A number of the storylines (often called ‘‘themes’’) of the Iliad are found more than once in the poem, and these and others also recur in other tales of Troy (and of course in storytelling worldwide). The quarrel between the leaders Agamemnon and Achilles which begins the poem is matched by references to quarrels between Agamemnon and Mene-laos, Achilles and Odysseus, Ajax and Odysseus. The central action of the plot, the withdrawal of the major hero from the battle, the devastation that results, and his eventual return and victory, is known in many cultures, and recurs in the tale of Meleager (9.529599). Abduction of a woman is three times a cause of trouble in the poem (Helen, Chryseis, Briseis), and similar tales open the History of Herodotus (and were well enough known to be parodied by Aristophanes, Acharnians 524-9). Smaller repeated patterns are also common: a set-piece duel between major heroes (Paris and Menelaos in Iliad 3, Hektor and Ajax in Iliad 7, Achilles and Hektor in Iliad 22), supplication scenes (major occurrences are Zeus’ supplication by Thetis in Iliad 1, Achilles by Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix in Iliad 9, Achilles by Patroklos in Iliad 16 and by Priam in Iliad 24); and funeral games in honor of a hero (in Iliad 23 for Patroklos, and those for Achilles described in Odyssey 24).
There are cases where one may surmise that the Iliad poet has adapted a traditional theme for its use in his great poem. A struggle to rescue the corpse of a downed hero occurs in brief form over the bodies of the Trojan ally Sarpedon and Hektor’s charioteer Cebriones (Book 16) before the major instance in the case of Patroklos (Book 17) - and of course over the dead Achilles himself (described in Od. 24.36-92). But in Iliad 24, the ‘‘struggle’’ for possession of Hektor’s body takes place between his old father Priam and Achilles in very different circumstances. In fact the continuation of Achilles’ inordinate grief and his resumed mistreatment of Hektor’s corpse after his eminently courteous behavior towards his peers at the splendid games in honor of Patroklos is unexpected, and the addition of this ‘‘consolation’’ theme after the ending of the ‘‘revenge’’ theme may well be an innovation by the poet.
Many standard themes contribute to the groundwork for the culminating battle of Achilles and Hektor (Book 22), among them revenge for the killing of a friend and the stripping of a victim’s armor, and there are signs that much is taken over from the tale of Achilles’ revenge on Memnon for killing Antilochos, his best friend after the death of Patroklos. This tale was included in the Aethiopis, and Homer must have sung ofit in some form, just as he must have sung of many other episodes in the Trojan story (and perhaps the Theban and other cycles too). Memnon, like Achilles, was the son of a goddess (Eos), and it is likely that he too wore divinely-made armor for the conflict; and Homer seems to have copied this by devising that Hektor in the final duel wears Achilles’ own divinely-made armor, which he had stripped from Patroklos’ corpse. This armor was a wedding-present from Hephaestos to Achilles’ father Peleus, passed on by him to Achilles himself. To bring this about, Homer contrives the disguise of Patroklos in Achilles’ armor, an unusual motif and one which plays no actual part in the ensuing conflict; and takes great advantage of the opportunity to introduce Hephaestos’ construction of the replacement set of armor, especially his decoration of the shield (18.483-607). This (probable) innovation contributes a great deal to the drama and human feeling of the episodes, including the unjustifiable arrogance of Hektor in daring to don such a panoply.
World History
