Iliad is an epic where one gets to see every side of human beings, be it emotions, heroism, revenge, glory or a plethora of other virtues. To put it in a simple way, it is basically the story of the battle between the Greeks and the Trojans. Obviously, if we delve deeper into the meaning of this battle, various other aspects of the war come out too but at its surface it is a war – a war which encapsulates the myriad of human emotions and sentiments in itself. Homer weaves the story primarily in the context of war and a majority of this epic takes place in the battlefield but there are also brief interludes where we get to see the human side of war – the side where we are forced to realise that war in its essence is just a clash of egos , no more. It is just the exaggeration of one man’s idea of superiority over the others.
The concept of war is an interesting term in the Iliad because it is a concept to which no one meaning can be accorded. Every individual perceives it in their own way and hence assigns different meaning to it. For instance, Menelaus sees it as a way of bringing back Helen from the influence of Paris, Agamemnon sees it as a way of conquering the riches of Troy , for Achilles initially it is just fulfilling Agamemnon’s orders for the sake of maintaining his own reputation as the greatest warrior and later becomes a mission for avenging Patroclus’ death, for Hector it is contributing to the cause of his homeland and making sure that Troy does not fall until the day he is alive whereas for some Greeks it is just gaining the wealth and women of Troy, for some it might be just the compulsion of obeying their king’s orders. Thus, each of the individuals have their own purposes for participating in the war and there is no single definition which can define this barbaric concept of homicide.
Heroic codes are the embodiments of the dignity of war. Even a concept such as war has limits and boundaries which should not be broken. In The Iliad we get to see various instances where the heroic codes are honoured and also some others where they are not. For instance, in Book six of the epic when Andromache is concerned about Troy and shows her apprehension about Troy’s defeat in the war Hector replies that he has the same intuition but goes on to say
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[…]But if I hid myself like a coward and slunk from the fighting, I would feel nothing but shame before the Trojans and the Trojan women in their trailing gowns. My heart would not be in it either, since I have trained myself always to be a good warrior, to take my place in the front line and try to win glory for my father and myself. (Homer, 2003)
We see his heroism again in Book 22 of the epic where he is confronted with Achilles in front of the gates of Ilium. He was one warrior who chose to do what warriors are supposed to do – keep fighting whether it leads to their victory or loss; but they are not supposed to show their back to the enemy and run away. And this is the quality of a warrior that Hector best represented. He chose to embrace death in a heroic manner rather than be alive with the mark of cowardice stuck with him forever. This is just one heroic code which warriors are supposed to follow.
Another, but a very crucial one is maintaining the dignity of the dead which Achilles fails to perform when in his passion for avenging Patroclus’ death, he drags Hector’s body around Patroclus’ tomb for paying respect to his friend. He continued this mistreatment for eleven days until Priam came to him to take back Hector’s body. Giving proper funeral to the dead also counts as a heroic code which Hector did not have the good fortune to receive for eleven days. Achilles committed a foul deed by acting in such a manner but he made up for it as much as he could by listening to Priam when he came to supplicate him and ask for his son’s body.
This was another heroic code where no matter how powerful you are, you allow the other person to present their side and this is exactly what Achilles did. He had the alternative to kill Priam and further avenge Patroclus’ death but he chose to keep his calm and listen to what Priam had to say and eventually returned to him Hector’s body. Thus he respected this heroic code of respecting the other side. But the Greeks also broke some codes when they sent Diomedes and Odysseus to the Trojan side on a spying mission to know the Trojan plan of action and Trojans being no less sent Dolon to the Greek side. What followed was Dolon being caught by the two Greeks and put to rest after crucial information was extracted from him.
This was a serious misconduct and a tremendous breach of law from both the sides. While Odysseus and Diomedes committed the felony of breaking into the enemy camp during ceasefire, Dolon did much more harm by betraying his own side for the sake of his life. And what good did he do by revealing the information – he was killed with the mark of a coward. That was a shameful act he did and the repercussions soon followed – he was to be killed no doubt but in being selfish and acting for his own cause he also let forego of any honour which he might have received after his death.
The concept of funeral forms an important part of The Iliad where Achilles returns to the war for the sake of honouring Patroclus in his funeral by killing Hector. Thus, after Hector dies Patroclus is given a funeral feast accompanied with the funeral games which act a vent out of the grief and sorrow of the warriors. It is for performing Hector’s funeral that Priam risks going into the Greek camp. After recovering the body ,Priam gives a funeral feast and thus, Hector too get the honour of a warrior’s funeral. Hence, we see how the concept of war, heroic codes and funeral is interlinked in Homer’s Iliad and how in a way it brings out the human side of war.
