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David Wright
Mr. Clarkson
Honors English 10 Period 8
23 April 2009
The Iliad Literary Analysis
Homer tells a portion of the tale of the Trojan War in The Iliad. It takes place in
the tenth year of the war, during which the Greek king Agamemnon feuds with the
demigod Achilles. The Greeks lay siege to Troy and a battle for the city ensues. The
Homer uses the gods’ interventions in the plot of The Iliad to exemplify the theme that
humans can make their own choices, but they cannot escape the consequences of those
choices.
For example, in Book XVI, Patroclus can no longer stand by as the battle for Troy
rages, and he decides to suit up and lead a group of warriors into the fray. Zeus, a
personification of fate, then concludes that “Patroclus should drive the battle fighting
from the ships, but not… return in safety from the war” (lines 301-302). After this point,
Apollo intervenes numerous times in the battle to ensure that this occurs. He first acts to
ensure that Troy withstands the Greek assault, at least for the moment. When Patroclus’s
group of Danaans and Hector’s group of Trojans meet, Apollo causes the former’s death
in all but the final blow: he strikes Patroclus temporarily senseless and immobile, he
knocks the helmet from Patroclus’s head, and he loosens Patroclus’s body armor to
ensure that Euphorbus and Hector can kill him easily. Through this section of The Iliad,
Homer displays how Patroclus could choose to enter the battle freely, but a subsequent
series of events beyond his control led to his predetermined and inescapable demise.
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Hector in Book XXII reaches a similar decision as Patroclus did. He, too, decides
that he must fight; he decides “to meet Achilles man to man, kill him, and go home, or
get killed before the city, dying in glory” (lines 137-139). Under his own free will, he
remains outside the protective walls of Troy. When the two meet, Zeus and his golden
scales determine that Hector must die. Immediately, the gods abandon their support for
Hector and turn it instead entirely to Achilles. Consequently, Achilles catches and easily
kills him. Homer uses Hector’s death as another example of the inevitable influence of
fate, carried out in The Iliad by the gods.
In Book XXIV, Achilles has chosen to keep Hector’s body and desecrate it in his
mourning. Almost all of the gods dislike this dishonorable treatment of the warrior’s
corpse. Zeus—and, through him, fate—declares that Achilles has mourned long enough,
and the time has come for someone to take back Hector’s body. The goddess Iris then
visits Priam, informing him of Zeus’s will and providing him courage to speak with
Achilles. The messenger god Hermes guides Priam on his journey and Priam successfully
retrieves Hector’s body. In this manner, Homer depicts the gods again ensuring that the
mortals follow the will of Zeus, the personification of fate.
The Iliad contains many cases of both human free will and the inevitable course
of fate. Homer’s inclusion of divine intervention in the poem develops its theme: Humans
can make their own decisions, but they cannot control the ultimate outcome of those
choices.