Raging about Achilles!

The Iliad's First Line, Again

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“An Iliad of Evils”: this proverb is uses for great evils. This is because there were myriad evils in Ilium” ᾿

Ιλιὰς κακῶν: ἀπὸ παροιμίας τοῦτο ἐλέγετο ἐπὶ τῶν μεγάλων κακῶν· παρόσον ἐν ᾿Ιλίῳ μυρία κακὰ συνέβη γενέσθαι. -Zenobius 4.43

When I was in graduate school there was an event on Iliad 1 sponsored by Ancient Studies at NYU. There was a performance of the Aquila Theatre Company followed by a discussion among David Sider (my advisor),  Peter Meineck, and Daniel Mendelsohn. I can’t remember who was moderating, but someone asked the very broad question “what is the Iliad about”. Peter, the founding director of Aquila at a veteran of the Royal Marines, said, “war”. David, looking off into the distance for a bit, said, “it is about how you value a man.” And then we were off!

I’ve told this story in different forms before because it was one of the first times where I was listening to other people talk about Homer and found myself wondering what it means for everyone to have a good point, for everyone to be right, but to also be wrong. As I have mentioned before, the Iliad is in part successful because it defies simple interpretation, invites multiple responses, and shifts the more we engage with it. That panel was one of the first times where I stopped thinking about what the Iliad means and worried more about what epic does.

Of course, modern social media is not the place necessarily fit for such a conversation! From the social media app that brought us “If we don’t teach Homer, nobody will act like Odysseus”, yesterday the world was treated to: Celebrate the Rage of Achilles!

Now, one could argue that a meaning of “celebrate” is to make known. The Iliad certainly has ensured that Achilles’ rage is pretty well-known, but not for reasons Mr. Bi would probably agree with. Achilles’ rage, as nearly every post in this substack has alluded to or mentioned, is the story of the dangers of rage, of the selfishness of Achilles, of the destruction that a man’s anger, honor, and strife can mete out upon his own community.

But, since menis is in the air. Here’s a recap.

As I discussed in an earlier post the beginning of the Iliad contains thematically resonant language that engages with the larger poetic tradition while also informing audiences what to expect from this poem:

Hom. Iliad 1.1-8

Μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω ᾿Αχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ ᾿Αχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκε,
πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς ῎Αϊδι προΐαψεν
ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο βουλή,
ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε
᾿Ατρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος ᾿Αχιλλεύς.

“Goddess, sing the rage of Pelias’ son Achilles,
Destructive, how it gave the Achaeans endless pains
And sent many brave souls of heroes to Hades—
And it made them food for the dogs
And all the birds as Zeus’ plan was being fulfilled.
Start from when those two first diverged in strife,
The lord of men Atreus’ son and godly Achilles.”

The “rage” of the the first line has a few different functions: (1) it ‘titles’ the poem (the rage of Achilles is a narrative set in the story-world of the Trojan War); and (2) it recalls/invokes a narrative pattern. Rage isn’t about anger itself but about what anger does in the world.

Even in the Iliad, Achilles rages for different reasons: first at Agamemnon, then at Hektor for the death of Patroklos. For me, the most influential account of Achilles’ rage is my Greek teacher’s book The Anger of Achilles: Menis in Greek Epic, which explains in part that Menis signals a rage reserved for divine figures over cosmic disorder.  (For a complementary treatment of different words for Anger in the Homeric poems, see Thomas Walsh’s Fighting Words and Feuding Words: Anger and the Homeric Poems.) Two recent and important books should be read as supplements for this. Emily Austin’s Grief and the Hero explores how longing, absence, and grief are critical corollaries for rage, while Rachel Lesser’s Desire in the Iliad details how desire pervades the fabric of epic poetry and motivates its characters.

Ancient commentators were interested in the problem as well that echo the titling and pattern functions I mention above:

D Schol. ad Hom. Il 1.1

“Sing the rage..” [People] ask why the poem begins from rage, so ill-famed a word. It does for two reasons. First, so that it might [grab the attention] of that particular portion of the soul and make audiences more ready for the sublime and position us to handle sufferings nobly, since it is about to narrate wars.

