Iliad, book 9

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The ninth book (or hymn ) of the epic Iliad attributed to the Greek poet Homer (also called πρεσβεία πρς Ἀχιλλέα ( Mission to Achilles ) or Λιταί (the Requests)) is, although the plot cannot be continued and the situation at the end of the book with the initial situation seems to be identical, a switching point in the structure of the entire text. In it, the Achaean kings try to persuade the strongest fighter in the army, Achilles, to re-enter the battle by sending Phoinix and Aias , who are particularly close to Achilles, as well as the best speaker of the Achaeans, Odysseus , to him.

Due to certain linguistic peculiarities, the Presbeia was also the starting point or touchstone for the various hypotheses about the origin of the Iliad in the older Homer research .

The contents of the ninth book

Starting position

Zeus kept the promise he had given to Achilles' mother Thetis in the first book and gave the Trojans superiority in battle. Hector's victorious run ended only after nightfall . The Trojans are encamped on the battlefield in front of the city, and Hector announced their final victory at an army meeting.

The council of the Achaeans

Agamemnon also convenes a council meeting on the Achaean side , the mood is depressed, Agamemnon proposes that the undertaking be terminated. But Diomedes contradicts and can awaken new hope; Nestor arranges for the guards to be relocated in front of the camp. The kings then discuss among themselves what to do. Nestor reminds Agamemnon that his behavior towards Achilles was a grave mistake. Agamemnon sees this, takes up Nestor's suggestion for reconciliation through gifts and drafts an offer to Achilles, which in addition to valuable gifts should also include one of his daughters and part of his kingdom as well as the oath that he has never slept with Briseis . However, he demands that Achilles must submit to him. It is again Nestor who compiles the petition: it should consist of Phoenix, Aias, Odysseus and the two heralds Hodios and Eurybates .

The embassy

Achilles welcomes the delegation in a friendly manner and hosts them. Odysseus speaks first (225-306). He reminds Achilles of the consequences of his abstention from fighting, both those which have already occurred, the superiority of the Trojans in battle, as well as the threatening, the defeat of the Achaeans, and his obligation to help and reminds him of the words of his father Peleus , who allegedly spoke to him advised to be forgiving in an argument; then he repeats Agamemnon's offer and promises him the restoration and increase of his honor (τιμή timé ) if he continues to fight. In his bitter answer (308–429), Achilles cites the lack of recognition of his previous achievements in the war against the arguments put forward by Odysseus and refuses to accept gifts as long as Agamemnon has not adequately atoned for the insult; With a reference to his mother's prophecy, according to which he could choose between a death associated with eternal glory before Troy and a long, glorious life, he promises the departure of his troops the next morning.

Phoinix's speech (434–605) attempts to address Achilles on two levels. First he mentions his own life story and his close bond with Achilles, who is like a son to him. With the famous allegory of requests (Λιταί), the rejection of which leads to the entry of the Ate , he then moves on to a negative example, the story of Meleager , who also withdrew out of anger from the fight to defend his hometown and rejected offers of reconciliation until his wife Cleopatre was finally able to persuade him to save the already burning city; Meleagros had escaped the presents, Achilles could still secure them by giving in. Achilles only replies (607–619) that he could do without such an honor, and warns Phoinix not to stand up too much for Agamemnon's cause. But he has moved away from his firm decision to leave the next day.

Finally, Aias (624–642) initially only addresses Achilles indirectly; he accuses him of excessive harshness and calls on him to respect the Achaeans who are close to him. Achilles (644–655) was sympathetic to his statements, and his intransigence has been softened to the extent that he promises to re-enter the battle in the event that the Trojans under Hector advance to the Achaean ships.

With this, the ambassadors return to the assembly of the Achaean kings, with the exception of Phoinix, who is staying with Achilles. In his report to Agamemnon, Odysseus withholds Achilles' gradual change of heart and only mentions his threat to leave the next morning. Again it is Diomedes who knows how to drive away the agitation of the Achaeans with encouraging words.

The dual and its consequences

Verses 182-198, which describe the path of the five men (three messengers and two heralds) and their arrival at Achilles, contain a number of dual forms , i.e. H. Inflected forms that actually express the two number. The ancient scholias explain this peculiarity with the lower position of Phoinix compared to Odysseus and Aias, the heralds remain out of consideration for them. The Homer analysis tried to eliminate either Phoinix from the Presbeia or the whole ninth book from the Iliad in order to remove the "offense". The " Unitarians " thought that the poet of the Iliad had accepted the irregularity in order to make the relation of this scene to the first book clear; there two heralds bring Briseis from Achilles' tent. The description of their mission has numerous parallels to the passage in question in the ninth chant. But it remains questionable whether this explanation is sufficient to justify the violation of grammatical rules . Attempts to explain the dual by saying that it is used for the sake of the two groups (messengers and heralds) fail because such a dual usage is alien to Greek. A valid solution has not yet been found.

literature

  • Jasper Griffin: Homer: Iliad IX. Edited with Introduction and Commentary . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-814078-9
  • Dieter Lohmann: The composition of the speeches in the Iliad . de Gruyter, Berlin 1970

Remarks

  1. ↑ Σ to 182 and 197
  2. ↑ Cf. Karl Reinhardt , Die Ilias und ihr Dichter , Göttingen 1961, p. 212: "There was no lack of those who were harmless enough to holocaustically sacrifice them (scil. The Presbeia) to the demon of analysis." - Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff ( The Iliad and Homer , Berlin 1916) assumed the late processing of an originally independent original presbeia ; similar to Peter von der Mühll , Kritisches Hypomnema zur Ilias , Basel 1952.
  3. ↑ F. Boll. In: Journal for Austrian Gymnasiums 68 , 1917, pp. 1ff., And 69 , 1919-20, pp. 414ff.
  4. ↑ R. Gordesiani, On the interpretation of the dual in the 9th book of the Iliad. In: Philologus 124 , 1980, pp. 163-174