The sixth battle, the acts and death of patroclus, the iliad, lit2go edition, 1899, accessed june 07, 2019. Briseis is a trojan priestess and hectors cousin, captured during the attack on apollos temple. It seems the whole of troy attacks us fearlessly, now they can see no sign of my helm, its visor gleaming in their faces. With his last breath, patroclus predicts to hector that achilles will kill him.
Agamemnon is inspired to attack troy by a dream sent by the gods, who want to bring his army misery for taking briseis away from achilles. Patroclus saves the day achilles is still feeling distinctly testy, but patroclus is very worried about the increasingly hopeless situation of the greeks, and if achilles wont return to battle to save them, patroclus begs to be allowed to wear his armor to appear in their midst to encourage them, as nestor had proposed back in. He expresses a desire to take the walls of troy with patroclus by his side. Battles over fallen comrades become more significant in book 16. The sons of the achaeans would now have taken troy by the hands of patroclus, for his spear flew in all directions, had not phoebus. The god apollo sides with the trojans, like zeus, and steps in to stop patroclus, who is wounded. A comparison with those addressed to menelaus at other points in the poem will enable me to pinpoint the unique manner in which the pathos of patroclus death is enhanced at the end of book 16. Patroclus approaches achilles in tears and achilles asks him why he is. The iliad of homer popebook 16 wikisource, the free. The scenes of hector in troy and of achilles mourning patroclus show this conflict most clearly. The iliad quotes, famous iliad quotes, quotations sayings. Achilles and patroclus are so emotionally close that patroclus. Apollo pushes him from behind, and one of the youngest trojans spears him.
At the end of book 16, hector kills patroclus, fulfilling zeus prophecy. He agrees to it, hut at the same time charges him to content himself with rescuing. This lesson focuses on book 16 of the iliad by homer. This description of ajaxs incredible defense makes for one of the iliad s most memorable images. Apollo rebuffs patroclus, telling him that it is not his fate to seize troy.
The desire to protect sarpedons body motivates hector to return to battle where hector and patroclus face off in a literal tugofwar over the body of hectors driver. Choose from 500 different sets of the iliad book 16 flashcards on quizlet. Homer, iliad book 16 theoi classical texts library. Then the sons of achaea would have captured troy of the lofty gates, behind the wideranging spear of fierce patroclus, if phoebus apollo has not mounted the high wall to aid the trojans and seek the warriors ruin. This is a crucial book and a turning point because in it zeus sits idly by knowing his son sarpedon will be killed, and achilles friend patroclus is also killed. Now, as zeus continues to oblige, helping the trojans, achilles loses his beloved comrade patroclus. Three times patroclus scaled an angle of the lofty wall, and three times apollo hurled him down, his immortal hands thrusting. Zeus knows that the death of patroclus will force achilles to fight for the greeks achaeansdanaansargives. Then patroclus drew near to achilles with tears welling from his eyes, as from some spring. So they fought to the death around that benched beaked ship as patroclus reached achilles, his great commander, and wept warm tears like a dark spring running down some desolate rock face, its shaded currents flowing. Words are potent in debate, deeds in war decide your fate. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Patroclus charges him with obduracy and offers to fight in the battlefield.
Patroclus reaches great heights on his rampage, nearly storming troy, but his demise is less glamorous. Book 16 meanwhile, patroclus goes to achilles tent and begs to be allowed to wear achilles armor if achilles still refuses to rejoin the battle himself. In the iliad, homer describes a deep and meaningful relationship between achilles and patroclus, where achilles is tender toward patroclus but callous and arrogant toward others. Read book 16 death of patroclus of the iliad by homer. Its exact nature has been a subject of dispute in both the classical period and modern times.
Fifty were the swift ships which achilles, dear to zeus, led to troy, 170 and in. In fact, one rarely sees patroklos as an individual. Read powerpoints on achilles in books 118 and the homeric gods. He tells patroclus that achilles cannot save him now. The appearance of patroclus ghost offers little in the way of a comforting view of the afterlife. In the 16th book of homers iliad, zeus seems destined to fulfill his promise to achilles mother, thetis, to give glory to achilles. In the movie briseis comes from lyrnessus, and is captured by the aecheans before the siege of troy. Homer describes the heroic deeds of patroclus in book xviof the iliad, which is named patrokleia. Achilles declines to fight but agrees to the exchange of armor, with the understanding that patroclus will fight only long enough to save the ships. Learn the iliad book 16 with free interactive flashcards. In the iliad, patroclus is a close friend and confidant of achilles, who leads the greeks in war against the trojans.
