Homer and the Indo-Europeans: Comparing Mythologies 9781850438311, 1850438315

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HOMER AND THE INDO-EUROPEANS Comparing Mythologies

JULIAN BALDICK

I.B.TAURIS PUBLISHERS LONDON NEW YORK

To Marie Baldick

Published in 1994 by I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd 45 Bloomsbury Square London W C1A2HY Copyright © 1994 by Julian Baldick All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. A full C IP record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress catalog card number: available ISBN 1-85043-831-5

Typeset by CentraCet Limited, Cambridge Printed and bound in Great Britain by WBC Ltd, Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

vi

Introduction

1

1. C om parative M ythology and the Hom eric Epics

17

2. T h e Iliad

46

3. T h e Odyssey

99

Conclusions

149

Notes

161

Bibliography

170

Index I: Nam es o f persons, deities, etc

173

Index II: Nam es of places

179

Index III: Subjects

181

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I m ust acknowledge an immense indebtedness to Nick Allen for his generously given advice, although I know that he disagrees with m uch th at I have w ritten here. I am also extremely grateful to Jo h n Penney for devoting m uch tim e and effort to answering my queries in the field o f historical and com parative linguistics. T hanks are due to various friends and colleagues who supplied useful information: Didier Bouil­ lon, G erard Colas, Simon Digby, Ju lie M eisami, Jin ty Nelson, Alexis Sanderson and Naoko Y am agata. I m ust also express my thanks to the stafT of I.B .T auris, and in particular to A nna E nayat; and, above all, to my wife for her great patience and help.

INTRODUCTION

T his book represents a radical rereading of H om er from a com paratist’s perspective. It argues th at the Greek epics m ust be studied in the light o f narratives in other Indo-European languages, in particular Sanskrit. T h u s it m aintains th at the H om eric poems convey a m arkedly Indo-E uropean ideology and correspond to the prototypes o f Indian and Iran ian epics. It does so by using the highly controversial m ethods of a discipline which is often m isunderstood, called ‘com parative mythology*. Consequently, we m ust begin by asking various questions. W hat au th o r or authors are designated by the nam e ‘H o m e r? W hat is m eant by the term ‘In do-E uropean? And w hat do people in the discipline o f ‘com parative mythology’ try to do?

HOM ER T he ancient Greeks used the nam e ‘H om er’ to refer to the supposed a u th o r o f two great epics, which in the opinion of m odem scholars m ust have been composed between 800 and 650 BCE. O ne o f these epics is called the Iliad, because it is about an episode in a siege of a city nam ed Ilium , b u t better known as T roy, in w hat is now n orth­ west T urkey. T he other epic is called the Odyssey, since it narrates the adventures of a hero whose nam e is Odysseus and who, after taking part in the siege o f T roy, encounters m any difficulties, both on his hom ew ard journey and on arrival at his home. T here has been m uch debate about how m any authors would have been responsible for producing these epics. Some scholars, known as the ‘A nalysts’, have chopped the poems into bits and argued that they were the work of m any hands. O th e r scholars, known as the ‘U nitarians’, have counter­ argued th at each poem had only one author, or th at both epics were composed by the same poet. Nowadays it is generally considered that the Iliad is essentially the work o f one m an, and th at the Odyssey, in its 1

2

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

original form, was produced about a generation later, probably by another m an but possibly by the sam e one in his old age. It is not clear w hether or not the society which saw the composition o f these epics was literate. T he poems would, at any rate, have undergone m any alterations as they were transm itted from one generation to the next. A long time after they were first composed each was divided into 24 ‘books’, corresponding to the num ber of letters in the Greek alphabet.

T H E IL IA D T he Iliad begins in the tenth year o f the siege of T roy, which is being attacked by a people known as the Achaeans, who are from m ainland Greece an d the Greek islands. Paris, one of the sons o f Priam , the king of T roy, has abused his position as guest of the king o f Sparta, M enelaus, to run off with his wife, Helen. M enelaus and his brother, A gam em non, king of M ycenae, have brought a huge expedition to recapture the stolen wife. T he poem starts with a quarrel between A gam em non, who is commander-in-chief, and the besiegers’ m ost effective fighter, Achilles. Agam em non publicly hum iliates Achilles, and the latter com plains to his m other, the sea-goddess T hetis. She tells him to w ithdraw from the fighting while she persuades the king of the gods, Zeus, to go on granting victories to the T rojans until Agam em non repents. This plan is p u t into effect. T he T rojans, led by Paris’ brother Hector, gain the upper hand and Agam em non tries to propitiate Achilles, but in vain. H ector has one great day o f glory, in which he fights his way to the Achaeans’ ships. Achilles’ best friend, Patroclus, is draw n into the fighting and kills an im portant ally o f the T rojans, Sarpedon, who is a son of Zeus. H ector kills Patroclus, and Achilles, m addened by grief, agrees to fight. Agamemnon grants him due honour, and he goes on to kill H ector and thus, by removing T ro y ’s best w arrior, seals the city’s fate. H ector’s corpse has to be retrieved by his father, who comes to Achilles as a suppliant. As we shall see, the Iliad has a lot more to offer than this briefest of sum m aries would suggest. T here is a subtle interplay of concepts, represented by a wider cast of deities and m ortals. Zeus’ wife, H era, who symbolizes sovereignty, contractuality and loyalty, is as the firmest partisan of the A chaean cause. His brother Poseidon helps to hold the A chaean fighting force together, assisted by a leading terrestrial ally, Idom eneus, the king of Crete. A clever warrior-goddess, A thena, also intervenes to give the Achaeans victory, while the T rojans

Introduction

3

have on their side Aphrodite, the goddess of love. A phrodite’s son Aeneas is a T rojan prince, who after the w ar will be his people’s king. T roy is also protected by two m ore deities of pleasure: Apollo, the patron o f the arts, and Artemis, the goddess o f hunting. A city of abundance and fertility, it corresponds all too well to its arch-enem y, Achilles, who is him self a rich and fertile source o f booty.

T H E O D Y SSE Y T he Odyssey begins in the twentieth year o f Odysseus’ absence from his hom eland. His palace on the island of Ithaca has been taken over by a num ber of wicked suitors, who try to persuade his wife, Penelope, to m arry one of them . T he gods decide to order the goddess Calypso, who has been keeping Odysseus on her island, to let him go. A thena goes to Ith aca and tells O dysseus’ son Telem achus to travel in search of news of his father. Telem achus goes on his journey and hears that O dysseus is alive. M eanwhile, his father leaves C alypso’s island b u t is wrecked on the peninsula o f a people known as the Phaeacians. H e is rescued by the daughter o f this people’s king, and gives his Phaeacian hosts an account of his adventures after the siege o f Troy. Odysseus has used his celebrated powers o f trickery to blind a giant son of Poseidon; been entertained by a witch called Circe; visited the U nderw orld; lost his surviving followers after they ate the Sun-god’s cattle; and, finally, been stranded on Calypso’s island. T he Phaeacians send him to Ithaca, where A thena disguises him as an old beggar. His faithful swineherd gives him hospitality while Telem achus returns. O dysseus and Telem achus plot their attack on the suitors, and the hero comes to his palace in his disguise as a beggar. Penelope announces that she will m arry whoever succeeds in stringing O dysseus’ great bow and shooting an arrow through the apertures o f 12 axes. Odysseus alone passes this test, and then slaughters the suitors, helped by A thena, Telem achus, the swineherd and a cowherd. T hen he proves his identity to Penelope and, after a brief skirmish with the suitors’ relatives, reaches a peaceful settlem ent with them. H ere again the poem is far richer than its plot suggests. T h e epic is m ainly about how the suitors’ wickedness justifies Odysseus’ stooping to deceit: it teaches the appalling doctrine that against evil enemies ail is justified. T hus the suitors are the real agents of their own destruction. A thena, as the clever warrior-goddess who m asterm inds their m assa­ cre, has Odysseus him self as her counterpart. Penelope is polyvalent:

4

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

wise, good at her work and beautiful, she symbolizes the com bination of excellence in three difFerent spheres. T he Odyssey is also about the testing o f the w arrior in successive areas: responding to seduction, bravery an d piety. Finally, as nineteenth-century scholars observed (expressing themselves with unfortunate exaggeration), the Odyssey is to some extent about the sun: it is partly based on a m yth in which a warrior-figure intervenes to give the daw n the assistance o f his strength.

T H E T E R M ‘IN D O -E U R O P E A N * T h e term ‘Indo-European* is adm itted by the specialists who use it to be an absolute m onstrosity. U nfortunately nobody has yet m anaged to think up a better one. It is completely arbitrary: one m ight as well use a symbol like ‘x*. T he term is essentially linguistic: it m eans th at m any languages, such as English, Spanish, Greek, Russian, Persian and Sanskrit, are related to one another and constitute a separate grouping. T h is kinship o f languages has naturally led scholars to try to recon­ struct an original proto-language from which all Indo-European tongues would be descended: Proto-Indo-European. Consequently it is posited th at there once existed a population which spoke this language, while further hypotheses are p u t forward to suggest where and when this population m ight have lived. H ere there has been m uch disagree­ m ent am ong both linguists and archaeologists, since no artefacts have been unearthed th at are dem onstrably Proto-Indo-European. W ith disastrous social consequences, these linguistic discussions were taken over, from the nineteenth century, first by racist and then by Nazi propagandists. T h e idea, now discredited, th at ‘races* of different hum an beings actually exist cam e to be combined (though not by reputable scholars) with the linguistic evidence. T hus the word ‘Aryan*, which in the nineteenth century was used by scholars as a linguistic term synonymous with Indo-European, has been m isapplied to designate an im aginary ‘race*, with distinct biological and physical characteristics. T oday the use o f the term ‘Aryan* instead of ‘IndoEuropean* is continued only by extrem e right-w ing propagandists. It is, however, perfectly respectable to employ the term to designate the In d o -Iran ian sub-family, which includes Sanskrit and Persian, since the ancient Indians and Iranians undoubtedly used this word ‘Aryan* to refer to themselves. T he expressions ‘Indo-European* and ‘Proto-Indo-European* are

Introduction

5

used in confusing ways, and often the former is used when the latter is m eant. Academics talk of ‘Indo-Europeans* when ‘Indo-Europeanspeakers’ is w hat they intend: it becomes a kind of shorthand. In the present text ‘Indo-E uropean1 will be used in an extended sense, to designate an ideology expressed m ainly in Indo-E uropean languages from an early date. T his does not require th at such an ideology would necessarily have been present in the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European population: the ideology may well have been diffused from a ‘daughtersociety’ (a society speaking a language descended from Proto-IndoE uropean), such as the Indo-Iranian one.

T H E P R O T O -IN D O -E U R O P E A N S ’ H O M E L A N D A N D DATE W here would these hypothetical Proto-Indo-Europeans have lived, an d in w hat period o f prehistory? In recent years academ ic debate ab o u t these questions has been renewed, and very different solutions have been put forward. These have been conveniently sum m arized by the French archaeologist Jean-P aul Demoule in 1991. T he Proto-IndoE uropean hom eland has been placed respectively in the C aucasus, in T urkey and in the steppes o f southern Russia. As for the period o f the Proto-Indo-Europeans, it has been norm al to p u t it a t around 4500 to 2500 BCE, though some scholars have recently proposed a m uch earlier dating, which would coincide with the Neolithic invention of agriculture and its spread from the N ear East from the ninth m illen­ nium BCE to the fifth. Such a dating would have the Proto-IndoEuropeans setting out from the Caucasus or Turkey. T he more conventional dating would put them first in the steppes to the north of the Black Sea, developing an increasingly inegalitarian w arrior society in the fifth m illennium , and then, from the end of th at m illennium to the end of the third, invading and colonizing other regions.1

C O M P A R A T IV E M Y T H O L O G Y Along with the linguistic and archaeological approaches in IndoEuropean studies there is also a third: the mythological. ‘Mythology* is a confusing word, since it is used to m ean not only an academ ic discipline, in the sense of an organized mode o f inquiry, but also the object o f that discipline, the m yths themselves. ‘Myth* is another

6

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

confusing word, and m any attem pts at defining it have been m ade. H ere, by ‘m yths’, I simply m ean legends of gods and heroes. ‘C om par­ ative mythology* has in practice tended to m ean com parative IndoE uropean mythology, bccause outside the Indo-European field little work o f this kind has been done. From the end o f the eighteenth century it was realized that the gods of Greece, Scandinavia and India were very sim ilar, as were the languages o f these regions. In the early nineteenth century there arose the discipline o f com parative philology, now called historical and com parative linguistics, which concentrated on Indo-European comparisons. Predictably, in the m iddle o f the nineteenth century, com parative mythology arose as this discipline’s sister-science. U nfortunately it tried to analyse all religious m aterials with reference first to language, then to nature. Sim ilarities between words and names were invoked to explain all m yths as reflections of natu ral phenom ena, most often solar ones. T he discipline became covered in derision and by the end o f the nineteenth century had practically died. It was not until the 1920s that com parative mythology began to be revived, by the French scholar Georges Dumezil (1898-1986), and it was only from 1938 onw ards that he m anaged to present an effectively coherent m ethod. T his m ethod is based on the reconstruction o f a common Indo-European ideology, which is seen as centred around three fundam ental elements. Dumezil called these elements ‘functions’, but I prefer to call them ‘concepts’. They are: [1] religious sovereignty, in its magical and legal aspects; [2] physical force, notably that of the w arrior; [3] fertility, in its erotic and agricultural aspects. From 1938 to 1949 Dumezil claimed that the Proto-Indo-Europeans were divided into three social classes corresponding to these concepts, b u t from 1949 onw ards he abandoned this claim, adm itting th at the evidence could not be m ade to prove it: the existence of some underlying ideology of this kind was all that could be dem onstrated. Similarly, from 1949 he declared that it was impossible to reconstruct particular Proto-IndoE uropean m yths or rites in their concrete specificity: one could only use m aterials in a given Indo-European language to shed light upon m aterials in another. T his approach will be the one used here.2

T H E RAM AYANA T o shed light upon the Iliad, therefore, it is natural to exam ine one of the two great Indian epics, which has a very sim ilar plot: the Ramayana

Introduction

1

(the title m eans ‘the poem of the hero Rama*). T here is much uncertainty about when this epic was composed in its original form and how it underw ent subsequent developments. As we have it now it is a Sanskrit poem of about 24,000 couplets, concerning the life of a legendary prince o f northern India. Although it is traditionally a ttrib ­ uted to a poet called Valmiki, it m ust be the work of m any hands. Recently the oldest parts of the poem have been dated to between 750 an d 500 B C E.3 T he poem ’s hero, R am a, has a tragic figure o f a king as his father, ju s t as Agam em non and M enelaus have: in both India and Greece the tragedy is to do with problems of succession to the throne. R am a’s father dies o f grief after being forced to pass him over as the rightful successor, as his eldest son by his first wife, and give the throne to his sccond son, the child o f his second wife. A t the sam e tim e R am a has to go into exile, accom panied by one o f two twin brothers, Lakshm ana, a child o f his father’s third wife. (Similarly, in Greek legend Agam em non and M enelaus’ father, Atreus, is killed by his son by his second wife, and this son seizes the throne, so th at the two brothers, being children o f their father’s first wife, have to go into exile.)4 W hile Ram a, his wife, who is called Sita, and L akshm ana are living in exile, Sita is abducted by R avana, the king of a class o f beings called rakskasas. T his word is now sometimes translated as ‘ogres’. ‘Dem ons’ would also be possible. These rakskasas are characterized by their great enthusiasm for sexual activity, riches and luxury. Sita is taken to their capital city on the island of Lanka (which one is naturally tem pted to identify w ith the m odern Sri Lanka - an identification that is not certain). R am a acquires allies in order to recapture Sita. First he finds a monkey called H anum an, who as a clever w arrior resembles Odysseus. T hen he makes an alliance with the king o f the monkeys. H anum an, like O dysseus, visits the city which is to be besieged. W hen the siege takes place there is a great battle in front o f the city. A t one point it looks as if the ogres are about to win, b u t L akshm ana intervenes decisively and kills R avana’s m ost im portant supporter, his son Indrajit. R avana then fells Lakshm ana, who has his heart pierced and is apparently dead (though soon he is m iraculously revived). R am a kills R avana and, since the latter was the city’s best w arrior, its surrender is ju st a formality. An ogre-prince, who in spite of being an ogre is pious and dear to the gods, will now, like Aeneas, rule over his vanquishedtpeople.

8

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

T H E M AHABHARATA J u s t as the Iliad corresponds to the Ramayana, so too the Odyssey corresponds to the other famous Indian epic, the Mahabharata (the title m eans ‘the great poem of the clan of the B haratas’). H ere again, scholars are not sure when it was first composed and how it acquired later accretions. It is also in Sanskrit, and consists of about 100,000 couplets. Like the Ramayana, it is the work o f m any authors. Recent scholarship has pointed to the eighth or perhaps the ninth century BCE as the probable period of the poem ’s original version, b u t the oldest p arts of the text as we have it are not older than 400 BCE.5 In this epic a northern Indian king, called Pandu, with divine assistance, fathers five sons. O ne o f them , A ijuna, a clever w arrior who resembles Odysseus, wins a princess called D raupadi in a m arriage contest, by stringing a bow and shooting arrow s through a hole in a wheel into a target. Afterwards A rjuna is obliged to share his wife w ith his brothers as co-husbands (a form of ‘polyandry* still practised in the north of the South Asian subcontinent). T hen A ijuna is obliged to go into exile after breaching his eldest brother’s privacy by seeing him with D raupadi. H e has rom antic adventures w ith various female figures, and then returns. Subsequently his eldest brother engages in a fateful gam e of dice with their wicked cousins, the K auravas, and apparently loses his property, his brothers, D raupadi and him self to them . T h e K auravas m ake outrageous advances to D raupadi, but she m anages to extricate herself and her husbands, obtaining freedom for them all. Subsequently A ijuna’s eldest brother loses another game of dice with their cousins, and the resulting penalty is th at the five brothers m ust spend 12 years exiled in the forest and ano th er year living in the open, but disguised. They go into exile, accom panied by D raupadi. D uring their collective banishm ent A ijuna goes off into a second individual exile. A clever warrior-god, In d ra, tells his brothers to go on a pilgrimage (just as A thena tells Telem achus to go on a journey during Odysseus’ absence). After further adventures A ijuna is reunited with his brothers, and when the 12 years are over they emerge from the forest and live in disguise. At the end of the thirteenth year they abandon their disguises to claim their share o f the clan’s kingdom, b u t the K auravas refuse to hand it over. A ijuna and his brothers m assacre the K auravas, after victory has been prepared for them by In d ra and m asterm inded by K rishna, the hum an incar­ nation o f another deity, V ishnu, who after being a m inor warrior-god

Introduction

9

in early Indian religion is prom oted to the highest rank. After a brief skirm ish with a survivor o f the m assacre, A rjuna and his brothers reach a peaceful settlem ent with him.

T H E IR A N IA N N A T IO N A L E P IC T h e Iliad also resembles p a rt o f the Iranian national epic, the Book o f Kings (Shah-nama). T his is a Persian poem o f about 60,000 couplets, composed by Firdawsi o f T us in north-east Iran, who died c.1023 CE. In spite o f its late date o f composition it undoubtedly contains elements o f vastly greater antiquity. T he p a rt which concerns us describes hostilities between the Iranians and a people living to the north-east, the T u ranians, who are associated with the use of magic (like the ogres o f L anka). An Iranian prince called Isfandiyar, one o f his country’s m ost effective w arriors, is absent from the fighting, im prisoned by his father, G ushtasp, the king o f Iran. T he T uranians invade Iran and are victorious, but then Isfandiyar is brought back into the fighting. In the m eantim e, however, the T uranians have abducted his wife. T h e hero has to attack the enem y’s great fortified enclosure to rescue her and, assisted by one o f his brothers, is successful: he kills his arch-enem y.6

T H E L E G E N D S O F T H E O S S E T IA N S T h e Odyssey is echoed in the legends of an Iranian people, the O ssetians, who live in the C aucasus and are descended from the famous Scythians of classical antiquity. T hese legends have been collected by nineteenth- and tw entieth-century scholars from native inform ants who had preserved them in oral form. T he legends refer to a m ythical people known as the N arts, and in particular to a trickster, nam ed Syrdon, who resembles Odysseus. Syrdon acts deceptively w hen a suitor called Soslan besieges a fortress in order to win a woman who has been prom ised to him. T he trickster kills a young ally of Soslan and then Soslan him self is killed as well. In one version o f the story trickery is used by a witch (who has evidently replaced Syrdon) to have Soslan killed by other N arts. T his is connected to solar m yths in which a clever warrior-figure provides violent intervention.7

10

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

T H E E A R L Y H IS T O R Y O F R O M E T h e H om eric epics are also echoed in stories about the early history of Rome, from the eighth to the fourth centuries BCE. These stories are found in sources m uch later than the period to which they refer. T he most im portant is the massive Histoiy o f Rome by the historian Livy, of Padua in north-east Italy, who lived from 59 BCE to 17 C E. Secondly, there is a work called the Roman Antiquities, by the Greek rhetorician and historian Dionysius o f H alicarnassus in w hat is now south-west T urkey, who lived at Rome for m any years from 30 BCE onwards. Finally, there is the famous collection of Lives by the Greek biographer, historian and philosopher Plutarch (c.4 6 -f.l2 0 CE). In these sources the story of the Iliad has as its counterpart an account of a w ar between the Rom ans and a neighbouring people, the Sabines. In this w ar the Rom ans find themselves, bizarrely, besieging the Sabines in the Romans* own citadel on the C apitoline hill. T he R om an forces are led by the city’s founder and first king, Romulus, who, like Agam em non, is closely associated with the king o f the gods, while the Sabines are representatives of riches and fertility. T here is a battle in front o f the citadel, and the Sabines gain the upper hand until Rom ulus intervenes decisively and the Sabines’ best fighter is beaten.8 As for the Odyssey> its storyline is paralleled by an episode in the life o f the Rom an statesm an and general Cam illus, who is supposed to have defeated the invading G auls around 390 BCE. Cam illus is presented as being in exile when the Capitoline citadel is taken over by the Gauls. A young m an, like Telem achus, goes on a journey in a prelude to the hero’s return. Cam illus comes back and, ju st as the G auls are about to carry off a massive fortune in gold, puts them to flight. Subsequently, in a second engagem ent, he annihilates them completely.9

S C A N D IN A V IA In Scandinavia the Greek epics have their narratives echoed in a variety of m aterials. First, there is the Icelandic collection of poems known as the Poetic Edday contained in a m anuscript w ritten around 1300 C E , although m ost o f the poems are m uch earlier, such as the Prophecy o f the Seeress (Vqluspa)y whose anonym ous author may have composed it in the tenth century C E, as the old G erm anic religion was

Introduction

11

giving way to C hristianity. Secondly, there is the History o f the Danes by Saxo G ram m aticus (c.l 150-1216), a D anish archbishop's secretary who transform ed ancient m yths into history and gods into heroes. T hirdly, there is the work of Iceland’s greatest historian, Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), who wrote a handbook for poets known as the Prose Edda and a history of the Norwegian kings entitled The Orb o f the World (Heimskringtyy both of which include stories about the old Scandinavian gods. T hese m aterials provide a counterpart to the story o f the Iliad when they describe a w ar betw eea gods of sovereignty and w ar (called the Aesir) on the one hand and deities of fertility (called the V anir) on the other. T he king o f the gods, O din, leads the Aesir against the V anir, b u t the latter, thanks to their use of magic, gain the upper hand for a time. Peace is eventually m ade, and a couple of the V anir are prom oted to the level o f the Aesir (rather as Aeneas is prom oted to sovereign).10 T he Odyssey is reflected in the stories of the Scandinavian god Loki, a trickster who belongs to the Aesir. Loki, like Odysseus, is good at escaping from difficult situations. He arranges the killing o f another god, Balder, when this seems impossible (rather as A thena and O dysseus arrange the apparently impossible m assacre of the suitors). Loki persuades a blind god, H oder (Balder’s brother), to hit Balder with a branch o f mistletoe, which is the only thing that can kill him and does. Subsequently Loki is confronted by Balder’s relatives and punished by them .11

T H E B Y Z A N T IN E H E R O IC E P IC T h e com parison o f the Hom eric epics with m aterials in other IndoE uropean languages is greatly assisted if one looks at another Greek poem, the Byzantine heroic epic entitled The Two-Blood Border Lord (Digenes Akrites). T his is preserved in m anuscripts from the fourteenth century onw ards, b u t is considered to be much older, and to have been composed in w hat is now eastern Turkey. It refers to historical events o f 788 C E. T h e hero is of mixed Greek and Arab blood, and fights on the border between the Byzantine and Islamic empires. In this epic one repeatedly encounters groupings of five men and a woman, as in the Mahabharata. O ne also finds the characteristically Indo-European p attern s o f the ‘three sins of the w arrior’, discovered by Dumezil, and the ‘three tests of the w arrior’, identified by m yself in Hom eric, Indian an d Iran ian epics. These sins and tests correspond to the three main

12

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

concepts o f sovereignty, force and fertility. T h e Byzantine epic gives m uch attention to the them e of m arriage by abduction, which has also been seen as an Indo-European m otif reflected in H om er.12

A T U R K I C E P IC : A L P A M Y S H T here is one epic outside the Indo-European linguistic dom ain which m ust be considered as well, since it greatly resembles the Odyssey. T his story, entitled Alpamyshy after the nam e o f its hero, is found in C entral Asia, T urkey and Russia. It exists in Turkic languages, which belong to the Altaic family o f tongues. T his family also includes M ongolian, and is seen as being related to the U ralic family, which contains H ungarian, Finnish and Estonian. Alpamysh is now best known in the C entral Asian language o f Uzbek Turkic, from an oral version transcribed in the twentieth century and reduced to 8000 verses. Scholars consider th a t it probably existed in C entral Asia around the seventh century CE. In this epic the hero, Alpam ysh, wins a bride in a com petition consisting o f a horse race, an archery contest and a wrestling m atch. L ater he leaves home and has adventures involving a witch, im prison­ m ent in an underground dungeon, and escape from it thanks to a king’s daughter. D uring his long exile his wicked half-brother usurps power over their tribe and becomes an im portunate suitor for the hand of A lpam ysh’s wife. Alpam ysh returns, is entertained by his faithful shepherd and visits his tribe disguised as a beggar. His wife is about to m arry the usurper, but Alpamysh, after dem onstrating in an archery contest th at only he can draw his own great bow, m assacres his enemies an d then establishes peace. Experts are of the opinion th at an influence from the Odyssey upon Alpamysh can be ruled out as geographically and historically imposs­ ible. It seems that there m ust have been an ancient central Asian folk­ tale which w ent into both epics. I am inclined to see this folk-tale as going into an In do-Iranian epic in the early second m illennium BCE, when the Indo-Iranians were in C entral Asia, before the southw ard m igrations o f Indians into India and Iranians into Iran . T his IndoIran ian epic would have been the source of both the Mahabharata and, by westward diffusion, the Odyssey}*

Introduction

13

M ETHODS T h e m ethods used in this book reflect my lim itations as well as deliberate choices. After receiving a traditional classical education at school, where along with Greek and Latin I learnt French and G erm an, I abandoned formal study in classics in favour of Persian and Arabic. (T he latter is not an Indo-European language, but, like H ebrew , belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afrasian family, a family which includes Egyptian, Berber and H ausa.) I have been an Islam icist and a Persianist ever since, within the discipline of the history o f religions (in the E uropean sense o f history as applied to religions, as opposed to the N orth Am erican use of the term to m ean ‘religious studies in general’). In recent years a research project led me to learn U ighur (a C entral Asian T urkic language) and Russian. M y teaching duties as a lecturer in the study o f religions have caused me to develop a strong interest in com parative Indo-European mythology, b u t I lack m any of the m ost im portant languages. In Sanskrit I am only a novice, dependent upon translations, and I have no competence in the science of historical and com parative linguistics. Since I am not a professional classicist I cannot handle technical problem s in Greek language and poetry. M y interest in H om er was reawakened in 1990, when I read an article by Dum ezil’s m ain Am erican popularizer, C. S. Littleton, which attem pted to interpret the Iliad in Indo-European term s.14 It seemed to me th at Littleton had started ofT on the right track, then failed to follow up a prom ising line o f inquiry. T h e evidence pointed to a comm on source for the Iliad and the Ramayana, and consequently I suspected that the sam e m ight be true for the Odyssey and the Mahabharata. As I read through the Mahabharata, it was obvious that A iju n a’s adventures paralleled those of Odysseus. In 1991 I heard a lecture by the Oxford anthropologist Nick Allen, in which he com pared the two heroes’ afFairs with female figures.15 Subsequently I informed him o f my intention o f w riting a book about Hom er, and he kindly pointed out to me som ething which I had obtusely missed: that Achilles represents fertility, and not ju st the w arrior’s force. Allen certainly deserves full credit for anticipating some o f my results, and my indebtedness to him is far greater than the sum of its parts. In w riting this book I have proceeded as follows. First, I have provided a brief history o f the discipline of com parative mythology and its application to the Hom eric epics. Here I have tried to keep the

14

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

num ber of nam es to a m inim um , and consequently, m uch to my regret, I have sometimes been obliged to present a given discovery w ithout m entioning the scholar who was first responsible for it, so th at it appears under the nam e of a later author of a work o f synthesis. T hen 1 have worked through the Greek text of the Iliad and the Odyssey with the help o f recent translations and com m entaries, from which I have often borrowed a phrase. I have sum m arized the epics book by book, in an unusual way which is bound to incur criticism. M ention o f the gods has been given special prom inence, and so have parts o f the text which lend themselves more easily to interpretation in an IndoEuropean perspective. T hus I have concentrated on the religious, m ythical and ideological substrate of Homer: for an introduction to its literary qualities the reader will need to look elsewhere. T h en the sum m ary of each book is followed by a com m entary which points to Indo-European parallels. Finally, in a concluding section, I have tried to account for the sim ilarities between the Greek and Indian epics, and have attem pted to follow the survival of Indo-European ideology up to the twentieth century. T he m ethod which I have used throughout is essentially D um ezil’s, although I have given it an unusual development: the three concepts of sovereignty, force and fertility are seen as being reflected as sub­ concepts w ithin each m em ber of the triad. T hus sovereignty within sovereignty is num bered as 1.1; force within sovereignty is 1.2, and so on. Dum ezil’s m ethod is often confused with the ‘structuralism ’ fashionable in Paris in the 1960s, and now seen as outdated. ‘S tructur­ alism ’ has often m eant imposing an artificial grid o f alien structures upon the subject studied. O ften it has also m eant the assum ption that the hum an m ind itself is structured universally and definitively. Dumezil, by contrast, insisted on looking for concrete instances of the repetition of patterns in beliefs and rituals, expressed with such clarity of definition that neither the investigator’s im agination nor a universal structure of the hum an mind could reasonably be seen as the cause. W hen following this m ethod I have had to om it discussion o f many im portant m aterials, for exam ple on the Celtic side. T his is because the evidence here is usually late and confusing, and can easily be seen as reflecting secondary influences from elsewhere in the Indo-European field. I have not considered the medieval Persian prose romances, which present trickster-figures in adventures like those of Odysseus, because these romances are themselves thought to derive from late Greek prototypes. M oreover, I have not given m uch consideration to

Introduction

15

the undoubted influence on H om er of the ‘orientalizing revolution* in which Greece, from the eighth to the seventh centuries BCE, was profoundly affected by contacts with speakers of non-Indo-European, m ainly Semitic, languages. It seems to me th at this influence on H om er operated mainly on the level of style and in ornam ental, entertaining digressions, rather than in the ideology and basic n a rra ­ tives o f the Greek epics. T hus it m ay well have been these nonIndo-E uropean contacts that enabled H om er and the Greeks to move away from Indo-European ideology, and, in Greek poetry itself, to express a new perception o f hum an beings* relationship with their environm ent. Note: T he reader may find it convenient to keep referring back to the following key in which I have set out my adaptation o f Dum ezil’s reconstruction o f the m ain elements in Indo-European ideology. D um ezil’s reconstruction o f ‘functions* runs as follows: [1] religious sovereignty (notably in its magical and legal aspects) [2] physical force (notably that of the warrior) [3] fertility (notably in its erotic and agricultural aspects). M y ad ap tation, replacing the term ‘function* with th at of ‘concept*, a n d introducing various sub-concepts, runs: [0] the ‘fram e-figure’, who lives or comes before and after everyone else, and gives wise advice [ 1] religious sovereignty (including reason, intelligence and education) [1.1] sovereignty within sovereignty [1.1a] the magical, arbitrary, terrifying and rem ote aspect of sovereignty within sovereignty [1.1b] the legal, contractual and fam iliar aspect of sovereignty w ithin sovereignty [1.2] force w ithin sovereignty: the protection of the com m unity’s solidarity and continuity, notably by its young arm ed force [1.3] fertility within sovereignty: the distribution o f goods [2] physical force (including anger) [2.1 ] sovereignty within force: either the w arrior’s intelligence, allied with speed, or his respect for religious sovereignty [2.2] force w ithin force: cither the w arrior’s brute force or his respect for its proper use [2.3] fertility within force: the w arrior’s respect for fertility

16

Homer and the Indo-Europtans

[3] fertility (including desire, wealth, beauty and medicine) [3.1] sovereignty w ithin fertility: prophecy [3.2] force within fertility: archery, horse-breeding [3.3] fertility within fertility: luxury, pacificness, music and cattle breeding [4] the craftm anship of the sm ith.

CHAPTER 1: COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY AND THE HOMERIC EPICS

T H E E IG H T E E N T H AN D N IN E T E E N T H C E N T U R IE S T he discipline of com parative mythology has its roots in the first half o f the eighteenth century. For the writers of the Enlightenm ent the com parison o f different peoples* beliefs held a strong appeal: it offered a challenge to conventional C hristian views of history* and put classical Greek civilization in a new perspective. O ne of the founders o f the French E nlightenm ent, B ernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657-1757), pointed to the strong resemblances between Greek and Am erican In d ian myths: in both mythologies hum an beings were brought to civilization by an eloquent child of the Sun, and the dead were condem ned to live on the banks of gloomy waters. Fontenelle’s conclusions were highly critical: the ancient Greeks had also been ‘savages*, and all peoples (even including, it was im plied, Jew s and C hristians) produced absurd stories. These negative judgem ents were combined with a daringly m odern theory of how m yths were generated at different stages o f society’s development. O th er Enlightenm ent writers formed sim ilar opinions: m yths represented a universal phase in the evolution of the hum an race.1 In the second h alf o f the eighteenth century Rom anticism brought a fresh perspective and a new impetus. M yths were now seen as the most glorious expressions o f the hum an spirit, and indispensable for all literary production and national feeling. T his enthusiasm resulted in the massive expansion o f the academ ic study of myth in the nineteenth century, an expansion which was linked to the realization that the principal languages o f Europe, Iran and India were closely related. O ne o f the founders of oriental studies, the British scholar Sir W illiam 17

18

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

Jo n es (1746-94), pointed out th at the gods o f the ancient Greeks and R om ans were very sim ilar to those of the H indus. In particular, he noted the linguistic connection between the nam e o f the suprem e R om an god, Ju p iter, and that of the Indian deity Dyaus Pita (‘Sky F ath er’). For long the two would be identified, and this equation was seen as the only unassailable peak of com parative mythology, though in recent years it has appeared increasingly dubious.2 It was only in the m iddle of the nineteenth century, however, that the new discipline was to be founded. In the m eantim e com parative philology had been solidly established, and it was upon this substruc­ ture th at the com parative study o f myth was based. T he extraordinary G erm an-born Oxford scholar Friedrich M ax M uller (1823-1900) was the leading figure in this process. A brilliant linguist, he argued th at it was in language itself that the origins of m yth were to be seen. Language was a sadly imperfect and diseased representation o f thought and perception o f nature. M yth was bom out of attem pts to express oneself in m etaphors: the Proto-Indo-Europeans or ‘A ryans' did not say, ‘T he sun rises,' but ‘Night gives birth to a brilliant child.' M ax M uller took the view that, to begin with, the Greeks and Indians had the sam e m yths, but later on the Greeks forgot the original m eanings of their gods' nam es, and invented new m yths to explain them. U nfortunately, he was convinced that almost all o f his m aterials could be reduced to m yths about the sun. His colleagues in com parative mythology were no better: one insisted th at Indo-European m yths were about thunder and lightning, another that they were about fire, an d yet another that they were about the moon. M ax M uller's solar mythology was the m ost influential and eventually the m ost widely ridiculed. Previously there had been an attem pt to dismiss Jesu s and the 12 apostles as a mythical representation o f the sun and the signs of the Zodiac: this had provoked a satirical dem onstration th at Napoleon and his 12 m arshals had not existed either. L ater sim ilar spoofs proved the non-existence of Oxford University and M ax M uller himself. T oday one can perceive a certain degree of tru th in w hat he was saying. Subsequent researchers have agreed that in Indo-European mythology there is a constant emphasis upon the order o f the universe and the harm onious com bination o f the forces o f nature. W e should expect the sun to have in this a significant but not an overwhelming role.3 M ax M uller's British disciples insisted on applying his solar theory to Greek (and in particular Homeric) m yths with extrem e enthusiasm . George Cox (1827-1902) was his most aggressive and fanatical follower.

Comparative Mythology and the Homeric Epics

19

A clergym an, he insisted th at the daily m arch of the sun, beginning in weakness and proceeding through darkness, clouds and storm s, was the story of all C hristian devotion. As it was the essence of all heroic self-sacrifice, it necessarily reappeared in the accounts o f each and every Greek hero. T he moralistic character o f M ax M uller’s work is evidenced by Cox’s admission that it was his m aster who had first draw n him into a field which he had previously found ‘repulsive’: the nineteenth century, shocked by the sex and violence o f m yths, dem anded bowdlerized versions in which the daw n, em braced by the sun, trem bled and paled like the heroines o f V ictorian literature.4 It was the Scots scholar and journalist Andrew Lang (1844-1912) who ended the dom inance of M ax M uller and his school. A classical scholar who turned to the budding science o f anthropology, Lang harked back to Fontenelle: the beliefs of ‘savages’ all over the world could explain the gods o f the Greeks, w ithout there being any need to resort to ‘A ryan’ solutions. Attacking the philologists, he pointed to their disagreem ents and the possibilities for error: old m yths would be reassigned to later heroes, the etymology o f whose names would be irrelevant. H ere L ang largely anticipated the results o f recent research. M ax M uller counter-attacked with skill, pointing to the dubiousness o f the concepts o f ‘the savage’, ‘anim ism ’ and ‘totem ism ’, employed by the anthropologists. In the end it was Lang who had to give ground, but his ability as a popularizer had dealt solar mythology a deadly blow. From the 1880s com parative Indo-European mythology was to be discredited and ignored for half a century. M oreover, although M ax M uller had been adam ant th at by ‘A ryans’ he ju st m eant speakers of a given language, not a ‘race’ with inherited physical characteristics, m any people, especially in his native G erm any, were not inclined to note the distinction, and this was to bring Indo-European studies into further disrepute.5

D U M fiZ IL ’S ‘N E W C O M P A R A T IV E M Y T H O L O G Y ’ Born in 1898, the son of a distinguished French general, Georges Dumezil had a traditional grounding in the Greek and Latin classics before deciding, after the First W orld W ar, to devote him self to com parative Indo-European mythology. It was not a propitious time for such an undertaking. T he subject was unpopular and attacked as a ‘pseudo-science’. T o add to this, the expansion of higher education after 1918 brought an influx of over-specialized and pedantic teachers,

20

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

who w anted their students and successors to be like themselves and were opposed to attem pts to form w ider views. Given this unprom ising background, it is not surprising th at Dumezil took a long tim e to develop his m ethod. Consequently his life’s work can be seen as corresponding to three periods of development: 1924-38, 1938-49 and 1949-86. Dumezil's early period: 1924-38 D um ezil’s first book, published in 1924, was alm ost completely ignored. Entitled The Feast o f Immortality, it argued th at there was a comm on set o f Indo-E uropean m yths concerning the personification o f im m ortality as an intoxicating drink. He him self was later to disown this and his other early books, but recent writers have a t times nevertheless taken them extremely seriously. In 1929 his second m ajor publication, The Problem o f the Centaurs, claimed th a t there was a comm on Indo-European class of deities in part-anim al, part-hum an form who were linked to the idea o f fertility: called C entaurs in Greece an d G andharvas in India, they were etymologically related. T h e next year saw the appearance of an im portant article on the Indo-Iranian caste system. H ere Dumezil found, alongside the three m ain classes, whom he called (priests’, ‘w arriors’ and C ultivators’, a fourth sub-class o f ‘artisans’. In 1934 he tried to connect the Greek sky-god O uranos with an Indian counterpart, V aruna, again using etymological argu­ m ents. After this, however, he moved away from Greek mythology, forming the opinion th a t the Greeks had themselves moved too far away from the Indo-European heritage to be o f m uch value for com parative studies. T h e Rom ans, by contrast, thanks to their reli­ gious conservatism , seemed to him to ofTer m ore fruitful possibilities. In 1935 he argued th at the L atin word for ‘priest’, flamen, was related to an Indian equivalent, brahmanf and th at both originally designated not a priest but a sacred m an, a sacrificial victim.6 D uring these early years Dumezil became increasingly dissatisfied with his work. L ater he was to say th at the failure of his efforts had been evident, and even on the edge of the scandalous. C ertainly his etymological argum ents are now seen as inconclusive. H e had been taking his inspiration from the anthropology fashionable a t the beginning of the century, which, instead o f finding the sun in every­ thing, found concern for fertility: folklore m aterials collected from peasants inevitably stressed a preoccupation with the successful pursuit o f agriculture, and this cam e to be projected into classical

Comparative Mythology and the Homeric Epics

21

mythology. T his approach was linked with the nam e of the British scholar Sir Jam es Frazer (1854-1941), who in his famous Golden Bough argued that prim itive religion revolved around the sacrificial killing o f kings when their weakness appeared to threaten agriculture. T he ethnographic evidence for any such theory has subsequently been completely demolished. Dumezil, like m any others in this period, now moved away from this perspective and into th at offered by the French founder o f sociology, £m ile D urkheim (1858-1917), who took the view th at religion was essentially a transposition o f society itself.7 Dumezil’s sociological period: 1938-49 In 1938 Dumezil presented his new theory, which set out a correspon­ dence between triads in Indian and Celtic society and in Rom an religion. T he ancient Indians and Celts were divided into [1] priests, [2] w arriors and [3] cultivators. T his threefold structure corresponded to the original chief triad o f Rom an gods: [1] Ju p ite r, representing magico-religious sovereignty, [2] M ars, representing war, and [3] Q uirinus, representing agriculture and the com m on people. T hus Proto-Indo-E uropean society would have been divided into three classes, characterized by three corresponding ‘functions’. T he gods and religious beliefs of the various Indo-European daughter-societies were reflections o f this original social structure. H ere we have Dum ezil’s basic theory in its earliest form. L ater, from 1949 onw ards, he was to abandon his attem pt to prove th at Proto-Indo-European society really was divided up in this way: he realized th at proof was impossible, and instead limited him self to the position th at the Proto-IndoEuropeans had abstract concepts corresponding to the later social tripartition. His critics nevertheless continued to attack the theory as set out in 1938.8 D uring the next year Dumezil produced a book entitled Myths and Gods o f the Germanic Peoples. He found the threefold p attern in the Scandinavian gods O din, T h o r and Njord. O din is the sovereign god of m agic, like V aruna on the Indian side. T h o r corresponds to the In d ian war-god Indra: both T h o r and In d ra wield thunderbolts and steal the vessel which contains the intoxicating drink o f im m ortality. O d in and T h o r belong to a superior class of Scandinavian gods, the Aesir: together, these gods represent the first and second concepts or ‘functions’. Beneath them is another class, the V anir, the gods of fertility. H ere we find a father, Njord, his son Frey and the latter’s

22

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

sister and wife, Freya. Dumezil pointed in particular to the m ilitaristic character o f the mythology of the G erm anic peoples (the inhabitants o f present-day Germ any and the Scandinavians), and suggested that its survival and revival explained the developm ent, success and power o f the param ilitary forces in Nazi Germ any. He also pointed to the revival o f this mythology in the nineteenth century, notably in the operas of R ichard W agner (1813-83), and the latter’s influence on G erm an soldiers in the First W orld W ar, and argued, m ore generally, th at the G erm any o f the 1930s was going through an unconscious renewal of the past. T he fact that Dumezil (observing the conventional neutrality o f French academ ic prose) did not seek to condem n these Nazi phenom ena in his book has led to accusations th at he was a Nazi sym pathizer. These accusations have recently been comprehensively disproved by the French left-wing journalist Didier Eribon, who has established th at in the 1930s Dumezil m ade violent attacks on Nazism as foreign correspondent of a m ass-circulation daily newspaper. His political opinions were of a very different Right, th at of the French C atholic m onarchism of the period, which, as leading specialists have observed, was the exact opposite of Nazism and Fascism, preaching a retu rn to traditional values and the M iddle Ages as opposed to m odernizing totalitarianism .9 In 1940 Dumezil published a book called Mitra-Varuna: An Essay on Two Indo-European Representations o f Sovereignty. T he ancient Indian god M itra, whose nam e m eans ‘Contract* or ‘Friend’, appears with V aruna in a peculiarly Indian com pound, which m ight be translated, ‘O M itra and V aruna, you who together form a pair!’ Dumezil argued th at here was a characteristically Indo-European way o f representing sover­ eignty: on the one hand one sovereign god, V aruna, was remote, arb itrary , terrifying and magical; on the other hand his counterpart, M itra, was close to hum ans, friendly, beneficial and concerned with legal responsibility. Similarly, in Scandinavia O din had a counterpart called T yr, who originally represented law, and in Rome Ju p ite r was accom panied by a deity called Dius Fidius, who, as his nam e suggests, represented fidelity. T his is one o f Dum ezil’s most im portant ideas, second only to the tripartite theory itself. It has been m uch contested, notably by writers who make the natural objection th at this is a universal opposition, not confined to the Indo-E uropean sphere. C ertainly it expresses a universal tru th about leadership, which indeed has to have an aspect of arbitrariness and isolation as well as one that is contractual and close to hum an beings. However, we m ay concede th at here Indo-European speakers have (as with the tripartite struc­

Comparative Mythology and the Homeric Epics

23

ture) expressed a very widespread belief with exceptional em phasis and precision.10 A year later Dumezil extended his views to the legends o f early Rome. T ripartition was to be found in the three original Rom an ‘tribes’: the first was concerned with religious and adm inistrative m atters, the second with defence and the third with physical well­ being. T he last stem m ed from the Sabine people, who were wellknown for their luxurious living and fertile women. They fought a war with the R om ans before being absorbed into them . T his resembled In d ian and Scandinavian myths, in which the representatives o f fertility quarrel with the gods of sovereignty and w ar before a harm onious reconciliation. D um lzil also pointed to Greek parallels. T h e ancient Ionian Greeks (who colonized the coast o f w hat is now western T urkey), had been divided into four ‘tribes’, or, m ore literally, ‘ways o f life’ (bioi): priests, w arriors, agriculturalists and artisans. Sim ilarly, the great Athenian philosopher Plato (428-347 BCE), in his Republic, had envisaged an ideal state consisting o f three elements: ruling philosophers, professional soldiers and creators o f wealth. These elements corresponded to a threefold pattern in hum an beings: reason, anger and desire." (As we shall see, reason or intelligence often represents the first concept or ‘function’.) In 1945 Dum ezil provided a solution to the famous problem o f the archangels o f Ira n ’s m ain pre-Islam ic religion, M azdaism . Scholars had realized th at these archangels m ust be transpositions o f earlier, In d o -Iran ian gods, and had suspected th at they corresponded to the various In d ian gods o f sovereignty (V aruna, M itra and ‘m inor sover­ eigns’). Dumezil, however, pointed to the evidence furnished by some Indians who, after leaving their original C entral Asian hom eland, had never arrived in India, b u t m ade their way to the N ear E ast, where the nam es o f some o f their gods are preserved in a M esopotam ian inscription o f c. 1380 BCE. Since the sam e nam es appear in the earliest In d ian hym ns (the Vedas)y we have an obviously early struc­ ture, consisting of: [1] M itra and V aruna; [2] In d ra, the war-god; [3] a pair of twins, called the N asatyas, representing fertility. Dumezil argued th at the six main Iranian archangels corresponded to these five gods plus the Indian goddess Sarasvati, who em braces all three ‘functions’, but especially the third. H e established the correspon­ dences as given in the accom panying table, in accordance with the m aterial elements associated with the archangels (or ‘entities’, as they are sometimes called, since they are abstract concepts) in M azdean literature.

