Truly one of the greatest creations of antiquity, Homer's epic poem The Iliad delights scholars who puzzle over its mysteries and inspires horror in students who are destined to get to know this cultural heritage closely. Only the elite and especially stubborn read it to the end. And there is a simple explanation for this - not only have millennia passed since the writing of the poem, and the style of speech has changed a lot, as a result of which it is difficult for the modern reader to perceive the language of the work, but hexameter, incredible descriptions and abrupt changes in action add obstacles. Thanks to this, to storyline Or to understand who is on whose side is quite difficult. But probably! Therefore, let's try to understand one of the most interesting aspects of the poem - mythological. What and who is behind this, and whose side he takes in the Trojan War.
Even those people who have no idea that the Iliad exists, one way or another, know about the myths Ancient Greece. And the myths of the so-called "Trojan cycle" entered the Homeric poem. In ancient times, the Greeks believed that the gods influence all their earthly affairs, the lives of every person. Therefore, they revered them, made sacrifices to them, built temples. So it is not surprising that gods are woven into the story about the historical battle of the Achaeans (Greeks) and Ilions (Trojans), sometimes helping, sometimes harming the soldiers. The Trojan battle did not leave many gods indifferent.
Role of Thetis
First of all, it is worth mentioning the sea nymph Thetis, the mother of Achilles, who, in particular, was on the side of her son, the Achaean. She took a promise from the mighty Zeus that the Achaeans would suffer defeats until they compensated her son for the full moral damage for the offense caused (we are talking about the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles because of the captives of Chryseis and Briseis, after which Achilles refuses to continue to fight together ).
Zeus in the fight against overpopulation of the Earth
Of course, the supreme god Zeus, who generally takes a neutral position, made a great contribution to the Trojan War. His goal was to help the burdened large population The Earth (which asked him to reduce the number of people), so I think he didn’t care who to remove, the main thing was to meet the standards. But since he also made a promise to Thetis - to spoil the life of the Achaeans for her offended son, the Thunderer kills two birds with one stone. Therefore, to a greater extent, he helps the Trojans, and forbids other gods to interfere in the war. Several notable points can be attributed to his “merits”:
- At the behest of the Thunderer, Sleep inspires Agamemnon at night that he can cope with Troy without Achilles, as a result of which he decides to send his weakened army back to battle.
- When Hector is wounded and discouraged, Zeus sends Apollo to help him, so that he gives him the strength and courage to fight on.
- Sends Eris (the goddess of discord and chaos) to the ship of Odysseus, so that with her cry she breathes courage and a desire to fight further into the Achaeans.
- With Irida (the goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of Olympus), he sends a message to Hector so that he does not enter the battle, but only inspires his troops until Agamemnon is wounded.
- Zeus decides the outcome of the war with the help of golden scales, on which he casts the lot of death. Exodus - the Trojans are destined to lose this war, Hector - to die.
Despite the fact that Zeus is depicted as a great, brilliant and powerful god, to whom, it would seem, everything is subject, in reality he turns out to be not so omnipotent. At times, doubts, impulsiveness, or even illogicality slip through his actions. He cannot even keep track of what is happening on Olympus in his absence, and, even knowing the deceit of his wife, he is still being deceived by her.
Hera and her contribution to the fate of Ilion
The beautiful wife of the Thunderer Hera does not want to just watch the Achaeans fail one after another, because for some time now she has not favored the Trojans (Paris awarded Golden Apple in a dispute between the three goddesses, Aphrodite, and not her, which greatly hurt her pride). Unlike other gods, she does not appear during battle, but invariably uses her proven weapons - cunning, deceit and beauty. To allow the Achaeans to win, she hatches a cunning plan - to charm, seduce and, finally, lull Zeus, who is watching the battle with high mountain Ides. To do this, she enlists the support of Poseidon, who enters the battle on the side of the Achaeans, tricks Aphrodite into borrowing a magic belt of seduction and persuades Son to put Zeus to sleep. For a while, this helps the Achaeans, but only until Zeus, awakened from a sweet dream, again takes the situation into his own hands.
Fear and Loathing Athens
The goddess of wisdom and just war, Athena, for the same reason as Hera, fights on the side of the Achaeans. Among them, she especially singles out Odysseus and Achilles, for the sake of whose victory she takes far from the most fair measures. Some of them look petty and mean:
- During one of the battles, she allows herself to attack Ares and Aphrodite, in addition throwing a couple of insults in their direction.
- Stops Achilles when he wants to kill Agamemnon after that fateful quarrel over the captives.
