Read The War That Killed Achilles Online
Authors: Caroline Alexander
The War That Killed Achilles (37 page)
4
On Aineias' origins and destiny, see Timothy Gantz,
Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources,
vol. 2 (Baltimore, 1993), 713ff. Other sources for Aineias' genealogy are the “Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite” vv. 196-98; and Hesiod,
Theogony
1008-1010. His heroic tradition is revisited in the last chapter of this book, “Everlasting Glory”; see note 48. The recent DNA discoveries are reported in John Hooper, “Etruscan Mystery Solved,”
Guardian,
June 18, 2007, 23.
On Aineias' origins and destiny, see Timothy Gantz,
Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources,
vol. 2 (Baltimore, 1993), 713ff. Other sources for Aineias' genealogy are the “Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite” vv. 196-98; and Hesiod,
Theogony
1008-1010. His heroic tradition is revisited in the last chapter of this book, “Everlasting Glory”; see note 48. The recent DNA discoveries are reported in John Hooper, “Etruscan Mystery Solved,”
Guardian,
June 18, 2007, 23.
5
The four instances of Aineias' divine rescue are 5.311ff. (by Aphrodite), 5.445ff. (by Apollo), 20.92f. (an account of a past rescue by Zeus), and 20.318ff. (by Poseidon, who justifies his rescue by referring to Aineias' destiny).
The four instances of Aineias' divine rescue are 5.311ff. (by Aphrodite), 5.445ff. (by Apollo), 20.92f. (an account of a past rescue by Zeus), and 20.318ff. (by Poseidon, who justifies his rescue by referring to Aineias' destiny).
6
The implications of these near misses, or places where the
Iliad
threatens to overturn a traditional story element, are examined by James V. Morrison, “Alternatives to the Epic Tradition: Homer's Challenges in the
Iliad,
”
Transactions of the American Philological Association
122 (1992), 61-71.
The implications of these near misses, or places where the
Iliad
threatens to overturn a traditional story element, are examined by James V. Morrison, “Alternatives to the Epic Tradition: Homer's Challenges in the
Iliad,
”
Transactions of the American Philological Association
122 (1992), 61-71.
7
Diomedes' kingship over Argos makes a muddle of heroic geography, as he would appear to be encroaching upon Mycenaean territory under Agamemnon. For the problems raised by the geography of Diomedes' kingdom, see G. S. Kirk,
The “Iliad”: A Commentary, Volume I: Books 1-4
(Cambridge, 1985), 180f.
Diomedes' kingship over Argos makes a muddle of heroic geography, as he would appear to be encroaching upon Mycenaean territory under Agamemnon. For the problems raised by the geography of Diomedes' kingdom, see G. S. Kirk,
The “Iliad”: A Commentary, Volume I: Books 1-4
(Cambridge, 1985), 180f.
8
Thebaid, argument 9, in M. L. West, ed. and trans.,
Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Century B.C.
(Cambridge, MA, 2003), 51ff.
Thebaid, argument 9, in M. L. West, ed. and trans.,
Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Century B.C.
(Cambridge, MA, 2003), 51ff.
9
For Diomedes' old tribal origins, see Gilbert Murray,
The Rise of the Greek Epic: Being a Course of Lectures Delivered at Harvard University
(Oxford, 1924), 215ff.
For Diomedes' old tribal origins, see Gilbert Murray,
The Rise of the Greek Epic: Being a Course of Lectures Delivered at Harvard University
(Oxford, 1924), 215ff.
10
Paiëon
occurs only in Book Five of the
Iliad:
Linear B texts from Knossos have a
Pajawone.
See G. S. Kirk,
The “Iliad”: A Commentary, Volume II: Books 5-8
(Cambridge, 1990), sub. vv. 398-402, 102f.; also Walter Burkert,
Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical,
John Raffan, trans. (Cambridge, MA, 1985), 43.
Paiëon
occurs only in Book Five of the
Iliad:
Linear B texts from Knossos have a
Pajawone.
