
it's not about what actually is it about
well um
it's there is a story which I'll just
very quickly summarize which is Achilles
who is the greatest fighter on the aan
side uh he gets annoyed with Agamemnon
and says right that I'm not going to
fight loads of people go to him and say
oh go on fight there's an awful lot of
fighting to do you love it really Co you
want to fight don't you and he says no
no I'm going to sulk here instead and
various people try to persuade him and
they fail and after a while Petras his
friend feels the Press pressure so much
that he dresses up as Achilles and he
goes to fight but gets killed by Hector
who is the greatest Warrior on the
Trojan side and at that point whoa
hil's he's really put out and he puts on
some brand new armor made for him by the
god of heas and he goes into battle and
uh starts winning for the keans and he
eventually kills Hector and and then
they have some funeral rights and so
forth and that's sort of the story and
you think well is that that's such a
great story but I'm going to say that
it's actually about two other things
it's about two other things I've just
told you the basic plot but the first is
the way it treats War what how it talks
about the subject of war and fame and
manhood and so forth a weird thing about
it is that it is constantly glorifying
War it makes very very clear that these
are heroes that the war was tremendously
interesting and that this was the way to
get Fame and the gods are tremendously
interested in what's going on in the
Trojan War all the gods of olympos
they're all transfixed by events during
the war and oh look at that hero is
having attacking that hero and so forth
the individual acts of heroism by the
various Heroes Fascinate them and and
the gods start taking sides and even
start start Waring amongst themselves
because they're supporting one side
rather than the other um this is the
crucial of of of the of Fame this is the
this is the way a Man shows his worth in
front of the Gods and entertains us all
with his with his glorious blood
leting and at the same time this is the
weird thing at exactly the same time it
is glorifying war which it does all the
way through it is simultaneously drawing
our attention again and again to the
tragedy of
War um so many good men get killed For
What and they even talk to each other
what are we actually fighting for is
this are we just fighting for Helen is
that it is is that why we're all here
fighting for year after year so many of
us dying what's it all for and there are
so many tragic deaths and I'm just going
to give you an example of
one tell me now you Muses who inhabit
mansions on olympos who was he who first
encountered Agamemnon whether of the
Trojans themselves or of their allies
renowned it was eidus son of antonor
Great and Mighty who was nurtured in
thce Rich of soil the mother of sheep
cises his mother's father reared him
there in the Halls while he was but a
little child then when he came to the
measure of his glorious youth the father
of theano fair of face tried to keep him
there and offered him his own daughter
but a bridegroom newly wed he went from
his Bridal chamber after the tidings of
the coming of the aans with 12 beaked
ships that followed after him these trim
ships he left in Perot but himself came
by land to ilios he it was that then
encountered Agamemnon son of Atrius when
they had come in on set against each
other at's son missed and his spear was
turned aside but aidus smoked him on the
girdle below the corslet and himself
pressed on trusting to his heavy hand
but pierced not the gleaming girdle for
long ear that the point struck on the
silver it was bent like lead then wide
ruling Agamemnon caught the spear with
his hand and Drew it towards him him
furiously like a lion and snatched it
out of the hand of aidus and smot his
neck with the sword and unstrung his
limbs so even there he fell and slept a
sleep of bronze most pitously far from
his wedded wife helping the folk of the
city far from his bride of whom he had
known no joy and much had he given for
her first aund kind he gave and
thereafter promised a thousand goats and
sheep together whereof he had herds
unspeakable then did Agamemnon strip him
and went bearing his goodly harness into
the throng of the
aans so there you have it a sort of mini
tragedy and just one paragraph of text
in this that character who's never
mentioned before then and never
mentioned again after we he just he just
pops into the narrative and we just get
to know him and sort of like him and
sympathize with him and he's dead and
isn't that tragic that's that's like a
little poted tragedy right there I think
it's for me I picked that because I
think it's the best example but there
are many others like it of people dying
and uh there are poignant moments for
instance when Hector's going out to face
Achilles and we all know the story so we
all know he's going to die right his
wife is pouring a bath for him because
he goes out and fights and he comes back
and he likes a bath when he gets back
in we all know he's not never going to
take that bath there are all sorts of
little poignant details like that
highlighting again and again the tragedy
of war and how the women and the people
of the city suffer and that is a
tremendous contrast and so if you think
that oh it's just about um people
killing each other well yeah it is
there's an awful lot of people charging
around the battlefield and killing each
other and and and saying gosh look at me
aren't I great I'm so famous and good at
killing people yes they do but it's
constantly tinged with that tragedy all
the way through so that's one thing
about it the glory versus tragedy of War
and the other thing is this scene which
is actually pictured on the front of
this Edition here do you see that's an
old
man begging something of a younger man
that's Priam the king of Troy and that's
Achilles this scene was in the film with
Brad Pit and Petro tul Troy and it's the
sort of scene which I feared they might
not have put in but actually not only
they did they put it in but they made it
clear how important the scene it was
perhaps more than anything the ilad is
about this
scene if you
remember uh Petrus died and his friend
Achilles was tremendously upset by this
and he doesn't just kill Hector he goes
absolutely berserk he rages around the
battlefield at one point um he gets 12
Trojan captives whom he later kills
sacrifices around the the the Barrow of
Petras but that doesn't bring him peace
at one point he fights a river god oh
yes he has a battle with a river and the
and the the river manifests as a God and
then another fire god starts drying up
the plain by sending down fires because
of all the floods and so forth so you
got floods and fires and Godlike battles
of Rage but he doesn't find peace he
puts Hector's body behind his Chariot
and drags him around but this doesn't
get him to find peace they bury
Petrus but he doesn't find peace he
sacrifices all this stuff on petr's Tomb
and makes it clear how much he loved
this guy and how how devastated he was
to have lost his friend in this
particular way and he doesn't find peace
killing his friend's killer doesn't
bring him
peace what brings him peace is this
scene Prime is an old man and one night
he with a colleague gets into a wagon
puts some Ransom in the wagon and
quietly goes out this is tremendous risk
he's taking goes out to the aan camp and
finds Achilles his Hut and he enters it
kneels at his feet kisses the hands that
murdered his son and he says that I am
an old man and I had 50 Sons once but
most are dead now many by your hand and
I had the greatest of Sons I had Hector
who was magnificent and you killed
him please may I just bury him please
can you just give me this one thing give
me my son's body so that I can take him
back and bury him and achilles is
absolutely stunned he he he Marvels at
him confused at first who what you've
walked into my tent do you know who I am
do you know how much danger you're in
and then oh he's at my feet he's kissing
my hands what
and he Marvels at The
Bravery of this King this old man and he
finally gets Peace by saying to the man
yes you may have the son your your son's
body back and he even negotiates a truce
um of 12 days I think it is so that they
have enough time to gather
firewood and go through all the various
rituals and give uh Hector the Tamer of
horses uh the burial and the very last
words
are thus held they the funeral for
Hector Tamer of
horses it just stops there that is how
Achilles finally finds peace through
forgiving an old man taking pity on an
old
man seeing almost a fellow spirit in
bravery in some ways um seeing the
tragedy of what he's
done and it's it's almost I mean I I'm
not a Christian but you could say that
it's almost like a Christian message in
there somewhere it's it's forgiveness
brings peace not glory in war not
killing people it's suddenly seeing the
humanity
appreciating the humanity of your enemy
and just extending that Mercy to your
enemy that's what brings Achilles
peace and that's what the ilad is about
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