Myrgalen – homepage

Mon. May 13

Now, back to the ancient drama of the Iliad. In Book XI, Agamemnon has great success. Hector is prevented by the gods from confronting him, but when Agamemnon is wounded and retires from the field, Hector routs the Greeks, who are led by Diomed and Ulysses (Odysseus). Diomed is wounded by an arrow from Paris, and is taken from the field. Odysseus is then surrounded, but rescued by Menelaus. Then it is Ajax who meets the onslaught of Hector and steadies the Greek lines. 

Another Greek warrior is wounded and rescued by the chariot of Nestor, who seems too old to do much else. Patroclus visits the wounded man in Nestor’s tent, and the old man goes on and on about his exploits as a youth, and urges Patroclus to persuade Achilles to return to battle, arguing that youth should seize its chance for glory, as he once did. Nestor is a pathetic figure in some sense, bitterly bemoaning his lost youth and prowess, because he was once a great hero. What will Achilles ever be if he lets his moment pass? This speaks again to the ethos of the Homeric hero.