See G. S. Kirk,
The “Iliad”: A Commentary, Volume II: Books 5-8
(Cambridge, 1990), sub. vv. 398-402, 102f.; also Walter Burkert,
Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical,
John Raffan, trans. (Cambridge, MA, 1985), 43.
11
The terminology of death is paraphrased from Jasper Griffin,
Homer on Life and Death
(Oxford, 1983), 91, the most eloquent and moving scholarly account of death in both Homeric epics.
The terminology of death is paraphrased from Jasper Griffin,
Homer on Life and Death
(Oxford, 1983), 91, the most eloquent and moving scholarly account of death in both Homeric epics.
12
The phrase
aÃsima pareipÅn,
translated here as “since he urged justice” (
Iliad
6.62), is more ambiguous in Greek.
AÃsima
has various meanings, from “which is just or right” to “that which is decreed by fate.” See, for example, Richard John Cunliffe,
A Lexicon of Homeric Dialect
(Norman, OK, 1963), 14.
The phrase
aÃsima pareipÅn,
translated here as “since he urged justice” (
Iliad
6.62), is more ambiguous in Greek.
AÃsima
has various meanings, from “which is just or right” to “that which is decreed by fate.” See, for example, Richard John Cunliffe,
A Lexicon of Homeric Dialect
(Norman, OK, 1963), 14.
13
Of the shield, “it is strange that a hero should set out on a three-mile run through country held by the Trojans carrying so great a weight, and that moreover in a position warranted to make it flay his ankles.” H. L. Lorimer,
Homer and the Monuments
(London, 1950), 184. Hektor's shield represents the poetic memory of a genuine Mycenaean piece of armor that was, however, never used in the method described.
Of the shield, “it is strange that a hero should set out on a three-mile run through country held by the Trojans carrying so great a weight, and that moreover in a position warranted to make it flay his ankles.” H. L. Lorimer,
Homer and the Monuments
(London, 1950), 184. Hektor's shield represents the poetic memory of a genuine Mycenaean piece of armor that was, however, never used in the method described.
14
Psalms 103:15f.
Psalms 103:15f.
15
Ecclesiasticus, or Sirac, 14:18; see M. L. West,
The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth
(Oxford, 1997), 364ff., for this and other Eastern elements in the Bellerophontes story.
Ecclesiasticus, or Sirac, 14:18; see M. L. West,
The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth
(Oxford, 1997), 364ff., for this and other Eastern elements in the Bellerophontes story.
16
For the symbols and Greek Bronze Age knowledge of Hittite scripts, see Trevor R. Bryce, “Anatolian Scribes in Mycenaean Greece,”
Historia
48, no. 3 (1999); 257-64, especially 261f. For the shipwreck and its contents, see George F. Bass, “Oldest Known Shipwreck Reveals Splendors of the Bronze Age,”
National Geographic
(December 1987), 693-733. More recently, the tablet and other finds from the shipwreck are beautifully revealed and discussed in Cemal Pulak, “The Uluburun Shipwreck and Late Bronze Age Trade,” in Joan Aruz, Kim Benzel, and Jean M. Evans, eds.,
Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C.
(New York and New Haven, CT, 2008), 288-385. For the Bellerophontes story and some of its implications in the epic, see Murray, 175f. For a detailed commentary on the story's many obscure features, see Kirk,
The “Iliad,”
vol. 2, sub. vv. 152-211, 177ff.
For the symbols and Greek Bronze Age knowledge of Hittite scripts, see Trevor R. Bryce, “Anatolian Scribes in Mycenaean Greece,”
Historia
48, no. 3 (1999); 257-64, especially 261f. For the shipwreck and its contents, see George F. Bass, “Oldest Known Shipwreck Reveals Splendors of the Bronze Age,”
National Geographic
(December 1987), 693-733. More recently, the tablet and other finds from the shipwreck are beautifully revealed and discussed in Cemal Pulak, “The Uluburun Shipwreck and Late Bronze Age Trade,” in Joan Aruz, Kim Benzel, and Jean M. Evans, eds.,
Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C.