A second reason is to make the praises of the Greeks more credible. Since it was about to reveal the Greeks prevailing, it is not seemly to make it more worthy of credibility by failing to make everything contribute positively to their praise.”

 Μῆνιν ἄειδε: ζητοῦσι, διὰ τί ἀπὸ τῆς μήνιδος ἤρξατο, οὕτω δυσφήμου ὀνόματος. διὰ δύο ταῦτα, πρῶτον μέν, ἵν' ἐκ τοῦ πάθους †ἀποκαταρρεύσῃ† τὸ τοιοῦτο μόριον τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ προσεκτικωτέρους τοὺς ἀκροατὰς ἐπὶ τοῦ μεγέθους ποιήσῃ καὶ προεθίσῃ φέρειν γενναίως ἡμᾶς τὰ πάθη, μέλλων πολέμους ἀπαγγέλλειν· δεύτερον δέ, ἵνα τὰ ἐγκώμια τῶν ῾Ελλήνων πιθανώτερα ποιήσῃ. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔμελλε νικῶντας ἀποφαίνειν τοὺς ῞Ελληνας, εἰκότως †οὐ κατατρέχει ἀξιοπιστότερον† ἐκ τοῦ μὴ πάντα χαρίζεσθαι τῷ ἐκείνων ἐπαίνῳ. |

“It begins with rage, which itself was a summary for the events. Otherwise, [the poet] would have found a tragic introduction for tragedies. For the narration of misfortunes makes us more attentive, just as the best doctor exposes maladies of the spirit and then later applies treatment. So, the Greek anticipates the pleasures near the end.”

ἤρξατο μὲν ἀπὸ μήνιδος, ἐπείπερ αὕτη τοῖς πρακτικοῖς ὑπόθεσις γέγονεν· ἄλλως τε καὶ τραγῳδίαις τραγικὸν ἐξεῦρε προοίμιον· καὶ γὰρ προσεκτικοὺς ἡμᾶς ἡ τῶν ἀτυχημάτων διήγησις ἐργάζεται, καὶ ὡς ἄριστος ἰατρὸς πρῶτον ἀναστέλλων τὰ νοσήματα τῆς ψυχῆς ὕστερον τὴν ἴασιν ἐπάγει. ῾Ελληνικὸν δὲ τὸ πρὸς τέλει τὰς ἡδονὰς ἐπάγειν. |

But just to be clear, the story that unfolds in our Iliad wasn’t the only pattern that could have been expected (or, is not the only way to frame or emphasize the theme). Another beginning to the story fronts Apollo’s range alongside Achilles’.

D Scholia ad Hom. Il. Prolegomenon in Rom. Bibl. Nat gr. 6:

“An Iliad which appears to be ancient, called Apellicon’s, has this proem

I sing of the Muses and Apollo, known for his bow...

This is recorded by Nikanôr and Crates in his Critical Notes on the Text of the Iliad. Aristoxenus in the first book of his Praxidamanteia says that some had as the first lines:

Tell me now Muses who have Olympian Homes

How rage and anger overtook Peleus’ son

And also the shining son of Leto. For the king was enraged...”

ἡ δὲ δοκοῦσα ἀρχαία ᾿Ιλιάς, λεγομένη δὲ ᾿Απελλικῶνος, προοίμιον ἔχει τοῦτο·

Μούσας ἀείδω καὶ ᾿Απόλλωνα κλυτότοξον

ὡς καὶ Νικάνωρ μέμνηται καὶ Κράτης ἐν τοῖς διορθωτικοῖς. ᾿Αριστόξενος
δ' ἐν α′ Πραξιδαμαντείων φησὶν κατά τινας ἔχειν·

῎Εσπετε νῦν μοι, Μοῦσαι ᾿Ολύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσαι,
ὅππως δὴ μῆνίς τε χόλος θ' ἕλε Πηλεΐωνα,
Λητοῦς τ' ἀγλαὸν υἱόν· ὁ γὰρ βασιλῆι χολωθείς.