- Incites Pandarus to shoot Menelaus with a bow when the parties were about to disperse. This unleashed the war further.
- Periodically helps Diomedes, now and then healing him, in addition, giving his divine permission to injure Aphrodite on the battlefield, which, in fact, he does, while Ares also gets it from him.
- Periodically helps the cunning Odysseus.
- Saves Achilles from Hector's spear.
- And then the same Achilles helps to kill Hector.
Aphrodite on the warpath
It would seem that the goddess of beauty and love, the beautiful Aphrodite, should do what to do in the war. But there was a place for her too - on the side of the Ilions. During the decisive duel between Menelaus and Paris, seeing how her favorite is losing, she takes Paris away from the battlefield, no matter how ironic it may sound - right into the bedroom, where she and Elena, as if nothing had happened, will indulge in love. That's why she's Aphrodite.
How true loving mother she saves her son Aeneas, who received a wound from Diomedes, asking Apollo to move him from the battlefield. Then Diomedes, inspired by Athena, wounds her too.
Apollo even sent a pestilence
Everyone knows that Apollo, the god of music and art, shoots a bow perfectly, and he repeatedly used this skill on the battlefield, helping the soldiers of Troy. At the very beginning of the poem, an angry god, with the help of arrows, sends a pestilence to the Achaean army for the insult caused to his priest Chris (Agamemnon refused to give Chris his daughter even for a ransom).
Especially often on the battlefield, he helps his favorite Hector, until the scales of fate call him death. main role he played in Hector's murder of Patroclus, leaving the Achaean horrified and practically unarmed.
Poseidon wants but can't
The supreme god of the seas behaves rather ambiguously, but he can be understood and forgiven! With all his heart he wants to help the Achaeans, but nervously walks from corner to corner and cannot choose between his pride of divine proportions, which tells him to be a little more decisive and intervene in the battle, and prudence, which he also has enough not to run into divine wrath elder brother of Zeus. This Hera is also muddying the waters - go, he says, help the Achaeans, how many sacrifices and gifts they have presented you, how can you stay away! To which the lord of the seas angrily replies that let none of the immortals even think to argue with the supreme god Zeus, he said not to interfere - we do not interfere! Saddened, he sat aside, looked at the battle, saw how the valiant Achaeans were dying, and then he boiled! Why is he worse than Zeus ?! The fact that he was born a little later, or the fact that his lot fell to rule the sea?! So Poseidon decided that he has the right to the role of the supreme god no less than the Thunderer, and no one can forbid him to make decisions on his own! With such pleasant thoughts, the sea rebel set off to raise the completely fallen spirit of the Achaeans, just as he had just raised his own. In the form of an estimate, he walked among the Achaeans, and repeatedly with his pathos speeches helped them to take advantage over the Trojans. But then Zeus, deceived by his beloved wife, wakes up and sends a message to Poseidon - get out of the battle or you will fight with me! The rebellious spirit and self-esteem have not yet left the sea lord, and he almost runs into divine anger, shouting out that let Zeus teach his children with such fervor what to do and what not to do, but Irida appeals to his prudence. Poseidon, having submitted, leaves home, finally offendedly throwing a threat that if Zeus does not allow Troy to be destroyed later, he will make an enemy in the person of the immortal sea god. The last word left for Poseidon, a small, but a victory!
Mars: he is not he when he is hungry
Despite the fact that the god of war is the most impulsive, violent and bloodthirsty, in the Iliad his image is so pitiful that it is even ridiculous. He looks like a stupid bumpkin who gets cuffed from one side, then from the other, and not like a majestic god and an invincible warrior. He helps the Trojans in every possible way and raises a warlike spirit in them. But then he gets bruises from Athena, then from some simple mortal Diomedes wound. And most importantly, he cries about this misunderstanding to his father Zeus, and he only gets annoyed with him.
The similarity of the ancient gods with people in Homer's poem is striking: they are also subject to passions, they can be cruel, treacherous, vindictive and pitiful, or generous and kind. They have fun at feasts, weave intrigues, quarrel with each other over trifles, and make mistakes. They have their weaknesses, affections and personality. In a word, they are nothing better people and to some extent even worse. From eternal boredom they are saved only by people with whose fate they play. Having exalted themselves above the world, they crave only worship and submission to their will, there is an emptiness inside them that cannot be filled, and therefore they often do not care how many people die at their hands. And in spite of everything, they remain gods - they have supernatural powers beauty and eternal life.