24

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

Table: Dumezil’s correspondencesfo r the Mazdean archangels. Indian deity

Mitra Varuna Indra Sarasvati Nasatya I ) Nasatya II J

Archangel

Good Thought O rder (or Truth) Power Devotion f Health \ Non-death

Material element

Cattle Fire Metals Earth Water Plants

T he analysis in the table has been accepted by some scholars and bitterly contested by others. We m ay observe that the alternative view, that the archangels correspond to a num ber o f gods of sovereignty, could well result from the reflection of concepts 1, 2 and 3 w ithin the interior o f concept 1.12 T h e year 1947 saw the publication by the Swedish com paratist Stig W ikander (1908-83) o f an application of D um ezil’s m ethods to the Mahabharata. Dum ezil imm ediately accepted W ikander’s interpretation of the In d ian epic and integrated it within his own research program m e. T h e Swedish scholar had pointed out th at the five heroes of the poem, the brothers called the Pandavas (after their official, hum an father), were included in the framework of the three ‘functions’: the eldest, Y udhishthira, represented sovereignty and righteousness, and was followed by Bhim a, the em bodim ent of physical force, and A ijuna, a clever w arrior who corresponded to Indra, while the two rem aining brothers were the counterparts o f the Nasatyas. T hese five brothers shared a single wife, D raupadi, ju st as throughout the Indo-European field a ‘trifunctional’ goddess supported the gods o f the whole range. L ater Dumezil was to provide a m uch m ore detailed analysis of the Mahabharata, which we shall consider in due course.13 In 1948 Dumezil produced a book on the Scandinavian trickster-god Loki, an enigm atic figure who has special links with the U nderw orld, sometimes changes sex and is eventually responsible for a shocking m urder. Dum ezil pointed to a parallel trickster-figure, Syrdon, in the folklore o f the O ssetians, in the study of which he had become a specialist. T he m urders com m itted by Loki and Syrdon were connected by Dumezil with the sum m er solstice. T he French far Right perversely sought to take his work on Loki over for its own propagandist purposes in the post-w ar era: the trickster-god was to symbolize the ‘enemy w ithin’. Dumezil explicitly expressed his disapproval of such interpre­ tations of his work, and said th at he refused to cite th em .14

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Dumezil’s final phase: 1949-86 T he year 1949 was all-im portant for Dum ezil’s intellectual develop­ m ent. H e now realized that it was impossible to prove th a t ProtoIndo-E uropean society had been divided into three classes: indeed, th at it was impossible to reconstruct any Proto-Indo-European m yth o r social institution. All one could do was to com pare the m yths o f the different daughter-societies and use one m yth to evaluate another. T he evidence showed that the Proto-Indo-Europeans m ust have had some sort o f tripartite ideology, but this did not m ean th at they had actually p u t it into practice by dividing their society up into layers. However, it was a good ten years before D um ezil’s m ethod was fully adapted to this new perspective, and although the change became evident enough to his closest associates, the rest of the academ ic world failed to notice. C ritics went on attacking the position that he had defended from 1938 to 1949, w ithout realizing th at he had modified his stance. D uring the period from 1949 to 1986 he produced increasingly sophisticated analyses, the drift o f which was largely m isunderstood.15 In 1949 itself, Dumezil suggested that the tripartite ideology had survived in medieval and m odern Europe. T he famous medieval E uropean division o f people into ‘those who pray, those who fight, and those who work* (the T hree O rders of the clergy, the nobility and the common people) was to be seen as a continuation of the Indo-European tradition. As for the Nazi and Soviet systems, they too m ight have owed their tem poral (we m ight add, ‘and tem porary') successes to a perception o f how three essential aspects of the hum an condition could be efficiently combined (as party intellectuals, soldiers and p roducers).16 D uring the 1950s Dumezil paid much attention to the figure o f the w arrior in Indo-European m yth, and in particular to w hat he saw as the cycle of the ‘three sins o f the w arrior’. T he warlike Greek demigod and hero H eracles was guilty o f three sins, each corresponding to one of the ‘functions’. First, he defied his king, as well as Zeus, the king of the gods; secondly, he com m itted a cowardly m urder upon someone who was unarm ed and unforewarned (a sin against the fighter’s ethic); thirdly, he deserted his wife and abducted another wom an to replace her. Dumezil found close parallels in India and Scandinavia. In d ra had sinned against the first ‘function’ by involving him self in the m urder o f a priest, against the second by treacherously killing a friend, and against the third by com m itting adultery. Similarly, the Scandi­ navian hero S tarkadr had strangled his king, shown cowardice in

26

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battle and finally sold him self for money (a crim e against the economic aspcct o f the third ‘function’). T his analysis was subsequently to be m uch revised.17 In 1958 Dumezil presented a sum m ary of his research in a book entitled The Tripartite Ideology o f the Indo-Europeans. O ne m ay note here his presentation o f the ancient Scythians, the ancestors of the presentday O ssetians and p art of the wider Iranian family of peoples. T he Scythians had a legend according to which they were descended from three brothers, who saw three objects fall from the sky: a cup, to be used for pouring libations to the gods, an axe and a plough. Similarly, the O ssetians had a well-developed folklore about their ancestors, seen as a legendary people o f heroes called the N arts, and divided into three families, noted respectively for their intelligence, bravery and strength, and abundance of herds. Greek m aterials ofFered further instances of tripartition. As the leading French linguist £m ile Benveniste had observed, both the Greeks and the Iranians divided the a rt of medicine into three parts: incantations [1], surgery [2] and the use o f drugs or healing plants [3], O f most relevance for our purposes is the story of the Ju d g em ent o f Paris. T he T rojan prince is obliged to judge between the m erits o f three goddesses. O f these, H era represents sovereignty, A thena w ar and A phrodite sexual attraction. They try to bribe him with gifts corresponding to these three elements, and A phrodite succeeds. Paris duly obtains the beautiful Helen as his bribe, and the T rojan w ar results.10 D uring the next year, 1959, various publications outlined m ore of D um ezil’s discoveries. H e identified two ‘m inor sovereign gods* in India, A ryam an and Bhaga, as representing, on the one hand, the protection of the com m unity’s continuity and solidarity, and on the other the distribution of goods. Dumezil saw them as reflected in two of A rjuna’s uncles: a m ediator and peacem aker, V idura, and a blind distributor of booty, D hritarashtra. In Scandinavia the com m unity’s continuity was symbolized by the young god Balder, while his brother, the blind god Hoder, was the incarnation o f destiny and w hat it distributed. Similarly, two m inor Iranian archangels, ‘O bedience’ and ‘R etribution’, represented protection of M azdean society and repay­ m ent o f the faithful’s deeds. T he Roman equivalents were Juventas, the goddess of Rome’s young w arriors, the fighting force which protected the com m unity’s continuity, and T erm inus, the god of boundaries and thus of the distribution of lan d .19 F u rth er sum m ings-up o f Dum ezil’s research were to appear in the 1960s and 1970s. His Archaic Roman Religion (published in English in

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27

1970) is particularly useful in its portrayal of the goddess J u n o as a ‘trifunctional’ figure corresponding to other such goddesses in the Indo-E uropean field: Sarasvati in India and in Iran A nahita, who is called ‘M oist [3], Strong [2], Im m aculate [1]’. In the sam e way, Ju n o has a triple title: ‘Defender [2], M other [3], Q ueen [1]’. T here are further correspondences, notably with D raupadi, the polyvalent wife in the Mahabharata. W e m ay note that the latter is an incarnation of the goddess of fortune, Shri, and that in Iran the concept o f fortune is also presented as ‘trifunctional’. In Greece A thena also has a triple title: ‘Protectress [1], Victory [2], W ell-being [3]’.20 T he m ost im portant sum m ing-up of D um ezil’s work, however, is his enorm ous three-volume study, Myth and Epic (1968-73). In the first volume he developed W ikander’s analysis of the Mahabharata still further. N otably, he was able to establish significant parallels between the great-uncle of the five brothers, Bhishma, and two gods: the Indian sky-god Dyaus and the oldest of the Scandinavian deities, H eim dallr. All three figures correspond to one another: Bhishm a is the incarnation o f Dyaus and, like H eim dallr, a ‘frame-figure’: someone who lives before and after everyone else. T hus Bhishm a lives on, albeit fatally w ounded, for a long time after the epic's great battle. W e shall see that in H om er the elder statesm an Nestor fills an identical role. Like Bhishm a, he is a repository o f wise counsels and lives for a long tim e.21 In the sam e volume Dumezil developed his views on the legendary kings o f early Rome. He argued that they corresponded to the pattern o f deities which he had already established. T he first king o f Rome, Rom ulus, was capricious, like V aruna, and was seen as the protege of Ju p iter. His successor, N um a, reflected the figures o f M itra and Dius Fidius: he was a lawgiver, judge and adm inistrator. T he third ruler, T ullus Hostilius, was, as his surnam e indicated, a belligerent repre­ sentative of ‘function* 2, while the fourth, Ancus M arcius, was conccrned with trade and the plebeians.22 T h e second volume contains a reworking of D um ezil’s study of Heracles. Now the Greek hero is linked to another Indian counterpart, called Shishupala, who also sins against the three ‘functions’: he prevents his king from perform ing a sacrifice; makes a cowardly attack upon fellow-warriors; and abducts m arried women and commits adultery with them .23 In the third volume Dumezil provides a dissection of the legend of the Rom an general Cam illus, who, we intend to show, corresponds to Odysseus. Cam illus wins all his battles at daw n, and dedicates a temple to a goddess called ‘M other D aw n’, whose festival falls on 11

28

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

Ju n e . A pparently the point o f the festival is to help the daw ns preceding the sum m er solstice to overcome their weakness. A slave-woman, who seems to symbolize darkness, is expelled from the tem ple by Rom an ladies, who presum ably represent the dawns which are to come. T hen these ladies take their sisters’ children in their arm s and present them to the goddess, ju st as each m orning the daw n takes care o f the sun, who is not her child but th at of the night. T hus Cam illus’ victories are m etaphors for the trium ph of the sun over the preceding gloom.24 In the w inter of 1972-3 there was a particularly disturbing political incident in which Dum ezil was involved. H e had lent his nam e to the patronage com m ittee o f a review called Nouvetle £coU, which produced a special num ber in hom age to him. It now becam e clear th at the purpose o f the review was to purvey extrem e right-w ing propaganda, and Dumezil resigned from the committee. Evidently the French ‘New R ight’ had once again been trying to annexe Dumezil in order to take advantage o f his prestigious reputation. His resignation did not m ark the end o f the m atter, and there were to be charges th a t his academ ic views were derived from his m onarchist sym pathies. W e shall consider these charges below.25 T he year 1982 saw the appearance of an im portant volume o f essays by Dumezil under the title Sonorous Apollo. H ere he analysed a passage in one o f the Homeric Hymns, poems composed from the eighth to the sixth century BCE, which were ascribed to H om er in classical antiquity but have been thought by scholars to be by other authors. T he Homeric Hymn to Apollo has the god saying, ‘Give me my lyre and curved bow; I shall prophesy the unerring plan of Zeus.’ T hen he covers the island o f Delos with gold. Dumezil took the elements of prophecy, the bow and gold to represent ‘functions’ 1, 2 and 3, and the lyre to be an extra, fourth element. But it seems more n atural to see the gold as indicating Apollo’s general character of a concept 3 deity, and the prophesying, bow and lyre as respectively representing concepts 1, 2 and 3 (which includes pleasure) reflected as sub-concepts w ithin the last (3.1,3.2 and 3.3 in our num bering). Prophecy in antiquity required the union o f concepts 1 and 3, and in particular w ater as representing fertility.26 In the rest of the volume Dumezil applied his ideas to parts o f the Iliad and Odyssey. W e shall note his views in the course o f ou r com m entaries on the epics.27 In 1985 Dumezil published a brief sketch of a possible application o f his m ethod to the Iliad. He em phasized the im portance o f the triad o f goddesses, H era, A thena and Aphrodite. T o the third o f these corresponded Paris, devoted to pleasure and lacking in warlike force.

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A gam em non was the incarnation of sovereignty. I certainly agree with all o f this, though not with some of Dum ezil’s other observations, such as his identification of M enelaus with the second fu n ctio n ’. Dumezil him self later said th at his contributions to the study o f Greek m yth were usually not to be taken too seriously: some o f his followers had done better in the sam e line.28

IN T H E W A K E O F D U M E Z IL : F O L L O W E R S A N D O PPO N EN TS So far, a p a rt from D um ezil’s own work, we have m entioned contribu­ tions by only two o f his colleagues, W ikander and Benveniste. Now various other writers, from the 1950s to the present, need to be given attention. Mole: Indian and Iranian epic and tripartition within tripartition In 1952 the brilliant Polish scholar M arijan Mole pointed out that in Iran ian legend the world was divided up by a father for the benefit of his three sons, according to w hat they said they preferred. O ne preferred wealth, and got the territory of the Rom an Em pire; the second preferred courage, and got C entral Asia; the third preferred religion and law, and got Iran and India.29 A nother article of M ole’s, published in 1960, presented im portant observations concerning the Iranian Book o f Kings and the Ramayana. R am a, the hero o f the latter, is given arrows which are guaranteed to ensure victory. These had originally been provided by a figure called K rishashva. T he latter corresponds to an Iranian hero who has virtually the sam e nam e, and who hands down a mace to an im portant hero o f the Book o f Kings, R ustam . M oreover, in the Ramayana we encounter a king with three wives, who form a ‘trifunctional’ structure. O ne gives birth to R am a, who represents sovereignty; another, who is full o f anger, gives birth to a son called B harata; and the third gives b irth to male twins, L akshm ana and Satrughna, who are subordinated to the first two sons.30 T h e year 1963 saw the publication of M ole’s m ajor survey o f ancient Iran ian religion. Here he gave a translation of a M iddle Persian text o f the ninth century C E, which is probably a version of a m uch earlier original. T he text concerns three sacred fires, which are linked respectively w ith the priests, the w arriors and the agriculturalists. As

30

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

regards these professions, we are told that all three are contained w ithin each of the three. T he priests, ap art from their liturgical duties, fight as w arriors against the Lie (M azdaism ’s great enem y), and act as agriculturalists in preparing the sacrifice. T he w arriors, apart from their specialized duties, have liturgical obligations, and have to act like agriculturalists in preparing arm s. T he agriculturalists, in addition to their proper and liturgical actions, have to fight off thieves. T his is a text o f the very greatest im portance. It is the clearest known statem ent of the tripartite ideology, and in it the three categories are reflected as sub-categories within each m em ber of the triad.31 Yoshida: Greek andJapanese mythology In 1964 the Japanese mythologist Atsuhiko Yoshida pointed to another striking exam ple of tripartition. In ancient C rete one finds, after a famous an d manifestly archaic initiation rite, involving a pederastic abduction, th at the boy has to be given three presents by his abductor; a m ilitary outfit, an ox and a cup. (Here, as in the case of the Scythians, the cup presum ably symbolized concept 1 - elsewhere in the Indo-E uropean field it signifies sovereignty or intelligence.)32 Yoshida has also produced a very short analysis o f the personalities of the Iliad, in the course of an encyclopaedia article published in 1970. T he Achaean arm y, he observes, has a ‘third function* elem ent in the form of two physicians, M achaon and Podalirius, both sons of the god of medicine, Asclepius, and thus resem bling the Indian N asatyas, who are also healers. (In Dum ezil’s schema, medicine usually belongs to ‘function’ 3.) T his arm y is led by two sovereigns, Agam em non and M enelaus, who are accom panied by a priest, Calchas, and a framefigure, Nestor, the very incarnation of conservative wisdom. I have to disagree with Yoshida when he puts Odysseus in the ‘first function’, as representing intelligence and imagination: on the contrary, as we shall see, Odysseus belongs to the p art o f the second concept which is characterized by cleverness and its m ilitary correlate, speed [2.1]. Yoshida is in my view right, however, to p u t the two w arriors called Ajax into two contrasting aspects of the ‘second function’: Ajax the R unner, lightly arm ed, provides a com bination o f speed and low cunning [2.1], while Ajax the G reater is ju st brute force [2.2]. T he Jap an ese scholar sees the T rojans as representatives of the ‘third function’: their goods and wives are coveted by the Achaeans. Priam is fabulously rich and m anages to have an enorm ous num ber of children by his wives and num erous concubines. His money and the beauty of

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his m any daughters bring in plenty o f foreign allies. T his seems convincing enough, but more attention needs to be given to Achilles, whom Yoshida sees as paralleled on the Indian side by A ijuna. Elsewhere Yoshida produced a ‘trifunctional’ analysis of the design on Achilles' shield: we shall consider this in our survey of Book X V III of the Iliad.33 It has been argued by Yoshida that the tripartite ideology is found outside the Indo-European field, in Japanese mythology. Indeed, according to him the details of Japanese mythology provide exact correspondences with D um ezil's discoveries. O ne finds ‘heavenly deities', ancestors o f priests and warriors, and ‘earthly deities’, ances­ tors o f the common people. T h e Japanese im perial regalia consist of a m irror, seen as particularly sacred, a sword and a curved jew el with bum ps on it, which is associated with childbearing and agriculture. M ost o f the Japanese m yths centre around three deities: the G reat Sun-goddess A m aterasu, who is sovereign in heaven; Susano, a god who is extremely strong and bad-tem pered; and O kuninushi, whose nam e m eans ‘G reat-Lord-of-the L and', and who is supposed to have m ade the soil o f Ja p a n fertile, to have been responsible for spreading the cultivation o f rice, and to have invented the a rt of medicine. M oreover, in the ‘first function' Yoshida finds more deities which fit D um ezil's schema: Am enom inakanushi, ‘Ruler-of-the-August-Centreof-H eaven', remote, transcendental and m ysterious, like V aruna, and contrasting with A m aterasu's lenient and merciful nature; Takam im usubi, who, like the Indian A ryam an, looks after the ruling nobles; and K am im usubi, who resembles Bhaga as a sovereign distributor of riches. Tw o contrasting aspects of the w arrior are also found: the unruly and violent Susano [2.2] and the m artial deity Takem ikazuchi, who is by contrast highly civilized and orderly [2.1]. So too are the quarrel and reconciliation of the gods o f concepts 1 and 2 on the one hand and those of concept 3 on the other, with the sam e details as are found on the Indo-European side: the employm ent of feminine charm s or riches by the gods of concept 3 to create betrayers am ong their enemies; the use of an all-powerful m agic weapon by one o f the heavenly sovereigns; and the final incorporation o f the gods of concept 3 w ithin the pantheon. Yoshida attributes all these sim ilarities to a hypothesized im pact o f ancient Scythian myths, diffused via Korea. J a p a n , it seems, was invaded from K orea in the m iddle of the first m illennium C E , and the invaders would have been led or influenced by speakers of an Indo-European language.34 T his historical reconstruction has been seen as im plausible, but

32

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recent research has tended to support it, and the Scythians are known to have roved far and wide. M oreover, the Jap an ese regalia are paralleled in Iran , where legend speaks o f the emblems o f royalty as consisting o f a throne, a mace and the ‘jewel o f the seven sources’.35 Littleton: an analysis o f the Iliad A t the sam e tim e as Y oshida’s encyclopaedia article o f 1970 a longer article on the Iliad was published by the Am erican anthropologist C. S. Littleton. I t acknowledges Y oshida’s assistance and often presents sim ilar views. T he w ar between the Achaeans and the T rojans is seen as corresponding to the various Indo-European stories o f the fighting between the gods of concepts 1 and 2 and those of concept 3. Littleton suggests that H ector and Paris are projections of the fam ous Divine Tw ins, who are found throughout the Indo-European dom ain: in India (where we have already encountered them in the form o f the N asatyas), one o f these is brave and a ‘tam er o f horses* (like H ector), while the other is peace-loving, a mediocre w arrior, and a herdsm an (like Paris). T his seems reasonable, but unfortunately Littleton goes on to make some less impressive judgem ents. H e commits the usual error o f trying to fit Achilles into the ‘w arrior-function’, and fails to see th at M enelaus and N estor represent respectively the contractual aspect o f sovereignty and the frame-figure. O n the other hand, he does well to see that Odysseus is paralleled by other tricksters in the Indo-E uropean field: the Scandinavian Loki and the O ssetian Syrdon.36 Setgent: the tripartite ideology in Greece In 1979 a French follower of Dumezil, B ernard Sergent, produced an overview o f the tripartite ideology’s survival in Greece. He took the view th at it was hardly to be discovered at all in the Iliad> where it was present only in allusions or in short sequences of figures which were found to be ‘trifunctional* only when exam ined in the light o f later sources. T h e Odyssey did not have it a t all. L ater m aterials show a typically Indo-E uropean veneration of goddesses seen as ‘trifunctionaP: now H era, A thena and A phrodite each represent all three concepts, instead of ju st one. T here is also the cult o f the three goddesses called the ‘G races’: ‘M anly Splendour’ [2], ‘Good Thought* [1] an d ‘G row th’ [3]. At Delphi in central Greece there is evidence th at the deities were divided up according to a tripartite schema: A thena [2]; Dionysus (the god of wine) and other deities of the earth

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[3]; Apollo, seen here as the representative o f Zeus [1]. T he people of the city o f O rchom enus (also in central Greece) said th at their first three kings were respectively an organizer o f the city and its religious activities, a savage and im pious w arrior, and a rich m an who had a special ‘treasure’. M ore im portant for our purposes is the depiction of Helen in post-H om eric sources: she has three m arriages, one with M enelaus, royal and legal, one with Paris, the result o f a seduction, and one with a T rojan called Deiphobus, the result of the latter’s m ilitary successes. Helen is also divinized and placed third after H era and the goddess H ebe, the wife of Heracles; this triad is p u t in parallel with th at o f Zeus, H eracles and the m ain Greek representatives o f the Divine Tw ins, H elen’s brothers C astor and Polydeuces. T hus, as in In d ia and Iran , a female figure corresponds to all three concepts, but in particular to concept 3.37 Sergent is o f the opinion that ancient Greek institutions present richer m aterials for the study o f the tripartite ideology than the m yths themselves. T he constitution of Sparta is described as including three elements, the Senate, the division of lands and the obligation for men to eat in m ilitary messes, and also three prohibitions, which ban the writing dow n of laws, luxury and repeatedly m aking w ar on the same enemies: in both series the order of the concepts is 1, 3, 2. In Greek political theory the tripartition of the state is found not ju st in Plato’s RepublUj but also am ong the followers o f the celebrated philosopher Pythagoras (d.c.500 B C E ).38 Grisward: a French epic In 1981 Joel G risw ard, Professor o f M edieval French L iterature a t the U niversity o f T ours, produced a Dum ezilian analysis o f a French epic composed around 1210 C E, and entitled The Men o f Narbonne (Les Narbonnais). In this epic C ount Aymeri o f N arbonne has seven sons. H e keeps the youngest at home and sends the other six away. T hree are sent to the north, to the imperial court: they will be a counsellor, a general and a stew ard. T he three others will go respectively to the west, the south and the east, and will be a king, a w arrior and a rich m an. Grisw ard established close correspondences with the Iranian Book o f Kings and the Mahabharata. He suggested th at the French epic went back to the Visigothic period, since N arbonne was the capital of the Visigothic kingdom from 508 to 531 C E, and thus contained elements belonging to the G erm anic sub-group o f the Indo-European linguistic family. Personally, I am inclined to suspect diffusion from

34

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

another sub-group (probably the Indo-Iranian one), rath er than a direct descent from some hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranian epic.39

Oosten: war and brothers T he D utch anthropologist Ja rig O osten, while rejecting D um ezil's general theory, has taken over m any of his ideas and studied the sam e m aterials, applying the structuralist m ethods o f anthropology’s bestknown contem porary exponent, the Frenchm an Claude Levi-Strauss. (T he latter’s analyses o f Am erican Indian m yths display an approach in some respects sim ilar to Dum ezil’s m ethod, b u t in other respects entirely different.) In a book called The War o f the Gods: The Social Code in Indo-European Mythology (1985) Oosten has argued th at Greek m yths are m uch m ore Indo-European than has been thought. T hus the primeval w ar between the Greek gods and their relations, the T itans, is a variant o f a common Indo-European them e of warfare between relatives, found in India, Iran and Scandinavia, where such fighting is presented as having gone on from the very beginnings of the world. O osten also points out that the story of H elen’s abduction by Paris and subsequent rescue by two brothers, Agam em non and M enelaus, is paralleled in another story about her, in which she is taken away by the A thenian hero Theseus, and brought back by her own brothers, the twins C astor and Polydeuces.40

Grottanelli: the woman, the twins and the rescue T his them e of the woman rescued by twins has been studied by the Italian scholar C ristiano G rottanelli in an article published in 1986. G rottanelli also rejects Dum ezil’s general theory while accepting some o f his results. He observes that the Divine Tw ins found throughout the Indo-European sphere are linked not only with horses and the war chariot, b u t also with an im portant female figure, whom they either rescue or serve in some other way. Grottanelli, like other writers, com pares the Iliad with the Ramayana. H e notes th at the earliest use of the w ar chariot is to be dated r.2000 BCE, after the Proto-IndoEuropean period, which does not seem to have continued to later than 2500. Since in both India and Rome the w ar chariot appears in the context of the im portant horse sacrifice, it would seem th at rituals and m yths involving it are not Proto-Indo-European, but due to later accretions. M oreover, speakers of ancient Semitic languages, outside

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the Indo-E uropean dom ain, also had divine twins connected with chariots.41 Lincoln: a Marxist approach to Indo-European patterns In 1986 the Am erican M arxist com paratist Bruce Lincoln m ade two striking contributions to Indo-European and Dum ezilian studies: a review-article and a book. T he former, published a t the tim e of Dum ezil’s death, attacked his political sym pathies and argued that they had affected his academ ic judgem ents. Lincoln argued in particu­ lar th at the ‘integral nationalism* o f the French m onarchist leader C harles M aurras (1868-1952), with its em phasis on hierarchy and harm ony in society, ensured by kingship, would have produced the reconstruction o f the ‘tripartite ideology*. Some lively correspondence ensued in The Times Literary Supplement, and continued into 1987. M ore light on these m atters was then shed by the posthum ous appearance of interviews with Dumezil, who had said that he was indeed a royalist and, in the early 1920s, agreed with the essential kernel o f Maurras*s doctrine, while feeling unable to join his extrem e right-w ing organiza­ tion, the Action Frangaise. After 1918 he and other young people had d ream t o f an ordered, reasonable and sheltered future, but he had quickly lost interest in politics from around 1925. W e m ay note that here and elsewhere Dumezil expressed his horror at the Indo-European legacy and his adm iration for the success of the Greeks in overcoming it. Subsequently Eribon established th at Dum ezil’s tripartite theory had been worked out in close collaboration with his colleague Benveniste, who should perhaps be given a good share of the credit for it. Benveniste, as a Jew , could hardly be suspected o f sym pathy for the French m onarchist right, given its anti-Jewish orientation. (D um ezil’s consistent hostility to anti-Sem itism , in spite o f his m onarchist views, is well attested.)42 It is notew orthy that, although Lincoln attacks Dumezil, his own book o f 1986, Myth, Cosmos and Society, also presents the various IndoE uropean daughter-societies as being characterized by tripartite division into priests, w arriors and commoners. T h u s his own views are not enorm ously different from those held by Dumezil between 1938 and 1949: ideology is seen as determ ined by a social infrastructure. Lincoln m akes certain general points with which I personally agree. Indo-E uropean thought emphasizes the order of the universe and life in it: everything is put into a structure which m atches other structures. M oreover, the daughter-societies are characterized by extrem e repres­

36

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siveness and exploitation o f the masses. As regards the Indo-European heritage am ong the Greeks, Lincoln is persuasive when pointing to the Sicilian Greek philosopher Empedocles (c.495-c.435 BCE). Em pedo­ cles has an extremely system atic view o f the cosmos, seen as consisting o f four elem ents, earth, air, fire and water: the O ne and the M any keep turning into each other, the O ne being literally dism em bered by Strife before being put together by Love and H arm ony. T h u s Em pe­ docles naturally prefigures the political philosophy o f Plato’s Republic.43 Dubuisson: a study o f the R am ayana A French disciple o f D um ezil’s, Daniel Dubuisson, produced an im portant analysis of the Ramayana in 1986. H e finds that the Indian epic contains the ‘three sins of the w arrior’: the hero, R am a, kills another w arrior in a treacherous m anner, and also someone who is of priestly pedigree, before repudiating his wife. W hat is interesting here is th at the individual of priestly pedigree, the ogre R avana who has abducted R am a’s wife, belongs more to concept 3. T he ogres are linked to the god o f w ealth, K ubera. T hey live in luxury within a flourishing city, an d are extremely lustful. R avana can make him self highly attractive. T hus there is an impressive parallel with Paris and Troy. M oreover, the bloodthirstiness o f these ogres makes one think o f the followers o f another figure whom we place in concept 3: the wolf-like subordinates o f Achilles known as the M yrm idons. Dubuisson also argues th at in the Ramayana as we have it now the representation of R am a as an incarnation of the god V ishnu is a later development, reflecting the elevation of Vishnu from the status o f a m inor war-god in early In dian religion to th at o f suprem e deity. T h u s the real divine counterpart of R am a would be Indra. Similarly, an im portant ally of R am a, the monkey H anum an, would represent the wind-god, Vayu, while R am a’s brother L akshm ana would be the real hum an version of V ishnu as he appears in the earliest Indian hymns: a helpful assistant of In d ra. D ubuisson dismisses the idea that the two brothers represent the Divine Twins. O ne m ay object that the epic does in fact explicitly com pare them to the N asatyas.44 M oreover, as D ubuisson adm its, H an u m an is credited with intellectual powers th at the wind-god lacks. W e m ay feel th at in the Ramayana the poets have adapted the personalities to the figures of the deities as found in the hym ns, as well as obeying new ideological dem ands.45

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Puhvel: a compendium o f Indo-European mythology In 1987 an invaluable textbook appeared, written by a Los Angeles* based pupil o f D um ezil’s, J a a n Puhvel, and entitled Comparative Mythology. T his contains m any analyses which are directly relevant for o u r purposes. Puhvel points to a father-and-son pair in the Iranian Book o f Kings, L uhrasp and G ushtasp, who both reign for 120 years, each having the word for ‘horse’ as the second h alf of his name. These are presum ably the Divine Tw ins in disguise. T he twins also appear in Latvian folk-songs as the ‘sons o f G od’, who save the Sun’s d au g h ter from drowning. Elsewhere in the Baltic, am ong the O ld Prussians, who have now merged into the population o f m odem G erm any, one encounters a triad of deities: Patollo, the suprem e god, Perkuno, an angry god of thunder, and Potrim po, a happy god of good fortune, crowned with ears o f grain. In medieval Russian ‘history’ we find a ruler called Oleg, a crafty sorcerer [1], who is followed by a brutal w arrior, Igor [2.2], and a noble and chivalrous fighter, Svyatoslav [2.1]. After them comes Yaropolk, whose life story is m arked by famine and the abduction o f his beautiful wife [3]. As regards Greece itself, Puhvel points out th at the standard list o f deities is found already at M ycenae in the second m illennium BCE, with the omission o f A phrodite, who comes in later, as a replica of the Semitic goddess A starte. W e may observe that here A starte, the erotic Q ueen o f H eaven, has been dem oted according to Indo-E uropean logic: in H om er and the Judgem ent of Paris she is placed on the level of concept S.46 Nagy: Homer's language and characters T he distinguished H arvard classicist Gregory Nagy has m ade several detailed studies of Greek m aterials in the line opened up by Dumezil. H is results have been incorporated in a volume entitled Greek Mythology and Poetics (1990). Nagy takes the view that a lot of H om er can be explained with reference to a reconstructed Proto-Indo-E uropean verb *nes-t m eaning ‘return to light and life’. T his is to be found in the nam e o f N estor, in the word designating O dysseus’ ‘hom ecoming’ (nostos), and in the word m eaning ‘m ind, sense, perception’ (rtoos). Nagy is extremely persuasive when linking Achilles to Apollo: they are both characterized by anger, which inflicts pain and devastation on the A chaeans, and are traditionally represented as look-alikes. H ere, as elsewhere in Greek religion and the Indo-European field in general,

38

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one also finds an antagonism between the hero and the deity who is connected with him .47 Allen: a ‘four-function’ adaptation o f Dumezil’s schema T he Oxford anthropologist Nick Allen has argued th at there would have been a fourth ‘function’, corresponding to the idea of w hat is beyond or outside. T his would include remoteness, social disqualifica­ tion, hostility, uncanniness and paradoxicality. In India the three superior castes were served by a fourth. T he Judgem ent o f Paris had Paris him self as an outsider, or alternatively Strife, personified as a goddess, who produced the golden apple to be aw arded as the prize. At Rome the three m ain priests were followed by an im portant fourth official, called the pontifex, who was responsible for the propitiation of the dead.48 Allen has applied his theory to the religion of an area called N uristan in north-east Afghanistan, where the worship o f old In do-Iranian gods continued up to the nineteenth and even the early twentieth century. H e argues that his fourth ‘function’, which he calls F4, should be divided into two halves: F4—, representing its negative and sinister aspect, to be placed at the bottom of the range, and F 4 + , its positive and transcendental aspect, to be placed above or in the m iddle o f all the rest. T hus the suprem e god of N uristan, Im ra, would be F 4 + and the region’s devil would be F4—. In between Allen points to three deities, M on, Gish and Bagisht, whom he identifies with concepts 1, 2 and 3. H ere I partly disagree: M on corresponds better to the ideal type o f the clever w arrior [2.1]: like the Greek god H erm es, he is a messenger and a killer of giants. H e is identified with M uham m ad, and, like him, called the M essenger o f God. Allen’s sources have m ade the usual error o f calling M uham m ad a mere ‘prophet’: in Islam there are m any o f these, while to be a M essenger is m uch m ore im portant. Gish, by contrast, as opposed to being a crafty fighter, is ju s t brave and strong [2.2]. Bagisht, to be sure, is a representative o f wealth. T here is also a goddess, Disani, who seems to me to be ‘transfunctionaP: she is the em bodim ent of agriculture, but also protects m en in battle. Like A thena, she is born unnaturally, out of the suprem e god, Im ra, who seems to me to correspond to concept l.49 In 1993 Allen published a brief analysis of O dysseus’ rom antic adventures, com paring these with A ijuna’s. Here I agree with him th at we obviously have two versions of a single original narrative, although I disagree with m ost of the individual correspondences which

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39

he establishes. O n the other hand I accept the parallels which he draw s between Penelope and D raupadi and between the Phaeacian king’s daughter and an Indian princess. M oreover, Allen has done well to point out that both Odysseus and A ijuna are supposed to have been killed by sons born to them in exile.50 Mezzadri: the three sins o f Jason A nother recent contribution to the com parative study o f Greek m yth has been m ade by a French follower of Dumezil, B ernard M ezzadri. H e points out that the legendary Greek hero Jaso n commits three sins. First, he treacherously kills another warrior; secondly, he arranges the m urder of a king; thirdly, he abandons his wife in order to rem arry. H ere the order of the concepts (as well as the nature of the sins) corresponds to w hat Dubuisson found in the case of Ram a: 2, 1, 3.51

T H E P R E S E N T P E R S P E C T IV E Before looking a t the Indo-European field as a whole, in order to form ulate our categories and sub-categories in the light of the work so far done, it seems advisable to consider the Baltic area, as this rem ains the principal unknown frontier region of com parative Indo-European mythology. H ere the Latvian mythological songs, collected by folklor­ ists long after L atvia’s conversion to C hristianity in the thirteenth century, contain clear tripartite formulas. Latvian deities In L atvian mythological songs, heaven is often com pared to an enclosure with three gates: by one enters the suprem e god (identified with the God o f C hristianity), by another a second male deity, the M oon (M enesis), and by the third a goddess, the Sun (Saule). H um an life is represented by a mystical tree with three leaves: on one leaf God an d the goddess o f fortune, Laim a, occupy themselves with the workings o f destiny, while on the two others the M oon and the Sun respectively rise from the darkness. H ere Laim a corresponds to the In d ian Bhaga, as a m inor deity within concept 1 (representing sub­ concept 1.3, the distribution of goods). We have already seen th at the Latvian representatives o f the Divine Twins, the ‘sons o f G od’, are closely associated with the daughter of Saule. Menesis is a war-god.

40

Homer and the Indo-Europeans

H e seems to resemble H erm es and Loki [2.1], swinging over the surface of the w ater and running to help young w arriors. By contrast, Perkons (T hunder) is a 2.2 figure, violent and irritable. Saule repre­ sents concept 3: she gives foliage to trees, sows gold and silver in the earth and helps women in childbirth. Beneath these figures one finds a celestial sm ith, Kalvaitis, who makes crowns, spits and swords, and corresponds to the figures o f W ieland in Scandinavia and H ephaestus in Greece.52 The Indo-European pattern o f deities and heroes I t would indeed appear th at concepts 1, 2 and 3 need to be sup­ plem ented, a t least as far as Greece is concerned, by a fourth, representing the craftsm anship o f the sm ith (here num bered 4). T he internal divisions o f concept 1 were well worked out by Dum ezil, but a little m ore precision is needed. W ithin the first concept there is a reflection o f the overall tripartition: V aruna [1.1a, arbitrary] and M itra [1.1b, contractual] are figures of sovereignty w ithin sovereignty, while A ryam an and Bhaga are respectively representatives of the second and third ‘functions’ inside the first (protecting the com m unity and distributing goods). Inside concept 2 it seems better to place 2.1 before 2.2, even though the hum an characters of the latter are often placed chronologically prior to those of the former. 2.1 is closer to 1 through m oral and intellectual superiority: it can represent either the w arrior’s intelligence, allied with its m ilitary correlate, speed, or his respect for concept 1, tested or abandoned in sin. Similarly 2.2 can represent either the w arrior’s brute force or his respect for its proper use. 2.3, the w arrior’s respect for fertility, does not seem to be personified by hum an or divine characters, but appears in the cycles o f the w arrior’s ‘three sins* and ‘three tests*. Concept 3 possesses, in the Divine Tw ins, one twin who is higher in the schem a, warlike and courageous, and whom we can designate as 3.2, and one twin who is pacific an d associated with cattle, and whom we can call 3.3.53 They are often accom panied by a third figure, who is sometimes a triconceptual goddess and sometimes a representative of sovereignty or religion w ithin fertility, like Aeneas, whom we can call 3.1, and who m ay be prom oted to effective sovereignty and the distribution of goods [1.3]. Before and after concepts 1 to 4 comes the frame-figure (here num bered 0). (See the key given in the Introduction on pages 15-16.)

