Iliad: Book 1 | The Rage of Achilles
Iliad: Book 1 | The Rage of Achilles  
Podcast: Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Published On: Tue Jan 02 2024
Description: Deacon Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan jump into The Iliad Book 1.Commentary on the textBook OneThe Rage of Achilles[1]Rage—Goddess, sing of Peleus’ son Achilles. Iliad (1.1) 6.        What happens in the first half of book one?The rage of Achilles is both the theme of book one and of the Iliad as a whole. Achilles is the son of Peleus, King of Phthia, a legendary city-state in ancient Greece. Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae and leader of the federation of ancient Greek tribes that have come to war with Troy, holds as his slave and concubine a girl named Chryseis—a spoil of war (1.30). Her father, a priest of Apollo named Chryses, offers Agamemnon a “priceless ransom” (1.14) for his daughter. Despite the Achaeans (another name for the ancient Greeks), petitioning Agamemnon to accept the offer, he does not; thus, Apollo, moved by his priest’s prayer (1.42), strikes the Achaean army with a plague, i.e., his “arrows” (1.56, 69, 78, et al.), until Agamemnon finally agrees to return the daughter of Apollo’s priest and offer to the god a fitting sacrifice (1.135). However, Agamemnon finds it unfair that he, as high king, should have his “prize” taken from him while the lesser kings retain their women, their “prizes,” from war (1.158). He then demands that the concubine of Achilles, a girl named Briseis, be handed over to him (1.141, 203-221). The contention between Agamemnon and Achilles provides the catalyst for the events at the beginning of the Iliad that will shape the entire narrative.7.        Why does Homer open in the middle of the narrative?Homer begins the Iliad in what is called in media res, which is Latin for “in the midst of things” or “in the middle of things.” The Achaeans have already been on the beaches of Troy for nine years when Homer opens the Iliad (1.157). Questioning Homer’s rationale in opening his epic in such a fashion can provide greater insight into the purpose of the Iliad. In short, the opening may be in the middle of the Trojan War, but it is at the beginning of the narrative Homer wants to tell. It is notable Homer does not invoke the Muses to assist him in telling of the fall of Troy; rather, he invokes them to assist with the story of the rage of Achilles. The Iliad is the story of the tragedy that is Achilles.[2] The in media res opening, however, bears a distinct effect upon modern readers of the epic. As noted above (Question 2), Homer did not invent the story of the fall of Troy. As such, his ancient readers would have been already familiar with the characters and the general narrative. Homer, at times, does not mention key aspects of his narrative until quite late in the development of his story. For example, Homer does not explain why Hera and Athena have a “deathless hate” for Troy until almost the very end of the text (24.34). At other times, Homer will not mention a key aspect of the Trojan war at all. Lattimore refers to these ancillary stories as “marginal material.”[3] The existence of these ancillary stories to the Iliad are known only because later writers included them in their poems or plays. There is much debate, however, on whether Homer elected not to include these stories in his epic or such stories were a later...