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With the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy, a new stage of mythology develops, which can be called heroic, Olympic or classical mythology. Instead of small gods, one main, supreme god Zeus appears, a patriarchal community now appears on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the main god of the far-believer, who in fact decides all the most important questions, and also fights with all sorts of monsters, imprisoning them underground or even in tartar. Zeus is followed by other gods and heroes. Apollo, for example, kills the Pthian dragon and builds a sanctuary in its place. He also kills the two sons of Poseidon, who grew up so quickly that, having barely matured, they began to dream of climbing Olympus, mastering Hera and Artemis, and probably the kingdom of Zeus himself. Perseus kills the medusa. Hercules performs 12 labors (1. How Hercules strangled the snakes. 2. The battle with the Lernean hydra. 3. Hercules with the centaurs 4. How Hercules caught the Kerinean deer. 5. Hercules drives out the Stymphalian birds. 7th and 8th feat of Heracles 9. Hercules in the kingdom of the Amazons 10. The bulls of Geryon and the cunning giant Kakos 11. Hercules' journey for the golden apples of the Hesperides 12. The swaddling of the three-headed dog Cerberus.) Theseus kills the minotaur. At the same time, gods of a new type also appear. Female deities: Hera, the main goddess on Olympus, the wife and sister of Zeus, Hera the owl-eyed, she becomes the patroness of marriage and family. Demeter, the patroness of agriculture, the Elisiphan mysteries will be associated with her. Athena, the goddess of honest, open war (unlike Ares), Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, Hestia - hearth, Artemis - acquired a beautiful slender appearance, and became a model of a sweet and friendly attitude towards people. The increased craft demanded for itself a god - Hephaestus. Pallas Athena and Apollo, who are famous for their beauty and wisdom, became the gods of a special patriarchal way of life. Hermes from a former primitive being became the patron of trade, cattle breeding, art, in general, every kind of human event. Now Zeus rules everything, all the elemental forces are under his control, now he is not only thunder and lightning, which people are so afraid of, now you can also turn to him for help. In principle, both in the whole of ancient Greek and separately in the Homeric epic, there are many images gods, but their images change passing from work to work. The role of divine intervention (God from the machine) plays an important role here as well. One can speak about the divine intervention of the possible on the example of the Iliad. It happens everywhere there. The influence of the gods on the life of a person or even an entire country - as, for example, the gods tried to help the Trojans or the Achaeans. And people still believe in God and each of them prays to his god.
I want to give the opinion of A.F. Losev about mythology in the "Iliad" and "Odyssey": "it can be said that Homer has no mythology. True, faith in gods and demons is not denied here, but they are given in a form that has little in common with primitive folk religion. Hera, Kirk and Calypso are women in luxurious clothes, drowning in pleasure. Attracting the images of the gods is no different from using all other resources. They are exactly the same characters. artwork like the most ordinary heroes and people."
The mythological moment creates that unity in the picture of the world that the epic is not able to grasp rationally. For the Homeric interpretation of the gods, two circumstances are characteristic: the gods of Homer are humanized: they are assigned not only a human appearance, but also human passions, the epic individualizes the divine characters as clearly as human ones. Then, the gods are endowed with numerous negative traits: they are petty, capricious, cruel, unfair. In dealing with each other, the gods are often even rude: there is a constant squabble on Olympus, and Zeus often threatens Hera and other obstinate gods with beatings.
The Olympic gods are rather heroic, but the chthonic principle is strong in most of them. Chthonism is understood as the mythology that is built according to the type of spontaneous and chaotic natural phenomena, unprincipled and anarchic, sometimes simply bestial, and often disharmonic (Keras, Erinyes, pre-Olympic deities). Note: "hairy-eyed Hera".
The Iliad takes place in parallel on Olympus and on Earth. The gods are divided into two hostile camps. Achilles' mother Thetis receives a promise from Zeus that the Achaeans will suffer defeat until they make amends for the offense inflicted on her son. Fulfilling this promise, Zeus sends a deceptive dream to Agamemnon, foreshadowing the imminent fall of Troy, and Agamemnon decides to give battle to the Trojans.
Next gods constantly interfere into the lives of heroes. When Menelaus almost turns out to be the winner, but Aphrodite, who patronizes Paris, kidnaps him from the battlefield, Athena instructs Pandarus, an ally of the Trojans, to shoot an arrow at Menelaus. In the fifth book, Diomedes wounds Ares and Aphrodite, therefore, sometimes people and gods are shown fighting as equals - humanization of gods and deification of heroes.