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The legends o f early Rome In this perspective Dum ezil’s interpretation of the legends of early Rome needs to be revised. H e is right to point out that Rom ulus is explicitly linked to Ju p ite r [1.1a] and N um a to Fides or Dius Fidius [1.1b]. But whereas Dumezil took the next two kings, T ullus Hostilius an d Ancus M arcius, to be simply emblems of concepts 2 and 3, it seems better to take them as symbols of sub-concepts 1.2 and 1.3. (After all, being kings, they are apt representatives o f sovereignty.) T ullus H ostilius is young, and thinks that the state is growing old. He holds R om e’s fighting force together, and has a traitor torn to pieces. D uring an epidemic he believes th at the city’s young fighting m en will be healthier doing m ilitary service. T h u s he corresponds not to M ars b u t to Ju v entas. Ancus M arcius distributes land, and, like T erm inus, is associated with boundaries. D uring the ensuing period o f the occupation of Rome by the E truscans we encounter another king, Servius, who, as Dumezil observed, is linked to the goddess of fortune, F ortuna, and to women who personify her. Here is the typically IndoE uropean triconceptual goddess, usually p u t on the level o f concept 3. Servius is presented as being prom oted from the plebeian class and d istributing land: as elsewhere, we have upw ard m ovem ent from 3 to I.3.54 T h e Etruscan occupation and the m onarchy are ended by two heroes, who are also the first two consuls o f the Rom an Republic. O ne is a clever w arrior [2.1], while the other is a rath er stupid w arrior [2.2]. After them comes a cham pion of the common people’s rights, Publicola, who corresponds to Q uirinus [3]. B ut the pattern of sovereigns is repeated in the republic’s subsequent history. A supercili­ ous an d snobbish consul, Appius Claudius [1.1a], inaugurates a tradition o f im perious and lofty disdain, while his colleague as consul, Servilius [1.1b], tries to be friendly and reach agreem ent. T hen a dictator, V alerius [1.2], succeeds in mobilizing a fighting force of unprecedented size, after the com m unity has alm ost tom itself ap art and is in great danger from external enemies. W hen the dictator has done his jo b , a senator called M enenius A grippa [1.3], who, we are told, has risen from the plebeian class, is successful in having debts cancelled and rights granted to the plebeians.53

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The deities o f Homer Now we are in a position to see how our schem a fits H om er’s deities. Zeus in H om er clearly represents both 1 and 1.1a. He appears repeatedly in a form ula which, as we shall see, is ‘trifunctional’: ‘by Zeus, A thena and Apollo*. T he king of deities, he is also the deity of kings. But his sovereignty is m arred by the loneliness o f ultim ate decision-making, and by his arbitrariness. H era, by contrast, is the goddess of c o n tra ctu ally and friendship [1.1b]. She represents m ar­ riage and an ancient idea o f the friend who stands by his or her friends, as opposed to our m odern concept of ‘friendliness*. As she is a friend to the A chaeans, she is full of hatred for the Trojans. A nother god of sovereignty is Poseidon, the ruler of the sea, who is an alternative and rival to Zeus, personifying sovereignty itself, and also standing for the com m unity’s solidarity and continuity when these are threatened [1.2]. Yet another god of sovereignty is H ades [1.3], the king o f the U nderw orld, who oversees the distribution of everyone’s allotted portion of survival am ong the dead, and whose link with concept 3 is evident in his alternative nam e, Plouton (‘W ealth-giver’). A thena represents 2, and in particular 2.1, and is also ‘transfunctionaP. Scholars have observed th at in the Iliad she is m ainly a wargoddess. H om er presents her as a clever trickster-figure, linked to Odysseus. W e have already seen her elsewhere in Greece, as the em bodim ent of the Indo-European (trifunctional’ goddess. She has this role in the Odyssey, taking care of Penelope, ju st as in the Mahabharata Shri is linked to D raupadi. In H om er she is also an instructress in handicrafts, but this does not pose a problem: it fits well into concept 2, since it involves physical strength, and into sub-concept 2.1, since it unites strength with intelligence. M oreover, this often involves the highly respected work of women in the house (as opposed to the despised activity of the sm ith). In India work is also put in concept 2, in the famous triad o f law (dharma), profitable activity (artha) and desire (kama), which dom inates the ideology of the Mahabharata. H erm es is another 2.1 figure. A killer of giants, like Loki, he has the latter’s golden sandals, which enable him to fly through the air and over the water. Again like Loki, he has a special relationship with the U nderw orld.56 A trickster, he is helpful to Odysseus. Scholars have often noted th at H om er tends to use two figures where one would do: thus 2.1 is represented by both H erm es and A thena (just as in the Mahabharata it is represented by both Indra and K rishna). Fittingly, H erm es is the messenger of the suprem e deity.

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Arcs, the brutish god of w ar itself, symbolizes 2.2. A m indless thug, he is detested by Zeus. He is as fast as the wind, but his attrib u te of speed, which belongs to concept 2 in general and is found in both 2.1 and 2.2 figures (though it is m ore characteristic o f the form er), is not joined to intelligence. T o begin with he sides with the gods of concepts 1 an d 2 and the Achaeans, as is appropriate, but then he goes over to A phrodite and the T rojans, thus counter-balancing A thena and H erm es. Perhaps this is because otherwise the contest would be too uneven. His low position in the scale makes it more plausible. In any case the them e o f the traitor who leaves the representatives of the first two concepts is well' attested in other Indo-European versions o f the ‘w ar o f the gods*.57 A phrodite in H om er belongs entirely to concept 3: the ‘transfunc­ tionality’ o f the Indo-European goddess usually linked to the third ‘function* has gone to A thena. T he goddess of love is, appropriately, little suited to hand-to-hand fighting, b u t full o f feminine charm s. H er sym pathies are entirely w ith Troy, where she has a son, Aeneas, and a special protege, Paris. She represents luxury, ease, restfulness and sex. But the key to the Iliad ties in the recognition that Apollo and Artem is are replicas of the Divine Twins. Indeed, they are twins. Apollo, as we have noted, is placed third in a common oath, after Zeus an d A thena. He is a god of music and the arts [3], the patron of the M uses. O ne m ight think that, as an archer, he would belong to concept 2, b u t in fact the G reco-Rom an world did not see the use o f the bow as real, m anly fighting: it belonged originally to hunting, which as a source o f pleasure and food is part o f concept 3. Apollo is also a healer, and, like A rtem is, has the m edical function o f granting a peaceful death. His aggressiveness makes him a 3.2 figure when com pared to other deities of concept 3, while the beautiful Artem is, a more restrained personality, and the goddess o f the chase itself, is 3.3. However, as we have seen, in addition to representing concept 3 and sub-concept 3.2, Apollo is also ‘tri-sub-conceptuaP, covering 3.1 as a god o f prophecy, 3.2 as the god o f the bow, and 3.3 as the patron of the arts. H ephaestus, the divine sm ith and m anufacturer, is of course the em bodim ent of our concept 4. Despised and laughed at, he is a t the bottom o f the scale. Similarly, in late-nineteenth-century N uristan, the lowest and most despised class o f all is that o f the blacksm iths. Not only are blacksm iths slaves, they are at the bottom o f the scale of the artisan slaves, who are m uch lower than the house slaves.58 T his lowly position o f the artisan has, as we have seen above, been found in the

44

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In d o lr a n ia n sphere generally. Sometimes, however, as we have also noted, the artisan’s work belongs to concept 2, and in particular to concept 2.1. Elsewhere it can belong to concept 3, as involving the creation of wealth. The human characters in Homer H om er’s h um an characters fall into a sim ilar pattern. Agam em non evidently corresponds to Zeus, as a 1.1a figure: sovereign and arbitrary, he is explicitly linked to Zeus in the narrative, as the em bodim ent of authority. M enelaus in the Iliad is loyal and dependable [1.1b]. As a host, he has seen his hospitality abused by Paris: this is far worse in ancient eyes than the adultery itself. N aturally, M enelaus is linked to H era. M ythologically, Agam em non and M enelaus also correspond to the Divine Tw ins, who rescue a female figure, and this correspondence is an im portant p art of the Iliad''s architecture. M oreover, M enelaus reappears in the Odyssey as a concept 3 figure (like the Divine Twins): as T elem achus’ immensely rich host he corresponds to the Indian god o f w ealth, K ubera, who entertains A ijuna’s brothers in a parallel passage o f the Mahabharata. Similarly, R am a and L akshm ana have a rich city as their home, and a father who is ruined by lust. Likewise, in Ira n Isfandiyar and one o f his brothers restore his wife to a ‘thirdfunction’ background: their father and grandfather, G ushtasp and L uhrasp, are the Divine Twins in disguise. T o retu rn to the Iliad: alongside A gam em non and M enelaus stands one o f their m ost im port­ an t allies, the king o f C rete, Idom eneus. Like Poseidon, he rallies the com m unity’s fighting force when it is threatened with extinction, thus m aking him self the sovereign ensurer of continuity [1.2]. As we shall see, a prom oted Achilles, aw arding prizes in Book X X III of the Iliady will be the sovereign distributor of goods (moving from [3] to [1.3]). Odysseus is the ultim ate trickster-w arrior [2.1]. Well connected to A thena (and also helped by H erm es), he has a link with Zeus, bearing the title ‘Zeus-born’. Perhaps this is a transfer from his divine protectress. H e is also called ‘sacker o f cities’, like Indra. At Rome he has a double in Cam illus, and in India the corresponding anim al and hum an figures are H anum an and A ijuna. Like the trickster Syrdon am ong the O ssetians, and Loki, Cam illus, In d ra and A ijuna, he is a reflection o f a mythical warrior-figure who intervenes w ith reference to the sun. M ost of the other A chaean fighters fall easily enough into sub­ categories 2.1 or 2.2. Ajax the R unner belongs, as we have seen, to 2.1

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(he is best a t killing people by the clever m ethod o f running after them and striking them when they try to flee), while his stout nam esake is 2.2. A nother 2.2 figure is the blufF, hearty Diomedes, who is, however, infected by the qualities of Odysseus when the pair set ofT on a night expedition. Achilles, as Allen has well seen, is not a ‘second-function’ person­ ality, as has been im agined, but a ‘third-function’ one. H e is linked to Apollo and is his ‘double*, and also has a medical background. Achilles represents w ealth, because he brings in plenty o f booty and comes from a fertile land. J u s t as a Scandinavian ‘third-function* hero called H adingus is, as Dumezil and others before him pointed out, a transposition o f the fertility-god N jord, so too Achilles is a transposition o f a Divine Tw in. H adingus has an incestuous m arriage with his sister: Achilles has a most peculiarly close relationship (some have thought hom osexual) with his friend Patroclus.59 T he two Greek w arriors, then, are yet another exam ple of the Divine Tw ins in disguise (and are H elen’s real saviours). Achilles is the m ore warlike [3.2], Patroclus the m ore peaceful [3.3]. H ector and Paris, as has been noted above, correspond to the sam e schema. Penelope (wise, hard-w orking and beautiful), m atching the ‘trifunctional’ D raupadi, and Nestor, the fram e-figure, complete ou r list o f H om er’s m ain characters. It rem ains for us to consider the two epics themselves.

CHAPTER 2 THE ILIAD

B O O K I: S O V E R E IG N T Y A N D F E R T IL IT Y At the very start o f Book I of the Iliad we are told that the events o f the poem, the m anifestations o f Achilles' anger and the consequent troubles of the Achaeans, are all brought about by Zeus' will. It is Apollo, however, who is a t the root o f the quarrel between Achilles and A gam em non. T he latter, in an arbitrary and high-handed m anner, refuses, against the wishes of all his followers, to return the daughter o f one of Apollo’s priests, who has been captured and given to him as a prize. Apollo retaliates by firing arrow s a t the Achaeans, producing a plague. Calchas, a prophet who has been given his powers by Apollo, explains to an assembly o f the Achaeans why the god is angry. Agam em non insists th at if he has to give up his prize he m ust be given another one instead. H e gets into an argum ent with Achilles and threatens to confiscate his prize in com pensation. Achilles replies that he has no quarrel with the Trojans: they have not stolen his herds or ravaged the crops of his fertile hom eland. He has been am assing plenty o f booty for Agamemnon. T he com m ander-in-chief answers th at he has the support of Zeus, the n u rtu rer of kings. Since Apollo is taking his prize away he will take that o f Achilles. A thena is now sent by H era, who loves both m en, to restrain Achilles from draw ing his sword. H e swears th at he will stop fighting for the Achaeans. Nestor, the elder statesm an, tries to intervene, but is soon rem iniscing about his glorious youth, and the m eeting breaks up. Agam em non sends the priest's daughter back on a ship captained by Odysseus and has Achilles’ prize, the beautiful girl Briseis, confis­ cated in her place. Achilles asks his m other, the sea-goddess T hetis, to ask Zeus to help him. For some o f the other gods, H era, Poseidon and A thena, had once tied Zeus up, but T hetis had come to his rescue. 46

The Iliad

47

M eanw hile Apollo’s priest has his daughter returned, and Apollo him self is appeased: the plague ends. T hetis duly goes to see Zeus, and finds him sitting ap art from the other gods. She asks him to grant victory to the T rojans until the Achaeans are forced to give Achilles the honour th at he deserves. Zeus is unwilling to accede to this request, b ut none the less does so, and explains th at when he nods his head in assent he cannot go back on his word. Afterwards, when he meets the other gods, H era expresses her anger, since she has guessed w hat has happened, but Zeus terrifies her and the rest into subm ission. His power is recalled by H ephaestus, who rem em bers how Zeus once threw him all the way down to the earth. H ephaestus bustles around serving the other gods with drink, while they laugh at him. T hey enjoy a feast, listening to Apollo playing the lyre.

Commentary T here are various points of great interest here. For one thing, the granting o f a boon by the suprem e father of the gods to a third-concept figure (Achilles) is paralleled in the Ramayana: R avana wins over the suprem e grandfather of the gods, Brahm a, by extrem e devotion to him , and is given invincibility vis-a-vis all beings except hum ans. Subsequently B rahm a has to arrange his downfall: this is the story of the epic.1 Similarly, the course of the Iliad is determ ined by Zeus, whose isolated and rem ote position [1.1a] is shown here by his sitting a p a rt from the other gods. M oreover, the links between Achilles and Apollo are m ade clear: both of them are moved by anger to inflict pain and devastation on the Achaeans. Apollo, as a god of medicine, is also a god o f disease: when angered, he uses his arrow s to kill by illness, whereas elsewhere in H om er he uses them to give a peaceful death. As a third-concept figure he appears, appropriately, a t the end of Book I, in the context o f pleasure. W ith reference to his gift of prophecy, we m ay note that the sam e gift is possessed elsewhere by T h etis’ father, Nereus, the ‘old m an of the sea*.2 H ephaestus [4] typifies the lowly position of the sm ith, as an obsequious figure o f fun. His hum ble status and the story o f his fall are echoed in a m yth from N uristan, which explains the origin o f slaves (the lowest class o f whom are the blacksm iths). A divine blacksm ith in the sky said to his son, ‘Bring me some fire.* As the boy was obeying this order there was a lightning flash, and he fell through the resulting slit in the sky down to the earth. From him one part o f N uristan’s slave

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population was descended, the rest being descendants o f prisoners of w ar.3 T h e isolation o f Zeus is well paralleled by th at of Agam em non. All the other Achaeans w ant to send the priest’s daughter back a t the first request, b u t he alone refuses. L ater his loneliness is m ade increasingly evident by C alchas’ interpretation o f the plague and the resistance offered by Achilles: his authority, like th a t o f Zeus, is m aintained by terror and always open to challenge. H era, the firm friend o f the Achaeans, has not yet been linked to her earthly counterpart, M enelaus, but A thena, the clever messenger, is paralleled by the resourceful Odysseus, who is sent to com m and the m en who return the priest’s daughter. T h u s the scene is well set for the rest of the dram a: Zeus and Agam em non will eventually have their authority well established, but at a price, and Apollo, Achilles and Priam will all, after a period o f dissidence, end up by subm itting.

B O O K I I : T H E F O R C E S O F T H E S O V E R E IG N S A N D T H E R IC H Zeus decides to send D ream to deceive Agam em non into thinking that he can take T roy imm ediately. Agam em non falls for this, and in turn decides to test his troops by falsely telling them th a t Zeus has ordered him to abandon the siege. W hen the troops manifest their enthusiasm for going hom e, H era calls on A thena to intervene, and the latter goes to O dysseus and urges him to persuade the Achaeans to retu rn to the assembly. H e explains th at Agam em non is testing them and points out th at kings are brought up, honoured and loved by Zeus. T h e assembly is reconvened, and an ugly opponent of the various A chaean kings, called T hersites, attacks Agamemnon. Odysseus rebukes and beats him, and then makes a speech calling for the siege to continue. A thena stands next to him in the form of a herald. N estor also calls for the w ar to go on, so th at the Achaeans can sleep with T rojan wives in revenge for Paris* sleeping with Helen, and gives some old-fashioned tactical advice. Agam em non calls on Zeus, A thena and Apollo, and tells his m en to prepare for battle. They disperse and sacrifice, each to an individual deity. Agam em non sacrifices to Zeus, inviting the leading chieftains to join him, in an appropriate order: N estor [0], Idom eneus [1], the two Ajaxes, Diomedes and Odysseus [2]. M enelaus comes w ithout having to be invited. A thena rushes through the Achaean

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arm y, spurring the troops on, and Zeus makes Agam em non look outstanding am ong the rest. T h e text now gives us the celebrated ‘C atalogue of Ships’, listing the A chaean contingents and providing the details of their num bers and hom elands. First we are given the contingents from central and southern Greece, dom inated by Agam em non and M enelaus. Secondly, we are given the contingents from C rete and other islands, dom inated by Idom eneus. T hirdly, we are given the contingents from the rich land of Thessaly in northern Greece, dom inated by Achilles. Agam em ­ non has the largest arm y and is the m ost impressive of the A chaean heroes. Odysseus is com pared to Zeus for his cunning. Idom eneus is particularly im portant, ruling over a hundred cities. In the description o f the contingent from Rhodes the inhabitants o f the island are described as having settled it ‘by sections in three divisions’ (which seems to reflect Indo-European social tripartition).4 A t the end o f the catalogue we are told that the best of the A chaeans’ horses had been bred by Apollo. After the catalogue o f the A chaean contingents the text returns to the narrative. Zeus sends a message to the T rojans to w arn them that the Achaeans are attacking, and the T rojans rush out to fight. A list of their leaders and those o f their allies follows. (Several o f these are linked to concept 3.) J u s t beneath H ector him self comes Aeneas, the son o f A phrodite and a hum an father. Some rich T rojans are led by an archer called Pandarus, whose bow has been given to him by Apollo. After Pandarus come two sons o f a m an who had a better com m and of prophecy th an anyone else. T he Pelasgian contingent is described as living on fertile soil. A people called the Halizones are said to come from the place ‘where is the birth o f silver’. A nother people, the M ysians, are led by a prophet, while the M aeonians have as their leaders the sons o f a lake-nymph. T he C arians have a chief who goes into battle w earing golden ornam ents, like a girl. Finally, we encounter the Lycians, from the very fertile X anthus river valley.5 Commentary T h e early action of this book underlines the parallel between Zeus and A gam em non w ith a heavy irony: Agam em non, deceived by Zeus, deceives his followers by falsely attributing a com m and to the god. As for the ‘C atalogue of Ships’, the order o f its contents has puzzled m odem com m entators, b u t from ou r standpoint it is perfectly logical: after the region o f participants dom inated by the 1.1 figures, Agam em ­

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non and M enelaus, conies that of the islands, dom inated by a 1.2 figure, Idom eneus, and then that of the Thessalian plains, richer than the rest o f Greece in cereals and livestock, and dom inated by Achilles, who moves between 3 and 1.3: when hum iliated he belongs to the third concept, but when honoured he is a sovereign distributor o f prizes (in Book X X I II).6 W ith regard to O dysseus' being com pared to Zeus for his cunning, it m ay be recalled that in Greek m yth Zeus is supposed to have swallowed the goddess of C unning (M etis) and then to have given birth to A thena, who cam e out of his head.7 O n the T rojan side it will be noted that Aeneas resembles Achilles in having a divine m other and an aged hum an father. In the Ramayana a sim ilar account o f the num bers of the besiegers and their hom elands is combined with a description of how R avana surveys their leaders from his palace and is told who they are: this parallels the famous ‘Viewing from the W alls’ in Book II I o f the Iliad.6

B O O K I I I : A V IE W IN G A N D A D U E L A t the sta rt of Book III Paris offers to fight any one of the A chaean heroes. M enelaus accepts the challenge, and then Paris, frightened, slips back into the T rojan ranks. T his behaviour attracts the criticism of his younger brother, Hector, who rem arks th at he is handsom e, obsessed with women and a seducer. H ector rebukes Paris for starting all the trouble in the first place by running off with Helen, and refers insultingly to M enelaus’ superior strength and Paris* lyre-playing. Paris adm its th at H ector’s criticisms are fair, and offers to fight M enelaus. T he latter suggests th at the w ar should be ended and the q uarrel settled by single com bat between Paris and himself, and calls for oath-taking to ratify acceptance of his proposal. H e urges the T rojans to bring two lam bs, a white male for the Sun (who is m asculine) and a black female for the E arth (who is feminine), while the Achaeans bring a third lam b for Zeus. Everyone agrees to this plan. Helen now joins Priam by the gates of T roy, and there ensues w hat is called the ‘Viewing from the W alls’, as she explains who the main A chaean leaders in sight are: Agam em non, Odysseus (a previous visit o f whom to Troy is recalled), Ajax the G reater and Idom eneus. H elen’s explanation ends with her wondering why her brothers, C astor and Polydeuces, are not there. T he poet adds that they are dead and

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buried. (T hus in the Iliad they do not represent the Divine Tw ins, as they do elsewhere.) T he oath-taking and sacrifice duly take place. Both Achaeans and T rojans speak o f ‘Zeus and the other gods’. M enelaus calls on Zeus to g ran t him vengeance, so that in future guests will shrink from wronging their hosts. In the duel itself M enelaus narrowly fails to w ound Paris with his spear, and his sword shatters on Paris’ helmet. He reproaches Zeus, and starts to drag Paris into the m idst o f the Achaeans, holding on to his helmet, but A phrodite intervenes, causing the helm et-strap to break and carrying Paris back to his scented bedroom . T h e goddess then goes to Helen and tells her to join Paris in bed: she adds th at he does not look as if he has ju st returned from the fight, but rath er as if he were going to a dance or had ju st come from one. Helen refuses at first, but goes to Paris after A phrodite threatens her. W hen she sees him she taunts him, saying th at he is not strong enough to fight M enelaus. He replies th at M enelaus was helped by A thena, b u t there are gods on his side too. T hen he urges her to join him in bed, and she subm its. M eanwhile Agamemnon, claiming th at M enelaus has won in the duel, dem ands th at the Trojans return Helen and the treasure which she and Paris have brought from Sparta. Commentary H ere the characterization of Paris as a handsom e seducer corresponds to th at o f R avana in the Ramayana. T here one o f R avana’s younger brothers, V ibhishana, speaks to him critically about all the disasters th at he has brought about by abducting Sita. A nother of R avana’s younger brothers, K um bhakarna, also upbraids him angrily. T hen V ibhishana refers to R am a’s superior strength, and, when Ravana refuses to be persuaded to return Sita, goes over to the other side. He is to be the future ruler of Lanka, under R am a’s suzerainty, and stands in parallel to Aeneas, who is descended from the younger branch of the T rojan royal family.9 M enelaus’ suggestion that the Trojans should sacrifice lam bs of different sexes for the Sun and the E arth is fitting indeed, since Troy symbolizes fertility. In the same way, his suggestion th at the Achaeans should have a lam b for Zeus is also apt, since Agam em non and M enelaus represent concept 1. T h e ‘Viewing from the W alls’ is, as we have noted, paralleled in the Ramayanay when two spies explain the identities of the principal besiegers to R avana as he surveys the horizon from his palace. T his

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explanation falls into two parts. In the first p art, one spy enum erates the various generals, saying where they are from and how m any troops they have brought. T h u s this p art corresponds m ore to the ‘C atalogue o f Ships’. In the second part, the other spy points out the principal personalities of the besieging arm y: H anum an, a previous visit of whom to L anka is recalled, R am a, Lakshm ana, V ibhishana and the king o f the monkeys (who seems to be the counterpart o f Idom eneus, as the leader o f the largest contingent). T hus this p art corresponds m ore to the Greek ‘Viewing’ itself.10 In the Iranian Book o f Kings there is also a sim ilar ‘viewing’ when Suhrab, the hero R ustam ’s son, looks a t the leaders o f an opposing arm y an d has a prisoner explain who they a re ." T he reference to ‘Zeus and the other gods’ in the oath-taking resembles the usual ancient Indian and Iranian practice o f m entioning the nam e o f the suprem e god coupled with a collective invocation of the rest.12 It is to be observed th at Zeus, because of his rem oteness, is appropriately seen in Greece as the protecting deity of strangers or foreigners, and thus of hospitality. As for the duel itself, this episode is also paralleled in the Ramayana. R avana, after the ‘viewing’, goes to Sita and makes advances to her, which she rejects. T hen he fights a duel with the king of the monkeys. W hen R avana has recourse to magic, the monkey-king flies off, claim ing to have trium phed because he is not tired, whereas the ogre is.13 (Elsewhere in the Ramayana R am a him self fights a prelim inary, non-fatal duel with R avana before their final and m ortal encounter. In this prelim inary duel R avana is beaten but R am a m agnanim ously allows him to go home, because he is exhausted.)14

B O O K IV : W O U N D IN G , H E A L IN G , IN S P E C T IO N AN D BATTLE T he fourth book opens with Zeus speaking to the other gods, with devious intent. H e observes that H era and A thena, the patronesses of M enelaus, are not intervening, but A phrodite has ju st rescued Paris. M enelaus has certainly won the duel: perhaps he could now take H elen home in peace? (Zeus is o f course being ironical, since he has irrevocably prom ised T hetis to gran t victory to the T rojans until the Achaeans give due honour to Achilles.) H era is angry a t the idea that her efforts to destroy T roy will be in vain. Zeus asks w hat the T rojans have done to her. All the sam e, he will give way to her now, b u t will

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sack a city d ear to her in the future. T roy had been his favourite city, and his a ltar there had always had its sacrifices. H era replies by talking o f her deep love for Argos, S parta and Mycenae: Zeus can sack them when he likes. But she m ust have the fruits of her labours, being a senior goddess by birth and by virtue o f her m arriage to him. She w ants A thena to be sent to m ake the T rojans break the oaths. Zeus sends A thena ofT, and she shoots down like a star. A ppearing in the form of a m an, she talks to the archer Pandarus (whom we have already encountered as the leader o f some rich T rojans, carrying a bow given to him by Apollo). A thena suggests th at he should shoot an arrow a t M enelaus, and thus obtain some splendid gifts from Paris. H e should vow to m ake a generous sacrifice to Apollo as the god of archery. P andarus agrees to this, and, with his com panions holding their shields before him, shoots, but A thena diverts the arrow , so that M enelaus is only slightly wounded. None the less he and Agam em non shudder in horror when they see the blood flow, and Agam em non and their com panions groan. T he com m ander-in-chief speaks with appre­ hension o f the possibility that M enelaus m ay die. He sum m ons the physician M achaon, who treats the wound. Next comes the passage known as the ‘T o u r o f Inspection*. Aga­ m em non goes round on foot to see if his m en are ready to fight. T he text says in a few lines th at when (A) he finds them eager for battle he encourages them , and when (B) he sees them hanging back he is rude to them . T his idea is then developed a t length.15 T o begin with, there is an account (A) of his visiting leaders who are urging their followers on. First, appropriately, he meets Idom eneus [1], and tells him th a t he is the m ost highly respected o f his allies: when they all drink together the two o f them alone have as m uch wine as they like, whereas the other Achaeans are limited to fixed rations. Secondly, and again aptly, Agam em non sees the two Ajaxes [2], who are accom panied by a cloud­ like m ass o f foot-soldiers bristling with spears. Calling on Zeus, A thena and Apollo, he wishes th at all his men had such spirit. Finally, and again fittingly, he encounters the frame-figure, N estor [0], who by virtue of his age is both first and last, and as usual is giving advice and reminiscing. After this comes the contrasting account (B) o f Agam em ­ no n 's catching leaders who are ju st standing around. First there is O dysseus [2.1], accom panied by a m inor figure, M enestheus, who serves as a foil. As often, O dysseus’ expertise in trickery is m entioned. Secondly, there is Diomedes [2.2], also in the company o f a foil, his subordinate Sthenelus. Diomedes has his innate bravery awakened. T h e Achaeans and T rojans duly advance to meet, driven on by

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A thena and Ares respectively. W hen the fighting begins, Ajax the G reater kills a T rojan w ith a pastoral background, Simoeisius, who was born on the bank of a river, where his m other had joined her parents to watch over their flocks. Apollo looks down from the highest point in T roy, sees the T rojans falling back and calls out to urge them on, pointing out that Achilles is not taking part. A thena ranges through the A chaean ranks, and the book ends with the image o f her leading a m an by the hand and keeping flying missiles away.

Commentary T his episode is also echoed in the Ramayana. In the fighting which follows the duel between Ravana and the king of the monkeys, R avana’s son Indrajit, not being able to win by fighting openly, wickedly uses magic to m ake him self invisible (tike Pandarus hiding behind his com panions’ shields). T hen he wounds R am a and Lakshm ana with his arrows, so th a t they lose consciousness, to the despair o f the monkeys, who lam ent loudly. R am a regains consciousness and voices dism ay a t L akshm ana’s being apparently m ortally wounded. T he king o f the birds arrives and heals their wounds by touching them . (Similarly, in the Iranian Book o f Kings the mythical bird called the Sim urgh, which is seen as the king o f the birds, has a feather with m iraculous healing pow ers.)16 After they have been healed the anim als and ogres advance to join b a ttle.17

B O O K V: B R U T E F O R C E A N D BRA V ERY T he fifth book is dom inated by the figure o f Diomedes, to whom A thena gives enough strength to fight even the gods on the T rojan side. H e begins by killing a son of a priest of H ephaestus. T he dead m an ’s brother, who had been on a chariot beside him, now runs away and H ephaestus rescues him . A thena, telling Ares w hat a terrible m urderer he is, suggests th a t they leave the battle to the will o f Zeus, and avoid angering the latter. T hen she leads him away. Each of the Achaean leaders kills a m an. First there are enum erated the represent­ atives of concept 1: A gam em non, Idom eneus and M enelaus. T he last of these kills a fine hunter, w ho has been taught by Artemis herself, as the goddess o f archery, to shoot all the game to be found in the m ountains. After this, m inor representatives o f concept 2 kill

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opponents. O ne victim is a craftsm an, dear to Athena: he had built Paris’ ships. M eanw hile Diomedes continues to sweep on victoriously, until he is spotted by Pandarus, who shoots him in the shoulder and, rejoicing, thinks th at Apollo has inspired his own journey to Troy. But Diomedes is only w ounded, and asks A thena to help him kill Pandarus. She joins him and gives him the faculty to recognize gods in hum an form, explaining th at he is not to fight any of the im m ortals except Aphrodite. T hen she goes away, and Diomedes, enraged rather than weakened by his wound, returns to the slaughter. He kills four pairs of w arriors, and we are told th at the last three of the pairs are brothers. T he second pair are sons o f an interpreter of dream s, while the fourth are children o f Priam . Aeneas, spotting Diomedes* success, asks P andarus to shoot at him. Pandarus bewails his rich background, with its fine chariots and horses m unching away happily, and regrets that he has left them behind. H e m ounts Aeneas’ chariot and they go to meet Diomedes. T h e latter, assisted by A thena, kills Pandarus and smashes Aeneas’ hip. A phrodite begins to carry Aeneas out of the fighting, but Diomedes wounds her in the wrist. Apollo takes over the task o f rescuing Aeneas, while A phrodite escapes to O lym pus. T here her m other, Dione, explains th at other deities have suffered a t hum ans’ hands: once Ares had been im prisoned in a j a r , but Herm es had used his skill as a thief to steal him out. A thena and H era comm ent mockingly on A phrodite’s m isadventure, and Zeus tells her th at w ar is not her business: she should leave it to Ares a n d A thena and concern herself with the pleasant tasks o f m arriage. Back on the battlefield, Diomedes springs forward three times to attack Aeneas, and three tim es Apollo slams him back. T h en Apollo takes Aeneas to the highest p art o f Troy, where he has a temple dedicated to him. T here Artem is and their m other, Leto, heal Aeneas. Apollo creates an image o f Aeneas on the battlefield and the T rojans and Achaeans fight around it. After this Apollo asks Ares to take on the jo b o f fighting Diom edes, while he him self returns to T roy. Ares spurs the T rojans on, and Z eus’ hum an son Sarpedon, one o f their leading allies, complains strongly to H ector that the latter and his followers are not doing anything. H ector is stung into rallying his troops, and Aeneas soon returns to the fight. O n the A chaean side the two Ajaxes, Odysseus and Diomedes urge their m en on. T hen, appropriately, Agam em non begins a new series of killings, and when Aeneas kills a pair of twins, M enelaus enters the action to protect their bodies. H ector makes his way towards M enelaus, together with Ares.

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Diomedes tells the Achaeans to fall back gradually. A m ortal grandson o f Zeus on the A chaean side, Tlepolem us, is killed by Sarpedon, but succeeds in w ounding him: Zeus averts death from Sarpedon for the tim e being, although his end is near. Odysseus thinks of finishing Sarpedon ofT, but, we are told, is not fated to kill him, and so A thena turns her protege’s anger on to Sarpedon’s followers instead, and several of these lose their lives. H ector, however, presses on and the Achaeans fall back. H era sees w hat is happening and calls on A thena to help. T h e two goddesses go to Zeus and com plain th at Ares is killing Achaeans while A phrodite and Apollo sit by happily. Zeus agrees th at A thena should attack Ares. H era and A thena go to the battlefield and the latter tells Diomedes that now she will help him in person against the war-god. She observes th at previously Ares had prom ised to her and H era that he would fight against the Trojans, but now he has broken his word. A thena assum es the role of Diomedes’ charioteer, and they ride tow ards Ares. Diomedes wounds him, and he escapes to O lym pus. T here he complains to Zeus, who expresses his extrem e dislike for him, b u t none the less has his wound healed by a god o f medicine, Paieon, who elsewhere is associated with Apollo and sometimes identified with him , though they are usually distinguished. Commentary T his narrative corresponds to some extent with w hat happens in the Ramayana, after R am a and L akshm ana have been healed and the arm ies of anim als and ogres join battle. T h e anim als have the upper hand, and the m onkeys' leaders kill prom inent ogres. An im portant role is played by A ngada, the heir apparent to the monkeys’ throne, who seems, like Diomedes, to be a straightforw ard 2.2 figure, possess­ ing ju st brute force and bravery. T hen, like H ector, an exceptionally strong ogre, K um bhakam a, who is also a younger brother of the abductor, is sum m oned into action and enters the fray. W hen he does so the monkeys ru n away, are rallied, run away again and are again rallied.18 T h e episode o f the goddess who goes up to heaven in need of consolation for having been wounded has been shown to be a reflection o f an epic m otif from outside the Indo-European field, in the Semitic grouping o f languages and literatures, and to be an effect of the O rientalizing revolution’ in which Greece was affected by contacts with speakers o f non-Indo-European tongues.19 However, here as

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elsewhere, this influence comes in an entertaining digression, and is incorporated in a thoroughly Indo-European ‘functional* framework, in which the goddess’ nature as a deity o f fertility is contrasted with those o f deities o f sovereignty and war.

B O O K V I: T E S T S A N D B R O T H E R S T h e sixth book starts with a battle-scene. Leading Achaeans kill opponents, notably the twin sons o f a w ater-nym ph. T hen a grisly incident opposes M enelaus’ character as a kind 1.1b figure to Aga­ m em non’s arb itrary and terrifying nature as a personification o f 1.1a. A vanquished enemy begs M enelaus to spare his life, saying th at his rich father will pay a limitless ransom , and M enelaus is inclined to agree to this, b u t Agam em non declares th at all the T rojans m ust be killed, even the boys in their m others’ wombs. T he scene is concluded with Nestor, as a frame-figure, advising the Achaeans to concentrate on killing and leave stripping the bodies of their arm our until later. Now H elenus, a son o f Priam and the finest of augurs, gives his counsel to H ector and Aeneas. (In extra-H om eric tradition, H elenus and C assandra, the m ost famous o f prophetesses, are tw ins.)20 He says th at H ector should go back to T roy and tell the women there to pray to A thena. H ector goes off to do this, but the narrative is interrupted by a striking interlude. Diomedes encounters an ally of the T rojans called G laucus and asks who he is. G laucus replies that his grandfather was the legendary Bellerophon, a hero in the service o f a king nam ed Proetus. Proetus’ wife had falsely accused Bellerophon o f trying to rape her. Proetus sent Bellerophon to the king o f Lycia, carrying a coded message th at its bearer had to die. T h e Lycian king honoured Bellerophon w ith a nineday period o f feasting and sacrifices (this figure o f nine days is typical of the religious observances of the G erm anic peoples).21 T hen he read the message and sent Bellerophon on three dangerous missions, which provide a triconceptual pattern: to kill the m onster known as the C him era, of divine birth - Bellerophon did this, following signs given by the gods [1]; to fight against a famous people called the Solymi this, said Bellerophon, was the hardest battle with m en th a t he had had to enter [2]; and to slaughter the celebrated women fighters, the Am azons [3]. (Although the Amazons m ight o f course be seen as representing concept 2, their being women and their structural position here render concept 3 appropriate, and they are linked with hunting

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and A rtem is.)22 Bellerophon’s safe return convinced the king o f Lycia th at he should be given a share of his own royal status. T he hero had three children, who also correspond to concepts 1-3: Isandrus, killed by Ares when fighting the Solymi [2]; Laodam eia, killed by Artem is [3]; and Hippolochus, who continues the royal line [1]. Diom edes is delighted to hear that G laucus is Bellerophon’s grandson, since this m eans th at they are hereditary ‘guest-friends’, Bellerophon having been entertained by his grandfather, with an exchange o f gifts. C onsequently he and Glaucus can count on each other’s hospitality whenever visiting the other’s country. T hey should not fight each other, but should exchange their arm our. G laucus agrees not to fight Diomedes, and Zeus robs him of his wits: he exchanges gold arm our for bronze. M eanwhile, H ector comes into T roy and enters Priam ’s beautiful palace. It has 50 rooms of polished stone for the king’s 50 sons, and 12 m ore such rooms for his daughters. H ector transm its the instruction to pray to A thena, and it is carried out, but the goddess refuses to take pity on Troy. T hen H ector goes to Paris’ house, and finds his brother in his bedroom , together with Helen. He rebukes him for his inactivity, and Paris agrees to jo in him in the fight. Helen declares th at she and Paris have been doom ed to an evil fate by Zeus. H ector proceeds to join his wife, A ndrom ache, and their baby son for H om er’s m ost famous scene, an episode of conjugal tenderness. A ndrom ache urges H ector not to go out to fight, but to stay and defend the city from the walls. She refers to attacks on T roy by A chaean leaders, whom she m entions by name: here the two Ajaxes [2] and Idom eneus [1] are counterbalanced by the two brothers Agam em non and M enelaus [1] an d Diomedes [2]. H ector says that he will go out to fight. H e knows th at the city will be destroyed, and anticipates with foreboding A ndrom ache’s future life of slavery. He prays to ‘Zeus and the other gods’ th at his son may be a brave ruler, and tells his wife to busy herself with her work with the loom and the distaff, and order her m aids to do their work as well, while the men concern themselves with war. In the m eantim e Paris runs, a glam orous figure and laughing, to join his brother, who observes that he is a good fighter, but none the less deliberately stays behind and chooses not to take p art in the battle. Commentary H ere the story of Bellerophon is closely paralleled in Iran , in the section in the Book o f Kings on a prince called Siyawush. T he latter is

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also falsely accused by a wom an and undergoes three tests before ending up at an enemy king’s court and ensuring the continuity of a royal line. Siyawush is the son of the king of Iran, and his stepm other accuses him of trying to rape her. T he king imposes a fire-ordeal on him , and this test proves his innocence of the charge [3 or 2.3]. T hen the king puts Siyawush to a m ilitary test [2 or 2.2]: he is sent to fight Ira n ’s traditional enemies in the north-east, the T uranians. Siyawush is victorious, and finally is confronted with a third test, on the level of intelligence, loyalty and religious duty [1 or 2.1]: his father puts him in an impossible position in diplom atic negotiations with the T uranian king. Eventually Siyawush has no honourable course open except to defect to the latter, and does so. His own son will continue the Iranian royal line.23 T his threefold testing of Bellerophon would appear to be reflected in the famous 12 labours attributed by various Greek and Latin sources to Heracles. T h e first four o f these are on the level of the supernatural: H eracles has to fight an invulnerable lion, sent by the sovereign goddess to whom lions are holy, H era [1.1b], and then a m ulti-headed water-snake, a terrifying em bodim ent of divine im m ortality [1.1a]; then he has to catch a m onstrous boar which is threatening a local com m unity - in the course of this, in an apt balancing episode, H eracles alm ost wipes out the com m unity of the C entaurs, b u t they arc saved by Poseidon [1.2]; fourthly, he has to capture a sacred hind which bears the gift of golden horns [1.3]. After this come four labours on the level of the w arrior’s activity itself, seen in its contrasting aspects o f guile and force: first he has to kill some birds, which he does after cleverly frightening them with bronze castanets given him by A thena, and then he has to clean enormous stables, a task which he craftily accomplishes by diverting a river [2.1]; subsequently he catches a bull, and next some m ares, by brute force [2.2]. Finally H eracles has to perform four labours on the level of concept 3: he fights the queen of the Amazons and her subjects in order to obtain her girdle, captures some cattle, fetches golden apples and lastly descends into the U nder­ world, an act which requires initiation into the m ysteries of the goddess of agriculture, D em eter.24 O n the Byzantine side, in The Two-Blood Border Lord, Bellerophon’s threefold encounter with the m onster, the male warriors and the Amazons is paralleled by Digenes’ threefold encounter with [1] a three-headed dragon (which is followed, in w hat looks like an echo of H eracles’ first two labours, by a lion); [2] some male warriors; and [3] an A m azon’s associates and the Amazon herself.25 T h u s here, in the

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ancient Greek, Iranian and Byzantine m aterials, one finds w hat I call ‘the cycle of the three tests of the w arrior’. W e shall find this cycle again in Book X II o f the Odyssey and a corresponding passage o f the Mahabharata. T he depiction o f H ector in T roy corresponds to the Ramayana's depiction o f K um bhakam a in Lanka. W hen the latter is roused to fight he first visits the city and goes to R avana’s enorm ous and attractive palace. He rebukes his elder brother for his foolishness and announces his intention of m arching out to face R am a single-handed. A nother general objects th at this is suicidal: it would be better to make a collective attack on R am a and have an opportunity to retreat to the city if unsuccessful. K um bhakam a repeats th at he will go out to fight alone. (R avana himself, though an impressive w arrior, does not usually take p a rt in the sorties, but leaves the fighting to others.)26

B O O K V II: A D U E L A N D A W ALL W hen H ector and Paris return to the battlefield each kills an opponent. T h en A thena and Apollo arrive and decide to stop the fighting for the day. T hey agree to inspire H ector to issue a challenge to the Achaeans to p u t up a cham pion for another duel. T he inspiration comes through the m edium o f the prophet H elenus, who tells H ector th at he is not fated to die yet. H ector issues the challenge, saying th at Zeus plans further misery for both sides. H e adds th at if he wins he will dedicate his opponent’s arm our to Apollo. T he Achaeans are frightened by the challenge, and all stay silent, until M enelaus eventually offers to fight. Agam em non and the other Achaean kings restrain him, on the grounds th a t he would certainly lose. N estor bewails their cowardice, adding his usual reminiscences. Calling on Zeus, A thena and Apollo, he wishes he were young again. Nine leading Achaeans agree to draw lots to fight Hector. Ajax the G reater is selected. H e and H ector fight with spears an d rocks. Ajax sends H ector sprawling, but Apollo puts him on his feet again. T hen the heralds of both sides stop the duel on the grounds th at Zeus loves both w arriors, they are both good fighters and night is approaching. H ector and Ajax exchange gifts and rejoin their comrades. T he T rojans are delighted that H ector is still alive, while Ajax is happy to have had the upper hand. Now the Achaeans have a feast, after which N estor advises them to stop the fighting long enough to crem ate the dead. He also advises them to build a defensive wall for their cam p by the ships. T hey agree.