(New York and New Haven, CT, 2008), 288-385. For the Bellerophontes story and some of its implications in the epic, see Murray, 175f. For a detailed commentary on the story's many obscure features, see Kirk,
The “Iliad,”
vol. 2, sub. vv. 152-211, 177ff.
17
Ayaan Hirsi Ali,
Infidel
(New York, 2007), 4, 135. Recitation of her grand-mother's clan lineage later saved her from assault at knifepoint by establishing that she was a “sister” of her assailant.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali,
Infidel
(New York, 2007), 4, 135. Recitation of her grand-mother's clan lineage later saved her from assault at knifepoint by establishing that she was a “sister” of her assailant.
18
Some scholars have seen in Paris' characteristic absence from the field of battle the remnant of a tradition of the “wrath of Paris,” akin to that of Achilles. See Johannes Th. Kakridis,
Homeric Researches
(Lund, 1949), 43ff.; and Leslie Collins, “The Wrath of Paris: Ethical Vocabulary and Ethical Type in the
Iliad,
”
American Journal of Philology
108 (1987), 220-32.
Some scholars have seen in Paris' characteristic absence from the field of battle the remnant of a tradition of the “wrath of Paris,” akin to that of Achilles. See Johannes Th. Kakridis,
Homeric Researches
(Lund, 1949), 43ff.; and Leslie Collins, “The Wrath of Paris: Ethical Vocabulary and Ethical Type in the
Iliad,
”
American Journal of Philology
108 (1987), 220-32.
20
S. Farron, “The Character of Hector in the
Iliad,
”
Acta classica
21 (1978), 39-57, gives a brief survey of scholarly attitudes toward Hektor and presents the argument that Homer deliberately underscored Hektor's military weaknesses in order to make him a sympathetic character.
S. Farron, “The Character of Hector in the
Iliad,
”
Acta classica
21 (1978), 39-57, gives a brief survey of scholarly attitudes toward Hektor and presents the argument that Homer deliberately underscored Hektor's military weaknesses in order to make him a sympathetic character.
22
On Astyanax in early epic and art, see Jonathan S. Burgess,
The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle
(Baltimore, 2001), 65ff. and appendix C, 186. For the argument that the death of Astyanax may reflect the Near Eastern practice of child sacrifice in time of siege, see Sarah P. Morris, “The Sacrifice of Astyanax: Near Eastern Contributions to the Siege of Troy,” in Jane B. Carter and Sarah P. Morris, eds.,
The Ages of Homer: A Tribute to Emily Townsend Vermeule
(Austin, TX, 1995), 221-45; the chapter also gives moving examples of Near Eastern poetry mourning the fall of cities.
On Astyanax in early epic and art, see Jonathan S. Burgess,
The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle
(Baltimore, 2001), 65ff. and appendix C, 186. For the argument that the death of Astyanax may reflect the Near Eastern practice of child sacrifice in time of siege, see Sarah P. Morris, “The Sacrifice of Astyanax: Near Eastern Contributions to the Siege of Troy,” in Jane B. Carter and Sarah P. Morris, eds.,
The Ages of Homer: A Tribute to Emily Townsend Vermeule
(Austin, TX, 1995), 221-45; the chapter also gives moving examples of Near Eastern poetry mourning the fall of cities.
23
This harsh reality was recognized even by ancient commentators who remarked on the “indecent violence” suffered by captive women. Immanuel Bekker,
Scholia in Homeri Iliadem
(Berlin, 1825), sub. v. 22.62, p. 589.
Land of My FathersThis harsh reality was recognized even by ancient commentators who remarked on the “indecent violence” suffered by captive women. Immanuel Bekker,
Scholia in Homeri Iliadem
(Berlin, 1825), sub. v. 22.62, p. 589.