In the tenth year of the trojan war, tensions are running high among the achaians a superancient name for the ancient greeks. The iliad by homer book 16 knowitall to knownothing. Homers attitude toward war shifts at different moments in the poem. Patroclus in pursuance of the request of nestor in the eleventh book entreats achilles to suffer him to go to the assistance of the greeks with achilles troops and armour. The demise of hector is homers metaphor for the fall of troy itself as the iliad s story ends here, if not the actual war. Patroklos pursues hektor and his men all the way to the walls of troy, doing many heroic deeds on the way. Geography of the iliad the gods the house of atreus the line of aeacus the house of priam book 1 book 2 book 3 book 4 book 5 book 6 book 7 book 8 book 9 book 10 book 11 book 12 book book 14 book 15 book 16 book 17 book 18 book 19 book 20 book 21 book 22. Throughout the iliad, gods and goddesses intervene in the action, and this scene is no exception. Patroclus is a minorcharacter in david maloufs novel ransom 2009. Achilles is revengeful, gladly permits patroclus to fight. Achilles declines to fight but agrees to the exchange of armor, with the understanding that patroclus. Achilles and patroclus met again in the lower world, 20 or, according to others, they continued after their death to live together in the island of leuce.
Even though patroklos is an important character in the iliad, homer gives little attention to him until the ninth book, and even then, the focus is not on patroklos himself, but on his relationship to achilles. He lay great and greatly fallen, forgetful of his horsemanship. All through the iliad, homer depicts the afterlife as grim and bleak. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 16 summary. In this book patroclus has watched the suffering of the greeks. The relationship between achilles and patroclus is a key element of the stories associated with the trojan war. Then would the sons of the achaeans have taken highgated troy by the hands of patroclus, for around and before him he. The novel explores the relationship between patroclus and achilles from boyhood to the fateful events of the iliad. Like a girl, a baby running after her mother, begging to be picked up, and she tugs her skirts, holding her back as she tries to hurry off all tears, fawning up at her she takes her in her arms. Several other particulars of the battle are described. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Diomed, ulysses, agamemnon, eurypylus are all injured.
The deaths of sarpedon and patroklos in this book introduce an elegiac tone into the last part of the iliad, as the characters that the. If he will not relent, achilles should at least let patroclus take his armor and troops into battle. The battle rages on between the trojan and achaean forces, and patroclus devises a scheme to free the achaean ships from the trojans. He leaps between the decks of the beached ships, using a massive pike to hold back the trojan forces almost singlehandedly. Murray 1 thus then they were warring around the wellbenched ship, but patroclus drew nigh to achilles, shepherd of the host, shedding hot tears, even as a fountain of dark water that down over the face of a beetling cliff poureth its dusky stream. This description of ajaxs incredible defense makes for one of the iliads most memorable images. Patroclus killed many trojans and trojan allies, including a son of zeus, sarpedon. The death of patroclus in the iliad full free lesson. Zeus decides hectors body should be returned to priam. This supernatural aura still clings to patroklos in his final appearance as a ghost in achilleuss dreamthough, of course, its hard to say if its really him or not. Achilles dreams of patroclus and sees patroclus urging achilles to carry out his burial rites. First, the priest chryses comes to ask their leader, king agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom agamemnon was holding captive. Sent tumbling, patroclus is speared by the young trojan euphorbus. Patroclus is one of various narrators in colleen mcculloughs novel the song of troy 1998.
As the fight continues, patroclus come to achilles in tears. Achilles holds a day of funeral games and awards prizes. Set during the trojan war, the tenyear siege of the city of troy ilium by a coalition of greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the. The iliad patroclus begs achilles to let him fight against the trojans, chapter 16. In the 16th book of homers iliad, zeus seems destined to fulfill his. Only with difficulty, if at all, can the heroes reconcile the public code of honor with the private price they must pay for it. And the brilliant runner achilles saw him coming, filled with pity and spoke out winging words. Patroclus tells achilles how badly the battle is going and scolds him for his rage. The iliad book 16 death of patroclus american literature. Character profile for patroclus from the iliad page 1. We still have to come battles with amazons and the death of achilles, felled by an arrow to his heel from paris bow. Find a summary of this and each chapter of the iliad. There is no dramatic character development, but one does see patroklos as a character perpetrates dramatic events and provides a.