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M eanw hile the T rojans are holding a meeting, in which lack of confidence is expressed. They decide to offer to return H elen’s pos­ sessions along with an indem nity, but Paris refuses to give up Helen herself. Priam urges his followers to post guards and stay awake during the night. T he next day their offer is rejected, b u t a truce is arranged for the crem ation of the dead. T hen the Achaeans build their wall, m uch to the annoyance of Poseidon, who complains to Zeus th at its fame will overshadow th at o f the wall which he and Apollo had been obliged to build for an earlier king of Troy. Zeus tells Poseidon that they can destroy the Achaeans’ wall later. T he Achaeans and T rojans feast and drink, b u t Zeus plans evil for them and frightens them with his thunder. Commentary T his episode is paralleled in the Ramayana, where, as we have seen, when K um bhakarna is roused to fight, the monkeys repeatedly flee and are rallied. T he Iliad has two separate scenes, in Book V and this one, while the Indian epic has a single scene: along w ith the flights and rallies we find the crown prince o f the monkeys, A ngada, berating his principal com rades for their cowardice and then fighting between the latter and K um bhakarna. K um bhakarna has been persuaded to go into battle accom panied by his followers. H e does not go alone, as he h ad wished, b u t in practice he fights on his own, using a spear while the monkeys use rocks. H e succeeds in capturing the king of the monkeys an d taking him back to Lanka. T here the population honours the victor, b u t then his captive bites his nose and ears ofTand escapes. K um bhakarna sallies forth again and is killed by Ram a. R avana is despondent about the future of the siege. Some of his sons are killed in battle. Anxious again, he orders guards to be posted and tells his followers to stay awake at night.27 Scandinavian and Rom an narratives have parallels for the defensive wall o f the representatives of concepts 1 and 2: in Scandinavia the gods of concept 3 breach the enclosure of their adversaries, while at Rome the Sabines, after entering the Capitoline citadel itself, drive the R om ans back to their outer wall.28 T he story o f Poseidon and Apollo’s being forced to work for a ruler of T roy, in tem porary exile from the other gods, is alluded to in Book X X I o f the Iliad: it looks like a reflection of the usual Indo-European them e of the deities of concept 3 being cut off from the other deities before an eventual unification. T hus here Poseidon would not, as is

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usual in H om er, represent sub-concept 1.2, but would correspond to one of the Divine Twins of concept 3 - aptly, given his connection with horses.

B O O K V I I I : A R A L L Y A N D AN A R C H E R Zeus tells the other gods not to interfere with his plans, and threatens them with his superior physical strength. T hen he goes to M ount Ida, near T roy, in order to have a better view of the battlefield. Battle is joined, and honours are even until noon, when Zeus weighs the T ro jan s' and A chaeans’ fates in his scales. T he T rojans' fates rise up and the Achaeans* sink down. Zeus sends a thunderbolt down into the ranks of the Achaeans, and they run back. O f the leaders who turn tail, Idom eneus and Agamemnon are nam ed first, followed by the two Ajaxes. O nly Nestor rem ains, because one of his horses has been wounded. Diomedes shouts to Odysseus to come to N estor’s aid, but Odysseus is running away regardless. Nestor m ounts Diom edes' chariot, and they go to fight Hector. Zeus hurls a thunderbolt in front o f them , and Nestor turns the chariot back. H era is angered, and suggests to Poseidon, who also favours the Achaeans, th at they m ight defy Zeus. He refuses. M eanwhile H ector reaches the A chaeans' defensive wall. H era inspires Agam em non to rally the Achaeans. He also prays to Zeus, referring to the m any sacrifices th at he has already ofTered to him, and asks for the Achaeans to be saved. Zeus pities Agam em non, and sends an eagle to drop a fawn by the altar where he is the recipient o f the Achaeans* sacrifices. T he Achaeans, encouraged by this good om en from him, press forward. T he Iliad now gives prom inence to the leading archer on the Achaean side, T eucer, who is the illegitimate half-brother of Ajax the G reater (so that sometimes the expression ‘the two Ajaxes' includes him, not Ajax the R unner). T eucer hides behind his half-brother’s shield in between his shots. H e kills a num ber of T rojans, and Agam em non promises him that if Zeus and A thena allow them to take T roy he will receive a special prize: either a tripod (a three-footed cauldron), or two horses with their w ar chariot, or a woman to clim b into his bed. (Here the enum eration looks triconceptual, since the tripod is connected with religion: it is used to boil m eat when sacrifices are m ade to the gods, and is often dedicated to them in tem ples.)29 However, H ector soon wounds T eucer with a rock, and the T rojans drive the Achaeans back. H era an d A thena prepare to intervene, but Zeus frightens them into

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desisting. N ight falls, and H ector addresses the victorious Trojans. He prays to ‘Zeus and the other gods* th at he m ay complete his success the next day, ensuring the end of the Achaean expedition. T he Trojans cam p out on the plain between the city and their enemies* enclosure. Commentary H ere the narrative is echoed by the confrontation o f Rom ans and Sabines in Livy’s History o f Rome. After the Sabines capture the Rom an citadel the Rom ans start to besiege them in it. A t first the Rom ans fight well enough, but then, hard pressed by the Sabine cham pion M ettius C urtius, they turn tail and run back to the outer wall of the city. Rom ulus [1.1a] prays to ju p ite r and refers to an om en, previously given by the gods, which had led him to lay the first foundations of the city there. H e asks Ju p ite r to save the Rom ans and vows a tem ple to him. T hen, as if he has sensed th at Ju p ite r has heard his prayer, he shouts out to his followers that Ju p ite r is telling them to turn and fight again: they do so, as if com m anded by a heavenly voice. (H om er’s influence has been seen in this passage, but ap art from the sim ilarities o f detail there are resem blances on the level of internal structure which point to a common original.) According to the Roman Antiquities of Dionysius o f H alicarnassus this battle took place ju st after the Rom ans an d Sabines had buried their dead, following an earlier battle in which honours had been even.30 In the Ramayana the story continues in parallel with this book of the Iliad. R avana’s most powerful son, Indrajit, emerges as the strongest defender of Lanka, replacing K um bhakam a as H ector’s counterpart. H e leads an attack on the besiegers, and they run away before suddenly rallying an d counter-attacking. Indrajit, who has m ade him self invis­ ible, overwhelm s them with his arrow s and returns in trium ph.31

B O O K IX : A M IS S IO N FA C E D W IT H O B D U R A C Y T h e Achaeans have become despondent as a result o f H ector’s successes. A gam em non calls a meeting, and com plains th a t Zeus has deceived him: now he him self wants to abandon the expedition. Diomedes declares his determ ination to fight on. N estor closes the discussion by insisting th at guards be posted for the night and a feast be given. After the feast he begins the discussion again by calling on Agam em non to appease Achilles. Agamemnon agrees, and offers to

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give Achilles an enorm ous quantity o f gifts if he will return to the fighting. N estor again concludes the discussion by selecting the envoys to be sent to Achilles. It is evident th at o f these Odysseus is intended to be the m ain exponent of the a rt of diplom acy. T hey find Achilles enjoying playing the lyre (thus em phasizing the sim ilarity between him an d Apollo). T he visitors m ake three speeches, which seem to fall into a triconceptual pattern. First, O dysseus repeats A gam em non's offer, so th at the em phasis in his speech is on w ealth [3]. Achilles rejects the offer, and stresses the fact th at he has been a fertile source o f booty for the A chaeans, like a bird feeding her chicks. In particular, he has fought to capture other m en's wives. H e says th at he will go back to his hom eland, where he has plenty o f riches. As for a part of A gam em non’s offer which involves giving him one o f his daughters in m arriage, Achilles says th at he would not accept her even if she rivalled A phrodite in her beauty and A thena in her work. In any case, his life is w orth m ore than all the riches formerly held by T roy in peacetim e, or kept in A pollo's tem ple at Delphi. His m other has told him that he is fated either to stay and fight at T roy, in which case he will never return home b u t his ‘glory will be undying’, or to go home, in which case he will have no glory b u t will live long. (T he Greek words for ‘glory' and ‘undying' have often been com pared to the Sanskrit equivalents, which come together in the Vedas and have the sam e etymology, so that it has been thought th at here we have a reflection o f a phrase in Proto-Indo-E uropean poetry.)32 Secondly, an old m an called Phoenix speaks. H e has been designated first by Nestor, and is perhaps another frame-figure. Phoenix has acted as Achilles’ tutor, and has been a second father to him. He puts his em phasis m ore on religious duty [1]. Prayers, he observes, are daughters o f Zeus. Now they are being addressed to Achilles, and he m ust not reject them . H e tells a story o f how Diomedes' uncle M eleager killed an enorm ous boar sent by Artemis when she was not given the first-fruits of a garden. A war ensued over the boar's carcass, and M eleager refused to fight, although he was offered a huge gift and was begged to intervene. H e fought only when his city was being storm ed, and so was given nothing. If Achilles fights now, the Achaeans will honour him like a god. Achilles replies that he does not need honour from them , being honoured already by w hat is destined for him by Zeus, but indicates th at he is undecided w hether or not to go home. T hirdly, Ajax the G reater comm ents on Achilles' obduracy. H ere the em phasis is on com radely feeling between the A chaean w arriors

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[2]. Now Achilles answers th at he will not think of fighting until H ector sets fire to his ships. T h e delegation returns and Odysseus reports th at it has failed. Diomedes makes a speech, calling for the w ar to be continued the next day. T h is meets with universal approval. Commentary Again, the Ramayana provides a parallel continuation o f the story. T here too night has fallen, and the besiegers o f Lanka are in a sorry state, lying wounded and often unconscious on the battlefield. H anum an and V ibhishana find the aged king of the bears, one o f their most im portant allies, who as a repository o f wise counsels seems to correspond to N estor as a frame-figure. H e advises H anum an to go to a m ountain and bring medicinal herbs from it. W hen H anum an reaches the m ountain the herbs make themselves invisible. H e asks the m ountain why it shows no pity for the wounded and unconscious R am a, and breaks its crest ofT. T hen he returns, carrying the m ountaincrest with the herbs on it, and R am a and his wounded allies are duly cured. T he w ar is to go on.3S Achilles, then, corresponds to the m ountain (aptly, since he has a medical background). T he mission led by O dysseus does not in fact end in complete failure: Achilles modifies his position after initially announcing th at he will leave, and speaks of the eventuality o f his fighting when H ector reaches his ships.

B O O K X : A N IG H T A T T A C K As the night continues Agam em non is unable to sleep. His groaning is com pared to Z eus' thundering to presage a storm . T h e T rojans, in contrast, are playing flutes and pipes. Agam em non decides to go first of all to N estor in the hope th at the latter m ay help him devise a plan. M enelaus cannot sleep either, and joins his brother. Agam em non tells him to call Ajax the G reater and Idom eneus, while he him self sum m ons Nestor. N estor tells him th at they should wake other A chaean leaders too, and accuses M enelaus o f laziness. Agam em non says th at M enelaus is not tim id or stupid, b u t looks to his brother to give a lead. N estor wakes Odysseus and Diomedes, and the latter brings other chieftains. W hen all the kings have come together N estor speaks first. He calls for a volunteer to go and spy on the T rojans. Diomedes offers to go, but says th at he wants someone to come with

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him. M any are ready to do so, and Agam em non tells Diomedes to choose between them on the basis of merit, not birth (he is afraid for M enelaus). Diomedes chooses Odysseus, as being brave, clever and loved by A thena. T he two warriors set off, and A thena sends a heron on their right (a good om en). They pray to her and press on. M eanwhile H ector calls a meeting and also asks for a volunteer to spy on the enemy. A rich T rojan nam ed Dolon ofTers to go in return for Achilles’ superb horses when they are captured. H ector agrees, and Dolon goes on his way. Odysseus sees him and tells Diomedes th at they should lie in wait, let him go past and then catch him. T hey do so (helped by A thena) and then, interrogated by Odysseus, he provides m uch inform ation. In particular, he says that the king o f the T hracians has ju st arrived: he also has extremely fine horses, while his arm our is m ade o f gold. Diomedes kills Dolon, and Odysseus again prays to A thena. T hey go on to find the T hracian king, and (again assisted by A thena) Diomedes kills him and 12 o f his comrades. Apollo, furious, wakes the m urdered king’s cousin, but A thena has anticipated inter­ vention from another god and warned Diomedes in time. N estor is the first to hear the Achaean heroes returning, and also the first to question them . H e com m ents that they are both dear to Zeus and A thena. T he book ends with the pouring of libations to the latter. Commentary In the Ramayana the narrative again continues in parallel with the Iliad. After the end o f H anum an’s special mission the king of the monkeys tells him th at there should now be a night attack on Lanka. T he monkey arm y sets fire to the city, and a lot of glorious buildings, together with their valuable contents, are destroyed. As for the inhabitants, we are told th at they are wearing arm our (encrusted with gold’ and drunk. Ravana orders his troops into action, and the fighting between the two sides starts again.34 Both ancient and m odern critics have considered th at the tenth book of the Iliad was not composed by the author o f the rest o f the epic. It seems to me that, given the resem blances to the p a rt of the Ramayana ju s t noted, and the sim ilar position in the narrative, this book may reflect p art o f a pre-H om eric Greek epic im itated in the Iliad. T he Iliad has already spoken of a visit to Troy by Odysseus before the siege. Similarly, the Ramayana has H anum an visit Lanka before the siege: as a spy he acquires a good knowledge of the city before causing much devastation by fire as he escapes.35 T he Odyssey has a story of O dysseus’

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slipping into T roy during the siege, killing a num ber o f T rojans and escaping with plenty of intelligence.36 M oreover, in the Odyssey O dys­ seus himself, pretending to be a C retan, claims th at he once joined the real Odysseus in a night attack on T roy.37 Now the Ramayana also has spies sent out by the besieged, appropriately, when the siege begins. T hese spies are caught, but sent back.38 O ne may suspect th at the a u th o r of Book X o f the Iliad has combined stories o f spying, perhaps originally placed a t the beginning of the siege, with a story o f a later night attack.

B O O K X I: R E T R E A T S A N D P H Y S IC IA N S W hen daw n breaks Zeus sends Strife to the Achaeans, to inspire them to fight. Agam em non dons his terrifying arm our, and H era and A thena honour him with thunder. T he two sides join battle, while the gods look on from O lym pus. In general they are annoyed with Zeus because he has decided to favour the Trojans: he sits ap art from them . T o begin with honours are even, but then the Achaeans gain the upper hand. Agam em non kills pairs of opponents (warriors and their chari­ oteers). T he second pair consist of one legitimate and one illegitimate son o f Priam , both o f whom had previously been ransom ed. As for the third pair, they are sons of a m an who had been most against returning H elen to M enelaus - this was because Paris had given the m an a large gift o f gold. T hey plead with Agamemnon, saying th at their rich father would pay an enorm ous ransom for them , but he shows them no mercy. T he T rojans are driven back, and Agam em non, usually wielding a spear (his m ain weapon in the killing so far), comes close to T roy itself. Zeus comes to M ount Id a and tells H ector to wait until Agam em non is forced by a wound to m ount his chariot. Agam em non kills another m an from a rich family in a fertile region, but is wounded by the dead m an's brother, whom he then kills as well. He jum ps into his chariot and goes back to the ships. H ector duly presses forward with his followers, and kills a large num ber o f the Achaeans. T he latter are in danger o f being driven back to the ships, b u t Odysseus calls on Diomedes to make a stand. T hey kill the two sons o f a prophet. Diomedes throws his spear at Hector, who, thanks to the protection given him by Apollo, is no m ore than tem porarily stunned, and escapes. Paris wounds Diomedes in the foot w ith an arrow , and receives a flood o f invective from him: he is called an ‘arch er' (evidently insulting enough in itself) and is told th at he

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would have no chance in a hand-to-hand fight. Diomedes follows Agam em non to the ships, and Odysseus wonders w hether to fight on alone or retreat. H e stands his ground, and is surrounded by T rojans, whom he fends off bravely. W ounded (though not seriously, thanks to A thena’s assistance), he calls for help, and is rescued by M enelaus and Ajax the G reater. Ajax sweeps forward, while H ector is busy elsewhere. Paris now wounds one o f the Achaeans* physicians, M achaon, whom N estor takes back to the beach. Zeus makes Ajax afraid, and he retreats. He is joined by a m inor A chaean leader, Eurypylus, who is also wounded by Paris and has to fall back. Achilles, standing on his ship, sees Nestor taking an injured m an out o f the battle, and sends Patroclus to find out who this is. Patroclus, on joining Nestor, is treated to a long speech from him , full of the inevitable reminiscences. W e learn th at N estor is the only survivor of 12 sons. N estor urges Patroclus to ask Achilles to send him and their followers against the T rojans, if some prophecy or advice from the gods is deterring Achilles from fighting himself. H e suggests th at Achilles should lend Patroclus his own splendid arm our, to m ake the T rojans take him for Achilles in person. Patroclus, on the way back to Achilles, encounters Eurypylus, who says th at the Achaeans m ust fall back to the ships, since all their principal fighters are injured. H e asks Patroclus to treat his w ound, since he is known to have learnt the art o f medicine from Achilles. (This is a further indication that Achilles and Patroclus correspond to the Divine Tw ins, who in India are physicians.) For a p a rt from the injured M achaon, the only other professional physician in the A chaean cam p is busy fighting. Patroclus duly heals Eurypylus’ wound. Commentary T h e Ramayana continues in m uch the same way after the m onkeys' night attack on the city o f Lanka. Battle is joined and a t first honours are even. T hen the monkeys have the upper hand and leading ogres are killed. R am a is particularly successful and frightens the rem aining ogres into retreating to the city. In d rajit sallies forth again, to the accom panim ent of auspicious omens, and again makes him self invis­ ible. H e wounds Ram a, L akshm ana and large num bers of monkeys with his arrows. U sing his magical powers, he produces the impression th at he is killing Sita in full view of the besieging arm y. T he monkeys flee, but are rallied by H anum an. Indrajit fires m ore arrows, bringing down m ore monkeys. H anum an none the less forces the ogres to retreat

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and then leads his own troops slowly back. M eanwhile Ram a, having heard the noise o f the fighting, tells the king o f the bears to go to help H anum an. T he latter, however, soon returns with the news that Sita is dead. V ibhishana points out that R avana would not allow Sita to be killed: this m ust have been an illusion. He urges R am a to order L akshm ana to go and kill In drajit.39 O n the Scandinavian side there is a parallel (notably as regards A gam em non’s use o f his spear) in the Prophecy o f the Seeress, when the gods o f sovereignty and force fight those o f fertility: ‘O din [1.1a, like Agam em non] hurled his spear, cast it into the host. T his was still the first w ar in the world. T he plank wall in the Aesir [1 and 2] stronghold was breached; the V anir [3] gained the field with batde m agic.’40 T his hurling of a spear has been seen as a ritual act o f starting a w ar.41 T he breaching of the wall of the A chaean stronghold will come in Book X II. In India, Iran and Scandinavia a sinister and im proper use o f magic is associated with the representatives of concept 3. Evidently this is to be distinguished from the magico-religious aspect o f sovereignty within sovereignty [1.1a]. From the standpoint o f the Greek epic a sinister em ploym ent o f m agic cannot be attributed to heroes, b u t only to wom en.42

B O O K X I I : F IV E L E A D E R S A N D AN E M E R G E N C Y T h e short twelfth book is alm ost entirely taken up with the description o f the Trojans* attack on the A chaeans’ wall. Since the conventions of the Greek epic dem and that sim ultaneous assaults on the wall be described as taking place in succession, the narrative o f a single event goes on for hundreds o f lines. It is preceded by an account o f how Poseidon an d Apollo destroyed the wall after the w ar had ended. Zeus continues to keep the Achaeans pinned down. H ector decides th at the T rojans and their allies m ust leave their chariots behind and approach the wall on foot. They arrange themselves behind five leaders: H ector, Paris, Helenus, Aeneas and Sarpedon. O ne o f the Trojans* allies, Asius, foolishly tries to drive his chariot through a gate which has been left open. H e encounters stubborn resistance, and reproaches Zeus for misleadingly encouraging him. Zeus, the poet tells us, is not disposed to help Asius because he is determ ined to give the glory o f storm ing the wall to Hector. M eanwhile an om en appears: an eagle flies in front o f the T rojan arm y tow ards the arm y’s left and the

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west (a bad om en). It carries a snake, which bites it. T he bird drops the snake and flies away. T his om en terrifies the Trojans, and one of H ector's com rades, Polydamas, interprets it to m ean th at if they breach the wall they will still return home unsuccessful, like the eagle, and after suffering serious casualties. H ector replies that Zeus has prom ised him victory and he has no interest in birds. He leads his men on. Zeus sets his own son, Sarpedon, at the Achaeans. O ne o f the Achaean leaders sees him coming and sends a message to Ajax the G reater: he should come with the other Ajax, or, if th at is not possible, w ith T eucer. Ajax the G reater and T eucer arrive, but Zeus does not w ant his son to die yet. Sarpedon is pushed back a bit. Now Zeus grants H ector his m om ent of glory: he makes it easy for the hero to lift a huge rock and sm ash a gate down. H ector leaps through and the rest of the T rojans follow, while the Achaeans run in panic am ong the ships. Commentary In the Ramayana there is a parallel continuation of the narrative, but in a different form. Indrajit goes to an altar and prepares to perform a sacrifice. R am a is still prostrated by the app aren t killing of Sita. V ibhishana explains to him that he m ust send L akshm ana to kill In d rajit before he can ignite the sacrificial fire. If Indrajit succeeds in carrying out the sacrifice, he will be invincible, and R am a and his allies will be lost. T he parallel with H ector is clear: if H ector succeeds in burning the ships the A chaean expeditionary force will be com­ pletely destroyed. Achilles, like Ram a, rem ains inactive: Patroclus, like Lakshm ana, has to be sent to the task. T here are further parallels in Rome and Scandinavia: the Sabines enter and occupy the Capitoline citadel, and the V anir, after breaching their opponents' defensive wall, overrun their territory.43 T he p attern o f the five leaders on the T rojan side has puzzled m odem com m entators, but Dumezil has pointed out th at here we have a 'trifunctional* pattern for the first three, who are sons of Priam: H ector is the w arrior, Paris the symbol of luxury and Helenus the prophet. In ou r num bering they are 3.2, 3.3 and 3.1. W e m ay observe th at Aeneas and Sarpedon are not sons o f Priam , but each has one divine parent, and they are the two most im portant w arriors outside Priam ’s im m ediate fam ily.'Elsewhere Aeneas represents 3.1, but here he and Sarpedon appear to constitute w hat Dumezil calls an ‘extrafunctional' pair, not representing any particular sub-concept but

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com plem enting the other figures. In his example o f the five grandsons o f the W elsh queen Don, a triad o f w arriors is com plem ented by a pair o f ‘extrafunctional’ twins. We m ay add that in the Byzantine TwoBlood Border Lord the Amazon (like Helen) has five principal male defenders: a wise old m an [1], a brave young m an [2], a com paratively cowardly m an [3] (cowardice being typical of the representatives of concept 3), and an ‘extrafunctional* pair. T he sam e epic also has five brothers fighting for the hero's m other and another five fighting for his bride, like the five brothers who are m arried to D raupadi in the Mahabharata. R avana, K um bhakam a and V ibhishana constitute another ‘tri-sub-conceptual’ triad of brothers [3.3, 3.2 and 3 .1].44

B O O K X I I I : T H E S O V E R E IG N P R O T E C T O R S O F T H E C O M M U N IT Y 'S S O L ID A R IT Y T he thirteenth book begins with Zeus leaving the Achaeans and T rojans to fight by the ships, and averting his gaze to look at other lands an d peoples. He does not believe th at any of the other gods will now intervene. Poseidon, however, is full of sym pathy for the Achaeans and is bitterly angry w ith Zeus. He goes to help the Achaeans, and speaks to the two Ajaxes, disguising him self as C alchas and telling them th a t they m ust save the arm y. Ajax the R unner is the first o f the pair to realize that this is a god; Ajax the G reater, representing brute force as opposed to the w arrior’s intelligence, is slower. Poseidon goes on to the rest of the Achaeans, still disguised as C alchas and, like him, blam ing Agam em non (in parallel to his own annoyance with Zeus). T h e Achaeans stand firm against the T rojan charge, but H ector kills a grandson o f Poseidon. T h e god is even more angry, and renews his efforts to spur his side on. H e meets Idom eneus (like himself, a 1.2 figure, a sovereign protector of the com m unity’s solidarity and conti­ nuity), who is on his way to his hut to get his arm our and spears. Poseidon assum es the form o f the king o f the Aetolians (who rules over a wide area), and reproaches Idom eneus for his app aren t inactivity. T hey both agree th at they and the rest o f the besiegers m ust unite to face the enemy. Idom eneus, after arm ing him self in his hut, sets ofT to fight and meets his lieutenant, who is going to the h u t to fetch a spear: the scene emphasizes the correspondence between the C retan king and Poseidon. T he king asks his lieutenant why he is not fighting, and they agree upon the im portance o f courage. T hen they enter the fray. Now the poet recapitulates the motives of Zeus and Poseidon,

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contrasting the two gods: although both have the sam e parentage, Zeus is older and knows more. Accordingly Poseidon does not help the Achaeans openly, but in hum an disguise. Idom eneus starts killing leading w arriors on the T rojan side - first an ally who had w anted to m arry Priam 's m ost beautiful daughter, C assandra, and secondly the foolish Asius. T h en he kills a brother-in-law o f Aeneas, m arried to a w om an who surpasses all women of her age in ‘beauty, works and w its'. Aeneas is found at the rear o f the battle, doing nothing, and furious with Priam for refusing to show him any respect, in spite o f his m erits. (H ere Aeneas resembles V ibhishana, who, angered by R avana's failure to respect his advice, goes over to the other side.) W hen Aeneas hears of his brother-in-law ’s death he goes to fight Idom eneus. T he latter knows th at he is too old to face Aeneas singlehanded, and calls to leading Achaeans to jo in him. As the fighting goes on, H elenus hits M enelaus’ corselet with an arrow and M enelaus in turn wounds him in the hand w ith a spear. T hen M enelaus kills another T rojan and, in a speech o f trium ph, tells the T rojans that Zeus, as the god o f hospitality, will punish them for Paris’ abuse o f his position as a guest. Soon Paris him self fires an arrow and kills a m an, a prophet’s son who is rich and from the wealthy city of C orinth. T he m an has come knowing th at he will be killed at T roy, since his father had told him that otherwise he would die after a painful illness at home. (T he parallel between this third-concept figure and another, Achilles, who will also be killed by Paris, is evidently intentional.) Elsewhere in the front line the two Ajaxes are fighting together. Ajax the G reater has his own followers beside him, but Ajax the R unner’s m en are, appropriately, not heavily arm ed, and keep behind the spearm en: they are archers. H ector’s adviser Polydam as tells his leader that he is a good fighter but lacking in wisdom: Zeus gives different m en different talents. Polydam as goes on to advise H ector to call a m eeting to decide w hether to go on trying to attack the ships or to retreat. H ector agrees, and goes to give his m en their orders while sum m oning the other leaders. He meets Paris and insults him , asking where some of the T rojans and their allies are. Paris adm its that previously he has sometimes failed to fight, but not this time. T he com rades m entioned by H ector are dead or wounded. H ector and Paris decide to go back into the fray. Ajax the G reater shouts out to H ector th at he will soon be running away and praying to ‘Zeus and the other im m ortals’ to take him away faster. As he speaks an eagle flies on his right, and the Achaeans cheer the good om en. H ector replies th at he is certain, ju st as he is certain that he would like to be a

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son o f Zeus and H era, honoured like A thena and Apollo, th at his side will win. T he T rojans begin a charge, and their opponents prepare to m eet them . Commentary In the Ramayana we do not encounter a correspondingly long delay between the giving of advice th at L akshm ana be ordered into action and R am a’s assent. T here is only an extremely short delay, while the gravity o f the situation is explained to Ram a. As for the exploits of the king o f the monkeys, who resembles Idom eneus in various ways (being the com m ander o f the largest force allied to the two brothers who retrieve the missing wife; being an im portant sovereign; ensuring the unity o f the fighting force), they, like those o f Idom eneus, are to some extent grouped tow ards the end o f the fighting.45 T h e developm ent given here in the Iliad to sub-concept 1.2 is due to the Iliad*s celebrated use o f ‘retardation’ o f the plot in order to heighten the dram atic tension. C onsequently, the more urgent an action is, the longer it is delayed.

B O O K X IV : F O O L IS H A N D E F F IC IE N T S O V E R E IG N S Book X IV begins with Nestor in his roles of frame-figure and adviser. H e hears the sound o f the battle and goes to see w hat is happening. W orried, he decides to look for Agamemnon. T he latter, accom panied by Odysseus and Diomedes, runs into Nestor and a discussion takes place. A gam em non voices his fears and N estor echoes them . T hen Agam em non makes a particularly stupid speech. He suggests th at the ships which have been beached closest to the w ater should be hauled into the sea and anchored until nightfall, when the rem aining ships could be hauled down as well. Odysseus points out th at this would be completely disastrous, since it would dem oralize the Achaeans in the m iddle o f the battle: their fighting spirit would be destroyed as they thought of escaping. Agam em non agrees. Diomedes suggests that, although they are w ounded, they should return to the scene o f the fighting and urge their m en on. T his advice is accepted and they set off, w ith Agam em non leading the way. Poseidon, disguised as an old m an, joins Agam em non and predicts victory. T hen he gives a huge cry, raising the Achaeans* spirits. H era sees w hat Poseidon is doing and decides to play a trick on

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Zeus. She goes to her room, built by H ephaestus, and decks herself out to arouse Zeus’ desire. She puts on a robe m ade by A thena. H era sum m ons A phrodite and asks to be given Love and Desire, pretending th at she w ants to visit her foster-parents, O cean and his wife, and put a stop to their quarrelling and abstention from lovemaking. A phrodite agrees, and H era goes to see Sleep. She asks him to m ake Zeus fall asleep after she and her husband have m ade love. A golden throne m ade by H ephaestus will be Sleep’s bribe. Sleep is unwilling to act, because he is afraid o f Zeus, but gives in when H era offers him one of the Graces to be his wife. H era and Sleep go to M ount Ida, where Zeus is im m ediately overwhelmed by desire for his wife. Now he underlines his affinity with Agamemnon by m aking an extremely stupid speech, as the A chaean king has ju st done. He suggests to H era th at they should make love, and recites a catalogue o f his am atory conquests. T hen, after they have m ade love, he duly falls asleep. Poseidon, informed by Sleep of w hat has happened, tells the A chaeans to give each other m utual support. They should take the best shields and spears in the cam p: then the stronger fighters, if they are carrying sm all shields, should give them to weaker fighters and arm themselves with larger shields instead. T his is done, under the supervision of Agam em non, Odysseus and Diomedes: arm our is changed according to the merit of the warriors. After this Poseidon leads the Achaeans forward, and makes the sea surge up to their huts. Ajax the G reater knocks H ector out with a stone, and the A chaeans’ spirits are roused even more. Ajax the R unner kills the son of a waternym ph, bom when his father was pasturing his cattle by the banks of a river. A nother rich T rojan who is killed is described as having m any flocks - he was m uch loved by Herm es, who had m ade him wealthy. T he T rojans take to flight, and m any o f them are killed, especially by Ajax the R unner, who, we are told, is unequalled in running after men who have been m ade to panic by Zeus (m entioned ironically). Commentary H ere the sta rt o f the book resembles a passage in the Ramayana already m entioned in the com m entaries on Books X I and X II. R am a hears the noise o f battle and asks the king o f the bears [0] to go and help H anum an with the bear arm y. T he king of the bears and his troops go ofT, b u t run into the returning H anum an and retrace their steps. H anum an tells R am a th at Sita is dead, and he collapses. L akshm ana tries to console him. V ibhishana arrives and sensibly points out that

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Sita is bound to be alive. R am a m ust send L akshm ana to kill Indrajit before he can perform his sacrifice. Ram a, overwhelmed by grief, does not understand, and V ibhishana has to explain. H e further points out th at R am a’s state of affliction is discouraging his supporters and m ust be shaken off. Ram a, persuaded, tells L akshm ana to go with the monkey and bear arm ies, led by H anum an and the king o f the bears, to kill Indrajit. Lakshm ana, V ibhishana, H anum an and the monkeys go ofT and jo in the bears.46 T h e passage knowns as the ‘Deception of Zeus’ has been convinc­ ingly shown to reflect Semitic influences.47 However, here again they come in w hat is ju st an entertaining digression, and the framework of gods an d concepts is strongly Indo-European. H era is the sovereign and contractual deity of m arriage; A thena engages in the highly respected activity o f wom en’s work in the home, m aking robes; A phrodite is the goddess of voluptuousness; the lowly H ephaestus makes homes for others; Zeus is arbitrary; Poseidon ensures the survival of the Achaeans by m aking them understand the im portance o f solidarity in war. As for this book’s association o f Herm es with livestock, it m ight make one think he should be seen as belonging to concept 3, but he is noteworthily a cattle-thief rath er than a deity of livestock itself. T his befits his character as a trickster, and so 2.1 rem ains m ore probable. T he end o f the book emphasizes a cardinal aspect o f ancient Greek warfare. W hen m en wore heavy arm our it was absolutely essential that they should not turn tail. If they tried to run away the arm our would weigh them down and they would be easily killed from behind.

B O O K X V : S E N IO R IT Y A N D S U S P E N S E T he fifteenth book begins with Zeus waking up and seeing w hat is happening. H e rem inds H era of his superior physical power, and she agrees to advise Poseidon to give in to him. Zeus tells her to sum m on one o f his messengers, Iris, and also Apollo, and reveals his plan. H ector is to drive the Achaeans back to the ships, so that Patroclus will fight and kill Zeus’ own son, Sarpedon. T hen H ector will kill Patroclus and him self be killed by Achilles. After this the A chaeans, helped by the plans o f A thena, will capture Troy. Zeus insists th at no other god m ay help the Achaeans until Achilles’ wish to be restored to honour has been fulfilled. H era goes to the other gods and complains to them o f Zeus* disregard for them all. She reports th at a son of Ares

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has been killed, fighting, noteworthily, on the A chaean side. Ares is furious an d w ants to go to the A chaean ships to avenge his son, even if Zeus is going to strike him with a thunderbolt. A thena (highlighting the contrast between the 2.1 type o f w arrior and the 2.2 type) stops him and tells him how stupid he is: the action which he proposes would lead Zeus to punish all of them. Iris and Apollo join Zeus, and he gives Iris a message for Poseidon, telling him to leave the battlefield and recognize Z eus' superior strength an d seniority. W hen Poseidon hears this, a t first he claims to be Zeus* equal: the world has been divided into three parts for them to share with Hades. Zeus has obtained the heavens, while he has been allotted the sea and H ades has been given the U nderw orld. Iris points out th at Zeus is the eldest brother, and Poseidon gives in grudgingly. H e says th at if Zeus, in spite of Poseidon himself, A thena, H era, H erm es and H ephaestus, spares T roy, then unending bitterness will ensue. After this Poseidon w ithdraw s and the Achaeans feel his absence. Zeus tells Apollo to help H ector and frighten the Achaeans into fleeing to the ships. Apollo joins H ector, who is being revived by Zeus’ power, and breathes strength into him. H ector starts running, urging his side on, an d the Achaeans are terrified. T he king o f the Aetolians, in whose form Poseidon has stressed the im portance of solidarity to Idom eneus, advises the leading fighters to send the bulk o f the arm y back towards the ships, while they themselves rem ain to confront the T rojans. T his is done. T h e T rojans charge, led by H ector and Apollo, who holds the famous aegis, a goatskin or shield with m etalwork provided by H ephaestus, who gave it to Zeus.48 W hen Apollo looks the Achaeans straight in the face, shakes the aegis and shouts, they panic and flee behind their wall, which Apollo then breaches. Nestor, the ‘w atcher over the Achaeans*, prays to Zeus that his side m ay be saved. Zeus thunders as a favourable answer, and the T rojans mistake this for a good om en for themselves. They sweep past the wall and sta rt fighting by the sterns o f the ships. Patroclus sees this and runs off to join Achilles. T he Achaeans stand firm and the fortunes o f the battle are kept even, like, we are told, the tim ber in the hands o f a shipw right well inspired by A thena. Ajax the G reater asks T eucer where the bow given him by Apollo is. T eucer starts shooting, b u t when he is about to shoot a t H ector, Zeus makes his bowstring break. H ector sees this happen an d realizes th at Zeus is responsible. T h e T rojans’ attack on the ships continues, with more assistance from Zeus, who w ants to give glory to H ector and is w aiting for a ship to be set on fire; then he

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m eans to let the Achaeans win. (Ancient readers o f H om er were tortured with suspense at this point.)49 A thena is already preparing H ector’s early death. N estor is now m ost prom inent in calling on the Achaeans to stand firm. He tells them to think o f their children and their parents, w hether alive or dead. A thena dispels the dark mist which has been covering their eyes. H ector takes hold o f a ship’s stem and calls for fire. Commentary T he passage about Zeus, Poseidon and H ades provides striking confirm ation of the validity of our seeing concepts 1, 2 and 3 reflected as sub-concepts within concept 1. H ere the three male sovereign gods are perfectly distributed as rulers of different levels o f the universe, in a descending order which corresponds exactly to the duties imposed by the sub-concepts: providing ultim ate religious sovereignty, taking care o f the com m unity and giving people their respective lots in the afterlife. Since H ades’ alternative nam e is Plouton, ‘the wealth-giver’ (explained by the presence of m etals beneath the ground), he is an apt representative of I.3.50 I t is to be further noted, with reference to Poseidon’s being obliged to give way to Zeus, th at in the Indian epics one often finds the teaching that it is obligatory to obey one’s eldest brother and see him as a father.51 T h e Achaeans are now in m uch the sam e position as a t the end of Book X II. T here, as we have seen, the Ramayana has a sim ilar situation: L akshm ana has to be ordered by R am a to go and kill Ind rajit before the latter ignites a sacrificial fire and ensures victory for his side. T his episode o f the Ramayana is unusual for its effect of suspense. I t will be objected th at in the com m entary on Book X IV we saw R am a’s actually giving the order as paralleled by A gam em non’s agreeing with O dys­ seus and Diomedes th at the Achaeans’ m orale m ust be m aintained by positive action, whereas elsewhere we see the H om eric parallel as being Achilles’ giving Patroclus permission to enter the fighting. But the Iliad's famous use o f successive ‘retardations’ o f its plot m eans that Patroclus is constantly kept in the same position, and we are constantly brought back to the same passage in the Ramayana. M oreover, it is to be borne in mind that m odem scholarship has found the Iliad to be based on the pre-H om eric Greek epic tradition, with the Iliad's author adding the story o f Patroclus and H ector in order to give a new dim ension o f his own, but using earlier ingredients to describe w hat happens to them . Consequently there is no difficulty in seeing one

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passage of the Ramayana repeatedly paralleled in different parts o f the Iliad's narrative.

B O O K X V I: S A L V A T IO N A N D D E A T H Patroclus, whom we have seen m aking his way to Achilles, finally reaches him, crying. Achilles asks him why he is crying like a girl. He replies that the Achaeans are about to be m assacred, and reproaches Achilles for his cruelty. T hen he asks to be allowed to lead the M yrm idons out and w ear Achilles’ arm our, in order to be taken for him. Achilles agrees that Patroclus should prevent the T rojans from burning the ships, but tells him to come back and not continue fighting after the enemy has been driven away. Calling on Zeus, A thena and Apollo, he expresses the wish that all the Achaeans and T rojans should die, leaving Patroclus and him self as sole survivors. M eanwhile Zeus and the T rojans are pushing back Ajax the G reater, who is their m ain obstacle. O ne ship is set on fire. Achilles sees this and tells Patroclus to put the arm our on. He him self gathers the M yrm idons, and they come together like wolves whose jaw s are covered with blood. Tw o o f their leaders seem to symbolize fertility: their m others are m arried to men who have paid immense bride-prices for them , b u t their real fathers are divine. O ne is the son of a river, while the other has been fathered by H erm es, who saw his m other in a group of girls, dancing for Artemis ‘of the golden arrow s a n d the din of the h u n t’. Achilles prays to Zeus, asking him to let Patroclus drive the T rojans away from the ships and then come back safely. Zeus agrees to only the first h alf of this request. Patroclus leads out the M yrm idons, forces the T rojans back from the ships and puts the fire out. Prom inent Achaeans kill adversaries, and the T rojans flee in panic. H ector’s horses take him away. Patroclus kills a num ber of Trojans, and then Sarpedon decides to face him. Both w arriors ju m p down from their chariots. Zeus is filled with pity for Sarpedon, and suggests to H era that his son m ight be saved. She does not agree, and persuades Zeus to let him die, b u t to send D eath and Sleep to take his body back to his hom eland for a proper burial. Patroclus kills Sarpedon’s charioteer with a spear. Sarpedon succeeds only in killing Patroclus* trace-horse. T he other two horses shy apart, but when Patroclus* charioteer deftly cuts the trace-horse clear, they pull straight again. In a second round o f fighting, Sarpedon’s spearcast goes over Patroclus* left shoulder; Patroclus’ spear-cast kills his

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opponent. T he M yrm idons take Sarpedon’s horses, which are begin­ ning to panic as a result o f the deaths of their m asters. G laucus, the jo in t leader of the Lycians along with Sarpedon, has been wounded by Teucer. He prays to Apollo to heal his w ound, so th at he can go and sum m on others to fight to save Sarpedon's body and arm our, and take p art in the fighting himself. Apollo answers his prayer, and he spreads the sad news. T he T rojans are extremely upset, since Sarpedon has been a tower of strength for them . Both sides clash over the body, and Zeus spreads darkness above. T o begin with, the A chaeans give ground, b u t then they push forward again. Zeus considers letting Patroclus die now, but decides to let him drive the T rojans back to their city first, and so he makes H ector lose courage. T he T rojan leader flees and tells his followers to do likewise. Sarpe­ don's arm our is taken by the Achaeans, and Zeus tells Apollo to carry the corpse away, wash it, anoint it with am brosia (the food of the gods), p u t im m ortal clothes on it and give it to the twin brothers Sleep and D eath, who are to transport it to Lycia: there Sarpedon will be given a funeral with a barrow and a tombstone. T his is duly done. Zeus now makes Patroclus fight on, pursuing and killing more T rojans, in defiance o f Achilles' instructions. Patroclus even attacks the city wall o f T roy itself, and tries to clim b it three times: three times Apollo slam s him back, and when he tries a fourth tim e the god tells him to give way. T hen Apollo inspires H ector to go on fighting outside the city, and creates confusion am ong the Achaeans. H ector, accom ­ panied by an illegitimate half-brother acting as charioteer, goes to attack Patroclus. T he latter kills the charioteer, and for a tim e the Achaeans still have the upper hand. Patroclus charges the T rojans three times, and each time he kills nine men. W hen, however, he makes his fourth charge, Apollo hits him in the back with his hand, knocks his helm et off and undoes his corselet. A T rojan called E uphorbus also hits Patroclus in the back, between the shoulders, with a spear, before running away. H ector then stabs him fatally in the stom ach. Patroclus, ju st before dying, tells Hector th at he cannot take m uch credit for this killing, and prophesies th at he will soon die at Achilles' hands. Commentary T he Ramayana proceeds in sim ilar fashion. Ram a, as we have seen, tells L akshm ana to go and kill Indrajit before he can perform his sacrifice. L akshm ana sets off and penetrates the ogres' ranks, making

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them give ground. Indrajit is obliged to leave the altar and face him. T h en Lakshm ana kills In d rajit’s charioteer and wounds his horses, but In d rajit m anages to control them until they are killed by some leading monkeys. After this he acquires a new charioteer and fresh horses. Again, L akshm ana kills the charioteer, but the horses show perfect self-control until L akshm ana succeeds in frightening them and they are killed by V ibhishana. Im posing supernatural missiles are launched in vain by both L akshm ana and Indrajit until one of these missiles finally kills the latter. T he ogres panic and flee to their city.52 T here is another aspect in which Indrajit corresponds to Sarpedon. According to Book V II o f the Ramayana (generally thought to be a late addition to the epic), Indrajit had asked the suprem e god, B rahm a, for the gift o f im m ortality. B rahm a had replied th at no creature on the earth could be im m ortal. Indrajit had then asked to be given invinci­ bility, provided th at he performed the necessary sacrifice before fighting, and this had been granted.53 Similarly, Zeus is unable to prevent Sarpedon from being killed. (Nagy, analysing the word here usually translated as ‘give a funeral to’, tarkhuo, argues th at it reflects the royal funerary practice o f the H ittites, an Indo-European-speaking people o f ancient Turkey: the dead king becomes a god.)54 In the Ramayana's account o f the siege of Lanka, after In d rajit has been killed and the ogres have fled, the besieging arm y continues to be victorious, again driving the ogres back into the city after they have re-em erged. T hen R avana leads his troops out in person. Leading ogres are killed. R avana fights R am a and Lakshm ana. L akshm ana kills R av an a’s charioteer. R avana hurls a magic spear, which passes through L akshm ana’s heart, so that he falls, apparently m ortally w ounded. T h u s the apparent killing of L akshm ana corresponds to the death o f Patroclus. (In the continuation, however, H anum an fetches a special herb and L akshm ana’s life is saved.)55 T here is also a parallel in the Iranian Book o f Kings. T he prince Isfandiyar has been im prisoned by his father, the king of Iran. Iran is invaded by the T uranians, who b u m down a m ost im portant firetem ple, extinguishing the sacred fire which m ust always be kept alive. I t is im perative that Isfandiyar be brought into the fighting. A m essenger is sent to him, and he is told th at his two sisters (one of whom, as often in pre-Islam ic Iranian practice, is also his wife) have been taken prisoner. It takes a long time to file through Isfandiyar’s chains, and he breaks them himself. W hen he returns from his im prisonm ent he finds his brother Farshidw ard m ortally wounded. He goes on to enter the enem y’s stronghold in disguise, and has another

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brother o f his, Bishutan, attack it while pretending to be Isfandiyar himself, wielding the latter’s m ace.56 M odern scholarship has found plenty o f im portant elements in the story o f Patroclus* death. T he arm our given to him by Achilles is evidently im penetrable; later, when H ector wears it, there is ju st one spot where it fails to cover his body. T h u s Apollo has to undo Patroclus* corselet. T he account o f his death is apparently based on th a t of Achilles*: both heroes are in effect killed by Apollo. Euphorbus seems to be a duplicate of Paris, the hum an agent o f Achilles* destruction. Like Paris, he is handsom e and good at games. Paris, it has been thought, would have originally been the strongest T rojan fighter (like R avana), and H ector would be a later invention (perhaps rather, we should suggest, a figure whose im portance was later increased). O n the G erm anic side, in the Nibelungenlied (The Song o f the Nibelungs, a medieval G erm an epic involving a legendary people of dw arfs), the hero Siegfried has his arm our stolen and is also fatally stabbed in the sm all of the back (the only spot where he does not have m agical invulnerability); then his killer runs away. As is well known, Achilles has to die by being shot in the heel, since elsewhere he has divinely granted invulnerability.57

B O O K X V I I: A F IG H T O V E R A BO D Y M enelaus, seeing th at Patroclus has fallen, comes and stands over him in order to keep the T rojans away from his body and arm our. E uphorbus attacks M enelaus, who, after praying to Zeus, kills him. Blood covers his beautiful hair, which is bound in plaits with gold and silver. Apollo urges H ector on, and M enelaus, realizing th at the T rojan leader has both divine assistance and a num ber of com rades with him, retreats and sum m ons Ajax the G reater. H ector takes the arm our lent by Achilles to Patroclus, but when M enelaus returns with Ajax he is obliged to abandon the body, which he wants to give to his city’s dogs, and falls back. Ajax and M enelaus stand over the body, while H ector puts on Achilles* arm our. Zeus, knowing that H ector will soon die, has pity on him and decides to give him tem porary power and glory. Ares enters into H ector and makes him brave and strong. H ector addresses his allies an d rem inds them how he has lavished presents and food on them . M enelaus for his part rem inds the A chaean leaders o f the honour given them by Zeus. Zeus him self spreads a m ist over the part o f the battlefield where Patroclus lies, since he does not w ant the body

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to be defiled and prefers to see H ector's tem porary success take other forms. Ajax fights so well that H ector is again m ade to fall back. Apollo, however, tells Aeneas that Zeus intends to help the T rojans. Aeneas rallies his side, and the battle drags on. M eanwhile, Achilles* horses are crying at the loss of Patroclus, and Zeus feels sorry for them . He decides th at H ector m ust not capture them , and gives them strength to return safely to the ships. T heir charioteer, after praying to Zeus, kills a T rojan. Zeus now sends A thena to the fighting around Patroclus, in the sam e way, we are told, that he habitually sends a rainbow (which for the Greeks is linked to storm-clouds and trouble - thus the design on A gam em non's corselet is com pared to it, the sub-concept being 1.1a).58 A thena urges the Achaeans on, speaking first to M ene­ laus, whom she fills with strength and daring. Apollo on his side gives encouragem ent to Hector, and then Zeus makes the Achaeans panic. Ajax asks Zeus to dispel the mist, so that a messenger can be found to take the news of Patroclus' death to Achilles. Zeus agrees, and the message is sent. Ajax now works out a plan for rescuing Patroclus' body: he and his namesake will keep the T rojans at bay while M enelaus and M eriones quickly lift the corpse and take it away. T he plan works, but the rest of the Achaeans flee before H ector and Aeneas.