There are many religious and mythological contradictions in both poems. Zeus is the supreme god, but he does not know much about what is happening in his kingdom, he is easy to deceive; at decisive moments he does not know what to do; and in the end it is impossible to understand whether he is protecting the Greeks or the Trojans. Around him there is a constant intrigue, and often not at all of a fundamental nature, some domestic and family quarrels. Zeus is a very hesitant ruler of the world, sometimes even stupid. In the Iliad, Zeus in a direct speech sends Apollo to bring Hector to consciousness, who lies unconscious on the battlefield, and then the poet himself says that Hector awakened the mind of Zeus.
The gods constantly quarrel among themselves, harm each other, deceive each other; some of them for some reason stand for the Trojans, others for the Greeks. Zeus is not seen to have any moral authority. Appearance the gods are also portrayed inconsistently. Athena in the fifth song of the Iliad is so huge that the chariot of Diomedes, on which she stepped, cracks from her, and in the Odyssey she is some kind of caring aunt for Odysseus, whom he himself treats without much respect.
Zeus is a cloudmaker, a thunderer. Light-eyed Athena, Copper-armored Ares, Daring Hera, Phoebus/Apollo silver-armed.
- The Renaissance as a revolution in the spirit of human life
Italy is native to the Renaissance, because most of the monuments are preserved there ancient art And Italian language closest to Latin. Another reason is that Italy is the most developed country 14-15 centuries. There were more cities there than in other countries, and Italian merchants were distinguished by efficiency, energy and made long journeys around Europe, across mediterranean sea and to eastern countries. A person was formed during travels, had an active character, ambitious, able to overcome various obstacles, was always ready for dangers.
renaissance man. The consciousness of a person changes - first of all, a person creates his own personality, becomes self-created. If in the Middle Ages a person was created by God and he had to fulfill everything that was destined for him from above, then in the Renaissance, a person formed himself, strove for knowledge, happiness, success.
The Renaissance is characterized by a philosophical principle anthropocentrism - if in the Middle Ages the idea of God was in the center ( theocentrism), now everything is focused on the interests of the individual. Renaissance poets and writers are usually referred to as humanists. Here humanism is not condescension and a tendency to forgive, but has a different meaning: humanists did the subject of the image of a person, all mankind. AND image of a person in the works of the Renaissance connected with nature. Characteristic - convey inner world human through external manifestations; show a wonderful person. The beauty of a person was extremely valued, just as in antiquity it was believed that beauty and kindness are a unity.
During the Renaissance they believed that wonderful person – a kind person, and more than that, a valiant, heroic personality. Art was striving for the ideal and the ideal. Man is depicted in unity with nature and as part of nature.
the last poet Middle Ages and the first poet of the New Age is Dante Alighieri.
Canto II of the Iliad contains List of ships(English) Russian Greeks, where the names of many Greeks who took part in the war are indicated, as well as the places where they come from. A list of Trojans is also given there, but it is much inferior to the list of Greeks, it only shows some of the heroes of the Iliad.
Achaeans(Ἀχαιοί), also Danaans(Δαναοί) and Argives(Ἀργεĩοι), also named once Hellenes - the collective name of the Greeks in Homer.
Agamemnon- Tsar Mycenae the leader of the Greeks.
Achilles- leader myromides, a hero of semi-divine origin.
Odysseus- Tsar Ithaca, the most cunning of the Greek military leaders, the hero " Odyssey».
Ajax the Great- son Telamon, second only to Achilles in martial prowess.
Menelaus- Tsar Sparta, husband Helena and brother Agamemnon.
« Achilles mourning Patroclus"(1855), Nikolai Ge
Diomedes- son Tydea, Tsar Argos.
Ajax Small- son oilea, a frequent ally Ajax the Great.
Patroclus Achilles' best friend.
Nestor- Tsar Pylos, Agamemnon's trusted adviser.
Achilles and Patroclus
Relationship between Achilles And Patroclus are an important part of the Iliad. There is a deep, serious friendship between the characters. Achilles is attentive to Patroclus, being callous and full of contempt for others. Some ancient researchers considered their friendship homoerotic, while others considered it a platonic union of warriors.
Trojans
Hector- the king's son Priam and the chief warrior of the Trojans.
Aeneas- son Anchises And Aphrodite.
Deiphobe- Brother Hector And Paris.
Paris- kidnapper Helena.
Priam- old king Troy.
Polydamant- a sensible commander whose advice is ignored, antagonistHector.
"Farewell of Hector to Andromache", Sergei Postnikov, 1863
Agenor- Trojan warrior, son Antenora, tried to fight Achilles (Canto XXI).
Sarpedon- killed Patroclus. Was a friend Hlavka and together with him the leader Lycians who fought on the side Troy.
Glaucus- Friend Sarpedon and together with him the leader Lycians who fought on the side Troy.