Obviously, these beginnings don’t need to signal different poems, but they do set up the audience in different ways. The latter variants especially point to a greater emphasis (perhaps) on Apollo. There’s much written on this, but for a start see Vince Tomasso’s comments on these beginnings as rhapsodic alternatives, Greg Nagy’s overview of the importance of Apollo’s rage at the beginning of the Iliad and Casey Dué’s comments as part of a larger discussion of multiformity.

When it comes to these lines, the question is whether they derive from a performance tradition of the story of the rage of Achilles as more or less equally likely options to begin the epic poem we currently have, or they are variants left over from traditions of other Iliads. I am generally agnostic and think that the scholars I have mentioned above all have really good arguments.

I do note here that when I use the word multiform as opposed to variant I (think) I mean a more-or-less equally possible option from the performance tradition. When I use ‘variant’, I mostly mean a less-likely or aesthetically apt alternative (because variant implies a movement from something standard or already extant). But Casey Dué’s (free!) book Achilles Unbound is far more nuanced and informative in discussing these things. I also suggest José M. González’s The Epic Rhapsode and His Craft: Homeric Performance in a Diachronic Perspective

Some additional work to consider

Austin, Norman J. E.. “Anger and disease in Homer's Iliad.” Euphrosyne: studies in ancient epic and its legacy in honor of Dimitris N. Maronitis. Eds. Kazazis, John N. and Rengakos, Antonios. Stuttgart: Steiner, 1999. 11-49.

Cagnazzo, Daniela Immacolata. “L’ira di Achille nei « Mirmidoni » di Eschilo.” Il teatro delle emozioni: l’ira : atti del 3° Convegno Internazionale di Studi (Padova, 12-14 ottobre 2020, online). Eds. De Poli, Mattia and Riu, Xavier. Colloquia; 14. Padova: Padova University Press, 2020. 173-191.

Cairns, Douglas L.. “Ethics, ethology, terminology: Iliadic anger and the cross-cultural study of emotion.” Yale Classical Studies, vol. 32, 2003, pp. 11-49.

Castellani, Victor. “Little Ajax, Odysseus, and divine « wraths ».” The Classical Bulletin, vol. 81, no. 2, 2005, pp. 107-130.

Collins, Leslie. “The wrath of Paris. Ethical vocabulary and ethical type in the Iliad.” American Journal of Philology, vol. CVIII, 1987, pp. 220-232.

Considine, Patrick. “Some Homeric terms for anger.” Acta Classica, vol. IX, 1966, pp. 15-25.

Cramer, David. “The wrath of Aeneas: Iliad 13.455-67 and 20.75-352.” Syllecta classica, vol. 11, 2000, pp. 16-33.

Ebbott, Mary. “The wrath of Helen: self-blame and nemesis in the « Iliad ».” Plato's « Laws » and its historical significance: selected papers of the I International Congress on Ancient Thought, Salamanca, 1998. Ed. Lisi, Francisco Leonardo. Sankt Augustin: Academia, 2001. 3-20.

Fenno, Jonathan Brian. “The wrath and vengeance of swift-footed Aeneas in Iliad 13.” Phoenix, vol. 62, no. 1-2, 2008, pp. 145-161.

Grossardt, Peter. “The motif of wrath and withdrawal in medieval European epic and its impact on the Homeric Question: some preliminary remarks.” Classica, vol. 32, no. 1, 2019, pp. 97-129. Doi: 10.24277/classica.v32i1; 10.24277/classica.v32i1.835

Haft, Adele J.. “Odysseus' wrath and grief in the Iliad. Agamemnon, the Ithacan king, and the sack of Troy in Books 2, 4, and 14.” The Classical Journal, vol. LXXXV, 1989-1990, pp. 97-114.