Commentary H ere scholars have again looked to the story o f Achilles' death and taken the view that H om er used it as his model. T he Ramayana has a sim ilar narrative about the fighting over Lakshm ana, whom R avana seems to have killed. W hen L akshm ana falls, pierced by R avana's spear, the strongest of the monkeys try in vain to pull the spear out. R am a succeeds in doing this, while being hit by R avana's arrows. H e em braces L akshm ana and tells H anum an and the king of the monkeys to stay with his brother while he him self attacks R avana. T hen he forces R avana to run away. R am a thinks that L akshm ana is dead, but it is pointed out to him th at his brother is still alive and can be cured. A special herb is brought (again, H anum an has to carry the m ountaintop on which it grows) and Lakshm ana is healed.59 M odern scholarship has observed that in the story o f the rescue of Achilles' corpse Ajax the G reater picks it up and takes it to the ships, while Odysseus fights the T rojans off. However, in some versions it is O dysseus who carries the corpse.60 We may feel that here the im portant

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role played by M enelaus is appropriate: as in the case of R am a, it is for the sake of his wife that a hero has fallen.

B O O K X V I I I : D E C IS IO N S A N D A S H IE L D Achilles receives the message that Patroclus is dead, and is extremely upset. T hetis and other sea-goddesses come to him. H e declares that he does not w ant to go on living unless he kills Hector. His m other tells him th at he will die imm ediately afterwards, and he accepts this. T hetis orders him to wait until she has brought new arm our from H ephaestus, and sets off to O lym pus to fetch it. M eanwhile H ector is still chasing the Achaeans and Patroclus’ corpse. H era, w ithout the knowledge o f Zeus and the other gods, sends Iris to Achilles, since H ector is ju st about to capture the body. Iris tells Achilles to show him self to the T rojans and frighten them with the sight o f him. A thena w raps the aegis round him and makes a flame bum above his head. Achilles and A thena shout loudly, and the T rojans panic: 12 o f their best m en are killed. Patroclus’ body is rescued and Achilles weeps over it. H era forces the sun to set early and the fighting ends. T h e T rojans now hold a meeting. Polydamas, who, we are told, was born on the same night as H ector (which suggests that they are disguised twins), speaks first. He is wise and a good speaker, ju st as H ector is a fine w arrior. His view is that the T rojans should w ithdraw into the city. H ector does not agree. He is tired o f being cooped up in T roy, and lam ents the loss of the wealth which it formerly possessed. H ector declares that he is willing to face Achilles out in the open. T his view prevails - A thena has robbed the T rojans of their wits. Achilles for his p art is busy m ourning for Patroclus. He says th at he will bury Patroclus after killing H ector, and will slit the throats o f 12 T rojans at his funeral. (This looks like typically Indo-European hum an sacrifice.) T h en he has the body washed and shrouded. Zeus comm ents to H era on her deep love for the Achaeans. She replies, addressing him as ‘M ost d read ’ [1.1a], that she has fulfilled her aim s by virtue o f being first am ong goddesses. M eanw hile T hetis comes to H ephaestus and asks him to make arm our for her son. Hephaestus first makes a shield, on the face of which he puts an elaborate design. He begins with a representation of the universe, and then portrays two cities. In one o f these, m arriages are being celebrated, and a court of law is in session, w ith elders giving jud g m en t. (This city is taken by Yoshida to represent D um ezil’s first

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'function’.) T he other city is being besieged: its defenders, led by Ares and A thena, am bush their besiegers. (H ere Yoshida naturally finds 'function’ 2.) H ephaestus goes on to portray ploughing, reaping, grapepicking, cattle, sheep and dancing. (All this is seen by Yoshida as included w ithin 'function’ 3.) Finally, H ephaestus depicts the river O cean, flowing round the rest of the design. T hen he makes a corselet, a helm et and greaves. T hetis takes the arm our and sets off to join Achilles.61 Commentary T h e interview between Achilles and T hetis resembles an im portant section in the Iranian Book o f Kings. T here R ustam , one of the main heroes of the epic, is doing badly in his w ar against Isfandiyar, whose arm our is im penetrable (just as H ector now has apparently im pene­ trable arm our). W hen R ustam returns to his family he and they are very upset. His father sum m ons the m ythical bird called the Sim urgh, which explains to R ustam that whoever kills Isfandiyar m ust him self face disaster. However, if th at is w hat R ustam w ants, it can be done. T h e Sim urgh then shows R ustam how to make an arrow which will kill Isfandiyar.62 As for the flame over Achilles’ head and the shout which produces death am ong the T rojans, these have been com pared to the fire above the head o f the Irish hero C uchulainn and the scream with which he m akes 100 w arriors die o f fright.63 T he Greek narrative also corre­ sponds to p a rt o f the Ramayana. T here, as we have seen, R am a is extremely upset when Lakshm ana is struck down, apparently m ortally w ounded, by R avana. H e declares his intention o f killing R avana and makes him run away. Thinking th at L akshm ana is dying, he lam ents for him , and even when his brother is revived he still weeps over him. T hen R am a and R avana shoot arrow s at each other, before the gods observe th at R am a is fighting on foot and R avana from a chariot. In d ra tells his own charioteer to give R am a his chariot. T he charioteer obeys and also gives R am a In d ra ’s bow, arrows, spear and shield.64 I t m ust be said th at the design on Achilles’ shield does not provide the best possible exam ple of Dum ezilian 'trifunctionality’. T h e two cities are clearly m eant to symbolize the antithesis of peace and war, and there is no explicit triad. However, it seems reasonable enough to view the enum eration of subjects as reflecting the usual three concepts in their canonical order. Some scholars have taken the view th at the p reparation o f a second set of arm our for Achilles is an invention of

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H om er himself, but the corresponding divine gift of arm s in the Ramayana, a t a corresponding p art o f the narrative, suggests otherw ise.65

B O O K X IX : A S P E C IA L W E A P O N A t daw n T hetis brings the arm our to her son, who is suitably impressed by its evidently divine origin. She tells him to sum m on an assembly, and he does so. All the Achaeans come, notably Diomedes and O dysseus, while Agam em non, who has also been w ounded, arrives last. Achilles expresses his regret th at they have quarrelled over Briseis, an d wishes th at Artem is had killed her with an arrow on the day of h er capture. Agam em non blam es Zeus, Fate (M oira, who fixes the term o f one’s life, and thus seems, as an alternative to H ades, to correspond to T erm inus and Bhaga as 1.3) and one of the Erinyes (goddesses who usually fulfil curses and punish people who break oaths, and consequently appear, like the Rom an ‘god o f F aith ’, to represent 1.1b). T hey, he complains, m ade him quarrel w ith Achilles by putting Blindness (Ate) in his m ind. Blindness had once overcome Zeus himself. H era had tricked Zeus when H eracles’ m other was about to give birth to him. Zeus had declared th at a m an of his stock, born th at day, would rule over all those around him. H era had m ade him sw ear, u nder the influence o f Blindness, that this would be the case, and then she had delayed H eracles’ birth while causing someone else to be born prem aturely. Agam em non com pares his own condition to th at of Zeus then, and also accuses Zeus of intervening to deceive him. In reply Achilles declares th at they should go to fight the T rojans straightaw ay, but Odysseus points out th at they should eat first, and this view prevails. O dysseus and others now fetch the gifts previously prom ised by Agam em non to Achilles. (H ere the enum eration, as with the scenes on Achilles’ shield, can be seen as following a canonical tripartite order, b ut not a t all explicitly.) T here are seven tripods (articles which, as we have noted, are associated with sacrifices and temples); 20 other cauldrons; 12 horses (presum ably to be used in w ar as well as in racing); seven women (here described ju st as skilled in their work, and not also as beautiful, which was the case when they were prom ised before); next is m entioned the beautiful Briseis herself; finally, gold. Agam em non sacrifices a boar, and swears th at he has not touched Briseis. He calls to witness Zeus, the E arth, the Sun and the Erinyes.

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Achilles for his p art blames the quarrel on Zeus. T h e assembly is dismissed. Briseis is taken to Patroclus* body, and m ourns for him, recalling his kindness. T h e other women jo in in the m ourning, but in fact, we are told, weep because of their own tribulations. Achilles refuses to eat or drink in his grief for Patroclus. Zeus tells A thena to give him the food and drink of the gods, am brosia and nectar. She does so, and Achilles arm s himself. H e takes his famous spear, which the physician Cheiron had given to his father and which Patroclus had left behind. T hen Achilles tells his horses to bring their charioteer back safely. O ne of them , suddenly given the power of speech by H era, replies that Achilles will soon die, because o f a great god and Fate. Patroclus had been kilted by Apollo, who had given the credit to H ector; Achilles will be killed by a god and a m an acting together. At this point the Erinyes stop the horse from saying anything more. (It is not clear w hether they are intervening as protectors o f the n atural order of things, as they do elsewhere, or to prevent some secret from being revealed - perhaps in contravention o f oaths sworn by the gods.)66 Achilles declares that he knows that he is fated to die there, and drives his horses on am ong the leaders of the advancing A chaean arm y. Commentary O f particular interest here is Achilles’ spear. We are told that it has been cut from a tree in a spccial place. In the Iranian Book o f Kings the same is the case with the arrow given to R ustam .67 T here too the donor has special m edical powers. T he spear, which Achilles alone can wield, is going to kill H ector, ju st as the arrow is going to kill Isfandiyar. Sim ilarly, R am a is going to kill R avana with an unsurpassable weapon, an arrow given him by the famous, wise and holy m an Agastya.68

B O O K X X : G O D S , S U C C E S S IO N T O A T H R O N E A N D S IN G L E C O M B A T Zeus tells the gods to go down to the battlefield and help either side as they wish, while he looks down from O lym pus. H era joins the A chaeans, along with A thena, Poseidon, Herm es and H ephaestus. H erm es is here described as a ‘good runner* and very clever. T he T rojans are joined by Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Leto, the river X anthus and A phrodite. Zeus thunders on high, Poseidon shakes the earth and,

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underneath, H ades is frightened that the earth above him will be tom through. Poseidon faces Apollo, A thena faces Ares, H era faces Artem is, H erm es faces Leto, and the lowly H ephaestus faces the sim ilarly lowly X anthus. T hen Apollo decides to persuade Aeneas to fight with Achilles. Aeneas agrees, after Apollo has pointed out th at his m other, Aphrodite, is m ore im portant than Achilles’ m other. H era sees Aeneas moving forward and suggests to Poseidon and A thena th at they should intervene against him; on a later day Achilles will suffer w hat Destiny spun for him at his birth. Poseidon does not w ant to m ake the gods sta rt fighting one another, and persuades his allies to move away to sit an d w atch, intervening only if Ares or Apollo does so first. (Yet again, we see how Poseidon protects the com m unity’s solidarity.) T he gods on the T rojan side also sit down. Achilles asks Aeneas why he has come forward, and points out that if the T rojan is victorious in their duel, he still cannot hope for Priam ’s throne, since the latter has sons of his own. In a previous encounter Aeneas has been saved by ‘Zeus and other gods’, but Achilles does not think that this will happen now. Aeneas replies by referring to his genealogy. A descendant of Zeus called T ros, who gave his nam e to T roy, had three sons, Uus, Assaracus and Ganym ede. Ganym ede, the most beautiful o f m ortals, was snatched away by the gods to be Zeus’ cupbearer, because o f his beauty. Ilus was the grandfather o f Priam , the father o f Hector. Assaracus was the grandfather of Aeneas. (Here Dumezil saw a tripartite pattern, with Ganym ede, H ector and Aeneas respectively representing the third, second and first of his ‘functions’.)69 Aeneas hurls his spear, but it cannot pierce Achilles’ divinely bestowed shield. Achilles does succeed in piercing Aeneas’ shield, but the latter ducks and is unscathed. Achilles rushes forward with his sword draw n, b u t Poseidon does not w ant to see Aeneas killed. He observes that Apollo will not save him, but he has to be saved so th at the T rojan royal family may not become extinct: Priam ’s line is now hated by Zeus, and so Aeneas will in future reign over the Trojans, followed by his children’s children. (Again, Poseidon’s behaviour, which in this instance has been thought odd, since he is on the Achaean side, is perfectly explicable in Indo-European term s, since he ensures the survival of the com m unity.) H era replies th at that is up to Poseidon: she and A thena have sworn to go on attacking the T rojans. Poseidon goes to Achilles, puts a mist over his eyes and gives him his spear back, and then makes Aeneas fly through the air to the edge of the battlefield. T here he tells Aeneas not to fight against Achilles again.

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W hen Achilles realizes that Aeneas is protected by the gods, he turns to urging the A chaeans on. H ector w ants to attack Achilles on his own, but Apollo tells him to rem ain within the T rojan ranks: otherwise he will die. Achilles now kills the son o f a w ater-nym ph, and then two more warriors, before dispatching Priam ’s youngest and favourite son, Polydorus (thereby em phasizing the doom o f his line). H ector, greatly upset, goes to face Achilles and hurls his spear a t him. A thena blows it back to H ector’s feet. Achilles rushes forward, but Apollo snatches H ector away and protects him with a mist. After Achilles has charged and thrust into the mist three tim es, he goes on to attack o ther warriors, and kills m any of them. Commentary T h e Ramayana also allows plenty o f time and action to come before the death of the principal defender of the besieged city, R avana himself. T here the conventions o f the Indian epic require a long exchange of m any missiles between Ram a and Ravana. T he gods and other supernatural beings look on: while the gods cheer R am a, the anti-gods (Asuras) cheer the ogre. In the Ramayana V ibhishana, the youngest child o f R avana’s parents, is going to be the king of Lanka: his juniority corresponds to th at o f A eneas’ line. As we shall see, he seems to be prom oted from the level o f concept 3 to that of sub-concept 1.3, and this prom otion also appears to be accorded to both Aeneas and Achilles. T he duels which Achilles fights with Aeneas and H ector in this book prefigure his final duel with the latter in Book X X II. T here are also correspondences with the final R am a-R avana duel. In this R am a and R avana hurl enorm ous spears a t each other, and these collide. R avana is about to be killed when his charioteer decides to drive him aw ay.70 Poseidon’s rescue o f Aeneas is paralleled in Iran, in one of the later sections of the Book o f Kings. T here a historical king, K husraw II (590-628 C E ), is presented as being in m ortal peril before he is snatched up and rescued by a M azdean archangel, ‘O bedience’, whom we have identified, like Poseidon, as representing sub-concept 1.2 and who thus saves the Iranian royal line.71

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B O O K X X I: T H E B A T T L E O F T H E G O D S Achilles drives a large num ber of T rojans into the w ater of the X anthus (which presum ably represents concept 3, like other rivers), and kills m any o f them . T h en he takes 12 young prisoners, to be sacrificed later in vengeance for the death o f Patroclus. Achilles goes on to catch a son o f Priam called Lycaon, whom he has previously captured and sold as a slave: this time he shows him no mercy. After this he attacks a grandson o f another river, called Asteropaeus. T h e X anthus, angered by Achilles’ activities, puts courage into A steropaeus’ heart, but Achilles kills Asteropaeus, and boasts that he him self is o f superior lineage: on his father’s side his great-grandfather is Zeus. Now the X anthus is absolutely furious, and complains to Apollo th at the latter has been told by Zeus to protect the T rojans until evening, b u t in fact is doing nothing to help them . T he X anthus itself swells up and rushes against Achilles, chasing him over the plain. Achilles cries out to Zeus th at none o f the gods seems ready to save him. Poseidon and A thena come and reassure him , and A thena makes him stronger than ever. H e turns and charges the X anthus, which calls on its brother-river, the Simocis, to join in. The X anthus is about to sweep over Achilles when H era tells H ephaestus to start a fire and drive the river back. H ephaestus obeys and the X anthus is forced to stop fighting. O th e r gods proceed to join battle, m uch to the am usem ent o f Zeus. Ares attacks A thena, to no effect, and is sent sprawling by her. She points o u t th at he has been cursed by his m other, H era, for leaving the A chaean side. A phrodite leads Ares away, but is spotted by H era, who tells A thena to catch her: A thena duly knocks A phrodite over with a blow o f her hand. Poseidon addresses Apollo, rem inding him o f the tim e when Zeus had sent the two of them aw ay from the other gods to work as labourers a t Troy. In this version o f the story Poseidon relates th at he built the city wall while Apollo worked as a herdsm an. Since they were cheated o f their wages, Apollo, says Poseidon, should not be helping the T rojans. Apollo replies that as gods they should not fight on behalf o f hum ans, and moves away. Artem is is furious with him , and points out th at he has boasted that he could fight Poseidon, but her words have no effect. She herself is rebuked by H era, who boasts o f her superior physical strength: Artemis is no m atch for her, even with her bow and Zeus-given right to kill all women. She should stick to killing wild anim als on the m ountainside. T hen H era boxes her ears

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and spills her arrows. Artemis escapes in tears. M eanw hile H erm es declines to fight Leto, on the grounds that she is one o f Zeus* wives. T h e gods return to O lym pus, with the exception o f Apollo, who goes into T roy, worried for its safety. Achilles is still killing large num bers o f T rojans, and the city gates have to be opened for the retreating defenders to run back in to safety. Apollo comes out of the city again, and encourages one leading T rojan warrior, Agenor, to stand up to Achilles. Agenor wonders if he should run back into T roy or to the plain outside, but decides to fight. He fails to pierce Achilles* arm our, bu t Apollo snatches him away and then assumes his form, leading Achilles across the plain. T he book ends with the T rojans reaching safety. Commentary O ne notew orthy element here is the role of H era: she is a sovereign who gives orders to other deities, in her loyalty to the Achaeans [1.1b]. A thena is a strong war-goddess [2], and Herm es a clever fighter who knows when it is better not to fight [2.1], while Ares is ju s t a brutish fool [2.2]. Apollo is a strong ex-herdsm an [3.2], and Artem is a weak huntress [3.3]. M odern com m entators have seen this battle o f the gods as intended to provide light relief and a contrast between divine frivolity and hum an tragedy. It also serves to delay still further the final encounter between Achilles and Hector. In the Ramayana, as we have observed, the delaying o f R avana’s death is achieved by other means: the duel is prolonged while the supernatural spectators cheer the protagonists on. M oreover, the duel is interrupted when R avana’s charioteer drives him away. We have already com pared this interven­ tion to Apollo’s rescue of H ector at the end o f Book X X . It also parallels Apollo’s rescue of Agenor here, although, as we shall see, there is in addition a correspondence with H ector’s flight from Achilles in Book X X II. Agenor’s self-questioning about the m erits o f running away or standing one’s ground will be repeated by H ector there.

B O O K X X I I: F L IG H T , D E A T H A N D L A M E N T A T IO N Fate keeps H ector outside the city wall, while Apollo reveals his divine identity to Achilles. T he latter sets ofT towards Troy. Priam sees him and begs H ector to come into the city. T he king cannot see two o f his sons, Lycaon and Polydorus, and says that if they have been captured

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he will ransom them with the bronze and gold in his house (their m other had brought a large dowry). H ector’s m other also begs him to comc inside. H e wonders w hat to do, and considers offering to return H elen and her property, along with half o f the wealth which T roy contains. Eventually he decides to fight Achilles. However, when Achilles arrives H ector is seized by trem bling and runs away from the gates and around the city. Achilles gives chase, and they pass two springs, beside which stand the washing-troughs used by the T rojan women in peacetime. Zeus has pity on H ector, who has often sacrificed to him , and suggests to the other gods th at his life m ight be spared. A thena replies th at they will not approve o f saving a m an who has long been doomed. Zeus says th at he had not been speaking seriously, and tells A thena not to delay in doing w hat she wants. She goes down to intervene. H ector’s speed is being kept up by Apollo, but now Zeus weighs his fate against th at of Achilles. W hen H ector’s fate sinks down, Apollo abandons him. A thena joins Achilles and tells him th at they are now going to kill H ector, however m uch Apollo may grovel before Zeus on his behalf. T hen she goes to H ector, taking the form of one o f his brothers, Deiphobus, and treacherously persuades him to stop running, so th at they can fight Achilles together. He suggests to Achilles that they should agree to the return of the body o f the loser in the duel for a proper funeral. Achilles refuses, and declares that A thena will soon bring H ector down with his spear. T hen he throws his spear, but H ector ducks and avoids it. Athena, w ithout Hector noticing, returns it to Achilles. H ector casts his own spear, but it bounces off Achilles’ shield. H e calls for Deiphobus to give him another spear, and then realizes th at his brother is not there and A thena has tricked him. Presum ably, he declares, this has been the long-term plan o f Zeus and Apollo, in spite of the aid which they have given him: now fate has caught up with him. He draw s his sword and swoops to attack Achilles, who examines his opponent’s body for a vulnerable spot. H ector is completely covered by the arm our taken from Patroclus, except a t his throat. Achilles drives his spear in there, and H ector falls. H e begs Achilles to let his parents ransom his body. Achilles says that he will refuse. H ector prophesies th at Paris and Apollo will kill Achilles, and dies. Achilles, after declaring that he will face his doom when Zeus and the o ther gods desire it, strips the corpse. He thinks of m aking a show o f force against the T rojans, to see if they will still fight on. T hen he rem em bers Patroclus, and the need to give him a funeral. H e inserts

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straps in H ector’s feet and drags his body behind his chariot. H ector’s parents see this and lam ent grievously. So do the people o f Troy. A ndrom ache, who is busy weaving a t home, is not told w hat has happened, but the noise brings her to the city wall. She throws away her fine headdress, and speaks o f the m iserable existence which awaits her son, who will now be rejected a t a feast, whereas previously he would eat very well. A ndrom ache ends by saying that she will burn the splendid clothes stored for H ector in their home. Commentary T h e involuntary flight o f H ector, after he has bravely decided to stand his ground, is paralleled in the Ramayana. R avana, w ounded, is disheartened and agitated, and stops trying to fight back. H is chari­ oteer turns their chariot round and drives away, m uch to R avana’s anger, since this looks like cowardice. Similarly, in the History o f Romet the Sabine leader M ettius C urtius, fighting outside the citadel which his side has occupied, is put to flight. This, we are told, is achieved m ore easily because he happens to be on horseback: doubtless the idea is th at the horse, being frightened, causes an involuntary flight on the p a rt o f a redoubtable w arrior. T he horse then becomes even more frightened by the noise o f the pursuers, and M ettius plunges into a sw am p before m aking his escape.72 As for the encouragem ent given by A thena to Achilles, this also finds an echo in the Ramayana. W hen R avana is driven away by his charioteer, the holy m an Agastya teaches R am a the ‘H ym n to the Sun’, which ensures victory, and the Sun itself approaches R am a to urge him on. After R am a has returned to the fight, the charioteer sent by the gods to help R am a advises him to use a special weapon. Divine portents make R am a and R avana realize w hat the outcom e will be.7$ T h e actual killing of H ector is well paralleled in Iran. As is the case with Achilles’ spear, a special missile is used in the Book o f Kings. Isfandiyar is invulnerable a p art from his eyes, and so a two-pronged arrow has to be discharged into them . T his, as in the Iliad, is the climax o f the epic. T he Sim urgh has told R ustam th at he will be successful if he follows the instructions given him . Isfandiyar has realized th at R ustam has benefited from the use of m agic to heal his wounds. W hen Isfandiyar has fallen, m ortally w ounded, R ustam ’s father repeats the prophecy th at whoever kills Isfandiyar is doom ed. Isfandiyar him self says that his own death was fated to happen, and tells R ustam th at the latter’s ruin is now assured.74

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In the Ramayana the lam entation following R avana’s death has a p attern like th at o f the lam entation after H ector’s. First R avana’s brother V ibhishana m ourns, and he is im itated by the female ogres. Finally we are given a long speech by R avana’s principal consort, in which she refers to the magnificent and sum ptuous existence which the two o f them have shared, and which is now ended.75

B O O K X X I I I : T H E D IS T R IB U T O R O F G O O D S Achilles begins the arrangem ents for Patroclus’ funeral an d dishonours H ector’s corpse still further. M any anim als are roasted ‘across the flame o f Hephaestus* (who as in Book X X I represents fire). Achilles tells A gam em non to have wood gathered for the pyre. T hen he falls asleep, and Patroclus* ghost appears to him , com plaining th at he cannot pass through the gates o f Hades* dom ain. Patroclus rem inds Achilles o f his own im pending death and says that he w ants their bones to be placed in the sam e urn, as they had grown up together. T h e next day Achilles cuts ofT a lock o f his own hair, which he had intended to dedicate to a river in his native land, and places it in Patroclus* hands. A pyre is built, and anim als are sacrificed, along with the 12 young T rojan captives. (H ector’s body, in contrast to the honour shown to th at of Patroclus, is ju st left lying on the plain. However, Achilles keeps the dogs away from it and Apollo shields it from the sun.) T he pyre will not burn, and Achilles has to pray to the winds. Iris fetches them , and the pyre is duly kindled. L ater a m ound is built as a tomb. After the funeral itself Achilles brings prizes for the funeral games, over which he presides. First comes the chariot race, which is preceded by a speech in which Achilles refers to the gentleness of Patroclus and the care which he gave to his own horses. O ne o f the entrants is Antilochus, who is given a long lecture by his father, Nestor, on w hat he should do. In the race the T hessalian Eumelus takes the lead. His horses have been bred by Apollo. Diomedes is about to overtake him with the horses which he has taken from Aeneas (when the latter had to be rescued by Apollo). Apollo now knocks the whip out of Diomedes* hands, b u t A thena gives it back to him and sm ashes Eumelus* chariot. W ith Eum elus out o f the race, M enelaus is in second place behind Diomedes, b u t Antilochus contrives to overtake him by driving so dangerously when the road narrow s that M enelaus is forced to drop behind. M eanwhile, am ong the spectators, Idom eneus is sitting ap art

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from and above the rest. He gives his com m ents on the race and tells the others to stand up and look for themselves. Ajax the R unner replies insultingly, and a quarrel develops, which Achilles, speaking with authority, stops. Diomedes comes in first, Antilochus second, M enelaus third and Eum elus last. Achilles has pity on Eum elus, and w ants to give him the second prize, but Antilochus objects and points out that Achilles has plenty o f riches, out o f which Eumelus can be given som ething else. T his suggestion meets with Achilles’ approval. T hen M enelaus accuses Antilochus o f cheating, and challenges him to swear by Poseidon (who is especially associated with horses) th at he is innocent. Antilochus, in order to end the quarrel, gives M enelaus his prize, and M enelaus, molified, gives it back to him. O ne prize has been left unaw arded, and Achilles gives it to Nestor. T he latter reminisces about his trium phs as a young sportsm an, and his defeat in a chariot race by a pair of twins. Next comes the boxing m atch, with a mule for the w inner and a cup for the loser. Achilles m entions Apollo as the god who will give victory here (he was particularly associated with festivals and games). T he winner is one Epeius, who appears in the Odyssey as the m aker o f the W ooden Horse which brings about the fall of Troy, and seems to be of very low social status.76 After this comes the wrestling m atch, in which O dysseus competes against Ajax the G reater, until Achilles puts a stop to things, telling them not to wear each other out, but to share the prizes. In the foot-race Odysseus competes again. H e is about to be beaten by Ajax the R unner when the latter is sent spraw ling by A thena. Odysseus comes first, Ajax second and Antilochus third. Antilochus com m ents that Odysseus is a strong old m an, and it is difficult for others to keep up with him , except Achilles. Achilles, in rew ard for this ingratiating rem ark, doubles Antilochus* prize. T h e next three events have been seen by scholars as later additions. T here is a spear fight, in which Diomedes has the upper hand over Ajax the G reater, so that the terrified spectators tell the com batants to stop and divide the prizes equally. Achilles, however, gives the first prize to Diomedes. O ne Polypoetes wins in the discus throw. T hen there is an archery contest. T eucer om its to vow to make a sacrifice to Apollo as the patron god o f archers, and is beaten by M eriones, who does not om it to do so. Finally, there is to be the spear-throwing. Agam em non and M eriones rise to compete, but Achilles tells Agam em non that everyone knows he is the best at this, and suggests th at he take the first prize while M eriones is given the second. Agam em non agrees.

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Commentary T here are m any im portant points to be noted here. H ephaestus, as fire personified, corresponds to the Indian god of fire, Agni, who is often placed last in lists of gods, ju st as H ephaestus comes last in rank.77 Patroclus brings out well the twin-like character of his relationship with Achilles. T he offering o f a lock o f hair to a river was custom ary am ong boys in ancient Greece. Since hair corresponds to vegetation in Indo-European-speakers* theories of cosmic harm ony, the presence of concept 3 is particularly evident.78 Particularly Indo-E uropean also is the hum an sacrifice in Patroclus’ funeral. M odem scholarship has found close sim ilarities between the details o f this funeral and those of H ittite royal funerary rites: in both the bones are collected a t daw n on the second day and placed in a precious vase filled with oil or fat and covered in a fine cloth, and in both sheep, cattle and horses are sacrificed.79 A nother detail found here and in the H ittite (and Indian) evidence is the use o f fat to cover the body before it is bu rn t.80 Apollo’s third-concept character is evidenced throughout the games: he breeds horses and patronizes festivals. Poseidon is more particularly associated with horses, aptly enough, since he represents sub-concept 1.2: horses are especially connected with sovereignty in Indo-European m yth and ritual, and so belong to concept 1, but they are also used by the w arrior class, and thus are second-concept as well.81 M ost o f the contests in Patroclus* funeral games are found in H ittite texts, as is the elem ent of a cup as the prize for the loser.82 W hat is m ost im portant, however, is the change in the role of Achilles. Now he is regal and generous, as he gives everyone a share of his riches. No longer hum iliated, he is kind, sensitive and quick to end a quarrel. T ow ards Agam em non he is a tactful fellow-sovereign. T here is a very close parallel with the case o f V ibhishana after R avana’s death. He refers to R avana’s role as a bestower o f gifts and distributor of treasure. Since R avana is dead, V ibhishana will o f course succeed him . H e conducts the funeral rites: a huge pyre is built and the crem ation takes place. Afterwards V ibhishana is crowned king of Lanka. H e subsequently bestows riches o f every kind on all the monkeys who have taken p a rt in the siege. V ibhishana also travels in the com pany o f Ram a and the king o f the monkeys: in status he seems to come ju s t after them . O ne has the impression th at he has been prom oted from concept 3 to sub-concept 1.3. T he same appears to be true o f Achilles: m arked by the shadow o f death for H ades’ dom ain, to which Patroclus has gone, he conducts the funeral games as a hum an

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equivalent of Hades. Som ething very sim ilar happens near the end of the Mahabharata: a blind figure, D hritarashtra, is raised to a position of honour and, as the hum an equivalent o f Bhaga [also 1.3], becomes a distributor o f riches.83 In the Iran ian Book o f Kings> after Isfandiyar has killed his arch* enemy, who had abducted his sisters, he makes a distribution of money. H e had previously vowed, when released from his im prison­ m ent, th at he would make large-scale benefactions after his victory. Subsequently he declares th at his father should abdicate (as he had prom ised to do if victory was obtained), and threatens to depose him and distribute land to the people.04 W e have already seen how, in the legends of early Rome, Servius and M enenius A grippa are moved up from the level o f concept 3 to th at o f sub-concept 1.3. T h e goddess Fortuna would appear to have experienced a sim ilar upw ard m ovem ent in the developm ent o f Rom an religion itself, replacing T erm inus and joining Faith [1.1b] and Hope [1.2] (a substitute for Juventas) on the level o f sovereignty.85 Likewise, in Scandinavia, after the last o f wars, the young em bodim ent o f hope, Balder [1.2], and the blind incarnation o f destiny, H oder [1.3], will be united in peace and prom oted to sovereign status, presiding over a bountiful earth.86

B O O K X X IV : S U B M IS S IO N A N D A G R E E M E N T Achilles continues to drag H ector’s corpse around, but Apollo pre­ serves its flesh intact. M ost o f the gods w ant H erm es to steal the body, but H era, Poseidon and A thena are against it. T hey still hate Troy, because of Paris’ behaviour: he had found fault with H era and A thena when they cam e to his inner courtyard (where he was looking after cattle), and chosen instead A phrodite, who used the power o f lust to bribe him . Eventually Apollo urges the gods to intervene against Achilles* deplorable conduct. H era replies that Achilles is the son o f a goddess whom she herself has brought up, and whose wedding Apollo attended with his lyre. Zeus calls for T hetis to be sum m oned, so that the ransom ing o f H ector’s body can be arranged. Iris fetches Thetis, and A thena (who sits a t Zeus’ right hand)87 gives her her place. Zeus tells T hetis to give Achilles his order to return H ector’s body in return for a ransom . She joins Achilles, and tells him to stop abstaining from food and sex: it is good to have intercourse with a wom an, and he does

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not have long to live. T hen she transm its Z eus’ order, and Achilles accepts it. Zeus also sends Iris to Priam , to tell him to go to Achilles with the ransom , and not be afraid, since Herm es will escort him . Priam tells his wife H ecabe o f this message, and she is horrified at the danger involved. However, he insists on going, and assembles a munificent ransom . H e rails a t the T rojans, and in particular his surviving sons, whom he sees as fit only for dancing. H ecabe tells him to pray to Zeus for a good om en, and this is granted. W hen Priam sets off w ith an old herald, Zeus has pity on the king and sends H erm es to guide him. H erm es puts on his golden sandals, which take him fast over earth and w ater, and flies to jo in Priam , disguised as a young m an. H e persuades Priam th at he is a lieutenant o f Achilles, and guides him past the A chaean guards to Achilles’ hut. T hen H erm es explains who he really is and th at he has to leave, and tells Priam to approach Achilles as a suppliant. After H erm es has returned to O lym pus, Priam goes in, takes Achilles’ knees in his arm s and kisses his hands. H e begs Achilles to release H ector’s body in return for the ransom , and they both cry. Achilles says th at Zeus has two jars, one full o f good gifts and the other full o f evil ones. H is own father and Priam have been brought from opulence to tragic loss. W hen Priam refuses to obey Achilles’ com m and to sit down, Achilles is angered and w arns him th at he m ay be provoked, against Zeus’ orders. Priam sits down, an d Achilles goes and takes the ransom off the cart on which it has been brought. He has H ector’s body washed where Priam cannot see it, to avoid m utual provocation. T hen he puts it on a bier and on to the cart. After this Achilles returns to Priam , and urges him to think o f food, observing th at even the bereaved m other Niobe thought o f food after Apollo and A rtem is killed her 12 children with their arrows, as a punishm ent for her boast o f having so m any children as opposed to Leto’s two. He kills a sheep and they eat and drink wine. Achilles tactfully observes th at Priam m ust sleep outside in case some Achaean comes and reports his presence to Agam em non (this is a polite hint, to enable Priam to leave w ithout trouble). T hey agree that Achilles will hold the Achaeans back from fighting so that H ector can be m ourned for nine days. W hen they have gone to bed, H erm es comes and tells Priam th at he m ust leave. T he king, his herald and the god take H ector’s body away w ithout anyone noticing. Herm es again returns to O lym pus, while the bier is brought to Troy. T he beautiful C assandra sees it first, and the T rojans gather to m ourn. A ndrom ache looks ahead to the sack of

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Troy. H ecabe says that H ector’s body looks fresh, like that o f someone killed by Apollo’s gentle arrows. Helen (like Briseis speaking of Patroclus) praises H ector’s gentleness tow ards her. For nine days wood is gathered for the pyre. O n the tenth day the body is burnt, and the next m orning the bones are gathered and buried. A m ound is made, and a feast held. Commentary H ere the characterization o f the gods follows w hat we have already found. T hetis, as a concept 3 figure, is a fitting advocate of sex, and H erm es, representing sub-concept 2.1, is an ideal god o f crafty action. Apollo appears throughout in fam iliar roles: an opposing counterpart to Achilles, a lyre player and an archer whose arrow s bring a gentle death. In these respects he echoes his original appearances in Book I: thus scholars have seen the first and last books of the Iliad as standing in a sym m etrical relationship. T he subm ission of Priam to Achilles, followed by their eating and drinking together, corresponds to the ending of the conflict o f the gods in In d ia and Scandinavia. T here, when the gods o f concept 3 are reconciled with the others, they are adm itted to the common consum p­ tion of an intoxicating drink, and a united association o f gods is brought into existence. Likewise, in Rome, when the Rom ans and Sabines make peace, they join to form a com bined comm unity: later, M enenius Agrippa succeeds in persuading the dissident plebeians to rejoin the Rom an state. Everywhere the representatives of concept 3 are integrated in an arrangem ent which makes them recognize the superior position of the representatives o f concepts 1 and 2. In the Ramayana the w ar ends with R avana’s death. H is funeral resembles those o f Patroclus and Hector: carts are used to bring wood for an enorm ous pyre, and fat is applied to the body before the crem ation.88

CHAPTER 3: THE O D YSSEY

B O O K I: E X IL E A N D O C C U P A T IO N T h e Odyssey begins with Odysseus detained on his hom ew ard journey by the goddess Calypso. At last the gods have pity on him , with the exception o f Poseidon, whose son he has blinded. Zeus addresses the other gods, and starts by observing that they are unfairly blam ed by m en for the consequences o f the latter’s sins: for example, Agam em ­ non’s m urderer, Aegisthus, had been w arned in advance by H erm es, acting as the gods’ messenger, th at his crime would be avenged by his victim ’s son, O restes. A thena expresses her concern for Odysseus, and Zeus suggests th at they all plan to bring him home. It is proposed by A thena th at H erm es be sent to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go, while she herself visits Odysseus* son, Telem achus, and sends him in search o f news o f his father. T hen she puts on her magic golden sandals, which enable her to fly rapidly over land or w ater, and reaches O dysseus' house. A thena now takes the form of a male friend o f the family, M entes. She sees Penelope’s suitors, surrounded by m eat and wine. T elem achus entertains her, and she advises him to sum m on an assembly and tell the suitors to go away. T hen he is to set sail for Pylos and S parta and question Nestor and M enelaus about his father. H er advice given, A thena flies off, m aking her divine status obvious. Telem achus rejoins the suitors, who are listening to a bard, Phemius, whom they have forced to serve them . He is singing about the disasters inflicted on the A chaeans by A thena after the sack o f Troy. Penelope appears an d tells him to sing about som ething else. Telem achus objects th at it is Zeus, not poets, who is responsible for w hat happens to hum ans. H e tells his m other to go back to her loom, and she retires to her bedroom , crying until A thena puts her to sleep. H er son gives the suitors notice o f the 99

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assem bly, to be held the next day, in which he will tell them to go. He exchanges words with their leader, Antinous. T h en they busy them ­ selves with their revels while Telem achus goes to bed. An old slavewom an called Eurycleia lights his way: she has been bought by Odysseus* father and treated by him with the respect due to a wife. Commentary T his book corresponds to an im portant p a rt o f the Mahabharata. T here, after the heroine, D raupadi, has been insulted and the kingdom o f her five co-husbands has been taken over by their enemies, she and her husbands go into exile. H er favourite husband, A ijuna, goes ofT on a journey to the heaven o f the god who is his father, In d ra [2.1]. T here he spends five years. A seer called Lom asha visits In d ra and is sent by him to tell A ijuna’s brothers (who evidently correspond to T elem a­ chus) to go on a pilgrimage. T hey are also visited by another seer, who tells the famous story o f K ing N ala, a m onarch who loses his kingdom and queen but eventually regains them . A ijuna’s wife and brothers are im m ersed in grief a t his absence. Yet another seer visits them , and they are given m ore encouragem ent and advice about the sacred fords to be visited on their pilgrimage. Finally, Lom asha him self arrives and persuades them to set off.1 T h e Odyssey9s first book also corresponds to p a rt o f the History o f Rome. Cam illus captures the city o f Veii after a siege which lasts 10 years (like th at o f Troy). Subsequently he is forced into exile from Rome and fined in his absence. T hen the G auls occupy the whole of Rome except the C apitol, to which they lay siege. Cam illus organizes resistance to the G auls elsewhere, pointing out that their greedy consum ption o f food and wine leaves them open to attack. At Rome itself one young citizen (rem iniscent o f Telem achus) walks straight through the m iddle o f the G auls to perform an annual sacrifice incum bent on his family. At Veii there is a w idespread feeling th at Cam illus m ust be recalled, and it is decided th at the Senate a t Rome should be consulted in order for this to be done.2 Eurycleia is a fascinating figure. As a sort o f honorary au n t to O dysseus she resembles the Rom an goddess o f daw n, M ater M atuta, to whom Rom an aunts comm ended their sisters’ children - because the Sun is the child o f the D aw n’s sister, the N ight.3