Euphorb- the first of the Trojan warriors to wound Patroclus.
Dolon- spy in the Greek camp (Canto X).
Antenor- King Priam's advisor, who argues for returning Helen to end the war.
Polydor- son Priam and Laofoi.
pandar- great archer, son of Lycaon.
Hecuba(Ἑκάβη) - wife Priam, mother Hector,Cassandra,Paris and etc.
Elena(Ἑλένη) - daughter Zeus, wife Menelaus, kidnapped Paris then became a wife Deiphoba. Her kidnapping caused Trojan War.
Andromache- wife Hector, mother Astyanax.
Cassandra- daughter Priam. Tried to seduce her Apollo, giving her the gift of prophecy, but being rejected by her, made it so that her prophecies about the fate of Troy were not heeded.
Briseis- a Trojan woman, captured by the Greeks, went to Achilles as trophy.
Gods of the Iliad
Mountain has a sacred meaning in the Iliad Olympus on which sits Zeus, son Kronos. He is revered by both the Achaeans and the Trojans. He towers over the opposing sides. Many Olympian and other gods are involved in the story, some help the Achaeans, others the Trojans. Many of the events described in the Iliad are caused, directed by the gods, the gods also often influence the course of events, acting on the side of one of the warring parties.
Zeus(neutral, but more often helps the Trojans because of the promise to avenge Achilles)
Hera(for the Achaeans)
Artemis(for Trojans)
Apollo(for Trojans)
Hades(neutral)
Aphrodite(for Trojans)
Ares(for Trojans)
Athena(for the Achaeans)
Hermes(neutral)
Poseidon(for the Achaeans)
Hephaestus(neutral)
Olympians:
Eris(for Trojans)
Irida(for the Achaeans)
Thetis(for the Achaeans)
Summer(for Trojans)
Proteus(for the Achaeans)
Scamander(for Trojans)
Phobos(for Trojans)
Deimos(for Trojans)
Rest:
Gods
In the Homeric epic, myth and historical reality, truth and fairy-tale fiction are closely intertwined. It is no coincidence that at first even the reality of the existence of the city of Troy itself in antiquity was questioned. But now, in the 70s of the last century, the German enthusiastic archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered the ruins of ancient city Iliova (Troy).
based on ancient Greek myths, "Iliad" and "Odyssey" are densely populated by Olympian gods. Olympus and the earth live in close unity. In Homer's poems mythological form the world appears as a single tribal community headed by Zeus.
The ancient Greeks believed that the immortal celestials were fully endowed with the whole gamut human feelings that they interfere in the lives of heroes, determine the fate of those who live on earth.
In addition to virtues, the gods possess all human shortcomings which Homer ruthlessly ridicules. They, like people, quarrel, scold, even sometimes fight. The gods are vindictive and vengeful. But they are also concerned about the fate of the heroes fighting under the walls of Ilion. Indeed, according to the ideas of the ancient Greeks, generations of heroes descend from Zeus, who is called by Homer "the father of people and gods", or from his relatives. Some heroes are directly related to the gods. As, for example, Achilles is the son of the sea goddess Thetis, the Lycian king Sarpedon, who is the son of Zeus and the goddess of Europe, and others.
The epic always deals with events so significant for the fate of entire peoples that, by the will of the ancient singers - the Aeds (Homer was also considered a blind singer), the gods necessarily interfere in these events. The events that caused the Trojan War are also clearly of a cosmic nature. The myth tells that the Earth, burdened with a huge human population, turned to Zeus with a request to reduce the human race. Zeus heeded the request of the Earth and unleashed a war between the Greeks and the Trojans. The reason for the war was the abduction of the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus Helen by the Trojan prince Paris. Enraged, Menelaus, together with his brother Agamemnon, gathers the Greek army and sails on ships to Ilion.
In the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as in the entire Trojan cycle, the gods are directly involved in the events. The motivation for all the personal actions of the characters comes from outside. What, for example, caused Achilles' anger at the leader of the Greek army, Agamemnon? The anger that brought the Achaeans, as it is said in the poem: "suffering without count" and "many strong souls heroes" sent to Hades. The reason for the quarrel between the two heroes was the captive, the daughter of the priest of Chris, Briseis, whom Agamemnon took away from Achilles. By the will of Apollo, he was forced to give his captive Chryseis to her father Chris. Thus, the god Apollo turned out to be the culprit in the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, who sent an evil disease to the Achaean army and thereby forced Agamemnon to return the daughter captured from him to the priest of the temple of Apollo in Troy.
