Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

Blogging “The Iliad” – 11

Ulysses is still talking to the assembled Achaeans, urging them to continue the fight against Priam and the Trojans. (I haven’t mentioned Priam’s name before. He’s the king of the Trojans.) Ulysses reminds the crowd of a sign sent by the gods when they first began the war with the Trojans that had indicated that it wouldn’t be until the 10th year of the war that the Achaeans would prevail.

What’s so important, you might ask, that it’s worth fighting that long? They don’t tell us much here because Homer presumes we already know. You’ve heard of Helen of Troy, right? “The face that launched a thousand ships”?

After this rousing speech by Ulysses, Nestor (another of the Achaean leaders) chimes in with more words of encouragement: Quit acting like children! Let’s go kill us some Trojans. Yee-ha!

Oh… and to make the battle look even more appealing, Nestor includes this:

Therefore let none make haste to go till he has first lain with the wife of some Trojan, and avenged the toil and sorrow that he has suffered for the sake of Helen.

Well, alrighty then!

Nestor also suggests that Agamemnon divide the army up into individual tribe-based units. So, if one unit fails to hold up its end of the battle he’ll know who to blame. Great idea, Nestor!