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B O O K II : C O U R A G E A N D A JO U R N E Y T h e action of the second book o f the Odyssey begins a t dawn. Telem achus sum m ons the assem bly, and A thena makes him look superbly handsom e. H e expresses his anger a t the suitors’ behaviour in consum ­ ing his fam ily’s property. A ntinous says it is Penelope’s fault: she has repeatedly delayed choosing a new husband by acts o f trickery, taught her by A thena. T elem achus replies by telling the suitors to go away and invoking the gods. Zeus sends two eagles, who flap their wings and conduct themselves violently. O ne Ithacan interprets this as an om en o f Odysseus* im m inent return and vengeance. A leading suitor, Eurym achus, declares that this is nonsense. T elem achus says th at he w ants to go by ship to Sparta and Pylos to ask for news o f his father. A friend o f Odysseus, M entor, calls on the m ajority o f the Ithacans to rally against the suitors. O ne o f the latter replies that they would be able to kill Odysseus if he returned. T hen the assem bly breaks up. Telem achus now prays to A thena, who appears to him in the form o f M entor, and says th at she will provide him with a ship. He rejoins the suitors a t his fam ily’s house, and they mock him. T hen he goes to the house’s storeroom and tells Eurycleia to pack provisions for him and his ship’s crew, so th at they can leave in secret. M eanw hile A thena obtains a ship and a crew, and puts the suitors to sleep when night has fallen. She sends Telem achus and the crew sailing off through the night and the ensuing dawn. Commentary T his narrative is paralleled by passages in the Mahabharata which follow the account o f the seer Lom asha’s visit to In d ra. T he villains’ father, D h ritarashtra, declares th at his sons will be killed by A ijuna. H e observes th at A ijuna’s brothers and allies are strong. A ijuna’s eldest brother, Y udhishthira, also prophesies th at A ijuna will kill his strongest adversary, K am a. W hen Lom asha reaches Y udhishthira he gives him the message from In d ra th at he should not be afraid of K a m a, b u t go on a pilgrimage, since A ijuna will soon return with special weapons and will prove too strong for his enemy. Preparations for the pilgrim age are duly made. Y udhishthira is w arned o f the dangers on the way. H e, his brothers, D raupadi and their com panions set off. (T he astuteness o f D raupadi, akin to that o f Penelope, in foiling the threats to her has been m ade clear before.)4

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T h e expressions o f sym pathy for Odysseus am ong the Ithacans resem ble those for Cam illus in the History o f Rome. T here we are told th at a lot o f Rom ans and Italian allies are gathering a t Veii and feeling increasingly courageous. It seems to them that they are strong enough to expel the G auls from Rome, but they lack a leader. Rem em bering C am illus, they decide that he should be recalled, but only after the Senate at Rome has been consulted: constitutional legality has to be respected, w hatever the circum stances. But to pass through the enemy lines and transm it a message to the Senate is an extremely dangerous task. O ne brave young m an volunteers to do this, and, lying dow n on a strip o f cork, floats down the River T iber to Rome. O n reaching Rome he climbs up a cliff which is so steep th at the G auls have not bothered to guard it, and delivers the message. Shortly afterw ards the G auls attem pt a silent night attack on the Capitoline citadel, b u t are foiled by the goddess Ju n o 's sacred geese, which gabble and clap their wings, awaking the Rom ans to the peril.5

B O O K I I I : S E N IO R IT Y A N D T H E F R A M E -F IG U R E It is still daw n when the action of the third book begins. Telem achus and his com panions reach Pylos and find its inhabitants sacrificing black bulls to Poseidon. A thena (still in the form o f M entor) encour­ ages T elem achus to put questions to Nestor, in spite of his em barrass­ m ent at having to do this to a much older m an. W hen they reach Nestor his son Peisistratus, a young m an, gives wine to A thena first, because she looks old. Telem achus asks Nestor if he has news of Odysseus, and recalls the siege o f Troy. Nestor reminisces about the siege and the wisdom shown by Odysseus during it. H e explains that, after the sack of Troy, Zeus was angry with the A chaeans because of their foolish and unjust behaviour, and his anger was shared by A thena. (We are told elsewhere that this was because o f a rape attack by Ajax the R unner on C assandra in A thena's tem ple.)6 A thena m ade Agam em non and M enelaus quarrel, so that the latter left with p a rt of the arm y, including N estor and Odysseus. Odysseus, however, soon returned to Agam em non. N estor him self cam e back to Pylos with no knowledge o f the fate o f the other leaders. L ater he heard about some of them , and the revenge exacted for Agam em non by O restes, to whom he now com pares the young Telem achus. T elem achus turns the subject to the suitors’ wickedness. Nestor speaks of the special relationship between Odysseus and A thena. T he

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young guest praises his host’s vast knowledge and refers to the long span o f his reign. T he king gives more details o f the recent history of A gam em non's family and o f the adventures o f M enelaus, whom he urges Telem achus to visit. A thena says th at as the only senior person in the party she will return to the ship, leaving T elem achus to spend the night in N estor’s palace. T hen she assumes the form o f a vulture and flies off. N estor realizes who she is and prays to her. T elem achus sleeps next to Peisistratus. At daw n a sacrifice is m ade to A thena, and Telem achus, after taking a bath, sets off with Peisistratus for Sparta by land. T hey arrive in the evening o f the following day. Commentary T his book has some similarities with part of the Mahabharata. Aij u n a’s brothers go on their pilgrim age to the various fords and bathe in them . T hey are guided by the holy m an Lomasha. O ne o f them , Bhim a, is separated from the rest and meets the famous monkey H an u m an (who, as we have seen, corresponded to Odysseus in the Ramayana). H an u ­ m an relates the story o f Ram a (including his own p a rt therein) and explains th at he him self had asked to be allowed to live as long as this story would. M any thousands o f years have now elapsed. H e explains how he has changed according to the change o f time itself. T hen he tells Bhim a where to go next. Bhima declares th at with H an u m an ’s protection he and his brothers are sure of victory over their enemies. H an u m an replies th at he will perch on A tjuna’s flagstaff (thus giving it a monkey as its emblem ) and terrify the latter’s enemies with his roars. Bhim a, following H an u m an ’s advice, goes on his way. T he H an u m an o f the Mahabharata, then, would seem to correspond to N estor, as the frame-figure [0] who lives before and after everyone else.7 As for the History o f Rome, the parallel passage is presum ably th at which refers to the m eeting between the Rom an m agistrates (repre­ senting seniority) and the brave young m an who has floated down the T iber. H e delivers the message from the arm y, and the Senate duly decides th at C am illus should be sum m oned back from exile and appointed dictator. T he sam e young m an will convey these decisions to Veii.8

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B O O K IV : A W E A L T H Y H O S T T h e long fourth book begins with Telem achus and Peisistratus arriving a t M enelaus1 palace a t Sparta. A double wedding is being held, with feasting, music and dancing. Menelaus* equerry asks him if the two visitors should be entertained or sent on their way. H e says th at they should be entertained. T elem achus and Peisistratus are astonished by the palace's magnificence. After taking a bath they dine with M ene­ laus, who explains th at he has accum ulated a vast am ount o f wealth over a long period o f travelling and hardship. H e refers to Odysseus, and T elem achus, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, weeps. H elen comes in, accom panied by female attendants. She rem arks th at one o f the visitors m ust be Telem achus. T he latter, M enelaus and Helen all weep for Odysseus together, while Peisistratus m ourns for his brother, Antilochus, who was killed a t Troy by the son o f the D awn (M em non). H elen puts a drug into their wine to p u t an end to their crying. T hen she tells how Odysseus once cam e to T roy during the siege, heavily disguised. O nly H elen recognized him , and they spoke to each other before he killed a num ber of T rojans and w ent back to the besiegers with plenty o f information. M enelaus recalls the famous episode o f the W ooden Horse, inside which the A chaean leaders rem ained hidden as it was taken into T roy, thus ensuring the city’s downfall. Helen, presum ably prom pted by some pro-Trojan god, had tried to tem pt the Achaeans into betraying their presence, but O dys­ seus had m ade them keep quiet until A thena led her away. At daw n the next day T elem achus tells M enelaus about the suitors and asks for news o f Odysseus. M enelaus, after swearing by Zeus, A thena and Apollo th at he would like Odysseus in all his strength to come and m assacre the suitors, explains that he has heard about him from Proteus, the ‘old m an o f the sea*. (This is not the sam e ‘old m an o f the sea* as Thetis* father, m entioned earlier.) M arooned on a desert island, M enelaus had been advised by Proteus’ daughter to lie in wait for him and force him to explain how he should get home. Concealing him self a t daybreak, he had caught Proteus when he cam e out o f the sea a t noon. As M enelaus wrestled with him, Proteus changed him self into various forms. Eventually he gave in and told M enelaus w hat he w anted to know. T he hero had to sacrifice to the gods, who would then let him go home. T hen M enelaus asked Proteus about the fate o f his com rades in the T rojan W ar. Proteus replied th at Ajax the R unner had been shipwrecked by Poseidon, who a t first rescued him from the

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sea (showing his character of 1.2), and then drowned him for boasting th at he had escaped from the gods. Agam em non had been helped hom ew ard by H era, only to be m urdered on his return. Odysseus was held captive by Calypso. M enelaus himself, said Proteus, would not die, b u t would be sent to the distant Elysian fields and join a figure called R hadam anthus (a son o f Zeus, according to the Iliad, X IV : 321-2), because, as H elen's husband, he was Zeus* son-in-law. T elem achus is invited by M enelaus to stay with him for a while before returning. H e replies th at he does not w ant to stay long. M eanw hile, the suitors learn o f his departure for Pylos and plot to am bush him on his voyage hom e and kill him. O ne o f Penelope's attendants overhears them and w arns her. She is extremely upset, but Eurycleia consoles her and tells her to pray to Athena. She does so, while the suitors prepare their am bush. A thena sends her a dream to tell her th at T elem achus is safe under her own protection. Commentary H ere again the story corresponds to p a rt o f the Mahabharata. After Bhim a leaves H anum an, he comes to the park o f K ubera, the god of riches. T h e ogres who guard it fight with him , but are defeated, and go to K ubera, who tells them th at Bhim a can stay and gather all the flowers th at he wants. Bhima is joined by his brothers and they all stay there for a short while. T hen they continue their travels, and again Bhim a goes off on his own and fights ogres who are under K ubera's com m and. His brothers leave D raupadi behind, join him and see K u b era's palace. T hey all have an am icable m eeting with K ubera. H e tells them th at A ijuna is staying in In d ra ’s heaven. T h en they, after rejoining D raupadi, wait for A ijuna, who duly arrives.9 T h u s whereas the M enelaus of the Iliad corresponds to the Indian god M itra [1.1b], the M enelaus o f the Odyssey corresponds to an Indian god o f concept 3. T his fits in with a fragm ent o f Hesiod, the famous early G reek poet seen as roughly contem porary with H om er. In this, as Yoshida has pointed out, Agam em non and M enelaus are character­ ized by wealth, as opposed to Achilles and Ajax the G reater, who are characterized by strength, and A drastus and A m phiaraus (kings o f Argos in southern Greece), who are characterized by intelligence.10 A gam em non was indeed celebrated for being extremely rich, and the audience which originally heard the Iliad would have known th is.11 At one point in the Iliad his wealth is obvious enough, when he makes his m unificent offer to Achilles, but in general the Iliad emphasizes his role

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as a sovereign leader. As brothers who rescue a female figure, Agam em non and M enelaus are, in one perspective, reflections o f the Divine Twins. Likewise, in the Ramayana, R am a and L akshm ana come from a w ealthy city which resembles Lanka, and in the Iranian Book o f Kings Isfandiyar and B ishutan have a third-concept background (their father and grandfather, G ushtasp and Luhrasp, are transposed ver­ sions o f the Divine Tw ins). It would appear th at a t a very early date two m yths were combined in one story: th at of the Divine T w ins’ rescue o f a female figure, and th at of the w ar between the gods of concepts 1 and 2 on the one hand and the gods o f concept 3 on the other. Since the Divine Twins belong to concept 3 their disguised presence on the side o f the representatives of the first two concepts produces a degree o f contradiction, which the Iliad brilliantly exploits. T he story o f O dysseus’ secret visit to Troy and encounter with H elen there is paralleled in the Ramayana, as we have seen above: H an u m an slips into Lanka, meets Sita and leaves after gathering plenty o f useful intelligence and causing m uch destruction. In the Iran ian Book o f Kings> Isfandiyar, in order to take the m ain T uranian stronghold, the Bronze Castle, disguises him self as a m erchant and succeeds in gaining entrance, with plenty of soldiers hidden inside chests. O nce inside he is recognized by his sisters (one o f whom is also his wife), and has a conversation with them . Afterwards he kills a large num ber o f people, and the castle is taken.12 Dumezil has argued that the three hom eward journeys o f Ajax the R unner, Agam em non and Odysseus reflect his three ‘functions’. Ajax is killed by a god as a punishm ent for blasphem y; Agam em non is killed in a fight - here the text gives an unusual account o f his death, in which there is a full-scale battle between his followers and those o f Aegisthus, instead o f the usual version, in which Aegisthus commits the m urder on his own; Odysseus is delayed by a voluptuous goddess.13

B O O K V: G O D D E S S E S A N D T R A V E L Book V again shows the gods discussing O dysseus’ detention by Calypso. A thena com plains about this, and Zeus sends H erm es to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go. Zeus also prophesies th at Odysseus will reach the rich land of the Phaeacians, who will give him an enorm ous am ount of wealth. H erm es puts on his magic golden sandals and picks up the w and with which he can make hum ans sleep or wake up. T hen he flies over the sea to Calypso. After adm iring her beautiful home he

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tells her th at Zeus has sent him, and th at no other god can thw art Zeus. O dysseus is destined to return home. Calypso recalls earlier exam ples o f the gods’ interfering in order to end a relationship between a goddess and a m an. She realizes th at Zeus cannot be thw arted. H erm es leaves, and Calypso goes to Odysseus. H e is unhappy, since he does not desire her, though she desires him , and they continue to m ake love. She now tells him th at she will help him to go home, and swears by the E arth, the Sky and the underground River Styx that she is not planning to harm him. L ater she observes th at, although O dysseus is always thinking o f Penelope, the latter can hardly rival a goddess in attractiveness. Odysseus agrees, but explains th at he still w ants to go back to Ithaca. T hen they spend the night together and m ake love. At daw n Calypso starts to help Odysseus to build a boat. T his takes a few days, and then she sends him off. O dysseus sails on his course, and on the eighteenth day sees the land o f the Phaeacians. Poseidon, however, is on his way back from a visit to Ethiopia, and notices him . H e knows th at Odysseus is destined to reach the Phaeacians, but none the less decides to treat him to a storm . Odysseus* boat is badly dam aged, but he is joined by the goddess Ino, who takes pity on him. She gives him a special veil to wind round his waist: it will protect him until he reaches land. Poseidon shatters his boat completely, and he has to swim. T hen Poseidon goes hom e, and A thena brings an end to the storm. After two days O dysseus comes close to the coast. It looks as if he will be dashed against the rocks and killed, but A thena inspires him to swim along the coast until he finds a safe spot. H e comes to the m outh o f a river and prays to it, asking for the kindness due to a suppliant. T he river carries him to dry land, and he gives it the magic veil to return to Ino. Finally, he climbs up into a copse and lies down. A thena puts him to sleep. Commentary In this book there is yet another correspondence with the Mahabharata. D uring an earlier exile A ijuna is, as later, separated from D raupadi and his brothers. H e goes to bathe in the Ganges, and is about to emerge when he is pulled under the w ater by the daughter o f the king o f the snakes, U lupi, who, we are told, can travel wherever she likes. T hey come to her father’s palace, and U lupi explains th at she is m adly in love with A ijuna and w ants to make love with him. H e replies that he has to live a herm it’s life for 12 m onths. She answers th at she knows

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why. W hen the five brothers were living with D raupadi it was agreed th at if one brother entered a room in which another was sitting with their wife, then the penalty would be one year’s exile as a herm it. But this exile, argues U lupi, is with reference to D raupadi alone, and consequently A ijuna can make love with another partner. Even if this is a slight breach o f the Law, it will be m eritorious for A ijuna to make love with her because of her extreme love for him . A ijuna agrees, and they spend the night together. At daybreak he gets up and goes away. After visiting m any sacred fords he comes to the ocean. Following m ore journeying and pilgrim ages he looks a t a famous m ountain, and then travels along the ocean coast. T hen he comes to a country called M an alu ra and visits its holy fords.14

B O O K V I: A P R IN C E S S In the sixth book o f the Odyssey the action begins in the night. A thena comes to the city o f the Phaeacians and visits N ausicaa, the daughter o f their king. T aking the form o f one of N ausicaa’s friends, the goddess speaks to her in her sleep and tells her to go and w ash her clothes, as she m ay get m arried soon. Every noblem an in the country w ants her to be his wife. T hen A thena returns to O lym pus. At daw n N ausicaa wakes up and tells her father th at she w ants to wash her fam ily's clothes. She points out th at she has three unm arried brothers who always w ant clean clothes for dances. T he poet tells us th at she is talking like this because she is too em barrassed to m ention the subject o f her own m arriage, but her father understands this perfecdy well. H e gives orders for a waggon to be brought to take all the clothes to the river. M ules are harnessed to it, and N ausicaa’s m other provides choice food and wine. N ausicaa sets off, accom panied by her m aidservants. T hey reach the river, do their washing and start playing with a ball. N ausicaa herself looks like Artem is surrounded by nym phs. W hen they are about to go hom e, A thena causes the ball to fall into the river, so th at the m aidservants cry out and wake Odysseus up. H e comes out o f the copse like a lion forced by hunger to attack cattle o r sheep. T he m aidservants run away, but N ausicaa rem ains, em boldened by A thena. O dysseus addresses her, com paring her to A rtem is and saying th at the m an who will m arry her will indeed be blessed. H e explains his predicam ent and expresses the hope th at N ausicaa will have a happy m arriage, since th at is a source o f grief to one’s enemies.

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N ausicaa replies th at good and bad come from Zeus, and th at she will assist Odysseus. She rem inds her m aidservants th at strangers and beggars are u nder Zeus’ protection. Odysseus bathes and gets dressed, and A thena covers his head and shoulders with beauty, ju st as a craftsm an trained by H ephaestus and herself covers silverware with gold. N ausicaa now gives Odysseus instructions. She describes her city, w ith its tem ple o f Poseidon, and explains th at the people have no interest in archery, but care only for sailing. I t is im portant th at they should not see Odysseus with her, since they would suspect her of finding a husband from abroad, and com m ent adversely on this. O dysseus m ust wait in a wood sacred to A thena and come to the city after a discreet interval. T hen he will go to the palace and clasp N ausicaa’s m other’s knees as a suppliant. After giving O dysseus these instructions, N ausicaa takes him to the wood and leaves him there. He prays to A thena, observing th at she did not listen to him when he was shipwrecked by Poseidon. A thena listens to him but does not appear before him , out o f respect for Poseidon, who continues to be hostile to O dysseus until his eventual homecoming. Commentary T his book would appear to be paralleled by two episodes in the Mahabharata's account o f A ijuna’s first exile. W e last saw him visiting the holy fords o f a country called M analura. H ere, we are told, he goes to visit the country’s king, who has a beautiful daughter, C hitrangada. A ijuna sees her in the city, where she happens to be walking, and desires her. T he king tells him th at he w ants his daughter to give birth to a son to continue their dynasty: this son will be the price paid by A ijuna for his daughter. A ijuna agrees, and lives with C hitrangada in the city for three m onths. After another journey he returns to the city and sees his baby son before resum ing his travels. In a second episode he comes to a country called Prabhasa and meets K rishna there. K rishna entertains A ijuna in the city o f D varaka. A festival is held on a nearby m ountain, and there A ijuna sees K rishna’s beautiful sister, S ubhadra, in the m iddle of her friends, and falls in love with her. K rishna advises him to try a m arriage by forcible abduction. Subsequently A ijuna, having heard th at Subhadra has gone to the m ountain, sets off in a w ar chariot on the pretext o f going hunting. W hen S ubhadra is about to go back to the city, A ijuna rushes a t her and abducts her. T he people o f the city manifest their hostility tow ards

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him , and K rishna and Subhadra’s brother expresses his anger at A iju n a’s behaving like this after coming as a suppliant.15 N ear the end o f the Mahabharata, A ijuna is killed by the son born to him by C hitrangada. U lupi then appears as a sort of honorary second m other to this son. Similarly, in extra-H om eric legend, Odysseus is eventually killed by a son whom he has sired on his travels. T his son’s m other is said to be Circe, whom we shall encounter in Book X . T here we shall see th at Circe corresponds to an Indian nym ph who appears in the Mahabharata in between C hitrangada and S ubhadra. Now Circe and Calypso are very sim ilar figures, and are seen by m odem scholars as duplicates of each other. As we have observed, Calypso corresponds to U lu p i.16 In the Byzantine Two-Blood Border Lord the hero’s m other, when young, unm arried and sm itten by the darts o f Love, asks her own m other’s permission to leave the house and go for a walk. H er m other grants permission, hitches horses to a carriage, puts choice food and drink in it and sends her daughter off with her nurses, slave-girls and gentlewomen. T hey walk to an agreeable spot, and she is abducted by her future husb an d .17

B O O K V II: T H E F A M IL Y O F T H E P R IN C E S S Book V II opens with N ausicaa’s return to her city. After a discreet interval Odysseus starts ofT in the sam e direction. A thena w raps him in a m ist, so th at he will not be insulted by any o f the Phaeacians. T hen she disguises herself as a young girl and joins him . Odysseus asks her the way, and she becomes his guide. T he goddess explains th at the Phaeacians do not like strangers. She adds th at they have extremely fast ships, thanks to Poseidon’s generosity. W hen they reach the palace, A thena gives an account o f the king and queen’s genealogy. T h e king, Alcinous, is a grandson o f Poseidon. His brother has been killed by Apollo, but has left a daughter, Arete, who is now m arried to her royal uncle and is immensely respected by everyone. T hen A thena goes away. Odysseus is astonished by the palace’s glorious radiance and its m agnificent doors, which are guarded by gold and silver dogs m ade by H ephaestus. Inside there are thrones ranged along the walls, with finely woven covers. H ere the Phaeacian chieftains are accustom ed to eat and drink wine, with golden statues o f youths holding torches. T he poet tells us that A thena has given the Phaeacian women great skill in

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crafts and also fine m inds. T he palace's orchard, vineyard and kitchen garden are m iraculously productive all the year round. Odysseus enters the palace and finds the leading Phaeacians pouring libations to Herm es, as is their custom before going to bed. (H erm es, as we have seen, has the power to give sleep.) W hen Odysseus reaches the queen he grasps her knees in the usual gesture of the suppliant, and the m ist granted by A thena vanishes. H e asks to be taken to his hom eland. T hen he sits in the ashes by the hearth. T he Phaeacians' elder statesm an, Echeneus (who appears to be a frame-figure), tells Alcinous th at he should give the stranger due honour and order th at wine be provided for a libation to Zeus as the god o f suppliants. Alcinous does this, and announces that the visitor will be escorted to his own country, after which he will suffer w hat Destiny and the ‘Spinners’ spun for him a t the m om ent o f his birth. T he king adds th at if this is a god in disguise then the gods have changed their ways, since they have never played such a trick on the Phaeacians before. Odysseus replies th at in his wretched condition he does not look like a god, b u t feels extremely hungry. T h e guests retire, and Arete asks Odysseus who he is. H e does not disclose his identity, but explains th at Calypso had kept him as a prisoner after Zeus had wrecked his ship. After he left Calypso his boat had been sm ashed by Poseidon, and then, after reaching dry land, he had found N ausicaa. Alcinous, swearing by Zeus, A thena and Apollo, expresses the wish th at his guest should stay and become his son-inlaw. However, he fully realizes that Odysseus m ay prefer to go home instead, and promises to have him taken back. Odysseus prays to Zeus th at this will happen. Commentary Some elements here correspond to the episode o f A ijuna's abduction o f S ubhadra in the Mahabharata. A ijuna, as we have seen, meets K rishna and tells him about his travels. T hen he is entertained in K rish n a’s wonderful home, which is full of jewels and other fine objects. After A ijuna abducts S ubhadra, the w arriors o f the city sit on their m agnificent golden thrones, which are covered with splendid cushions, decorated with gems and shining like blazing fires. T hey have been drinking, and their im m ediate reaction on hearing o f the abduction is to prepare to fight A ijuna. K rishna and S ubhadra's brother, Bala-Ram a, however, points out that K rishna has to be consulted first, and this wise advice is heeded. Bala-Ram a addresses

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K rishna and, as we have already noted, manifests his indignation th at A iju n a has behaved in this way after coming as a suppliant. K rishna replies th at A ijuna will be an excellent in-law. If he w ent back to his own city after defeating them in battle then their reputation would be destroyed. Consequently, he should be invited back. A ijuna duly returns and spends the rest of his 12-month exile there before returning to D rau p ad i.18 T h e ‘Spinners’ who determ ine one’s fate a t the m om ent o f birth are paralleled by sim ilar figures in the Indo-E uropean field: in E ngland, G erm any and Scandinavia there are beings who bestow skills upon hum ans by spinning when they are b o rn .19

B O O K V I I I : S P L E N D ID G IF T S T h e eighth book is yet another th at begins a t dawn. Alcinous takes O dysseus to the place where the Phaeacians hold their assemblies. A thena, disguised as a herald, calls on the citizens to gather there and makes O dysseus look extremely handsom e and impressive. T hen Alcinous addresses the assembly and tells his people to m ake arrange­ m ents for O dysseus’ return. H e invites everyone to a feast in his palace, and this is duly prepared. A bard, Dem odocus, arrives, and we are told th at he is loved by ‘the M use’, who has granted him the gift o f singing well but has also blinded him. Now the M use makes him sing o f a quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles, which had delighted Agam em non, since it fulfilled a prophecy m ade to him by Apollo. (T h at, we are told, was a t the sta rt o f the disasters which were to overtake the Achaeans and the T rojans, by the will o f Zeus.) O dysseus weeps when he hears this song, and Alcinous, noticing th at the guest o f honour is upset, orders those present to go outside and dem onstrate their skill in various sports. W hen the games take place, Odysseus is insulted by a m an called Euryalus, who suggests th at he is devoid o f prowess as an athlete, and looks like a ship’s captain, greedy for profits. O dysseus replies th at the gods bestow gifts o f different kinds - evidently not brains in E uryalus’ case. T h en he picks up a discus and throws it further than the Phaeacians have so far m anaged. A thena, disguised as a P h aead an spectator, speaks out adm iringly, and Odysseus is pleased to find th at he has a friend. H e challenges all the young m en present (except Alcinous’ son Laodam as, because he is his host) to com pete with him. T hen he boasts o f his skill as an archer, saying th at here he is virtually

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w ithout equal. Alcinous replies th at Zeus has given the Phaeacians certain skills. T hey are not great boxers or wrestlers, but are fine runners and sailors. W hat they really like is the pleasure given by feasting, music, dancing, changes o f clothes, hot baths and beds. T hen he gives orders for an exhibition o f dancing. T h e dancing, organized by nine ‘um pires’, begins. T hen Demodocus sings o f a love affair between Ares and A phrodite. In this long story A phrodite is m arried to H ephaestus, who is informed o f the affair by the Sun. H e m anufactures a network o f chains and attaches these to his m arriage bed. Ares and A phrodite are duly trapped in them , and the outraged husband calls on Zeus and the other gods to come and have a look. T he m ale deities arrive, but the female ones stay a t home. T h e gods observe that Ares’ outstanding speed has not saved him. Apollo asks H erm es if he would like to take Ares’ place, and H erm es replies th at he certainly would. T he other gods laugh, w ith the exception o f Poseidon, who w ants H ephaestus to let Ares go. He prom ises H ephaestus that Ares, if freed, will pay appropriate com pen­ sation. H ephaestus replies th at if Ares defaults he would not be able to p u t Poseidon in chains instead. Poseidon declares th at if Ares does default then he will pay the dam ages himself. T o this H ephaestus answers th at he cannot refuse, and lets both Ares and Aphrodite escape. A phrodite goes to C yprus, where she is bathed, anointed and dressed by the Graces. After this song there is m ore dancing, and O dysseus expresses his adm iration. Alcinous is pleased, and urges the Phaeacian leaders to provide Odysseus with gifts. H e observes that his people have 12 chiefs along with himself. Each should give Odysseus a cloak, a tunic and a talent o f gold. H e also tells E uryalus to give Odysseus a present to atone for his insult. Euryalus gives Odysseus his sword. Alcinous also tells his wife to bring a splendid chest and put a cloak and tunic in it. H e him self will give Odysseus a golden cup, so that he will rem em ber his host when pouring libations to Zeus and the other gods. A rete now has a bath prepared for Odysseus and packs his gifts. He fastens the chest’s lid with a special knot which he has learnt from Circe, and then takes his bath. He has not enjoyed such comfort since leaving Calypso, who had looked after him like a god. Afterwards N ausicaa tells him th at she hopes he will rem em ber her. H e asks Zeus to let him reach home, and says th at there he will pray to her as to a deity. D inner is served, and Odysseus sends a choice cut o f m eat to Dem odocus, rem arking that bards deserve respect, since the M use loves them and has taught them songs. H e says that Dem odocus has

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been instructed by either the M use or Apollo himself, and asks him to sing o f the W ooden Horse. Dem odocus obliges, and tells how the T rojans rejected the options o f piercing or sm ashing the horse, and left it as an offering for the gods - for it was their destiny to perish when the horse entered their city. H e goes on to sing o f how Odysseus went to D eiphobus’ house with M enelaus, and was victorious in the most terrible o f fights, thanks to A thena. Odysseus weeps, and again Alcinous notices. H e asks O dys­ seus to say who he is and where he is from, so th at the Phaeacian ships may exercise their magical powers to direct their course to his hom eland. For these ships go instinctively, w rapped in mist, and very quickly. T hen he recalls his father’s w arning that Poseidon was angry with the Phaeacians for giving escorts to everyone w ithout coming to any harm , and his saying that one day Poseidon would wreck one of their ships on its return and surround their city with a great m ountain range. Finally, Alcinous asks Odysseus for an account o f his adven­ tures, and why he weeps on hearing o f the T rojan W ar (which had been brought about by the gods, weaving disaster for men). Commentary H ere again there are sim ilarities with the continuation o f the narrative in the Mahabharata. W hen A rjuna returns to D raupadi and his brothers, who are in the city o f In draprastha, K rishna follows him there with a vast num ber of com panions and an enorm ous dowry for Subhadra. In d rap rasth a is full of perfumes and freshly bathed people. K rishna presents his lavish gifts (enum erated as chariots, horses, cows, m ares, mules, women, gold and elephants) and feasting and drinking ensue. All the people o f the city continue to live happily, as Y udhishthira cultivates the triad o f Law, Profit and Pleasure. After a few days K rishna and A ijuna organize a picnic, with playing and dancing. As they recall past feats they are approached by a brahm in, who explains th at he is Agni, the god o f fire, and w ants to bu m up the forest there. Since he needs their help he arranges for A ijuna to be given a great bow, called G andiva, two quivers and a chariot whose flagpole has a monkey as its emblem, while K rishna is given a discus (to be used as a w eapon). T hen Agni starts to b u m up the forest, while A ijuna and K rishna use their weapons to defeat the manifold forces which oppose him - these include all the other gods. Eventually In d ra himself, impressed, comes down and promises A rjuna all sorts o f special weapons.20

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As for the presents given by the Phaeacians to Odysseus, Dumezil him self has provided a ‘trifunctionaP analysis o f them . T he gold and clothing given by the chiefs represent the opulence of the city’s m erchants [3]; the sword given by Euryalus, who is com pared to Ares, represents the young m en’s fighting strength [2]; the cup given by the king represents sovereignty and libations poured to ‘Zeus and the other gods’ [1]. All this, argues Dumezil, reflects the structure o f the country’s aristocracy: a king presides over young w arriors and rich traders.21 O th er elements in this book are o f particular interest: the specially bestowed skill given to the bard in exchange for being blinded (as in the cases o f O din, Bhaga and the Greek seer Teiresias, whom we shall encounter below); the role of Poseidon when speaking to H ephaestus, as a sovereign god who m aintains the unity, solidarity and continuity of the com m unity o f the gods [1.2]; and the m agical and exceptionally fast ships, which m any scholars have com pared to those which, in northern European belief, ferry the souls o f the dead to their abode.22

B O O K IX : T H E IN H O S P IT A B L E G IA N T T he Odysseys ninth book begins with Odysseus disclosing his identity and speaking o f his love for his native Ithaca, which has prevented him from staying for ever with Calypso and Circe, in spite o f their desire to have him as a husband. T hen he starts the account o f his voyage from T roy (which for convenience’s sake I shall sum m arize in the present). O n leaving Troy, Odysseus and his followers come to the land o f a people called the Cicones, whose city they sack. O th e r Cicones come from inland and kill six men from each o f O dysseus’ 12 ships. T he rest escape, b ut Zeus sends them a gale. T hey survive this, but later are blown off course and come to the country of the Lotus-eaters. These people give the lotus fruit to three o f O dysseus’ men, who consequently lose all desire to go home. H e has to use force to m ake them em bark before the party sets sail again. T h e fleet now reaches the land o f the Cyclopes, a lawless people whose crops grow w ithout any work being done, thanks to the gods. Odysseus* ships come to an island off the coast o f the country, and are guided by some god into its harbour through the night. After daybreak the N ym phs (daughters o f Zeus) send some m ountain goats to be hunted and eaten by the Achaeans. T he next day Odysseus takes his

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own ship to the m ainland to find out about its inhabitants. H e and his com panions see the cave o f one gigantic Cyclops (the nam e m eans ‘R ound-eyed') who lives and pastures his flocks on his own, having nothing to do with his neighbours. Odysseus picks 12 m en to visit this cave with him and tells the rest to stay with the ship. H e fills a goatskin w ith some wine which has been given to him by a priest o f Apollo in the Cicones’ city, in return for sparing him out o f respect. O dysseus and his 12 com panions advance to the Cyclops’ cave, but he is not there. T hey help themselves to some o f the food in the cave. T h e Cyclops returns and proves to be a m onster o f cruelty. Odysseus explains th at he and his m en have got lost, as Zeus had doubtless intended. T hey are suppliants and guests, and thus protected by Zeus. T h e Cyclops replies that his people do not bother about Zeus or the gods in general, an d asks where O dysseus' ship is. H e answers th at it has been wrecked by Poseidon. T he m onster then eats two o f the m en, while the others lift up their hands to Zeus. After this he goes to sleep. O dysseus’ first im pulse is to kill him , but he realizes th at then he and his com panions would not be able to escape from the cave where they find themselves, since its entrance is closed by a huge rock which only the Cyclops can move. T he next m orning the giant eats two m ore men and continues to im prison the rest in the cave while taking his flocks out. O dysseus prays to A thena and has an idea. H e sharpens a piece o f wood and prepares to blind the Cyclops (who evidently has only one eye) when he is asleep. In the evening the m onster eats two m ore m en. T hen Odysseus offers him the wine which he has brought, and gets him drunk. H e tells the Cyclops th at his nam e is Nobody. W hen the giant is asleep Odysseus and his fellow-survivors blind him with the stake. H e scream s out to his neighbours, who gather outside and ask if someone is trying to kill him. T he Cyclops replies th at Nobody is trying to kill him. T hey say th at if nobody is hurting him then illness (which is presum ably w hat is making him cry out) is an unavoidable thing sent by Zeus, and he should pray to his father, Poseidon. T hen they go away. I t is still necessary for Odysseus and his men to escape from the cave. T hey do so a t daw n, by clinging to the bellies o f the Cyclops’s ram s as he lets them out. W hen Odysseus has got his ship out to sea again he shouts out to mock the Cyclops, saying that Zeus an d the other gods have punished him. He also tells him th at his real nam e is Odysseus. T he Cyclops prays to Poseidon to prevent O dysseus from returning to Ithaca, or, if he is destined to return there, to m ake him do so late and alone, and find trouble in his house. Poseidon hears the

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prayer. O dysseus' ship rejoins the others, and he sacrifices a ram to Zeus (who, he subsequently observes, does not accept the sacrifice, but plans destruction for his ships and com rades). At daw n the next day the fleet sails on.

Commentary T here would appear to be a corresponding passage in the Mahabharata, a t the end o f the twelfth year o f the Pandavas* exile, ju st before they have to live in disguise. All o f the brothers except Y udhishthira go in search o f drinking-w ater, come to a lake, drink its w ater and collapse, lifeless. Y udhishthira finds them , goes into the w ater and encounters a giant dem on with strange eyes, who declares that the w ater is his property and not to be drunk by others. T hen the dem on makes Y udhishthira answer questions about the universe, life and religion. Y udhishthira answers correctly, and the dem on grants him the life of one o f his brothers. He chooses N akula as the brother to be revived, and the dem on expresses astonishm ent th at A ijuna and Bhima, who are stronger, have been passed over. Y udhishthira replies th at as a king he m ust practise ‘uncruelty’, the highest o f laws, and treat a halfbrother (N akula has a different m other) as a full one. T he dem on, im pressed, revives all four o f Y udhishthira’s brothers, because he prefers ‘uncruelty' [1] to profit [2] and pleasure [3]. T h en the dem on reveals his real identity: Y udhishthira’s divine begetter, D harm a (L aw ).23 H ere, it would seem, the Mahabharata provides a characteristically and distinctively religious development, whereas the Odyssey, also characteristically, engages in w hat m ight be called ‘folklorization’ or ‘re-folklorization\ For with the Cyclops we enter the world o f inter­ national folk-tale. T he story is paralleled in folk-tales from Ireland to K orea, and from Iceland to Africa. Areas in which it is found include A rabia, T urkey and the C aucasus.24 However, the apparent absence of In d ian exam ples o f the blinding o f a giant leads one to doubt w hether the story would have been Proto-Indo-European or Indo-Iranian before being spread elsewhere. O n the other hand, one m ay w onder if the attack on a strong figure who is off his guard m ight be seen in the framework of the ‘three sins o f the w arrior’, as a sin against the w arrior’s ethic itself [2 or 2.2]. W hat is perhaps m ore im portant for our purposes is the em phasis on Zeus and hospitality, as opposed to the lawlessness o f the Cyclops, and the role of Odysseus as the cunning

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w arrior who is forced by an evil enemy to resort to a crafty ruse - one for which he will have to pay a price.