Also, the will of the gods motivates other actions of heroes and life situations. When, for example, during a duel, Menelaus grabbed Paris by the helmet and dragged him to the Achaean camp (Iliad, Song 3), the goddess Aphrodite tore the helmet strap and freed Paris. But the belt could break on its own, without the intervention of Aphrodite, who patronizes Paris.
The gods not only intervene human life, they direct the thoughts and actions of people in the direction they need. As a result of the decision of the gods and the direct influence of Pallas Athena, who sympathizes with the Achaeans, the Trojan Pandarus shoots at the Greek camp, treacherously violating the recently concluded truce. When the Trojan Priam comes to Achilles' tent to ask for the body of his son Hector, he goes to meet him. Here, all the actions of Priam and Achilles are inspired by the gods.
However, the Homeric epic should not be understood in such a way that as if a person does not mean anything in himself, but true heroes are the gods. Homer hardly understood mythology literally and represented man as just a pitiful toy of the gods. Without a doubt, Homer puts forward human heroes in the first place in his poems, and his gods are only a generalization of human feelings and actions. And if we read about how a deity put some act into this or that hero, then this should be understood in such a way that this act is the result of own decision person. But this decision came to his mind so subconsciously that even the hero himself considers it a divine predestination. And although the strict epic style implies that all thoughts, feelings and actions of a person are inspired by the gods, Homer, on this strict epic basis, cites infinitely diverse types of relationships between heroes and the gods. Here there is a complete subordination of a person to the divine will, and a harmonious unification of the divine and human will, and a rude attack of a person on one or another Olympian god.
In Homer's poems there is almost no episode where the gods would not act, being, as it were, the main culprits of the events in the life of the heroes. The gods are at enmity with each other as well as the Achaeans with the Trojans, divided into two camps. The Trojans are constantly patronized by Apollo, Ares, Aphrodite, the Achaeans - Pallas Athena, the wife of Zeus Hera, Thetis. This does not happen by chance. The fact is that the Trojan mythology of the ancient Greeks reflected the complex process of mutual assimilation of the cultures of the Balkan and Asia Minor Greeks that was taking place at that time. As a result of this assimilation, gods appeared in the pantheon of Olympian deities, so to speak, of Asian origin. These are Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, constantly sympathetic to the Trojans. When Zeus allows the gods to join the war, they all immediately take the side of the defenders of Ilion. This is natural for the psychology of the ancients. After all, according to their concepts, the gods are also members of their tribal communities and are subject to the requirements of communal ethics, which, above all, obliges them to defend their homeland.
Homer often laughs at the gods. Even famous battle he draws the gods not in a heroic way, but rather in a humorous way. And indeed, is it really possible to take seriously such a battle of the gods, when Apollo and Poseidon shook the land and sea so much that even “Hades, the lord of the underworld, was terrified under the earth”
The comic reaches the level of burlesque when the sublime is portrayed as base. In the style of burlesque, Homer almost always describes scenes that take place on Mount Olympus. He has gods for the most part feasting and laughing. An example is the first song of the Iliad, which depicts Hera's marital jealousy. Zeus intends to beat his jealous wife, and the bow-legged freak Hephaestus makes the feasting gods laugh, rushing around the house with a goblet of wine.
Strong in the poems of Homer and satirical motifs. So, the Cyclopes in the poem "Odyssey" are depicted as a caricature and satire of people living without any laws. The images of some gods and heroes are also satirical. And although humorous and satirical tendencies are just a touch in the diverse palette of shades with which Homer depicts gods and heroes, it was precisely for this that he received criticism in his time. Already at that time, Homer was condemned by some of his contemporaries from the point of view of religion and morality. Many ancient Greeks were jarred by what they thought was the frivolity with which Homer endowed his gods and heroes with almost all human weaknesses and vices.
Heroes
If the gods of Homer, as noted above, carry all the features ordinary people and the poet, at times, reduces his description of the activities of the gods to sarcasm (as if justifying the well-known saying that from the great to the ridiculous is one step), then he equally endows some heroes with the features of the gods. Such is Achilles, born of the goddess Thetis, invulnerable to arrows and spears, whose armor is made by the god Hephaestus himself. Achilles himself is like a god. From one of his screams, the troops of the Trojans take flight in horror. And what is the description of the spear of Achilles:
“That strong, huge ash tree was heavy; its none of the Achaeans
Could not move; only one Achilles easily shook them ... "
Of course, Homer's poems, created in the era of communal-clan decomposition, show the heroes in their new quality. These are no longer heroes of a strict epic style. Features of subjectivism, instability, and effeminacy creep into the characters of Homer's heroes. The psychology of some of them is very capricious. The same Achilles, no doubt, who is the main character of the Iliad, throughout the entire poem only knows that he is capricious, because of trifles he harms his own compatriots, and when Hector kills him best friend Patroclus, falls into a real frenzy. He puts his personal interests above his patriotic duty. Although according to the laws of a strict epic style, he had to fight not because of revenge, but because of his duty to his homeland.
