Theodore M Andersson

Homer's Iliad Theodore M Andersson

With dating estimates ranging between 750 and 550 BC, the Iliad is the oldest example of a literary type referred to as "heroic epic" because it focuses on a warrior class, usually in the person of a transcendent individual. In the Iliad it is Achilles who holds center stage from beginning to end, but it is not so much his martial prowess that is examined but rather the emotional strains that surface in wartime, Achilles' rage at the loss of Patroclus, Hector's steadfast but hopeless resolve, Andromache's profound sadness, Helen's remorse at her predicament, the ever-present threat of death, and the Greek army's isolation and yearning to return home. The battle action recurs at regular intervals but always against the background of these human sentiments. The highpoints in the narrative come at the moments of intense reflection, Helen's interview with her father-in-law Priam in Book Three, Hector's half-intimated last farewell to his wife Andromache at the end of Book Six, the eloquent pleas to Achilles in the brilliant oratory of Book Nine, and Priam's plea to Achilles to release Hector's body in Book 24. But the dramatic moments are also mitigated by comic interludes, especially in the scenes on Mount Olympus where the gods and goddesses sometimes teeter on the brink of parody.