B O O K X: A GO DDESS, FO U R NY M PHS AND T R A N S F O R M A T IO N S At the start o f Book X , O dysseus’ fleet comes to the island inhabited by Aeolus, the stew ard of the winds, and his six sons and six daughters. Aeolus entertains Odysseus and his followers for a m onth and gives the hero a bag containing the various winds entrusted to him by Zeus. T hen he gives the fleet a breeze to blow it back to Ithaca. After nine days Ith aca is in sight, but the crew o f O dysseus' ship open the bag, thinking th at it contains treasure, and the winds blow the fleet back to Aeolus' island. Aeolus, deciding th at Odysseus m ust be hated by the gods, tells him to go away. T h e fleet sails on for six days, and comes to the land o f the Laestrygonians, where daw n comes ju st after sunset. H ere the people m assacre the crews of all of O dysseus' ships except his own. T his sails on to the island of the goddess Circe, a daughter o f the Sun by Perse, dau g h ter o f the O cean. Some god guides the ship into the island’s harbour. After two days Odysseus sees the smoke from C irce's house, b ut decides to rejoin his men before exploring further. Again, some god intervenes to help, putting a stag in his path, and he kills it and gives it to his men to eat. H e tells them o f the smoke, and they weep bitterly, afraid of some new danger. Odysseus divides his crew into two parties, one led by him self and the other by his com rade Eurylochus. T he latter leads his 22 m en ofT to Circe’s house, while Odysseus and his party stay by the ship. T he house is surrounded by wolves and lions, bewitched by Circe. Eurylochus’ men enter the house, b u t he stays outside. Circe drugs the men and turns them into pigs. Eurylochus returns to Odysseus and reports th at his party has been wiped out. O dysseus decides to go to the house, although Eurylochus em pha­ sizes the danger. T he hero sets off alone and meets H erm es, disguised as a youth. H erm es gives him an antidote to Circe’s d ru g and tells Odysseus w hat to do. W hen Circe hits him with her stick he m ust draw his sword and rush at her as if to kill her. She will invite him to her bed. Before accepting he m ust make her swear a great oath not to harm him. T hen H erm es goes away. Odysseus carries out these instructions, and duly goes to bed with Circe, after she has observed

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th at H erm es had told her to expect him. Four m aids are working in her house. T hey are daughters of springs, groves and rivers (i.e. nym phs), and prepare for Odysseus to be entertained luxuriously. He, however, insists th at Eurylochus’ men be freed first. Circe does this and turns them back into hum an form. Odysseus goes and fetches his other followers (in spite of Eurylochus’ warnings) and they stay for a whole year. At the end o f the year Odysseus tells Circe th at he and his m en w ant to go home. She says that first he m ust go to the U nderw orld, to consult the blind prophet Teiresias, to whom the queen o f the U nderw orld, Persephone, has granted the unique privilege o f keeping his wits. T hen Circe gives Odysseus detailed instructions. Before O dysseus em barks his youngest follower, Elpenor, who is neither a good fighter nor intelligent, gets drunk and falls asleep on the roof of C irce’s house. W hen he wakes up he falls to his death. Commentary H ere again various elements are reproduced in the Mahabharata, in the account o f A iju n a’s 12-month exile from D raupadi and his brothers. After spending three months with Chitrangada, Aijuna comes to the sacred fords by the ‘southern ocean’. H e is told th at five o f these fords are to be avoided, because they are inhabited by five crocodiles. Although the ascetics who live nearby try to restrain him, he none the less goes to them . A crocodile seizes hold o f him , but he grabs it in return and it turns into a nym ph. She explains th at she is called V arga and that, along with four fellow-nymphs, she had been turned into a crocodile by an ascetic as a punishm ent for interrupting his studies. T h e seer N arad a had told them that A ijuna would come and release them from their predicam ent. A ijuna duly delivers her com panions from their curse.25 Dumezil has argued that the assistance and advice given by H erm es correspond to the three ‘functions’: the antidote belongs to num ber 3, the sword to num ber 2 and the oath to num ber 1. H e points to a Scandinavian tale in which a giantess is finally won over by the threat of curses, after gold and a sword have failed.26 It has been noted th at the death o f Elpenor, O dysseus’ most dispensable com rade, looks suspiciously like a disguised version o f a sacrifice performed as a prelim inary to a consultation o f the dead.27

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B O O K X I: T H E F IN A L JO U R N E Y A N D S A C R IF IC E S O dysseus' ship now sails for a whole day before reaching a land o f perpetual darkness. H e digs a trench and pours libations to the dead: honey mixed with milk, then wine, lasdy water. After praying he sacrifices a ram and a black ewe. T he souls o f the dead sw arm up, notably th at o f Elpenor, who asks to be buried with his oar planted on his barrow . Teiresias tells Odysseus th at he and his m en m ust not touch the cattle o f the Sun on their way home. H e also says th at after killing the suitors the hero m ust take an oar and journey until he finds a people totally ignorant o f the sea, so th at someone will call the oar a ‘winnowing-fan’. T hen he m ust plant the oar in the earth and sacrifice a ram , a bull and a boar to Poseidon. After this he is to go hom e and sacrifice to all the gods. H e will die away from the sea, and o f old age. W hen Teiresias has finished, Odysseus sees a num ber o f dead women. His m other says that she has died because she missed him so m uch. T hen Odysseus sees N estor’s grandm other, who gave birth to his father after having intercourse with Poseidon, disguised as a rivergod. O th e r women seen by Odysseus include Leda, the m other of C astor and Polydcuces, who are alive and dead on alternate days. T h e narrative is interrupted when Odysseus tells his Phaeacian hosts th a t it is tim e for him to sleep. Arete says th at he should be given more presents, and Echeneus [0] agrees, while pointing out th at it is for Alcinous [1] to make the decision. Alcinous agrees as well, and tells O dysseus to continue his story. O dysseus' account now has him meeting the souls o f Agam em non, Achilles and Ajax the G reater. H e sees the special punishm ents inflicted on legendary sinners, and finally meets Heracles, who com­ pares O dysseus' sufferings with those th at he him self endured, and recalls his own descent to the U nderw orld, when he was guided by H erm es and A thena. Finally, the souls o f the dead all gather round O dysseus and frighten him into returning to his ship, which im m edi­ ately departs. Commentary T h e advice given by Teiresias is echoed in the Mahabharata. W hen the usurpers have all been killed the great seer Vyasa tells Y udhishthira to perform the horse sacrifice, so as to purify himself. L ater the seer says th at A ijuna m ust accom pany the horse which is to be sacrificed

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during the prelim inary ritual, in which it is allowed to w ander a t random as far as it likes. T he horse, protected by A ijuna, then goes to m any countries. Eventually he and the horse come back and the sacrifice is perform ed.28 Planting a winnowing-fan in the earth is a widely attested practice in m any countries: it signifies th at one's work is finished.29 Sacrificing a ram , a bull and a boar is typically Indo-European: the Rom ans had a triple sacrifice o f a pig, a ram and a bull, offered to M ars, and the Indians would offer an ox, a sheep and a goat to Indra. T hus in Rome and In d ia the deity is one of concept 2, whereas here he symbolizes the reflection o f concept 2 within concept 1. In both Rome and India the ritual is one o f self-purification. At Rome it also m arks the completion o f a census.30 T h e inform ation th at N estor’s father was born to Poseidon in the disguise o f a river-god is particularly interesting, since in the Maha­ bharata the m ain corresponding frame-figure, Bhishm a, is the son o f a river-goddess, the Ganges.31 Likewise, the story that H erm es and A thena guided Heracles to the U nderw orld is also significant: in N uristan another 2.1 deity, M on, makes a visit to the realm o f the dead below.32

B O O K X I I : T H E T H R E E T E S T S O F T H E W A R R IO R At the beginning o f Book X II Odysseus and his crew return to the hom e o f the D awn and C irce's island. Elpenor is buried a t sunrise, with his oar planted on his barrow. Circe entertains her visitors all day long, and then gives Odysseus instructions for his hom ew ard journey. First, he m ust avoid being seduced by the bewitching Sirens, female singers who entice all men who come near them . H e should put wax in his m en’s ears and instruct them to keep him firmly tied to the ship’s m ast. Secondly, he m ust bravely drive his ship past a rock inhabited by a m onster called Scylla, and let his crew suffer inevitable casualties from her six heads, so as to avoid being sucked into the whirlpool, called C harybdis, which is situated beneath another rock close by. Odysseus m ust curb his instinct to fight Scylla, against whom there is no defence. T hirdly, when he comes to the island o f the Sun, he m ust avoid touching the Sun's seven herds o f cattle and seven flocks of sheep (with 50 head in each). These are shepherded by nym phs. D awn comes again, and the ship sails on. O dysseus passes his first test, th at o f the Sirens. W hen he comes to the second, th at o f Scylla,

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he defies Circe’s instructions and dons his arm our, picks up a couple o f spears and prepares to fight. U nfortunately, he fails to see Scylla, and when all eyes are fixed on the whirlpool she suddenly appears and snatches and devours six o f his men. As for the third test, Odysseus does his best to persuade his men that they should not land on the island o f the Sun. W hen they insist on resting there he makes them sw ear not to kill the cattle or sheep. H e and his crew disem bark, and Zeus brings bad w eather, stranding them on the island for a m onth. T h eir provisions run out, and Odysseus goes inland to pray to the gods. T hey respond by putting him to sleep, and in the m eantim e his men decide to sacrifice some of the cattle to the gods and eat them . O dysseus wakes up, makes his way back, and smells the roasted m eat. H e reproaches Zeus and the other gods, who are sim ultaneously being addressed by the Sun, dem anding vengeance. T he gods show alarm ing portents: the dead cattle give signs of life. After six days o f feasting the w eather improves and the ship sails off again, but Zeus im m ediately wrecks it and kills the crew. Odysseus ties the m ast to the keel, and, seated astride the two tim bers, endures the buffeting o f the winds. All night long he is blown back, until a t daybreak he is again between Scylla and C harybdis. H e grabs hold of a great fig-tree on the rock above the whirlpool when the latter sucks the tim bers down. In the evening they are spewed up again, and he drops down, climbs on to them , and paddles away with his hands. Zeus prevents Scylla from seeing him. After nine more days he reaches Calypso’s island. (H ere his narrative ends.) Commentary

O dysseus’ tests in this book clearly follow the pattern o f concepts 3, 2 and 1 [or sub-concepts 2.3, 2.2 and 2.1], in the sam e order as in the tests endured in the Book o f Kings by the Iranian hero Siyawush, as we saw in the analysis o f Book V I o f the Iliad. T here Siyawush passed the test produced by the unacceptable advances o f a wom an [3 or 2.3], distinguished him self in w ar [2 or 2.2], and acted nobly and honour­ ably when p u t in a near-impossible position involving religious duty and diplom acy [1 or 2.1]. T he Mahabharata presents the sam e pattern in A iju n a’s second individual exile, when he is staying with Indra. First, In d ra tells a beautiful nym ph called U rvashi to go to A ijuna and teach him how to conduct him self with a female com panion. She makes herself as alluring as possible, goes to A rjuna and urges him to have intercourse with her. He refuses, on the grounds th at she is the

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m other o f his people. She curses him, saying th at he will have to spend his tim e am ong women, despised as a eunuch and a dancer. Afterwards In d ra reassures A ijuna, praises his self-control and tells him that the curse will stand him in good stead. Subsequently Indra puts A ijuna to a second test: he sends him to kill demons who live in an inaccessible spot by the ocean bay. A ijuna crosses the ocean and fights the demons, who at first use conventional weapons, and then resort to magic. They produce a shower o f rocks as large as m ountains, and then enorm ous jets of w ater. After A ijuna has defeated them he is faced, while returning, with a third test. He sees a city in the air, inhabited by other demons, who, he learns, cannot be killed by the gods but only by a hum an. Oveijoyed by the idea o f killing enemies o f the gods, he attacks them , but they are too strong for him. He is obliged to resort to a special missile, which produces thousands of apparitions - these kill the dem ons off. (Bellerophon, in his corresponding test, kills the C him era, a m onster o f divine birth, following signs provided by the gods.)33

B O O K X I I I : D IS A S T E R , T R IC K E R Y A N D D IS G U IS E Book X I I I starts with the Phaeacians* reaction to O dysseus' narrative. Alcinous suggests that their guest be given extra presents: each chief should donate one tripod and one ordinary cauldron, and later have him self reim bursed by the people. Next day, at daybreak, the gifts are brought and an ox is sacrificed to Zeus. Odysseus keeps looking a t the sun, w anting it to set so that he can leave. W hen it does, libations are poured to the gods and the ship speeds off. N ear daw n it reaches Ithaca and a cave sacred to the Nymphs. T he Phaeacian crew put Odysseus, fast asleep, on the beach, along with his gifts. T hen they go home. M eanw hile Poseidon com plains to Zeus th at the Phaeacians are not showing him respect. H e had agreed to O dysseus’ return after Zeus had prom ised it, but he had w anted the hero to suffer, whereas now he is profiting from the Phaeacians’ generosity. Poseidon declares th at he will wreck the ship and surround the Phaeacians' city w ith a ring of m ountains. T he ship is duly turned into stone in full view o f the Phaeacians, and Alcinous recalls the old prophecy: Poseidon would wreck one o f their ships and put m ountains round their city. They prepare to sacrifice 12 bulls to the god to try to avert the second of these disasters.

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O dysseus now wakes up, but fails to recognize Ithaca, because A thena has covered the spot with a mist. He thinks that the Phaeacians have deposited him somewhere else, and hopes th at Zeus, as the god o f suppliants, will punish them . A thena appears in the guise o f a young shepherd and explains th at this is Ithaca, unsuitable for horses but good for goats and cattle. Odysseus pretends to be a C retan exile, and A thena smiles, resum ing her usual form. She observes th at they are pre-em inent in cunning am ong gods and hum ans. Now they are to hatch a plot. O dysseus replies that her kindness tow ards him was interrupted after the fall o f Troy. A thena explains th at she could not oppose Poseidon. She disperses the m ist, and O dysseus prays to the local N ym phs. T he goddess and the hero hide the gifts and schem e the destruction o f the suitors. A thena says th at she will m ake Odysseus look old, unrecognizable and contem ptible. H e should go to his loyal swineherd while she fetches Telem achus. T he transform ation is accom ­ plished, and they go their separate ways. Commentary Again, the Mahabharata provides close parallels. T he Phaeacian city, as we have seen, corresponds to the Indian city o f D varaka. A iju n a’s hosts there bring plenty o f gifts for him to his home a t In d rap rasth a. As Allen has well observed, the n atural disaster w ith which the Phaeacians are faced is echoed by that which overtakes D varaka: it disappears in the ocean. T he trickery o f A thena, helping O dysseus to kill the suitors, is paralleled a t a sim ilar stage in the Indian epic. As has been noted above, during A ijuna’s second individual exile he is told by U rvashi th at he will spend his tim e in the contem ptible form o f a eunuch, and In d ra adds th at this will stand him in good stead. T his is because A ijuna and his brothers have to spend the final year of their collective exile in disguise. Now, after A ijuna has rejoined his brothers, and a t the sta rt o f th at final year, Indra resorts to trickery in order to ensure th at A ijuna will kill his strongest adversary, K am a. Disguised as a brahm in, he approaches K a m a when the latter is praising the Sun a t noon, a tim e when he cannot refuse a brahm in anything. K a m a is forced to p a rt with his arm our and earrings, thus sacrificing his invincibility. Shortly afterwards A ijuna, his brothers and D raupadi disguise themselves as servants: A ijuna himself, as forecast, takes the guise o f a eunuch.34

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B O O K X IV : A F A IT H F U L H E R D S M A N At the beginning o f Book X IV Odysseus comes to E um aeus’ hut. This is in a courtyard with 12 pig-sties, each containing 50 sows. O utside sleep the boars, reduced by the suitors to 360, and guarded by four dogs. E um aeus also has four assistants. H e stops his dogs from tearing O dysseus to pieces, and welcomes him (still unrecognized) to his hut, observing th at strangers and beggars come from Zeus. After this he serves his visitor a m eal, and inveighs against the suitors’ wickedness. E um aeus extols his m aster’s riches: on the m ainland he has 12 herds o f cattle, 12 flocks of sheep, 12 droves o f pigs and 12 herds o f goats. O n Ith aca itself he has 11 m ore herds o f goats. U nfortunately, he is now probably dead. Odysseus replies that E um aeus’ m aster will return very soon, when one moon wanes and another begins. E um aeus asks who his visitor is, and Odysseus again spins a yarn about how he has come to be an exile from C rete. Ares and A thena, he says, had m ade him a brave w arrior, and he had loved the w arrior’s life, presum ably because the gods had so inclined him. Zeus had brought ab o u t the T rojan W ar, in which he had fought, and afterw ards had planned m ore trouble for him. H e had gone to Egypt with nine ships, and his m en had attacked the Egyptians. Zeus had caused the invaders to panic and be killed or enslaved, but he had throw n him self on the m ercy of the local king. T he latter protected him from his people, so as not to anger Zeus, who as the god o f hospitality is infuriated by evil actions. Later he had been taken on board a ship by a treacherous Phoenician, who intended to sell him as a slave, but Zeus had wrecked the ship and drow ned everyone else. H e himself, clinging to the m ast, had reached the land o f T hesprotia and come to its king. T h e pseudo-C retan now talks about the real Odysseus, and claim s to have heard from the T hesprotian king th at he will soon be returning to Ithaca. H e also claims, in order to explain his own presence, th at a T hesprotian ship’s crew were planning to sell him into slavery, b ut he had escaped when they stopped a t the island. T h e sw ineherd refuses to believe the good news about his m aster, and says th at he has been taken in by the same sort o f story before by someone to whom he had given hospitality. Odysseus offers, literally, to bet his life on it, but E um aeus points out that to take his guest’s life would be a crim e against Zeus. H e sacrifices a pig, m aking offerings to the gods in general and to the Nym phs and H erm es in particular. H ost and guest dine, and afterwards the latter tells a story. H e claim s th at

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once, when he was in an am bush alongside Odysseus and had no cloak, O dysseus had saved him from dying o f cold by sending a com rade off with a message: the messenger had left his own cloak behind. E um aeus takes the hint and provides his visitor with a thick cloak for the night. Commentary In order to understand the character of Eum aeus it is necessary to look ahead to the arm ed confrontation between Odysseus and the suitors in Book X X II. T here Odysseus has on his side A thena (who briefly takes the form o f M entor), Telem achus, Eum aeus and a cowherd from the m ainland. Now when, in the Mahabharata, A rjuna and his brothers begin their period o f living in disguise, his youngest brothers, a pair of twins, assum e the guises o f a groom and a cowherd. T his corresponds to the usual Indo-E uropean pattern in which the representative o f the m ore warlike Divine Tw in is connected with horses and his counterpart is connected with cattle. L ater, o f course, all five brothers will fight against the enemy. T he fact th at Eum aeus looks after pigs, not horses, is presum ably due to the circum stance that Ithaca is not suitable for the latter.35 It is from about this point th at the Odyssey strongly resembles an epic outside the Indo-E uropean linguistic field. In the C entral Asian T urkic epic Alpamysh, the returning hero of the title meets his sister, who is looking after a herd o f camels. (This m ight correspond to O dysseus’ encounter with A thena in the guise of a shepherd in Book X III.) T hen Alpamysh meets his old slave K ultai, a shepherd. K ultai has been given false hope by strangers who have given him good news, and so distrusts his visitor, but then recognizes him thanks to a birthm ark. H ost and guest share a feast. Alpamysh dons K ultai’s clothes and thus, disguised and not recognized, observes the insolence being shown to his family. (As we have noted above, experts rule out an influence from the Odyssey as geographically and historically imposs­ ible. W e shall see reasons for believing th at an ancient C entral Asian folk-tale has gone into both epics.)36

B O O K X V : A R E T U R N A N D A SE E R A thena goes to Telem achus, who is still a t Sparta, and tells him to go back to Ithaca, avoiding the suitors' am bush, and to visit Eum aeus

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before doing anything else. At daybreak T elem achus tells M enelaus th at he m ust leave, and is given presents and a m eal before his d eparture. An eagle flies past on the right, carrying a goose. M enelaus wonders how to interpret the om en, but Helen has the answer: O dysseus will pounce on the suitors. Telem achus and Peisistratus set off, and after stopping for the night drive on a t daw n the next day. W hen they reach Pylos, Telem achus insists th at he m ust em bark at once. H e sacrifices to A thena, and is approached by a prophet called Theoclym enus. Apollo had m ade this m an’s father the finest o f all prophets. Theoclym enus has killed a m an, and asks T elem achus for sanctuary. T elem achus takes him on board, and, given a following wind by A thena, sails for home. M eanwhile, O dysseus tells Eum aeus that he w ants to go to the suitors in the hope o f finding a jo b with them: Herm es, the deity of work, has m ade him skilful in perform ing servants1 tasks, such as laying fires, splitting logs, cookery, dividing up food and serving wine. E um aeus replies th at the suitors would kill him , and that he should aw ait T elem achus’ return. His visitor asks about O dysseus’ father and m other. T h e swineherd explains th at the former is m iserable and the latter is dead. E um aeus recalls th at he him self had been brought up together w ith their daughter* who was their youngest (or younger) child, before the two children reached their youth and she was m arried ofT. O dysseus proceeds to inquire how the swineherd cam e to be spending his childhood in Ithaca in the first place. Eum aeus explains th at he is the son o f a king o f a distant island, where the people are always killed in old age by Apollo and Artemis. O ne day some Phoenician traders cam e there and one of them seduced a female com patriot who was working in the house of E um aeus’ father. She agreed to run away with them , taking some gold and E um aeus himself, who was to be sold into slavery. T he woman took three goblets and the child, and em barked on the Phoenicians’ ship, but after a few days A rtem is killed her and the crew threw her corpse overboard. Eum aeus was sold to O dysseus’ father. Soon T elem achus reaches Ithaca, and tells his com panion to go to the city while he visits his family’s farms. H e advises Theoclym enus to go to the house o f Eurym achus, the keenest o f those who wish to m arry Penelope and have O dysseus’ place o f honour, and expresses the opinion th at Zeus knows if the suitors will m eet destruction before it comes to a wedding. A hawk appears on the right as a messenger from Apollo, holding a dove and scattering its feathers between Telem achus

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and the ship. Theoclym enus interprets this as an omen: no family in Ith aca is m ore royal or powerful than that o f Telem achus. T he latter responds by telling one of his com panions to take care o f Theoclym enus in his own hom e, and him self makes his way to Eum aeus. Commentary T h e narrative concerning Telem achus seems to correspond to p a rt of the Mahabharata, as we have seen in our analysis o f Books I-IV . Telemachus* adventures are paralleled by those o f A iju n a’s brothers in his second individual exile. T he brothers have m et the god o f riches, K ubera, who corresponds to M enelaus and who now bids them farewell, prophesying th at they will soon be reunited with A ijuna. T hey are to return to the herm itage o f the seer A rshtishena. A iju n a’s brothers subsequently see A rshtishena and also their special priest, who is called D haum ya, and who now im parts knowledge about the course o f the sun to Y udhishthira. After a while A ijuna rejoins them .37 T his p a rt o f the Odyssey also corresponds, it would appear, to the History o f Rome's account o f the young m an who, having floated along the T ib er and climbed a cliff to reach the Senate, now has to take the sam e dangerous route back, past the enemy, in order to retu rn to Veii, so th at Cam illus can be legally recalled.38 As for O dysseus’ conversation with Eum aeus, it m ay be noted that the depiction o f H erm es as the god o f work, m aking servants clever and skilful a t their tasks, fits in with our interpretation o f him as a deity o f sub-concept 2.1. Eumaeus* portrayal o f him self as a sort o f honorary brother, having about the sam e age, of Odysseus* younger (or youngest) sister is highly significant. Odysseus, we learn later, is an only son. W hether he had other sisters is not clear. T he narrative also m akes Eum aeus a kind o f honorary younger (or youngest) brother to Odysseus, like N akula to A ijuna. We have seen th at in Alpamysh the returning hero meets first his sister, who is looking after camels, and then the loyal shepherd. It is notew orthy that Eum aeus is a king’s son who has become a swineherd; N akula is a prince who disguises him self as a groom .39 T h e story o f Eumaeus* abduction is a typical variation on the notorious Indo-European them e o f the traitor. ‘G old-drunkenness’ is the nam e o f the Scandinavian female being sent by the enemy to sow corruption; in Rome the treacherous woman T arpeia is bribed with gold, or in another version with love - she is soon killed.40

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B O O K X V I: R E U N IO N A N D A W A R -D E IT Y T elem achus comes to E um aeus’ hut, and he and the swineherd share a m eal with Odysseus. T he latter asks if T elem achus is being let down by his brothers, since the suitors are being allowed to behave in so appalling a m anner. T elem achus replies th at Zeus has m ade only sons the rule in his family. H e tells Eum aeus to inform Penelope o f his safe retu rn . E um aeus wonders if he should also inform O dysseus' father, who is sitting on his farm with the flesh withering on his bones. Telem achus says that Penelope should send someone else to let him know. After the swineherd has left, A thena makes herself visible to Odysseus, b ut not to Telem achus. T he dogs, however, do see her. O dysseus goes outside and is advised by A thena to reveal everything to his son. She transform s him into a well-dressed, handsom e and dark-skinned m an, and then disappears. Odysseus goes back to his son, who a t first thinks that he m ust be a god, and convinces him of his identity. T elem achus w arns him o f the enorm ous num ber o f the suitors, b ut his father declares th at Zeus and A thena will be on his side. H e instructs his son to go hom e a t daw n and w ait for the right tim e to attack. In the m eantim e the suitors learn o f Telemachus* return. A ntinous suggests th at they should m ake another attem pt to kill him , but another leading suitor, called Am phinom us, argues th at first they should find o ut w hat the gods w ant. T his view is approved by the rest. Penelope now confronts the suitors and addresses herself to Antinous. She points o u t that it is an act of the grossest im piety for him to plot against Telem achus, because Antinous* own father had taken refuge with O dysseus from the rest o f the Ithacans, who w anted to kill him for joining pirates in a raid on the T hesprotians and thus breaching a pact with the latter. Odysseus had saved his life. Eurym achus makes a hypocritical profession of afTection for Telem achus, and Penelope goes to bed. Eum aeus, who has given her his message, rejoins Odysseus (whom A thena has again turned into an old m an in dirty clothes) and his son. T hey have another meal together before going to sleep. Commentary O f p articu lar interest here is the presentation o f O dysseus’ father as having his flesh w ithered, as opposed to Odysseus himself, who is rendered dark-skinned when A thena w ants him to look younger. In

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the Mahabharata A ijuna’s official, hum an father also lives away from his palace and city, in the forest. His nam e, Pandu, m eans (pale’, and Dumezil has argued that this, along with his remoteness, connects him with V aruna: in some rituals the god is represented by a m an who m ust be extremely white and also, like Pandu, im potent.41 (In the History o f Rome, when the G auls attack Rome during C am illus’ absence, the old Rom ans who have enjoyed the highest honours ju s t sit passively in their homes outside the citadel.)42 Also o f interest is the inform ation th at Antinous* father had had his life saved by Odysseus. In the Mahabharata> while A ijuna and his brothers are in their collective exile, their enemies go on an ill-advised expedition, and their m ost wicked representative, D uryodhana, is captured by the G andharvas. H e has to be rescued from the latter by A ijuna.43 T he action o f Book X V I itself is also to some extent paralleled in the Mahabharata. W hen A ijuna rejoins his brothers after his second individual exile, Indra, like A thena, puts in a personal appearance.44 (A thena’s being seen by the dogs b ut not by Telem achus is a phenom enon echoed in G erm anic folklore, where gods who are invisible to hum ans are none the less perceived by anim als.)45 A ijuna, like Odysseus, has to rem ain dis­ guised and hum iliated before the final showdown. In Alpamysh the returning hero’s son, Y adgar, also joins him when he is being entertained by his loyal servant, the shepherd, and the three figures eat together. T here too the villain o f the epic, U ltan the Bald, threatens to kill the hero’s son. Alpam ysh’s grey-haired father is hum iliated.46

B O O K X V II: L IV E S T O C K A N D D IS G U IS E D S T R E N G T H At daw n the next day Telem achus sets off for the city, telling Eum aeus to take Odysseus there too. H e enters the palace and is greeted by Penelope, who looks like Artemis or A phrodite. H e tells her to pray to all the gods, prom ising offerings if Zeus gives their family its revenge on the suitors. T hen he goes out again, endowed with surpassing handsom eness by A thena. He sees Theoclym enus and brings him inside. T hey bathe and eat together, and then Penelope asks T elem a­ chus about Odysseus. H e passes on the news given by M enelaus. Thcoclym enus swears th at Odysseus is on the island already. Sub­ sequently, when it is tim e for dinner and the sheep are being brought back from the fields, the suitors prepare to eat, and various anim als are slaughtered.

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Elsewhere, O dysseus and Eum aeus are preparing to follow T elem a­ chus. T hey come to a fountain, beneath an altar dedicated to the N ym phs. A goatherd called M elanthius, who is bringing in some goats for the suitors to eat, insults them and kicks Odysseus. T he latter is ab o u t to kill him, but m anages to restrain him self and preserve his disguise of a weak old m an. E um aeus prays to the Nym phs to grant th at Odysseus m ay return. M elanthius expresses the wish that Apollo m ay kill Telem achus. Odysseus and Eum aeus arrive a t the palace. A fine old dog, bred by Odysseus, is now lying half-dead and abandoned on a dunghill. It lifts its head, pricks up its ears, recognizes Odysseus, wags its tail and drops its ears again, but is too weak to come near, and im m ediately dies. Eum aeus enters the palace and is followed by Odysseus. T he feast is in progress, and T elem achus tells the swineherd to give some food to the stranger and tell him to beg from the suitors. O dysseus eats, and then A thena appears and tells him to go round collecting bits o f food from the suitors, so as to sort out those who behave correctly from the rest. (Even so, we are told, she is not going to save any o f them .) H e obeys, and they all give him food, with the exception o f Antinous, who expresses his anger with Eum aeus for bringing the beggar in. Odysseus tells Antinous his story o f having got into trouble in Egypt, but A ntinous reacts by ordering him to go away from his table. As Odysseus goes back to his place A ntinous throws a stool, which hits him in the back. T he other suitors are shocked, and point out th at the beggar m ight be a god in disguise. Penelope, who is in another part o f the palace, hears o f this incident, and says th at she hopes Apollo will strike Antinous in the sam e way. T hen she sum m ons Eum aeus and tells him to fetch the stranger. W hen she utters a wish th at Odysseus will come back, T elem achus gives a resounding sneeze, which she hears and recognizes as a good omen. T h e swineherd goes to fetch Odysseus, but the latter says th at it will be better to wait until sunset. Eum aeus, after transm itting the answ er to Penelope, tells T elem achus to look after himself, and after finishing his m eal goes home. Commentary T h e Mahabharata also shows livestock being taken from its owners when A ijuna and his brothers are living in disguise, during the final year o f their collective exile. T heir enemies decide to make a cattle raid on the kingdom where the Pandavas are staying, and send their allies in to raid first. A t this point the fixed period o f exile comes to an end,

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and A iju n a's brothers intervene when the king whom they are serving is captured. Y udhishthira, however, tells Bhima not to reveal his superhum an strength when rescuing the king (just as O dysseus conceals his superior strength when kicked by M elanthius). Now the Pandavas’ enemies themselves invade and drive off an enorm ous q u an tity o f cattle. A ijuna goes to confront them , and they think th at perhaps they recognize him .47 In Alpamysh the hero also arrives in disguise (in the clothing o f his faithful shepherd) at his own home. A wedding feast is being held, and his wife is being forcibly m arried to the usurper, U ltan the Bald. Nobody recognizes A lpam ysh, who notes U ltan ’s insulting behaviour tow ards his family, and observes which servants are still loyal to their m aster. An old cam el has been lying for seven years, immobile, on the ground. W hen Alpam ysh draw s near it suddenly rises to welcome him .48

B O O K X V I I I : A F IG H T A N D E X P U L S IO N A beggar known as Irus insults Odysseus, and tells him to go away or be throw n out. Odysseus replies that there is room for both o f them . Iru s challenges him to a fight, and A ntinous offers a stuffed goat’s paunch as a prize. W hen Odysseus tucks up his rags it is clear th at he is a strong m an, and A thena comes and makes him look even stronger. Irus is frightened, but the servants drag him forward. Odysseus wonders w hether to hit him really hard or lightly, and decides on the latter course, so as not to arouse suspicion. H e knocks his opponent dow n and drags him out o f the palace. T he suitors tell O dysseus th at they hope th at Zeus and the other gods will fulfil his wishes, and prom ise to send Irus off to a tyrannical king on the m ainland. Odysseus takes these words as a good om en. H e makes a speech to A m phinom us, saying th a t one has to endure the vexations brought by the gods: the disposition o f a hum an being varies according to w hat Zeus vouchsafes. A m phinom us, he hopes, will not be there when O dysseus attacks the suitors. T hen he pours a libation, drinks and gives the cup to A m phinom us (who, we are told, has already been m arked down for d eath by A thena). At this point Penelope is inspired by A thena to go and show herself to the suitors. T h e goddess makes her look extremely beautiful, and the suitors are overwhelmed. Penelope rebukes T elem achus for allow­ ing A ntinous to throw his stool a t the stranger. H e replies, invoking Zeus, A thena and Apollo, th at he would like to see the suitors beaten

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like Irus. Eurym achus praises Penelope's beauty, and she replies that now, unfortunately, she will be obliged to rem arry. However, she continues, the suitors should stop devouring her family’s livestock, and should bring her presents instead. Odysseus is delighted by her m ethod o f extorting gifts from them . Sum ptuous presents arc duly brought, and Penelope retires. T h e suitors* revels continue into the night. Odysseus tells the m aidservants to go away while he stokes the braziers which light the hall. O ne o f the m aidservants, M elantho, replies by insulting him , but he speaks to her so severely in return th at the women all ru n away. A thena, who w ants Odysseus to feel m ore pain, makes the suitors insult him more. Eurym achus com m ents on his complete baldness, and suggests th at he prefers begging to work. O dysseus replies th at he would be happy to compete with Eurym achus and see which o f them could reap or plough better, and adds th at if the m aster o f the house returned, Eurym achus would soon be running for his life. Eurym achus loses his tem per and throws a stool a t Odysseus, who ducks, so th at it hits a cup-bearer instead. A commotion ensues, and T elem achus tells the suitors th at they should go home. After a final round o f libations and drinking they do so. Commentary As we have already seen, Odysseus* concealing o f his real strength is paralleled in the Mahabharata, when Bhim a has to avoid showing that he is supem aturally strong (this is because o f uncertainty about w hether or not the periods o f exile and concealm ent are really over). D uring the period in which A ijuna and his brothers are living in disguise, there is another episode in which Bhima*s strength has to be used. At a public festival the king whom they are serving orders Bhima (who is disguised as a cook) to fight a cham pion wrestler, who is duly left lying beaten on the ground. T he hairlessness o f Odysseus* head corresponds to the hairlessness o f A ijuna's skin in his guise o f a eunuch.49 A part from the expulsion o f Irus, which anticipates the final m assacre o f the suitors themselves, Book X V III also presents the expulsion o f the m aidservants from the hall, and finally a curt and authoritative com m and from Telem achus, which makes the suitors go home for the night. Now there would seem to be some correspondence w ith the R om an rite in which women, some tim e before the sum m er solstice, brutally expel from the temple o f M ater M a tu ta (‘M other

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D aw n1) a female slave, whom they have themselves brought in, infringing the usual rule th at no slaves are adm itted there. T he idea seems to be that the daw n needs assistance and strength in its task o f expelling evil darkness from the sky.50 T h e treatm ent meted out by Odysseus to Irus resem bles th at meted out by Alpamysh to a cook at U ltan the Bald’s wedding feast.51

B O O K X IX : A R E C O G N IT IO N As soon as the suitors have gone hom e for the night, O dysseus tells Telem achus th at they m ust take all the weapons which are in the hall and hide them in the storeroom . T hey do so, while A thena lights their way. T elem achus goes to bed, and Odysseus is left to talk to Penelope, who comes dow n to question him. M elantho again insults Odysseus, who replies that Telem achus, thanks to Apollo, is a son w orthy o f his father, and will take note o f the m aidservants' behaviour. Penelope asks Odysseus who he is, and he again pretends to be a C retan. H e m entions the various peoples who have settled in C rete, notably the Dorians, who are described as living in three divisions. T he stranger says th at he has m et Odysseus, and describes his clothes so accurately th at Penelope is convinced. T hen he announces th at O dysseus is about to retu rn , and gives an account of his adventures. He says th at the hero has gone to the oracle o f Zeus a t Dodona and will be back in a short period o f time, when one moon wanes and another waxes. Penelope then tells her m aidservants to give their visitor a bath. H e says th at he w ants ju st one elderly m aidservant to give him a wash. Eurycleia prepares to do so, lam enting her absent m aster an d com­ plaining th at Zeus m ust have hated him a lot, in spite o f receiving frequent sacrifices from him. W hen she starts to wash the stranger she recognizes a scar which Odysseus had received when young. H e had been to stay with his m other’s father, an unsurpassed thief and peijurer, whose talents had been given him by Herm es. Odysseus, when hunting a t daybreak, had been wounded in the thigh by a boar, which he had none the less killed. W hen Eurycleia realizes th at the stranger is her m aster, she turns towards Penelope, but the latter’s attention is distracted by Athena. Odysseus orders Eurycleia not to reveal his identity. After O dysseus has had his wash, Penelope questions him again. She w ants him to interpret a dream , in which she has seen an eagle kill a flock o f 20 geese. T he stranger replies that obviously her husband

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will kill the suitors. Penelope, however, declares that she will set the suitors a test. T hey will be called upon to string Odysseus* great bow and shoot an arrow through the apertures o f 12 axes. She will m arry whoever succeeds in doing this. Odysseus replies that the test should proceed w ithout delay, since Penelope's husband will return before it is successfully completed. Penelope retires to bed. Commentary In the Mahabharata, when A ijuna gradually re-emerges from his longest exile and his period o f living in disguise, the first person to recognize him is also a senior figure, his teacher Drona. M oreover, the situation in Book X IX is also paralleled in one of the Mahabharata*s m ost famous stories, th at o f K ing N ala, who also returns from exile when his wife is about to choose a new husband. N ala is disguised as a hunchback. A m aidservant operates as an interm ediary between N ala and his wife as the form er’s identity is gradually established.53 As we have already seen, the episode o f Eurycleia’s recognizing Odysseus by his scar is echoed in the story o f the faithful shepherd’s recognizing Alpam ysh by a birthm ark on his shoulder. A lpam ysh, like Odysseus, prefers to prolong his incognito, noting which o f his servants have betrayed him .53 Apollo is represented as being the cause o f T elem achus’ m erits: this is because he is the god o f youthful male beauty and excellence. As a deity o f concept 3 he brings the young m ale and his qualities to fruition and m aturity.54 M uch attention has been given to the description o f the Dorian Greeks as 'living in three divisions’. T his has been seen as reflecting Indo-E uropean social tripartition, since elsewhere in H om er the inhabitants o f Rhodes are portrayed as 'arranged in threefold divi­ sions’, and this would appear to refer to a Dorian settlem ent. However, the Greek word applied to the D orians here, trikhaikes, has also been taken as m eaning 'w ith waving horsehair plum es’.55

BO O K XX : A PR O TEC TO R , A COW H ERD AND A PRO PH ET O dysseus lies down to sleep, but is kept awake by the apparently insoluble problem of how to deal with the suitors, given their num erical superiority. A thena comes to him, and he explains why he is worried,

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adding th at even if he kills all the suitors it is not clear where he could go to escape vengeance from their relatives. T h e goddess replies that she is powerful enough to give him victory over any num ber of enemies. T h en she puts him to sleep and goes away. Penelope then wakes up, cries and prays to A rtem is to gran t her death. She says th at she would be happy with a fate like th at of the legendary daughters o f Pandareus. T hey were nourished with cheese, honey and wine by A phrodite; H era granted them form and ju d g e­ m ent, m aking them superior to all other women; Artem is m ade them tall; A thena taught them to work extremely well. Afterwards A phrodite w ent to see Zeus (who knows everything that is destined), to ask him to give them husbands, and they were snatched away by the Storm winds and handed over as slaves to the Erinyes. D aw n comes, and Odysseus asks Zeus for good omens. Zeus thunders and makes a wom an utter propitious words. She is one o f the 12 women who grind barley and w heat a t handm ills. T he others have finished working, but she is not so strong as they are. Now she prays to Zeus th at today the suitors will eat their last dinner. T he rest o f the servants get up and start their work. Eum aeus comes and greets Odysseus, and then M elanthius turns up and insults him again. O dysseus’ cowherd Philoetius arrives, bringing anim als which have come from the m ainland. H e speaks kindly to the stranger and reproaches Zeus for m aking people m iserable after he has caused them to be bom . Philoetius then lam ents the absence of his royal m aster. A t the sam e tim e the suitors are again plotting how to kill T elem a­ chus. An eagle with a dove in its claws appears on their left, and they a t once realize (an om en on the left being unfavourable) th at their schemes are doom ed to failure. T hey come to the palace and begin to enjoy another splendid feast. T elem achus seats Odysseus by the threshold and tells the suitors to behave themselves. (In the m eantim e, we are told, the townsfolk are gathering in a grove sacred to Apollo for a festival in his honour.) A thena again inspires the suitors to insult O dysseus and make him suffer yet more. A rich m an called Ctesippus m akes a sarcastic speech about the beggar and throws a cow’s hoof a t him. O dysseus ducks and it hits the wall. Telem achus rebukes Ctesippus and the rest o f the suitors as well. T hey are silent for a long time, until one o f their leading figures, called Agelaus, responds. H e agrees th at the stranger should not be m altreated, but urges T elem a­ chus to tell Penelope to find a new husband. T elem achus says th at he is encouraging his m other to do ju s t that, but will not drive her out against her will. A thena makes the suitors burst into laughter a t this

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reply. T hen they start grim acing and weeping, as blood appears on the food which they are eating. Theoclym enus tells them th at they are covered in darkness, while the walls are splashed with blood and the courtyard is full of ghosts. T he suitors laugh a t him , and he goes away. T hey continue to provoke T elem achus by pouring ridicule on his guests. Commentary T h e presentation o f A thena as O dysseus’ com panion in the face o f a large num ber o f enemies is echoed in the Mahabharata, when the period o f the Pandavas’ exile and life in disguise is over and the great battle w ith their enemies is about to begin. K rishna gives A ijuna the choice between him self and his arm y. A ijuna chooses the god, to stand beside him as his charioteer, while K rishna's enorm ous arm y is given to the leader o f the Pandavas* enemies.56 O dysseus' kind-hearted cowherd, Philoetius, corresponds to A iju n a's brother Sahadeva, who pursues this occupation when living in disguise, having previously gained experience a t working with cows.57 Philoetius forms a pair with Eum aeus, as does O dysseus' sister; an opposing p air is formed by M elanthius and his sister M elantho. Theoclym enus' w arning to the suitors th at they are doom ed is also paralleled in the Mahabharata, when, as the final battle draw s ever nearer, a bard called Sam jaya, who has obtained special knowledge through religious devotion, w arns the family o f the Pandavas* befud­ dled and lawless enemies th at K rishna will destroy them .56 T he details o f T heoclym enus' vision are found elsewhere in the Indo-E uropean field: the cloud o f darkness which envelops the suitors appears in Celtic literature, and the walls dripping with blood are instanced in the Scandinavian sagas.59

B O O K X X I: T H E T E S T O F T H E B O W A thena proceeds to inspire Penelope to test the suitors with O dysseus' great bow. T his had been given to him by a hero called Iphitus, who was subsequently killed by Heracles in spite o f being the latter’s guest. Penelope fetches the bow and brings it to the suitors. She tells them th at she will m arry whoever succeeds in stringing it and shooting an arrow through the apertures o f 12 axes. Eum aeus and Philoetius weep when they see the bow, and are rebuked for this by Antinous.

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T elem achus puts the axes in position and tests his own strength with the bow. At the fourth attem pt he comes close to stringing it, but Odysseus signals to him not to do so. A ntinous calls on the other suitors to attem p t the test in the order o f their seating arrangem ents for feasting, starting from where the wine is poured. T hus the first m an to try is one Leodes, the augur who takes the om ens from the entrails o f the sacrificed anim als, and always sits in the corner by the wine­ bowl. He strongly disapproves of the suitors’ behaviour. Leodes’ hands are soft, and he fails to string the bow. H e declares that it will deprive m any fine men of their lives. A ntinous is angered by these words, and tells M elanthius to make up a fire and bring some tallow, so that the bow can be warm ed and greased. T his is done, but more suitors fail the test. In the m eantim e Eum aeus and Philoetius have gone outside. Odysseus joins them and asks if they would fight for their m aster. T hey respond with prayers for the latter’s return. H e reveals his identity, and com m ents that they are the only two o f his men who will be happy to see him back. T hen he promises th at if he beats the suitors both o f them will be T elem achus’ brothers in his eyes. Finally, he proves th at he is Odysseus by showing them his scar. T he three of them em brace, and then the hero gives his instructions: E um aeus is to take the bow and p u t it in O dysseus’ hands, and also tell the women to stay in their quarters, while Philoetius is to secure the gate o f the courtyard. T hey return to the hall. T h e bow has now reached Eurym achus, who also fails to string it. A ntinous points out th at it is a holiday, sacred to Apollo. T hey should postpone the test until the next day, and m eanwhile have some more wine. T his suggestion meets with general agreem ent. After the suitors have had m ore to drink, Odysseus makes a speech. H e would ju s t like to test his strength on the bow. A ntinous replies angrily th at the stranger m ust be drunk, and recalls the disastrous drunkenness o f a famous centaur, which started the legendary quarrel between the C entaurs and the Lapiths. Penelope interrupts, observing th at the stranger obviously does not w ant to m arry her: she will give him new clothes and weapons if he strings the bow. T elem achus declares that he alone is the owner of the bow, and orders his m other to go to the w om en's quarters. She obeys. E um aeus is already carrying the bow tow ards Odysseus, but the suitors are howling their disapproval. H e puts it down, but Telem achus tells him to continue. Odysseus is duly given it, and his other instructions are also carried out. T he suitors ridicule him and his

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chances o f stringing the bow. H e strings and twangs it. Zeus thunders in reply. O dysseus shoots an arrow through the apertures o f the axes, and tells T elem achus to have the suitors’ supper prepared. T hen he nods, and his son stands, arm ed with a spear and a sword, by his side. Commentary T h e Mahabharata also has a story about stringing a bow in order to win a wife, but it comes very early in the epic, when A ijuna has to win D raupadi. D raupadi’s father celebrates a great festival, and has a very hard bow m ade, which is alm ost impossible to bend. H e also has a special contraption built in the sky, with a golden target fixed on it. T h e w inner has to string the bow and fire the arrow s through the contraption (m ore precisely, through a hole in a wheel) and into the target. M any barons fail to string the bow. A ijuna and his brothers have come disguised as brahm ins, begging for food. W hen A ijuna stands up to enter the contest some real brahm ins ridicule his chances of stringing the bow. H e duly succeeds in stringing it and fires arrows into the target. Y udhishthira and the twins now go away. All the barons who have failed the test give vent to their anger a t the idea of D raupadi being given to a brahmin* and A ijuna and Bhima confront them .60 Leodes is clearly a frame-figure, like Bhishm a in the Mahabharata: he sits a t the end, is the first to attem pt the test and (like Bhishm a in the great final battle) is the last to be killed. Like Bhishm a, he also has a special religious function, and is virtuous but on the wrong side. In Alpamysh the episode o f the bow comes near the end. T h e hero, w earing shepherd’s clothes and pretending to be a beggar, has noted which o f his servants have stayed loyal and which have not. W hen an archery contest takes place he is the only person who can draw his enorm ous old bronze bow. T his is brought to him by his son.61 G abriel G erm ain has argued that the evidence points to a C entral Asian origin. T he reflex bow was probably invented by C entral Asian nom ads (probably Turko-M ongols) before 3000 BCE. It would have reached some Indo-E uropean speakers, notably Indo-Iranians on the C entral Asian steppes. T he story o f the king who wins his wife and his kingdom through his prowess as an archer would also have belonged to the steppes before ending up in the Odyssey and the Mahabharata.62

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B O O K X X I I: V IC T O R Y T H A N K S T O G U IL E O dysseus jum ps on to the hall's threshold, where he invokes Apollo and shoots an arrow a t Antinous. T he latter is ju s t lifting his cup to his lips, apparently secure am ong his friends, when the arrow hits him in the neck and kills him. At once there is uproar: the other suitors look in vain for shields and spears, and then tell the stranger th at he will have to pay for A ntinous’ life with his own. T hey think th at he has killed A ntinous by accident, but now he reveals his identity and tells them th at they are about to die. T hey are terrified, but Eurym achus replies th at the m ain culprit is dead, and asks for mercy for the rest, saying th at they will pay a massive indem nity. Odysseus refuses, and Eurym achus calls on the others to draw their swords. W hen he him self does so O dysseus shoots him dead. A m phinom us charges a t Odysseus, sword in h and, but Telem achus, who is no longer standing beside his father, kills him from behind with a spear. H e then goes to fetch arm s for O dysseus and the two loyal servants. T he four o f them stand together while Odysseus picks the suitors off one by one. W hen he runs out o f arrow s he arm s him self with a couple o f spears. A t this point M elanthius manages to bring some arm s to the suitors. W hen he sets off to fetch some more he is spotted by Eum aeus. O dysseus tells the swineherd and the cowherd to catch him , tie him up with his back to a plank and his hands and feet bound behind it, and haul him up to the top o f a pillar. T his they do, and E um aeus mocks M elanthius, saying th at the latter will stay there till dawn. T hen he and Philoetius rejoin Odysseus and Telem achus. A thena also comes to them , taking the form o f M entor. T he suitors welcome her w ith abuse and threats. She urges Odysseus on, and then leaves him , flying up to the roof. Six o f the suitors throw their spears a t Odysseus, b ut A thena makes them all miss. T he four men on the threshold cast in tu rn , and kill four more of the suitors. A second volley from the latter is again m ade to miss by A thena, and four m ore suitors are killed. O ne o f these is C tesippus, killed by the cowherd, who tells him th at this is in return for the cow’s hoof which he threw a t Odysseus. A thena raises the aegis, and the rem aining suitors panic and are cut down. T h e last o f the suitors to be killed is Leodes, who clasps O dysseus’ knees and begs for mercy, saying th at he has done nothing wrong but ju s t acted as an augur. Odysseus replies th at Leodes m ust often have prayed for his return to be delayed. T hen he picks up a sword and

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beheads him. Phem ius, the bard, also pleads to be spared, pointing o ut th at his a rt is connected with the gods. M edon, the herald, who has been crouching beneath a chair, w rapped up in a newly flayed oxhide, throws this off and also comes forward to beg for mercy. O dysseus, prom pted by Telem achus, spares their lives. H e sum m ons Eurycleia, who on seeing the dead suitors starts to utter the ritual trilling lu sound with which M editerranean women greet a happy event.63 Odysseus tells her that it is impious to exult over m en who have been killed, and says that the suitors have been vanquished by the ‘fate o f the gods’ and their own wicked actions. H e orders Eurycleia to fetch those of the m aidservants who had been disloyal. T h en he tells Telem achus and the herdsm en th at they are to make these women help them take the corpses outside. After the hall has been cleaned the women are to be taken to the space between the palace’s roundhouse and the courtyard wall, and put to the sword. M ost o f these instruc­ tions are carried out, but when the women are brought to the designated spot, T elem achus (after referring to the fact th at they have slept with the suitors) decides to hang them from a ship’s cable. Next, M elanthius has his nose and ears sliced off; he is castrated, and his genitals are fed to the dogs; and his hands and feet are cut off as well. Odysseus fum igates the palace and is welcomed by the loyal m aidservants. Commentary T h e battle with the suitors has m any points o f sim ilarity with the m ain battle in the Mahabharata. T here the Pandavas are repeatedly obliged to kill their leading enemies by descending to cheating. T he killing of A ntinous evidently corresponds to A ijuna’s slaying o f K am a. K a m a is p ut a t a disadvantage when one o f the wheels o f his chariot begins to sink into the earth. By the rules o f com bat A ijuna should w ait until K a m a has extricated the wheel, but K rishna declares th at the Kauravas* wicked behaviour has rendered respect for the rules unnecessary. W hen K a m a ju m p s down from his chariot to try to pull the wheel out, A ijuna fires a great arrow from his famous bow, and it cuts K a m a ’s head off. A ijuna utters lion-like shouts, and his rem aining enemies are terrified, but the m ain villain, D uryodhana, succeeds in rallying them .64 D uryodhana’s own death resembles th at of Eurym achus, ju s t as they resem ble each other in character, foolishly evil but cunning in deceit. Eurym achus is killed by an arrow before he can fight hand-to-

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hand with his sword. D uryodhana is killed by a blatant act o f cheating: Bhim a literally hits him below the belt, with a mace, against the rules o f com bat. K rishna says that this is a justified punishm ent for D uryodhana’s wicked behaviour, in particular his trying to poison Bhim a and b u m all the Pandavas to death (just as Eurym achus had tried to m urder T elem achus). W hen one’s enemies are num erous one should resort to trickery.65 T he unheroic killings of A m phinom us (from behind, when he is attacking another w arrior) and Leodes (when he has given up trying to defend himself) are also paralleled in the Mahabharata. A m phinom us and Leodes are the only two decent people am ong the suitors, and correspond to the teacher D rona and the frame-figure Bhishm a, two good people fighting on the K auravas’ side. Y udhishthira, urged on by K rishna, deceives D rona into thinking that the latter’s son has been killed. D rona, overwhelmed by grief, stops fighting and has his head cut off. Bhishm a also gives up trying to defend himself. A ijuna, encouraged by K rishna, attacks him and he falls m ortally wounded. L ater on A ijuna is told th at he has sinned by killing Bhishm a when the latter was engaged in com bat with another w arrior.66 As Dumezil has pointed out, the m ishap which befalls K a m a ’s chariot is prefigured in the Vedas: Indra, helping a hero called K utsa in a battle, steals (or in other versions pulls out o f place o r pushes down) one of the chariot wheels of the Sun. K am a, it will be recalled, has the Sun as his father 67 O n the Greek side, in the legend o f Jason, the hero has the Sun’s grandson treacherously lured to a meeting and then m urders him when he is defenceless.68 In Scandinavia we find a sim ilarly treacherous m urder. Balder (a figure connected with m id­ sum m er) and the other gods am use themselves by having him stand up for the rest to throw things at him. He can never be hurt until the trickstcr-god Loki gets the blind H oder to throw a d a rt o f misdetoe: this alone is fatal.69 Among the Ossetians* neighbours a witch (who has clearly replaced the trickster-figure Syrdon) arranges the killing o f a hero called Soslan in the course o f an apparently harm less gam e, in which there are a num ber o f players. Soslan is killed by a cutting wheel, sent rolling down a hillside, and evidently linked, as is shown by parallels in traditional European practices, to m idsum m er. T hus in ninteenth-century eastern France, at m idsum m er, a wheel would be sent rolling down a hillside into a river. W omen would be rigorously excluded from this rite.70 T h e comic incident in which M edon casts aside his freshly flayed oxhide would seem to represent an adaptation o f an archaic element.

