Book 17
Throughout the whole book , the issue of honor is the base of conflicts. But I feel that the center of the conflict revolves around Patroclus’ honor. The Achaeans want to preserve Patroclus’s body And Trojans want to dishonor the body of their enemy to gain honor for themselves. Menelaus fights wisely against hector out of honor for Patroclus who was there fighting for him. And this is the only time when a man makes a really significant and important decision without the prompting of any god. On the other hand , Hector gives in to his pride and he rejoins the fight and menelaus calls Ajax to help him and together the drive hector off before he can dismember Patroclus. However, hector has already come out of the losing end of the two encounters he has with Ajax and this stings his pride. And due to his overconfident of Zeus’s support he chooses to wear Achilles’s Armor. Zeus disapproves himwearing the armor but he still empowers him because he is about to die. However , hector gathers his troops and allies and menelaus calls for and challenges his own reinforcements. Zeus he,os the Achaeans shield Patroclus’s body, first one side gains ground and then the other side pushs back but neither can move the other. Moreover, after Apollo strikes fear inthe achaeans with Zeus’s storm shield, menelaus sends a message to Achilles hoping he can help them retrieve the body. While on the other Ajax gets together fighters to carry the body out of the field. And while that takes play hector, aeantes and the Trojans charge but the aeantes hold them off but the battle rages on.
I agree with you on how honor is the base of the conflicts going on in this book. Achilleus will go back into battle with new armor and battle it out with Hektor. He has sat out for too long and will take revenge and regain his honor by fighting the trojans.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting when you mention Hektor’s overconfidence when it comes to Zeus and whatever plan he may have. It brings up this reoccurring cycle of questions I have: If Hektor knows that he will die, then is his confidence in the fact that Zeus will keep him alive (longer) in order for the Trojans to do a lot more damage and thus receive more glory? But really, isn’t Zeus just trying to bide more time to kill off more demi-gods? With the changing of his mind, perhaps Zeus is just trying to find the most options to kill off the majority of half breeds.
ReplyDeleteI agree, honor is repeatedly shown to be something that is very important to both sides of the war. In one of the few books, there was a day of peace where both sides got to bury or send off those that died in the war. On the other side of this, the desire of the Trojans to dismember Patroclus' body shows how even in death, a person's body still has some form of honor to it.
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