Achilles is probably one of the most complex figures in the whole ancient literature. In his character, all the contradictions of that transitional era from the communal-clan form of society to slavery were refracted. In Achilles, along with insane cruelty and a thirst for revenge, tender feelings for Patroclus and for his mother, the goddess Thetis, coexist. Significant in this regard is the scene when Achilles cries, laying his head on his mother's lap.
Unlike the cunning and treacherous Odysseus, Achilles is straightforward and brave. Even knowing about his bitter fate to die young, he still undertakes this dangerous campaign to Ilion. Meanwhile, as already mentioned, this is the hero of the later epic, when the ideals of severe heroism were already a thing of the past, and the capricious personality of the hero, very selfish and nervous, was next in line. Instead of the former primitive collectivism, separate person. Namely - a person, and not just a hero, since according to the laws of a tribal community, every man must be a hero. Every man had to fight bravely for his community, and cowardice on the battlefield was considered the greatest disgrace.
But in view of the fact that Homer's work is based on heroic mythology, the personality in his poems is still in strong connection with his family and tribe, it represents a single whole with them. A different depiction of personality would go beyond the boundaries of the epic and would show a picture of later classical slavery.
The son of the Trojan king Priam Hector strictly observes the rules of communal ethics. Unlike the hysterical Achilles, he is strict, fearless and principled. His main goal is to fight for his homeland, for his people, for his beloved wife Andromache. Like Achilles, he knows he must die defending Troy, and yet he openly goes into battle. Hector - sample epic hero almost devoid of any flaws.
Agamemnon, unlike Hector, is endowed with numerous vices. He is also a brave warrior, but at the same time a weak-willed, greedy and, so to speak, morally unstable subject. Sometimes a coward and a drunkard. Homer often tries to belittle him, to present him in an ironic perspective. Along with the Olympian gods, Homer is also ironic about the heroes. In general, the Iliad can be interpreted as a satire on the Achaean kings, especially on Agamemnon and Achilles. Of course, the leader of the Achaeans, Agamemnon, is not as capricious and petty as Achilles, because of whose selfish offense the Greeks suffered such great losses. He is in many ways more principled and honest, but still cannot be regarded as classic hero epic. Agamemnon, in a way, match the eternally feasting and laughing Olympic gods.
And, finally, Odysseus, as Homer says, "in rationality is equal to God." His image cannot be understood in a simplified way, as the image of only a diplomat and a practitioner, and even more so, a cunning and adventurer. The adventurousness of the image of Odysseus in the second Homeric poem would have had its rightful place if it had not been laid in the hero. selfless love to the native hearth, "the smoke of the native land" and to Penelope waiting for him on Ithaca.
The synthesis of myth, fairy tale and real life led to one goal - the creation of the image of a new hero, who absorbed the features necessary for an active person in the era of the development of new lands, the development of navigation, crafts, slavery and trade. It is no coincidence, therefore, that Homer's appeal to a clearly adventurous-adventure plot. In the Odyssey, he was attracted primarily by intelligence, enterprise, dexterity, patience and courage - everything that was required for a hero of modern times. Indeed, unlike the rest of the Achaean kings, Odysseus also owns a carpenter's ax when he builds a raft for himself, as well as a battle spear. People obey him not by order or law tribal community, but by the conviction of the superiority of his mind and life experience.
Of course, Odysseus is practical and cunning. He gladly receives rich gifts from the feacians and, on the advice of Athena Pallas, who patronizes the hero, hides these treasures in a cave. Once in Ithaca, he tenderly falls to native land, but his head at this moment is full of cunning plans, how to deal with insolent suitors.
But Odysseus is fundamentally a sufferer. No wonder Homer constantly calls him "long-suffering." He is more of a sufferer than even a sly one, although Odysseus's cunning seems to be limitless. It is not for nothing that in the Iliad he often acts as a scout, in disguise making his way into Troy besieged by the Achaeans. main reason the suffering of Odysseus is an irresistible longing for the homeland, which he cannot achieve by the will of circumstances. The gods take up arms against him: Poseidon, Aeolus, Helios and even Zeus. scary monsters and cruel storms threaten the hero with death, but nothing can restrain his craving for his native Ithaca, love for his father, wife, son Telemachus. Odysseus did not even hesitate in choosing when, in return for his homeland, the nymph Calypso promised to grant him immortality and eternal youth. Odysseus chooses a path full of hardships and dangers home to Ithaca. And of course ill tie in with this tenderly loving husband and father the role of a bloodthirsty killer who mercilessly cracks down on suitors, filling the entire palace with their corpses. What can you do, Odysseus is a product of his cruel era, and the suitors would not have spared him either, if Odysseus fell into their hands.