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In O ssetian folklore a young friend o f Soslan is killed by Syrdon, acting deceptively. Soslan has been besieging a fortress in order to obtain a wom an who has been promised to him. W hen his young ally is killed, Soslan kills an ox, takes its entrails out, and enters its belly, ‘ju st between the m onths of Ju n e and July*. T his evidently m eans m idsum ­ mer. Odysseus returns ‘when one moon wanes and another waxes*, not a t m idsum m er, but a t a fairly mild time o f year, as scholars have noted from various indications. However, in the O ssetian evidence m aterials related to m idsum m er are also related to the w inter solstice and the vernal and autum nal equinoxes. T he Ossetians* ancient Scythian ancestors had a special form of supplication. I f a m an had sufTered a wrong from someone and w anted to defend his interests, but could not do so alone, he would sacrifice an ox, put the skin on the ground and sit on it, his arm s brought back behind his back as if tied by the elbows. T h a t, we are told, was the most pressing form of supplication. W hen the m eat was cooked, relatives or strangers would take a bit and put their right feet on the skin, prom ising given num bers o f fighters.71 O dysseus’ intervention, when Penelope is about to be given to a new husband, also corresponds to th at o f Cam illus, when a large am ount o f gold is about to be given to the G auls and their arrogant leader. C am illus arrives, tells the G auls to prepare for battle, draw s up his men in an advantageous position on uneven ground (like Odysseus and his supporters on the threshold) and confronts the G auls’ charge. Victory is easily won.72 M odern scholarship has expressed the gravest reservations about the m ethod used for executing the disloyal m aidservants: the details seem physically impossible. Fernand Robert has produced a plausible solution: the story would reflect a m ythical explanation for the origin o f a w idespread ritual practice (also found in Rom an religion), th at o f hanging up dolls, representing a female figure, apparently as emblems o f fertility. Similarly, O edipus’ daughter Antigone is shown hanging herself in a roundhouse, which, as in O dysseus’ palace, would have been a m onum ent o f an ancestor cult.73 In Alpamysh the story continues in a rather different way. T he hero rem ains disguised, and sings verses in alternation with the usurper’s m other and with his wife. O nly after this is his identity revealed. T hen he and his friends m assacre U ltan ’s followers and doom the villain him self to a lingering death.74

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B O O K X X I I I : IM P E N D IN G V E N G E A N C E Eurycleia informs Penelope that Odysseus has returned and killed the suitors. She replies th at the gods m ust have m ade the old wom an m ad. Eurycleia insists th at the news is true, and Penelope wonders how the suitors could have been overcome by one m an on his own. T he old wom an says w hat she has seen, b u t her mistress thinks th at the suitors m ust have been killed by a god because o f their wickedness. Penelope comes dow nstairs and sits opposite Odysseus, uncertain w hether or not she recognizes him. T elem achus rebukes her, but she insists th at if the stranger is Odysseus she will establish the fact through secrets known to only the two o f them. O dysseus tells T elem achus not to worry about Penelope, but to consider the problem o f im pending vengeance from the suitors’ rela­ tives: even if one kills ju s t a single m an with no friends, one still has to go into exile. T hen the hero orders his son and servants to dance to the sound o f Phem ius’ lyre, so th at the neighbours will think th a t a wedding feast is in progress. H e him self has a bath, and A thena makes him look tall and handsom e. W hen Odysseus and Penelope confront each other again, the latter tells Eurycleia to move the bed out o f their bedroom . Odysseus expresses his outrage a t the thought that the bed could have been disconnected from the bedroom floor. H e recalls th at he had secretly built the room round an olive tree, turning its trunk into one o f the bedposts. Penelope realizes th at the stranger m ust be her husband, and em braces him , com plaining th at the gods have prevented them from sharing their youth together. She and Odysseus continue to em brace while A thena intervenes to delay the daw n from interrupting. O dysseus tells Penelope o f the adventure predicted for him by T eiresias. T hen they go to bed together. After they have m ade love Odysseus gives an account o f his travels, before suddenly falling asleep. W hen A thena thinks he is ready to get up she m akes the daw n come. He tells Penelope th at he is going to see his father, and sets off with his son and the herdsm en. T h e goddess hides them in darkness on their way. Commentary T h e Mahabharata, after recounting how D uryodhana falls in the battle, goes on to describe the total victory o f the Pandavas: their enemies

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have been alm ost entirely wiped out. However, there is to be vengeance exacted on them by D rona’s son A shw attham an. H e creeps into their cam p in the night when they and K rishna are absent, and m assacres all their sons and followers.75 As we have seen, the Mahabharata also describes how there has to be a journey and sacrificing for the purpose o f self-purification. At one point Y udhishthira asks K rishna why A ijuna has to suffer so m uch. K rishna replies th at it is because A iju n a’s cheekbones are too high. D raupadi is angered by this criticism o f her h u sband.76 M any scholars have taken the view that the ‘digression’ in which O dysseus faces the threat from the suitors' relatives before being definitely recognized by Penelope is a later addition, and th at this is also true o f the rest o f the poem after the pair to go to bed together. B ut there have been strong counter-argum ents for the authenticity of the passages in question, and the Indian evidence supports the view th at the problem o f vengeance for the killing o f the suitors has to be solved.77

B O O K X X IV ; S K IR M IS H IN G A N D R E C O N C IL IA T IO N In the m eantim e Herm es conducts the suitors' souls to the U nder­ world. T here Achilles is speaking to Agamemnon. H e expresses the wish th at Agam em non had died when enjoying the honour o f leading the A chaean forces a t Troy. Agam em non replies th at Achilles had been fortunate to die there, with a day-long battle over his corpse, ended only by a storm sent by Zeus. T hen T hetis and the other seanym phs h ad come up from the sea, and their wailing had m ade the arm y panic and start to run away. N estor had restored order by explaining w hat the sound was. T he nym phs were joined by the M uses, singing a dirge for Achilles, who was m ourned for 17 days before his funeral. T hetis provided a golden am phora, given by Dionysus (the god o f wine) and m ade by H ephaestus. Achilles' bones were placed in this, mingled with those o f Patroclus and along with, b ut separately from, those o f Antilochus, the com rade whom he honoured m ost after Patroclus’ death. T h e souls o f the suitors now arrive, and Agam em non addresses A m phim edon, recalling how he had visited the latter's house when he and M enelaus had come and spent a whole m onth persuading O dysseus to jo in them in their expedition against Troy. A m phim edon

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explains w hat has happened, and Agam em non praises O dysseus’ good fortune in having so excellent a wife, unlike his own. A t the sam e time Odysseus, T elem achus and the herdsm en are nearing the farm o f O dysseus’ father, Laertes. Odysseus tells the others to go and kill a pig for them to eat, while he goes to see his father. H e finds him in a wretched state, and decides not to disclose his identity straightaw ay. Accordingly he pretends he last saw his son five years before. Laertes is very upset, and O dysseus’ heart is m elted. H e reveals his true identity, and proves it with his scar and detailed reminiscences o f the trees and vines given him by his father. T he two o f them join the others and Laertes has a bath. A thena makes him look taller and stronger, and he tells Odysseus, swearing by Zeus, A thena and Apollo, th at he wishes he could have fought the suitors with the strength th at he had in his youth. T he meal is served, and the party is joined by L aertes’ old servant Dolius and his sons. M eanw hile the people o f Ithaca hear about the m assacre o f the suitors and lam ent for them . T hey hold an assem bly, in which A ntinous’ father, Eupeithes, is the first to speak. H e calls on those present to attack Odysseus before he can escape. However, M edon and Phem ius arrive and explain that a god was seen helping Odysseus to kill the suitors. T he prophet H alitherses tells the Ithacans th at they are to blam e for allowing the suitors to behave so badly, and should leave O dysseus alone. Nevertheless, the m ajority rush to arm s and set ofT. A thena asks Zeus if he will make the conflict continue. H e replies th at it was her idea th at Odysseus should exact vengeance. She can do as she likes, but he would prefer to see a peace treaty, with Odysseus m ade king. H e him self and A thena can efface the m em ory o f the m assacre from the relatives’ m inds. A thena duly descends to Ithaca to carry out the plan. W hen the meal a t the farm is over the enemy are seen advancing. O dysseus and his party arm themselves and go out to fight. A thena joins them , taking the form o f M entor. She tells Laertes to pray to her and Zeus, and then throw his spear. He obeys, and kills Eupeithes. O dysseus and T elem achus attack the enemy, and are about to wipe them out, but A thena calls out loudly, dem anding th at the fighting stop. Eupeithes’ followers are terrified and start to run away. Odysseus falls on them , but Zeus casts a thunderbolt, which hits the ground in front of A thena. She tells Odysseus to restrain himself, and establishes peace.

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Commentary H ere the In d ian parallels are to be found first in the Ramayana. T he battle over Achilles' body is, as we have seen, believed by m odern scholars to have been the prototype for the b atde over th at o f Patroclus, and both correspond to the fighting over th at o f L akshm ana when he has been felled, apparently m ortally wounded, by R avana. As for the protracted visit to Ithaca m ade by Agam em non and M enelaus, this is echoed by R am a and L akshm ana's extended trip to the monkey kingdom in order to obtain allies (including H anum an) there for the recovery o f Sita.78 T h e Odyssey*s account of the end of the conflict between Odysseus and his enemies has a corresponding passage in the Mahabharata. D rona's son A shw attham an continues to pose a threat to A ijuna and his brothers, since he possesses a special weapon which can exterm i­ nate them all. K rishna and the Pandavas confront A shw attham an, who launches his weapon a t the five brothers. However, K rishna orders A ijuna to neutralize the missile with a special weapon o f his own. A ijuna duly shoots his missile, and the world is filled with fire. Tw o great seers interpose themselves between the magic weapons and try to pacify A ijuna and A shw attham an. Eventually K rishna m anages to establish peace.79 In Scandinavia H erm es has as his counterpart Loki, who also has special links with the U nderw orld. After Loki has had Balder killed, he intervenes again to prevent Balder from being ransom ed from the realm o f the dead.80 T he History o f Rome also has a second battle. After Cam illus has routed the G auls from the C apitol they rally eight miles outside the city, and a more regular engagem ent takes place. C am illus' leadership and auspicious fortune ensure victory.81 Alpamysh, like the Odyssey, has the consum ption o f a meal as its penultim ate episode. T he epic then ends with the establishing o f peace between the hero and his enemies.82

E P IL O G U E : W A N D E R IN G A N D P A R R IC ID E T h e end o f the Odyssey does not m ean the end o f O dysseus’ adventures. As we have seen, he has to w ander from city to city until he finds a people who know nothing o f the sea. T hen purificatory sacrifices have to be m ade and Poseidon has to be appeased. Finally, death will come

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to O dysseus ‘out o f the sea’. T he Greek expression ex halos, which is as am biguous as its English equivalent, is now generally thought to m ean ‘away from the sea*. However, in extra-H om eric legend it was taken to m ean ‘coming from the sea*. Odysseus was presented as having a son by Circe, called Telegonus, who was supposed to have landed on Ith aca and then fought and killed his father as the result o f a m isunderstanding.83 In the Mahabharata, as we have already noted, when the conflict is over the great seer Vyasa advises Y udhishthira to perform the selfpurificatory horse sacrifice. H e also directs that A ijuna should accom­ pany the horse on its obligatory random wandering before the sacrifice. (In ancient Indian belief and ritual this w andering by the horse established the sacrificer*s sovereignty over the regions which it visited.) W hen A ijuna and the horse proceed on their way they encounter his son by C hitrangada (a figure in the am atory adventures o f his first individual exile). F ather and son fight, and the form er is killed. A nother o f Aijuna*s partners in his original exile, U lupi, brings him back to life. She is presented as a sort o f second m other to the son who has killed him . U lupi explains that A ijuna has been cursed for killing B hishm a when he was engaged in com bat with someone else, in violation o f the w arrior’s code. T his is why he has been killed by his son.84

CONCLUSIONS

O u r analysis o f the Hom eric epics and com parisons with m aterials in o ther languages lead to predictable questions. W hat processes could have produced such extrem e sim ilarities between the Greek and Indian epics? W hat ideology is conveyed by the Iliad and the Odyssey? T o w hat extent did the Greeks continue to retain this ideology and how successful were they in moving away from it? From these questions, and the answers which they elicit, yet more problem s arise. W hat is the relationship between the tripartite ideology reconstructed by Dumezil and the ‘three orders’ o f medieval Europe? How does The Two-Blood Border Lord correspond to other epics in IndoE uropean languages? In w hat ways did the Islam ic world inherit and adopt the tripartite ideology? T o w hat degree has it been present in nineteenth- and tw entieth-century Europe? Did it become a com ponent o f Nazism? W hat general correlations can be draw n from the parallels which we have found? Evidently, all these questions can be answered only on a provisional basis.

T H E O R IG IN S O F T H E H O M E R IC A N D IN D IA N E P IC S T here are four m ain lines o f explanation available to account for the sim ilarities between the Hom eric and Indian epics. First, there could have been Proto-Indo-European epics, from which they would have been derived. Secondly, there m ight have been transm ission o f IndoIran ian epics to the Greeks. T hirdly, the Iliad and the Odyssey could represent Greek adaptations o f early Indian versions o f the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Fourthly, the Indian epics m ight be adapted versions o f translations o f Greek originals. T o these four lines of explanation one could add composite theories, com bining two o r more o f them in hypothetical reconstructions of renewed influences or counter-influences. 149

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T h e first line o f explanation, which argues for the existence o f a Proto-Indo-European epic tradition, has been taken by Allen. He argues th at A ijuna and Odysseus, at least in their rom antic adventures as exiles, m ust derive from a very ancient proto-hero who belonged to neither India nor Greece. Allen points to the work done by linguists on reconstructing phrases from Proto-Indo-European poetic language, and suggests th at the original story would probably have been in verse. Puhvel has also claim ed that there is evidence for a Proto-IndoE uropean epic tradition, which he would put in the fourth m illennium BCE. H e notes the idea, common to the Mahabharata and the postHom eric Greek epic tradition, that death on a large scale (in the Greek case, the T ro jan W ar) was decided upon by the suprem e god in order to relieve the earth o f the pressure put on it by the weight of so m any hum ans. (However, this m otif is also found outside the Indo-E uropean field, in Babylonian mythology, and may well have spread from it to Greece and India in the first m illennium B C E ).1 In my view this line o f explanation does not quite work. T he m ain argum ent for it would have to be th at the underlying structures pointed to a common origin, while the surface details were so different th at they could not represent borrowings or transm ission o f an epic from one people to another. T his kind of argum ent was often invoked by Dumezil to support claims for the Proto-Indo-European origins of stories found in both India and Scandinavia. However, all our work on the Greek and Indian epics has pointed to a mass of sim ilarities on the level o f surface detail (along with corresponding internal structures as well). T he attem pt to prove the existence o f a Proto-Indo-European epic or epics cuts the ground from beneath its own feet: the more resem blances arc found, the more they appear to be w hat is a ttrib u t­ able to diffusion or borrowing, rath er than a common, independent source. T h u s the second line o f interpretation, th at of a transm ission o f In d o -Iran ian epics to the Greeks, is to my m ind the m ost convincing. Enough evidence has been adduced to indicate th at an In do-Iranian narrative tradition would have existed. T he Greek epic tradition m ust have existed well before the end o f the second m illennium BCE: on this scholars are agreed, and there is reason to believe that it already existed in the fifteenth century. Given the argum ents th at have already been advanced with reference to the similarities between the Odyssey and Alpamysh, it seems likely that both of the Hom eric epics have a C entral Asian origin. Archaeology has confirmed the presence o f the Indo-Iranians in C entral Asia (more precisely in northern K azakh­

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stan). I t seems probable, then, that the Iliad and the Odyssey have their origins in an Indo-Iranian setting in C entral Asia in the early second m illennium . T he story o f the two brothers who besiege a city in order to retrieve a stolen wife would have been transferred to the location of Troy after the real destruction o f Troy around 1200.2 As for the third line o f interpretation, which would postulate a purely In d ian source for the Hom eric epics, it seems unlikely for chronological reasons. T he specialists date the cores o f the Mahabharata and the Ramayana to around 700 BCE, long after the rise o f the independent Greek epic tradition. O n the other hand, the fourth line, th at the In d ian epics would be the result o f Greek influences, is more prom ising. Greek writers o f the first three centuries C E declared th at the Indians and Iranians had translated H om er into their own languages. O n the other hand, Plutarch attributed this activity to the influence o f the M acedonian ruler Alexander the G reat (reigned 336-323 BCE), who conquered Iran and invaded In d ia long after the cores of the Indian epics were (apparently) composed. It has been norm al to explain away the Greek assertions o f ‘translations o f H om er’ as due to travellers’ m isapprehensions concerning the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. But one wonders w hether the Indians could have been influenced by pre*Homeric Greek epic, or w hether those parts o f the In d ian epics which m ost resemble H om er represent later borrowings and additions.3 C onsequently, a composite theory seems more plausible. It seems best to combine elements o f the first, second and fourth lines of explanation, while giving m ost em phasis to the second. Some n a rra ­ tives concerning a w ar o f the gods or the rescue o f a stolen wife may well go back to Proto-Indo-European originals, or a t least to a time before 2000 BCE when the daughter-societies would have been in close contact. T h e m ain reason for the sim ilarities between the Greek and In d ian epics, however, is probably diffusion from the Indo-Iranian side after 2000 BCE. T his would reflect the appearance o f the IndoIran ian ideology o f castes, which is characteristic o f m ore advanced social developm ent, and would also reflect the greater prom inence of the tripartite ideology am ong the Indians and Iranians. Finally, we can easily allow for continuing counter-influences from the Greeks, spread over a long period.

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T H E ID E O L O G Y O F T H E IL IA D T h e ideology o f the Iliad would appear to be the tripartite ideology itself. Representatives o f fertility, the T rojans, have to be vanquished by and subm it to representatives o f sovereignty and warlike strength, the Achaeans. Priam has to come as a suppliant to Achilles, and Achilles himself, in order to win his prom otion to the level of sovereignty, has to return to fighting under A gam em non’s leadership. It would seem, then, that H om er was preceded by a Greek epic tradition which sang o f a siege o f a city which symbolized fertility. In this siege one leading besieger would have been a twin (or a disguised version o f a tw in), like Lakshm ana, who would have been killed by the city’s leading w arrior. H om er, in bringing in the story o f Achilles’ quarrel with A gam em non, and the subsequent confrontation between H ector and Patroclus, would have introduced a new dim ension and a new architecture o f counterparts. H ere our findings are in close agreem ent with m uch-adm ired ‘neo-analytical’ reconstructions o f H om er’s sources. T hey also tally with the opinion expressed by a num ber of scholars, most recently in 1992 by the Oxford classicist O liver T aplin, that the Iliad consists of three parts or 'movements*. T h e first o f these, argues T aplin, takes up Books I - I X , and thus ends with the night before H ector’s great day o f victory. Book X is rejected as spurious by T aplin (in agreem ent with most other scholars). T he second ‘m ovem ent’ lasts from the start o f Book X I until the sunset a t X V III: 239-42: it covers the day in which H ector has his greatest trium phs. As for the third ‘m ovem ent’, it naturally consists of the rest o f the Iliad.* Do these three ‘movem ents’ correspond to concepts 1, 2 and 3? I think one m ay say that they do. T he first ‘movement* is taken up with Agam em non’s abuse of his sovereignty, with problem s o f religion and impiety and with the gods. ‘M ovem ent’ 2 is devoted to a day o f fighting. T he third ‘m ovem ent’ is concerned with Achilles, a concept 3 figure who is prom oted to level 1.3. In any case, the Iliad's ideology is, I suggest, essentially In d o -E u ro pean: forces o f fertility, or producers, m ust subm it to rulers and their arm ed assistants. Such an ideology anticipates the to talitar­ ian states o f the tw entieth century, with their parties of intellectuals surrounding a leader and using military or param ilitary forces to dom inate industrial workers and peasants. Fortunately, however, H om er displays his greatness in overcoming this ideology and moving away from it, in the hum anity with which, for example, he anticipates

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the wretched fate o f the T rojan women, and also in the famous extended similes in which he evokes hum ankind’s direct and im m ediate relationships with its n atural environm ent.

T H E ID E O L O G Y O F T H E O D Y SSE Y T h e Odyssey's ideology is no less sinister. W hen one puts the Odyssey beside the Mahabharata their underlying Indo-E uropean message is clear enough: the end justifies the m eans, and against an evil enemy any form o f cheating is to be recom mended. T he Mahabharata repeat­ edly drives hom e the point, as the Pandavas confront their adversaries, th at the latter’s wickedness makes departure from the w arrior’s code perm issible, and, given the K auravas’ superior strength, obligatory. T o be sure, the Mahabharata also contains nobler and m ore elevated teachings: the Indians, like the Greeks, were able to rise above their Indo-E uropean inheritance. But it m ust be pointed out th at the doctrine th at everything is justified when one faces an evil enemy is as pernicious as it is absurd, and merely opens the door wide to every possible abuse. Do the Odyssey and the Mahabharata contain the cycle o f the ‘three sins o f the w a rrio r? Odysseus suffers because o f sins, but m ore often sins com m itted by others: the rape attack on C assandra [3], the blinding o f the strong Cyclops when off his guard [2] and the offence given to the Sun-god [1]. O ne m ight find the 'three sins* in Book X X II: O dysseus uses unfair m eans to kill A ntinous when he eats and drinks [3], Eurym achus when he tries to fight with the sword [2], and an augur who approaches him as a suppliant [1]. A ijuna is exiled when he infringes the rules o f D raupadi’s polyandrous m arriage, and, after a possible alternative sin a t this level, is cursed when he offends the nym ph U rvashi [3]; he uses unfair m eans to kill the w arrior K a m a [2] and is again cursed when he kills the brahm in Bhishm a [1]. However, it m ust be said that these are not particularly clear or convincing indications o f the 'three sins* cycle (especially since the killing o f Bhishm a is condem ned, not because Bhishm a is a brahm in, b u t as an exam ple o f unfair fighting). M ore convincing would be the case o f Ajax the Runner: he kills fellow-warriors when they run away (in India this is banned), attacks C assandra and finally ends his life blasphem ing. W hat o f the solar character o f the Odyssey? It now seems evident enough th at nineteenth-century scholars were not entirely m istaken in

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insisting on this, although one would not wish to repeat their assertions th at O dysseus was a sun-god and Penelope a moon-goddess, and th at the Odyssey was about harm onizing the solar and lunar calendars. T he poem is partly based upon a solar m yth, in which a cunning w arriordeity intervenes to help the daw n, and it is linked to rituals o f solstices and equinoxes. However, Odysseus him self does not usually represent the sun, and Penelope, with her wisdom, skill and beauty, is a triconceptual figure like D raupadi and Shri. Repeated references to the daw n and O dysseus' having subordinates and classes o f objects in groups of 12 are surely significant, but are less im portant than the epic's m oral-am oral message: the suitors' wickedness brings them destruction through recourse to deceit.

T H E G R E E K T R A N S C E N D IN G A N D R E N E W A L O F T H E T R IP A R T IT E ID E O L O G Y T h e way in which the Greeks moved away from the tripartite ideology is illustrated, I suggest, by the developm ent of A thenian tragedy in the fifth century BCE. Aeschylus (525-456), the earliest tragedian whose work has been preserved, is still very m uch in the world of H om er. T races o f the tripartite ideology have been found in his plays, but w hat interests us more is its possible reflection in the structure o f his trilogies. Like other dram atists, he composed his tragedies in groups o f three. O ne lost trilogy o f his was based on the Iliad. A pparently, in the third play Priam actually paid Achilles H ector's weight in gold.5 Aeschylus also wrote the only surviving Greek trilogy, the Oresteiay which has as its themes A gam em non’s m urder, the revenge taken by his son O restes and the latter’s subsequent exoneration. In the first play, Agamemnon, concept 1 is param ount. A gam em non's sinful sacrifice o f his daughter is recalled and is presented by C lytaem estra as the justification for m urdering him. His sovereignty is usurped by Aegisthus. T he second play, The Libation Bearers, is dom inated by the figure o f the clever and strong young w arrior, O restes himself, who has to kill Acgisthus and C lytaem estra. Finally, the third play, the Eumenides (The Kindly Onesy a euphem ism for the Erinyes), sees the deities who avenge m atricide turn into productive goddesses o f fertility.6 By the time o f Euripides (c.485-406), the last o f the great Greek tragedians, all had changed. T he views put forward are no longer p a rt o f a set, formalized tradition, but are shockingly unconventional. Heroes, women and slaves are presented in a new, quizzical and

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sceptical perspective, which concentrates on real hum an problem s and sufferings. T h e old em phasis on behaviour which conformed to fixed social statu s has given way to an uncom prom ising realism .7 T his Greek revolution, with its spirit o f critical inquiry, is one which we are still experiencing today. T h e trip artite ideology, however, was to have a spectacular revival in the fourth century BCE, thanks to Plato. As we have seen, his Republic is largely based on a threefold theory o f the state which corresponds to a threefold theory o f the soul. It seems likely th at here he was inspired by Spartan and C retan institutions. Sparta appears to have been extremely Indo-European in its political conservatism , with its archaic m ilitary training for boys and its peculiar system o f having two kings reigning a t the sam e time, which m ay well reflect IndoEuropean dual sovereignty.8 It m ight seem odd, given Plato’s espousal o f the ideology inherited by the au th o r o f the lliad> that in the Republic he advocates that H om er’s works be banned from the ideal state. However, the answer is th at Plato is concerned with the em otional effect o f reciting or singing poetry in childhood: the ancient Greeks, given their usual practice o f reading H om er aloud, would, Plato feared, take on the roles o f his characters and be led astray by the variety o f their viewpoints.9

T H E T H R E E O R D E R S O F M E D IE V A L E U R O P E C learly, one o f the most im portant m anifestations o f the tripartite ideology was the one which dom inated the M iddle Ages in Europe: society, it was then felt, should be and was divided into three ‘orders’ or ‘estates’, consisting o f ‘those who pray, those who fight and those who work*. T h e first medieval appearance of this doctrine comes in the writings o f the English king Alfred the G reat (reigned 871-99). Recent research has indicated th at he was draw ing not on a social reality which had survived up to his own time, but rather on a literary tradition which declared how things ought to be.10 In the sam e way, recent work on the A rthurian rom ances has suggested that motifs common to them and to O ssetian folklore, such as ‘the sword thrown into the w ater’, are attributable to a late diffusion of Scythian legends, rather th an to the survival o f Proto-Indo-European myths via the Celtic daughter-society.11 O n the other hand, medieval European chivalry would seem to have genuinely archaic roots in the w arrior

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bands o f northern Indo-E uropean speakers, whose traditions would have com bined w ith those o f ancient Rom e’s young fighting force.12

T H E B Y Z A N T IN E H E R O IC E P IC : A R E IN T E R P R E T A T IO N W e have already seen how the Byzantine epic The Two-Blood Border Lord presents the cycle o f the ‘three tests o f the w arrior’. I f we now look a t the poem as a whole, its resem blances to m aterials in other Indo-E uropean languages are m ost striking. T he poem begins with the abduction o f the hero’s m other by an A rab invader. In one version, before her abduction, she leaves the house with a carriage filled with food and drink, accom panied by nurses, slave-girls and gentlewomen, like N ausicaa, and walks to an idyllic spot.13 She has five brothers, who parallel the five siblings m arried to D raupadi and the five counterparts o f a feminine figure in ancient Indian and Iranian hym ns. According to one version o f the story she is the twin sister o f the youngest o f her brothers, while according to another she is born after all five (just as O dysseus’ sister is his younger or youngest sibling).14 H er ab d u ctor suggests a duel with one o f the brothers, an d the youngest is selected by lot. His eldest brother gives him words o f wisdom, and he has the upper hand in the duel. T he A rab becomes a C hristian and settles in Byzantine territory. W hen the hero him self is born he is called ‘Digenes* (‘Two-Blood’) because he is o f mixed parentage, like A ijuna’s uncle V idura. (V idura is seen by Dum ezil as having a ‘qualifying disqualification’: because he is o f mixed blood he becomes, paradoxically, a great defender o f his people’s continuity.)15 W hen Digenes grows up he elopes with a general’s daughter. T hey are pursued by a large num ber o f soldiers, and also the girl’s brothers, who are five in num ber in one version and two in an o th er.16 Digenes fights the pursuers, but avoids killing the brothers. T he general gives him his daughter in m arriage. In a tripartite schem a o f gifts Digenes receives a num ber o f eunuchs from the general’s eldest child (a m agnificent gift, showing his sovereign status), a shield and a lance from the interm ediate brother or brothers, and a large dowry from the father accom panying the gift of the bride herself.17 Shortly afterw ards the Byzantine em peror sum m ons Digenes, who replies th at he would rath er not visit the em peror, because the latter has some inexperienced soldiers who m ight offend Digenes. In one version Digenes rebels and dethrones the em peror. Subsequently he

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comes across a girl who has been abandoned in a desert after eloping with her seducer. Digenes takes her to find the m an and make him m arry her, b ut rapes her on the w ay.18 Soon, as we have already noted, Digenes is put to the ‘three tests o f the warrior*. First, he and his wife are threatened by a dragon, which shows three heads: th at o f an old m an, that o f a young m an and that o f a serpent (these m ay symbolize wisdom, strength and the e arth ’s fertility). Digenes cuts ofT all three. (In w hat looks like a reflection o f Heracles* first two labours, the dragon is followed by a lion). Secondly, a m ultitude o f soldiers comes and is routed by Digenes. T hirdly, the hero and his wife are threatened by an A m azon’s associates and the Am azon herself. These associates constitute a group o f five, but Digenes a t first encounters only three o f them . O ne is old and crafty; the second is strong and brave; the third, when faced with Digenes, is rath er cowardly (as is often the case with representatives o f concept 3). T h e rem aining two make up a pair, whom Digenes lays low. Digenes defeats the Amazon in single com bat, and she surrenders, offering to have intercourse with him . H e accepts, but afterw ards kills her. L ater he dies, childless, o f a wasting disease.19 The Two-Blood Border Lord, then, would also seem to contain the cycle o f the ‘three sins o f the warrior*. Revolting against the em peror (who in the Byzantine Em pire is not ju s t a sovereign but has immense religious significance as well) would be the sin against concept 1; the killing of the Am azon, an enemy whose surrender has been accepted and who, to m ake things worse, is a wom an, is a crim e against concept 2; the rape of the abandoned girl, which is also an act o f adultery, is a crim e against concept 3.

T H E IN D O -E U R O P E A N IN H E R IT A N C E IN T H E W O R L D O F IS L A M T h e trip artite ideology was also to survive in the Islam ic world. Here one m ain source was Iran, which for long m aintained a rigid caste system, based on the division of society into priests, warrior-nobles and peasants, until this was broken by the M uslim conquest. It is to be noted th at the pre-Islam ic Iranian empires o f the Achaem enids (559-330 BCE) and the Sasanians (224-651 CE) fell after extreme over-exploitation of their subjects, condem ned by Greek writers whose observations are supported by the findings o f m odern economic analysts.20 O ne should also note that the Islam ic em pire o f the

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A bbasids (750-945 C E ), which was characterized by a revival o f Iran ian im perial grandeur, also collapsed after a horrific over-exploi­ tation o f its peasantry.21 I have argued elsewhere that the Islam ic tradition o f ‘youngm anli­ ness* (futuwwa), which has often been seen as an equivalent o f European chivalry, is o f Iranian and indeed Indo-European origin. T his is most evident in its initiatory rituals, which are described as being destined for three classes o f adherents: ‘those o f the drinking’, ‘those o f the sword* and ‘those of the saying*. ‘Those o f the drinking* are associated with M uham m ad, A braham and wool, the m aterial worn by adherents o f Islam*s m ain mystical tradition, Sufism: they clearly represent concept 1. ‘Those o f the sw ord’ are associated with M uhammad*s cousin and son-in-law Ali, who is venerated as the wielder o f a legendary sword, and are also linked to leather, as suitable for the w arrior. ‘T hose o f the saying’ are connected with Adam , as the founder o f agriculture, and also with cotton. T his threefold structure was preserved when the O ttom an Em pire (c. 1300-1922 C E) took over the ‘youngmanliness* tradition and m ade it the ideology o f its craft guilds. T h e tradition was also fused with Sufism and the latter’s adaptation o f Platonist and neo-Platonist doctrines in order to advocate the subordination o f society to a higher class o f mystics.22 It is possible that the Indo-European m otif o f dual sovereignty is preserved in the veneration o f M uham m ad and Ali as an inseparable pair, sometimes viewed as a single person (rather as V aruna and M itra are joined together and m ade to pool their seed to produce a single child). T his is characteristic o f Islam in India, Iran and the parts o f the O tto m an Em pire which saw m arked Irano-T urkic influences. T hus in India and Ira n a m uch-repeated line o f verse declares th at whoever is M uham m ad’s friend or protege is Ali’s friend o r protege as well, and Ali is called ‘the friend o f God* par excellence in Shiism, the m ain m inority grouping in Islam , which is dom inant in Ira n .23

T H E IN D O -E U R O P E A N IN H E R IT A N C E IN M O D E R N GERM ANY T h e subject o f the Indo-European inheritance in m odem G erm any is full o f alarm ing and sinister overtones. It is not simply a m atter o f the conscious revival of ancient G erm anic motifs, along with absurd adaptations o f Indo-European studies to support doctrines o f racial purity. T here is also, I suggest, a dangerous continuity from the past

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o f underlying philosophical and political patterns. Neo-Platonism lives on in the dialectics o f Hegel and M arx, and is arguably the root o f the horrors o f Stalinism. M odem G erm an philosophy has served all too often to justify the state's crimes, as w ar and bloodshed have been presented as adm irable catalysts of progress. H ere I shall confine m yself to exam ining the revival o f patterns seen as comm on to Greece and Scandinavia, and also the survival o f the tripartite ideology itself. Particularly worrying is the notorious case of W agner, whose rabid anti-Sem itism , coupled with his enorm ous personal influence, was undoubtedly a m ajor factor in the background to the Nazi persecution o f the Jew s. From our standpoint w hat is m ost notew orthy is W agner's portrayal o f Scandinavian gods in his ‘music d ram as', a portrayal which clearly reflects these gods' Hom eric counterparts and W agner's own well-attested fam iliarity with Hom er. T hus O din appears, under the nam e o f W otan, with features that are comm on to both him and Zeus: sovereign am ong gods, but also limited by destiny and the agreem ents into which he has entered, he becomes a w andering stranger, like his hum an protege. His wife, Fricka, is a Scandinavian H era, insisting, against her husband, on c o n tra ctu ally and respect for m arriage. Loki is bom again, with the nam e o f Loge and the traits of Hermes: a cunning fixer who is both the gods1 necessary instrum ent and also the em bodim ent o f deceit.24 As for the survival o f the tripartite ideology itself, perhaps its most troubling expression cam e a t the start o f the Nazi period, when, in 1933, the G erm an philosopher M artin Heidegger (1889-1976) deliv­ ered his infam ous address as Rector of the University o f Freiburg. H e declared th at ‘academ ic freedom' was being banished as merely negative. Instead, the G erm an student would discover real freedom and three bonds. T he first bond would bind him into the com m unity o f the people, through L abour Service; the second would bind him to the nation's honour, through Arm ed Service; the third would bind the student body to the people's spiritual mission, through Knowledge Service. Heidegger ended by quoting from Plato's Republic, which was evidently his m ain source o f inspiration.25 W ith reference to the possible survival o f Indo-European social division in the Nazi state, it is noteworthy th at the latter m aintained a rigid distinction between two types of schools. O n the one hand it had special m ilitary schools belonging exclusively to the SS, and absolutely closed to the men and sons o f the Nazi Party itself. O n the other hand there were rival schools belonging to the party, in which the sons of party leaders or intellectuals were to be educated.26

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F IN A L O B S E R V A T IO N S I t rem ains to see w hat general conclusions can be draw n from the parallels which we have found between the Greek epics and m aterials in other languages. T he resem blances to the Indian epics have been discussed above: the History o f Rome and the Iran ian Book o f Kings present sim ilar problem s, in that the extent o f influence from the Greek side is difficult to assess. H ere again, however, there are structural parallels with H om er th at often seem independent o f the superficial sim ilarities attributable to later contam ination, and there would ap p ear to be underlying Proto-Indo-European m yths or Indo-Iranian narratives. T he Scandinavian and Ossetian evidence does not look as if it is the product o f influence from Greece, but here the results look like the rem ains o f m ere m yths, rath er than of an epic tradition. W hat is m ost striking, however, is the resem blance between the H om eric gods and heroes on the one hand and the gods and heroes o f the rest o f the Indo-E uropean field on the other. T he degree o f sim ilarity extends well into the subdivisions o f the three m ain concepts, and reflects a system that is all too well-ordered. Such a system, one feels, is less likely to have been Proto-Indo-European, and m ore likely to be the reflection o f a more developed society, probably IndoIranian: it would have spread from the Indo-Iranian and Iran ian dom ains, m ore easily to other Indo-European speakers, but also to Ja p a n . T his system, with its alarm ing em phasis on order, is very different from w hat is found in the T urkic and M ongol sphere, where the m ain stress is on the m otif o f the anim al, seen above all as the instructor o f hum ans. Fortunately, however, H om er’s poetry takes us far beyond the sad ideology which he inherited. It has well been said th at a great author shows his greatness by rising above his own ideology, and in the case of H om er this could not be truer. H e m arks the beginning o f the Greeks’ escape from their prison, and the start o f a new perception o f nature as a real environm ent for hum an beings, as opposed to a grim reflection o f a totalitarian dream . T hus his characters express a genuine hum anity which challenges and questions the injustice o f the stories themselves.

NOTES

Introduction

1. J.-P. Demoule, ‘Realite des Indo-Europ£ens: les divcrscs apories du modele arborescent’, Revue de I ’histoire des religions, 208 (1991), pp 169-202. 2. G. Dumezil, L ’Heritage indo-europeen a Rome (Paris: Gallimard, 1949), pp 29-31. 3. Valmlki, The Ramayana, tr R. P. Goldman et al. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984-91), vol 1, pp 22-3. 4. W. H. Roscher (ed), Ausfihrliches Lexicon der griechiscken und romischen Mythologie (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1890-1937), article ‘Atreus*; Apollodorus, The Library, ed and tr J . G. Frazer (London: William Heinemann, 1921), vol 2, pp 168-71. 5. Vyasa, The Mahabharata, tr J . A. B. van Buitenen (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973-8), vol 1, pp xxiv-xxv. 6. Abu ’l-Qasim FirdawsI, The Shdhndma, tr A. C. W arner and E. W arner (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1905-25), vol 5, pp 30-165. 7. G. Dumezil, Loki (Paris: Flammarion, 1986), pp 165-98; and Romans de S