Get to grips with Homer’s Iliad in five minute chunks in this blog series! For A Level Classics or Ancient History students, each of these blog posts is a five-minute summary of some of the main topics you will need for your exams. For university-level scholars or independent researchers, we’ve included clickable links to useful literature, primary sources and canonical scholarship you’ll need to know.
In this post, discover how even the gods must bend to the demands of Fate!
Henri Lévy’s Sarpedon
Fate plays a central role in the Greek world and must not be interfered with, at the risk of upsetting the balance of things. Although Zeus’ will always prevails over men, even he cannot interfere with Fate.
The Gods Bow to Fate
On two occasions, Zeus considers saving a mortal he is particularly fond of, even though it is in their fate to die.
In Book Sixteen, Patroclus chases the Trojans “with slaughter in his heart” and fells many of them. When he fights Zeus’ son Sarpedon, Zeus is distressed, as he knows his son is fated to die. Zeus even considers saving Sarpedon, only to be told off by Hera for considering defying fate.
Zeus is devastated by Sarpedon’s death and is torn between “whether to let [Patroclus] fall to Prince Hector’s spear over the godlike Sarpedon in this very fight and let Hector strip the armour from his shoulders, or whether to allow Patroclus to bring still more of his enemies to grief.”
On the second occasion, it is Hector who is fated to die. Hector himself is under the impression that Zeus who decides whether he lives or dies.
The gods watch Achilles chase after Hector in silence, until Zeus says, “I have a warm place in my heart for this man…Consider, gods, and help me to decide whether we shall save his life or let a good man fall…”
Athena reproaches him: “Are you, the Lord of the Bright Lightning and the Black Cloud, proposing to reprieve a mortal mon, whose doom has long been settled, from the pains of death? Do as you please; but do not expect the rest of us to applaud.”
Peter Paul Rubens’ Death Of Hector
Hector does get a reprieve when Apollo intervenes one last time renewing his strength and giving him speed of foot. However, Athena helps Achilles by disguising herself as Hector’s brother Deiphobus and convincing him to fight.
Ultimately, Fate is allowed to take its course. Hector throws his spear, which rebounds from Achilles’ shield. He realises that he is doomed to die: “So the gods did beckon me to my death!...Zeus and his Archer Son must have long been resolved on this, for all their goodwill and the help they gave me.”
Men Seal Their Own Fates
Even though Fate is non-negotiable, it is often the decisions of men that lead them to it. In Book Sixteen, Patroclus says to Achilles, “What will future generations have to thank you for, if you will not help the Argives in their direst need?...Is it possible that you are secretly deterred by some prophecy, some word from Zeus that your lady Mother has disclosed to you? Then at least allow me to take the field…” The narrative voice notes, “Had he but known it, he was praying for his own doom and an evil death.”
Achilles prays to Zeus for Patroclus’ victory. Zeus agrees “that Patroclus should chase the Trojans from the ships, but not that he should come back safely from the battle.”
Achilles tells Patroclus only to sweep the Trojans from the ships: “Even if Zeus the Thunderer offers you the chance of winning glory for yourself, you must not seize it. You must not fight without me against these warlike Trojans…or one of the eternal gods from Olympus may cross your path – the Archer-King Apollo loves the Trojans dearly.”
As the narrative voice tells us, Patroclus does not heed Achilles’ advice: “Had he kept to his orders from Achilles, he would have saved himself from doom and the black night of Death.”
Achilles’ worries come true: “Three times Patroclus scaled an angle of the lofty wall, and thrice Apollo hurled him off, thrusting his bright shield with his immortal hands.” Apollo rallies Hector to fight Patroclus and dives into battle himself. Apollo knocks Patroclus’ helmet off, just as Patroclus is on a spree of killing men, nine at a time. That’s how Achilles’ helmet falls into Hector’s hands: “Zeus let him wear it for a little while, since his end was very near.”
Jacques-Louis’ David’s Funeral of Patroclus
When Hector sees Patroclus retreating, he strikes him “with a spear in the lower part of the belly, driving the bronze clean through.” As he dies, Patroclus tells Hector, “The victory is yours – a gift from Zeus the Son of Cronos and Apollo. They conquered me...it was hateful Destiny and Leto’s son that killed me…You too, I swear it, have not long to live. Already sovereign Destiny and Death are very close to you, death at the hands of Achilles the peerless son of Peleus.”
Achilles’ Fate
As Achilles knows, his own decision to fight at Troy has sealed his own fate, because he has chosen to pursue kleos, the goal of a Greek hero.
Achilles’ fate is known long before it happens. In Book Eighteen, Achilles’ mother Thetis hears Achilles weeping over Patroclus and goes to visit him. When Achilles tells her that he means to kill Hector, Thetis weeps, because she knows that, “…after Hector’s death you are doomed forthwith to die.”
In Book Nineteen, Achilles’ own horse predicts his death: “…the day of your death is drawing near; and it is not we who will be the cause of it, but a great god and inexorable destiny.”
In Book Twenty Three, Patroclus’ ghost visits Achilles. He warns, “…I have been engulfed by the dreadful fate that must have been my lot at birth; and it is your destiny, too, most worshipful Achilles, to perish under the walls of the rich town of Troy.”
Peter Paul Rubens’ Death of Achilles
Achilles accepts this: “Then let me die forthwith…how I wish that discord could be banished from the world of gods and men, and with it anger, insidious as trickling honey, anger that makes the wisest men flare up and spreads like smoke through his whole being…As for my death, when Zeus and the other deathless gods appoint it, let it come.”
In our next post, explore the emotions of lust, grief and wrath in the Iliad!
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