1
About the value of ten oxen according to scholarly estimate, see W. Ridge-way,
Journal of Hellenic Studies
8 (1873), 133.
About the value of ten oxen according to scholarly estimate, see W. Ridge-way,
Journal of Hellenic Studies
8 (1873), 133.
2
On the lyre itself, see Bryan Hainsworth,
The “Iliad”: A Commentary, Volume III: Books 9-12
(Cambridge, 1993), sub. vv. 186-87, 87f.
On the lyre itself, see Bryan Hainsworth,
The “Iliad”: A Commentary, Volume III: Books 9-12
(Cambridge, 1993), sub. vv. 186-87, 87f.
3
For internal evidence that “the Embassy is among the latest of the ideas and episodes built into the
Iliad,
” see ibid., sub. v. 609, 289f. On the competitive response of a poet like Homer to his tradition in general, see James V. Morrison, “Alternatives to the Epic Tradition: Homer's Challenges in the
Iliad,
”
Transactions of the American Philological Association
122 (1992), 61-71.
For internal evidence that “the Embassy is among the latest of the ideas and episodes built into the
Iliad,
” see ibid., sub. v. 609, 289f. On the competitive response of a poet like Homer to his tradition in general, see James V. Morrison, “Alternatives to the Epic Tradition: Homer's Challenges in the
Iliad,
”
Transactions of the American Philological Association
122 (1992), 61-71.
4
For sources pertaining to the life and career of Peleus, see Timothy Gantz,
Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources,
vol. 1 (Baltimore, 1993), 222ff.; and for his marriage with Thetis, see ibid., 228ff.
For sources pertaining to the life and career of Peleus, see Timothy Gantz,
Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources,
vol. 1 (Baltimore, 1993), 222ff.; and for his marriage with Thetis, see ibid., 228ff.
5
The slaying by Peleus of Phokos, his half brother, is attested in fragments of the
Alcmeonis,
a lost epic uncertainly dated to the sixth century B.C.: “There godlike Telamon hit him [Phokos] on the head with a wheel-shaped discus, and Peleus quickly raised his arm above his head and struck him in the middle of his back with a bronze axe.”
Alcmeonis
1, in M. L. West, ed. and trans.,
Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries B.C.
(Cambridge, MA, 2003), 59. The story is alluded to, obscurely, by Pindar,
Nemean
5.7ff. in C.M. Bowra, trans.,
The Odes of Pindar
(London, 1969). Another tradition related by Apollodorus,
The Library
3.13.1-3, also has Peleus as the inadvertent killer of his first father-in-law, Eurytion, in the course of the legendary Kalydonian Boar Hunt. In this tale, after Peleus has been received and purified by Eurytion in Phthia for the murder of Phokos, he marries Eurytion's daughter and has a child with her, Polydore. Although the source is lateâApollodorus wrote in the second century B.C.âthe
Iliad
also hints at the tradition, citing “the daughter of Peleus, Polydore the lovely” (16.175).
The slaying by Peleus of Phokos, his half brother, is attested in fragments of the
Alcmeonis,
a lost epic uncertainly dated to the sixth century B.C.: “There godlike Telamon hit him [Phokos] on the head with a wheel-shaped discus, and Peleus quickly raised his arm above his head and struck him in the middle of his back with a bronze axe.”
Alcmeonis
1, in M. L. West, ed. and trans.,
Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries B.C.
(Cambridge, MA, 2003), 59. The story is alluded to, obscurely, by Pindar,
Nemean
5.7ff. in C.M. Bowra, trans.,
The Odes of Pindar
(London, 1969). Another tradition related by Apollodorus,
The Library
3.13.1-3, also has Peleus as the inadvertent killer of his first father-in-law, Eurytion, in the course of the legendary Kalydonian Boar Hunt. In this tale, after Peleus has been received and purified by Eurytion in Phthia for the murder of Phokos, he marries Eurytion's daughter and has a child with her, Polydore. Although the source is lateâApollodorus wrote in the second century B.C.âthe
Iliad
also hints at the tradition, citing “the daughter of Peleus, Polydore the lovely” (16.175).