Introduction From the author 1. Introductory remarks 2. The Iliad 3. The Odyssey 4. Translations of Homer 5. Required literature for acquaintance with Homer 6. Mythological manuals 7. Historical manuals 8. School Greek texts of Homer 9. Manuals for studying the Greek text of Homer 10. Marxist-Leninist study of Homer Part I. Homer and his time 1. Plot contradictions 2. Other contradictions 3. What is the "Homeric question"? 1. Distribution, execution and first recording of Homer's poems 2. The question of Homer's attitude to the recently deciphered Cretan-Mycenaean writing 3. Popular tradition about Homer 4. Antique criticism of Homer 1. The Homeric question in the West before Wolf 2. Fr. - Aug. Wolf 3. The Homeric question after Wolf 4. Latest work according to Homer 1. The people as a creative individual and the individual as a creative people 2. Homer is a reflection of history Greek people 3. The personality of Homer and the design of his works 4. The epic artist 5. The Greek epic artist 6. The Greek Ionian epic artist 7. The Greek Ionian epic artist of the era of the decomposition of the communal-tribal system and its transition to the slave-owning formation 8. Attic completion of the Homeric epic 9. Nationality Homer 10. Time and place of Homer's life 11. Current position the issue of Peisistratus' commission and Solon's Homeric reform 12. Homer's text in antiquity 13. The main thesis of Homeric studies 14. Another problem V. Socio-historical basis 1. Struggle of the new with the old 2. Estates 3. Organization of power 4. Military democracy How general characteristics socio-political picture of Homer 5. Lack of legal formalism 6. Outcome VI. About Homer's progressive tendencies 1. Anti-war tendency 2. Peaceful way of life in Homer's comparisons 3. Anti-aristocratic tendency 4. Other progressive tendencies 1. Misunderstanding of the epic style 2. Essence of the epic style 3. Middle position of the epic mixed) epic style 2. Objectivity of the epic 3. Detailed efficiency of the epic 4. Picturesqueness and plasticity of the epic 5. Periods of plastic perception of the world in Homer 6. Antipsychologism and material image of the psyche 7. Homer's combination of divine predestination and free psychology 8. Tradition and standardity of the epic 9 Monumentality of the epic 10. Absence of trifles in the epic, naivete 11. Balanced and contemplative calmness of the epic 12. Heroic character epic 13. Natural-bodily and self-material nature of aesthetics, ethics and religion in the epic 14. general review of all the basic principles of the epic style discussed above 1. The inevitability of the emergence of new styles 2. Epic style 3. Lyrics 4. Tragedy 5. General tragic picture world 6. Comedy 7. Rhetoric and sententiousness 1. Unity of new styles in Homer 2. Retrospective and summarizing view. The beginning of historicism 3. Socio-historical complexes 4. A free, but at the same time aesthetically loving, indulgent attitude towards the naivety of mythology 5. Subtle humor, reaching benevolent irony, and at the same time naive seriousness 6. Cheerful cheerfulness and tirelessness, despite constant suffering and misfortune 7. Free-aesthetic freethinking 8. General formula free epic style of Homer 1. Fundamental unity artistic style Homer 2. Analogy with fine arts VI. From modern literature according to the worldview and style of Homer VII. From principles of style to style itself 1. Characters 2. Achilles 3. Agamemnon 4. Hector 5. Odysseus 6. Nestor 7. Nausicaa 8. Developed individualization and method of showing vital details 9. Life 10. Rudiments of the former community development II. Gods and fate 1. Homer's religion and its evolution 2. The most ancient mythological layer 3. Chthonic mythology 4. Chthonic root of the Olympian gods 5. General system gods and demons in Homer in historical and artistic terms 6. Universalism of the Homeric gods in its formation 7. Humorous moment in the image of the gods in Homer 8. Basic texts about divine humor in Homer 9. Humor of the gods and the tragedy of people 10. Essence of Homeric humor 11. From the literature about the Homeric gods and, in particular, about the Homeric laughter of the gods 12. Fate as an aesthetic idea 13. Historical layers in Homer's views on fate 14. Fate and reality III. General results Bibliography