Horn, Fabian. “The psychology of aggression: Achilles’ wrath and Hector’s flight in Iliad 22.131-7.” Hermes, vol. 146, no. 3, 2018, pp. 277-289. Doi: 10.25162/hermes-2018-0023

Kahane, Ahuvia. “A narratology of the emotions : method, temporality, and anger in Homer’s « Iliad ».” Emotions and narrative in ancient literature and beyond: studies in honour of Irene de Jong. Eds. De Bakker, Mathieu, Van den Berg, Baukje and Klooster, Jacqueline. Mnemosyne. Supplements; 451. Leiden ; Boston (Mass.): Brill, 2022. 27-47. Doi: 10.1163/9789004506053_003

Konstan, David. “Assuaging rage: remorse, repentance, and forgiveness in the classical world.” Ancient forgiveness: classical, Judaic, and Christian. Eds. Griswold, Charles L. and Konstan, David. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Pr., 2012. 17-30.

Lang, Mabel L.. “War story into wrath story.” The ages of Homer: a tribute to Emily Townsend Vermeule. Eds. Carter, Jane P. and Morris, Sarah P.. Austin (Tex.): University of Texas Pr., 1995. 149-162.

Lidov, Joel B. (1977). The anger of Poseidon. Arethusa, X, 227-236.

Lloyd-Jones, Hugh. “Curses and divine anger in early Greek epic: the Pisander scholion.” Classical Quarterly, N. S., vol. 52, no. 1, 2002, pp. 1-14. Doi: 10.1093/cq/52.1.1

Lutz, Mark J.. “Wrath and justice in Homer's Achilles.” Interpretation, vol. 33, no. 2, 2005-2006, pp. 111-131.

Van der Mije, Sebastiaan. “Poseidon’s anger in the « Odyssey ».” Emotions and narrative in ancient literature and beyond: studies in honour of Irene de Jong. Eds. De Bakker, Mathieu, Van den Berg, Baukje and Klooster, Jacqueline. Mnemosyne. Supplements; 451. Leiden ; Boston (Mass.): Brill, 2022. 107-118. Doi: 10.1163/9789004506053_008

Most, Glenn W.. “Anger and pity in Homer's « Iliad ».” Yale Classical Studies, vol. 32, 2003, pp. 50-75.

Rabel, Robert J.. “Apollo as a model for Achilles in the Iliad.” American Journal of Philology, vol. CXI, 1990, pp. 429-440.

Roisman, Hanna M.. “Penelope's indignation.” TAPA, vol. CXVII, 1987, pp. 59-68.

Saxonhouse, Arlene W.. “Thymos, justice, and moderation of anger in the story of Achilles.” Understanding the political spirit : philosophical investigations from Socrates to Nietzsche. Ed. Zuckert, Catherine H.. New Haven (Conn.): Yale University Pr., 1988. 30-47.

Scodel, Ruth. “The word of Achilles.” Classical Philology, vol. LXXXIV, 1989, pp. 91-99.

Scully, Stephen P.. “Reading the shield of Achilles: terror, anger, delight.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 101, 2003, pp. 29-47.

Shapiro, Harvey Alan. “The wrath of Creon: withholding burial in Homer and Sophocles.” Helios, vol. 33 Supplement, 2006, pp. 119-134.

Slatkin, Laura M.. “The wrath of Thetis.” TAPA, vol. CXVI, 1986, pp. 1-24.

Strauss Clay, Jenny. The wrath of Athena. Gods and men in the Odyssey. Princeton: Princeton University Pr., 1983.

Thalmann, William G.. “« Anger sweeter than dripping honey »: violence as a problem in the « Iliad ».” Ramus, vol. 44, no. 1-2, 2015, pp. 95-114. Doi: 10.1017/rmu.2015.5

Tsagkarakis, Odysseas. “The Achaean embassy and the wrath of Achilles.” Hermes, vol. XCIX, 1971, pp. 257-277.

Zekas, Christodoulos. “From wrath to punishment: indirect communication between Poseidon and Zeus in Homer’s Odyssey 13.125-158.” Trends in Classics, vol. 12, no. 1, 2020, pp. 69-91. Doi: 10.1515/tc-2020-0005