6
On the remarkable number of sons exiled by their fathers who later become kings in exile, see Margalit Finkelberg, “Royal Succession in Heroic Greece,”
Classical Quarterly,
n.s., 41, no. 2 (1991), 303-16.
On the remarkable number of sons exiled by their fathers who later become kings in exile, see Margalit Finkelberg, “Royal Succession in Heroic Greece,”
Classical Quarterly,
n.s., 41, no. 2 (1991), 303-16.
7
Pindar,
Nemean
3. 33ff. On the historic as well as mythic implications for Peleus' sack of Iolkos, see M. L. West, “The Rise of the Greek Epic,”
Journal of Hellenic Studies,
108 (1988), 151-72, and especially, 160.
Pindar,
Nemean
3. 33ff. On the historic as well as mythic implications for Peleus' sack of Iolkos, see M. L. West, “The Rise of the Greek Epic,”
Journal of Hellenic Studies,
108 (1988), 151-72, and especially, 160.
8
Possible implications of Peleus' court of outlaws are discussed in the chapter “Man Down.” The approved treatment of fugitive exiles in Bronze and Iron Age Greece can only be surmised. The Bronze Age Anatolian record, on the other hand, is clear: “If some subject of the king of Ugarit, or a citizen of Ugarit, or a servant of a subject of the king of Ugarit departs and enters the territory of the
hapiru
[semi-autonomous bands of freebooters] of My Majesty, I, Great King, will not accept him but will return him to the king of Ugarit.” “Edict of Hattusili III of Hatti concerning Fugitives from Ugarit,” in Gary Beckman,
Hittite Diplomatic Texts,
2nd ed. (Atlanta, 1999), no. 33, 178.
Possible implications of Peleus' court of outlaws are discussed in the chapter “Man Down.” The approved treatment of fugitive exiles in Bronze and Iron Age Greece can only be surmised. The Bronze Age Anatolian record, on the other hand, is clear: “If some subject of the king of Ugarit, or a citizen of Ugarit, or a servant of a subject of the king of Ugarit departs and enters the territory of the
hapiru
[semi-autonomous bands of freebooters] of My Majesty, I, Great King, will not accept him but will return him to the king of Ugarit.” “Edict of Hattusili III of Hatti concerning Fugitives from Ugarit,” in Gary Beckman,
Hittite Diplomatic Texts,
2nd ed. (Atlanta, 1999), no. 33, 178.
9
The Library,
3.13.5, in J. G. Frazer, trans.,
Apollodorus. The Library,
vol. 2 (Cambridge, MA, 1976), 67. Apollodorus' account, late as it is, is quoted for its vividness. Pottery evidence from Crete gives evidence of Peleus' capture of Thetis as far back as the mid-seventh century B.C.; Gantz, vol. 1, 229. The earliest literary reference is found in Pindar,
Nemean
3.33-36 and 4.62-65.
The Library,
3.13.5, in J. G. Frazer, trans.,
Apollodorus. The Library,
vol. 2 (Cambridge, MA, 1976), 67. Apollodorus' account, late as it is, is quoted for its vividness. Pottery evidence from Crete gives evidence of Peleus' capture of Thetis as far back as the mid-seventh century B.C.; Gantz, vol. 1, 229. The earliest literary reference is found in Pindar,
Nemean
3.33-36 and 4.62-65.
10
See, for example, appendix X in Frazer, 383-88.
See, for example, appendix X in Frazer, 383-88.
11
Some accounts attribute Zeus' decision to other causes. The lost epic
Cypria
held that “it was to please Hera that Thetis shied away from the union with Zeus; and he was angry, and swore to make her live with a mortal man.” West,
Greek Epic Fragments, Cypria
fragment 2, 83. In the
Iliad,
however, Hera speaks of Thetis as one “ âwhom I myself / nourished and brought up and gave her as bride to her husband / Peleus, one dear to the hearts of the immortals' ” (24.59-61), and her words imply that this was a loving, not a punitive, transaction.
