Mythology of the Iliad and the Odyssey Read Online Free Page B

archaeologists believe that the mythical city was either Troy 6 or Troy 7, because these ruins are dated closer to the time the war is believed to have occurred.
    The power and tragedy of war are a key theme of Homer’s
Iliad
. Ever since Homer wrote his epic, war has been one of the most powerful themes in literature. Homer does not show war as glorious, although he does describe how it can bring out in warriors their greatest efforts.
    Achilles represents an important concept in the
Iliad
, that of
arete
, or excellence. To Homer, a warrior’s arete was linked to his skill in battle and to the amount of war prizes he won. War supplied the perfect opportunity to display arete and earn glory, or
kleos
. Many Greeks, including Achilles, went to Troy because they knew they would win glory there. A warrior was filled with a sense of duty to always try to do his best. When Agamemnon took away part of Achilles’ spoils of war, he diminished Achilles’ arete.
    Stories that do not appear in the
Iliad
provide important background for events that take place in the epic. Achilles’ mother, the sea nymph Thetis, did not want her son to fight in the war. A prophecy foretold that Achilles would die if he went to Troy. If he did not, Achilles would live a long, full life. When Achilles was born, legend told that Thetis tried to make him immortal. She held him by the heel and dipped him in the river Styx, which flowed through the Underworld, the place the Greeks believed people went when they died. Everywhere the water touched Achilles became invulnerable. However, the water never touched the spot on Achilles’ heel where his mother had held him. Thus, Achilles’ heel was left vulnerable, and he would eventually die of a wound to this heel. His death is foretold in the
Iliad
in Book 19 and the ghost of Achilles appears to Odysseus in Book 15 of the
Odyssey
. The term
Achilles’ heel
now refers to any weak or vulnerable spot.
    Another story provides valuable information related to events occurring in the
Iliad
. The mighty Greek fleet gathered at Aulis, preparing to sail to Troy, but the ships could not leave while the north winds blew. Day after day, the north winds raged with no end in sight.
    Agamemnon consulted Calchas, the prophet, who revealed that Agamemnon had angered Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, by boasting that he was a better hunter than she. To save the expedition, Agamemnon was going to have to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia. Agamemnon tricked Iphigenia into coming to Aulis. He wrote home to his wife that he had arranged for Iphigenia to marry Achilles. When Iphigenia arrived, expecting to be a bride, she was put to death instead. The north winds stopped immediately, and the ships set sail, ready to wage war.

Achilles Argues with Agamemnon
    The Greeks had spent nine years warring with the people of Troy. They had also attacked cities in the surrounding countryside. Whenever they won such battles, they collected booty, or treasure, from the people they defeated and made slaves of women they had captured. After one battle, Agamemnon received as a prize of war a young woman named Chryseïs. Her father, Chryses, was a priest of Apollo. Chryses approached the Greek camp, bearing priceless gifts that he hoped Agamemnon would accept in exchange for releasing his daughter.
    “Agamemnon, may the gods of Olympus give you Priam’s city of Troy to plunder,” the old priest begged. “Please, accept these gifts as ransom for my daughter, and honor the god I serve, mighty Apollo.”
    Agamemnon, who had no intention of giving up Chryseïs, dismissed the priest with an angry order. “Never again, old man, let me catch sight of you by our ships or our camp!”
    Chryses fled to a safe place by the seashore. He prayed, “Hear me, Apollo! If ever I served you well, repay me by punishing Agamemnon and his troops.”
    His prayer went up to Olympus, where Apollo heard him. Down from the mighty mountain came the god of war with his