Some accounts attribute Zeus' decision to other causes. The lost epic
Cypria
held that “it was to please Hera that Thetis shied away from the union with Zeus; and he was angry, and swore to make her live with a mortal man.” West,
Greek Epic Fragments, Cypria
fragment 2, 83. In the
Iliad,
however, Hera speaks of Thetis as one “ âwhom I myself / nourished and brought up and gave her as bride to her husband / Peleus, one dear to the hearts of the immortals' ” (24.59-61), and her words imply that this was a loving, not a punitive, transaction.
12
That there was a tradition of a happier union is supported by a fragment of Alcaeus, writing in the sixth century B.C.: “and the love of Peleus and the best of Nereus' daughters flourished; and within the year she bore a son, the finest of demigods”; Alcaeus 42, in David A. Campbell,
Greek Lyric I: Sappho. Alcaeus
(Cambridge, MA, 1982), fragment 42, 257ff.
That there was a tradition of a happier union is supported by a fragment of Alcaeus, writing in the sixth century B.C.: “and the love of Peleus and the best of Nereus' daughters flourished; and within the year she bore a son, the finest of demigods”; Alcaeus 42, in David A. Campbell,
Greek Lyric I: Sappho. Alcaeus
(Cambridge, MA, 1982), fragment 42, 257ff.
13
So Pindar:
So Pindar:
...
And forthwith he [Peleus] scorned her embracesâ
He was afraid of his Father's anger, the God of Guests.
But cloud-mover Zeus, King of the Immortals,
Marked well and promised from the sky that soon
He should have for wife
A sea-maiden from the golden-spindled Nereids.
And forthwith he [Peleus] scorned her embracesâ
He was afraid of his Father's anger, the God of Guests.
But cloud-mover Zeus, King of the Immortals,
Marked well and promised from the sky that soon
He should have for wife
A sea-maiden from the golden-spindled Nereids.
From
Nemean
5.33ff., in Bowra,
The Odes of Pindar
39f.
Nemean
5.33ff., in Bowra,
The Odes of Pindar
39f.
14
Pindar refers to Aiakos' righteousness in
Isthmian
8.25ff. For his role as a judge of the dead, see Plato,
Gorgias,
524a.
Pindar refers to Aiakos' righteousness in
Isthmian
8.25ff. For his role as a judge of the dead, see Plato,
Gorgias,
524a.
15
Hesiod,
Catalogue of Women,
58f., in Glenn W. Most, ed. and trans.,
Hesiod: Volume 2, The Shield. Catalogue of Women. Other Fragments
(Cambridge, MA, 2007), fragment 152, 217ff.
Hesiod,
Catalogue of Women,
58f., in Glenn W. Most, ed. and trans.,
Hesiod: Volume 2, The Shield. Catalogue of Women. Other Fragments
(Cambridge, MA, 2007), fragment 152, 217ff.
16
See, for example, T.B.L. Webster,
From Mycenae to Homer
(New York, 1964), 186, who posits that “it is still possible to see behind Diomede's account of Lycurgus, Glaukos' account of Bellerophon, and Achilles' account of Peleus a shorter poem in which the three heroes were listed probably with others as instances of prosperity which turned to adversity.”
See, for example, T.B.L. Webster,
From Mycenae to Homer
(New York, 1964), 186, who posits that “it is still possible to see behind Diomede's account of Lycurgus, Glaukos' account of Bellerophon, and Achilles' account of Peleus a shorter poem in which the three heroes were listed probably with others as instances of prosperity which turned to adversity.”
Notable parallels between Thetis and Eos, the goddess of the dawn, offer additional insight into the
Iliad
's depiction of Peleus as a man defined by sorrowful old age. Linguistic and thematic studies have shown that both goddesses (along with Aphrodite) exhibit attributes of the Indo-European Dawn Goddess prototype. To reduce this comparison to its simplest elements, both Thetis and Eos are associated with the sea, both have unions with mortal men, and both bear mortal children who fight at Troy (for parallels between Thetis and Eos, see Laura M. Slatkin,
The Power of Thetis: Allusion and Interpretation in the “Iliad”
[Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1991], 21ff. and 40-41); the Indo-European origin and traits of the Dawn Goddess are explored in Deborah Dickmann Boedeker,
Aphrodite's Entry into Greek Epic
(Leiden, 1974). According to the Greek tradition, Eos, falling in love with the mortal Tithonos, implored Zeus to grant her lover immortality, which he did; the goddess neglected, however, to ask also for eternal youth on his behalfâin the
Iliad,
Tithonos is mentioned as the brother of Priam and Laomedon of Troy;
Iliad
20.237. (See Gantz, vol. 1, 36f., for the list of ancient sources of this legend.) The earliest citation, “The Hymn to Aphrodite,” dating from the seventh century B.C., relates that while Tithonos was young, “he took his delight in Dawn of the golden throne, the early-born, and dwelt by the waters of Ocean at the ends of the earth; but when the first scattering of grey hairs came forth from his handsome head and his noble chin, the lady Dawn stayed away from his bed.” “Hymn to Aphrodite” 5.225ff., in M. L. West, ed. and trans.,
Homeric Hymns. Homeric Apocrypha. Lives of Homer
(Cambridge, MA, 2003), 177. The Eos paradigm that Thetis shares may explain the striking absence in the
Iliad
of Thetis from the bed and home of Peleus, as well as the
Iliad
's portrait of this formerly robust hero as being perpetually “on the door-sill of sorrowful old age”: Peleus' youth has passed, and his eternally youthful wife has left him to his aging mortality.
Iliad
's depiction of Peleus as a man defined by sorrowful old age. Linguistic and thematic studies have shown that both goddesses (along with Aphrodite) exhibit attributes of the Indo-European Dawn Goddess prototype. To reduce this comparison to its simplest elements, both Thetis and Eos are associated with the sea, both have unions with mortal men, and both bear mortal children who fight at Troy (for parallels between Thetis and Eos, see Laura M. Slatkin,
The Power of Thetis: Allusion and Interpretation in the “Iliad”
[Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1991], 21ff. and 40-41); the Indo-European origin and traits of the Dawn Goddess are explored in Deborah Dickmann Boedeker,
Aphrodite's Entry into Greek Epic
(Leiden, 1974). According to the Greek tradition, Eos, falling in love with the mortal Tithonos, implored Zeus to grant her lover immortality, which he did; the goddess neglected, however, to ask also for eternal youth on his behalfâin the
Iliad,
Tithonos is mentioned as the brother of Priam and Laomedon of Troy;
Iliad
20.237. (See Gantz, vol. 1, 36f., for the list of ancient sources of this legend.) The earliest citation, “The Hymn to Aphrodite,” dating from the seventh century B.C., relates that while Tithonos was young, “he took his delight in Dawn of the golden throne, the early-born, and dwelt by the waters of Ocean at the ends of the earth; but when the first scattering of grey hairs came forth from his handsome head and his noble chin, the lady Dawn stayed away from his bed.” “Hymn to Aphrodite” 5.225ff., in M. L. West, ed. and trans.,
Homeric Hymns. Homeric Apocrypha. Lives of Homer
(Cambridge, MA, 2003), 177. The Eos paradigm that Thetis shares may explain the striking absence in the
Iliad
of Thetis from the bed and home of Peleus, as well as the
Iliad
's portrait of this formerly robust hero as being perpetually “on the door-sill of sorrowful old age”: Peleus' youth has passed, and his eternally youthful wife has left him to his aging mortality.
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Stars & Stripes Forever by Harry Harrison
MoonFall by A.G. Wyatt
The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer
Little Scarlet by Walter Mosley
El Conde de Montecristo by Alexandre Dumas
