Messages in Iliad - Essay Example

Messages in Iliad Iliad is a poem set during the Trojan War and since ancient times it has been credited to Homer asthe composer. It narrates of the events towards the end of this war, though, in essence, it mentions a lot of heroes, villains and places. It involves events between gods and the humans that help shape the war fundamentally. The poem has highlighted the use of messengers as the main mode of communication during this war. Messengers were used to transmit information from the gods to other gods, from gods to humans and from humans to humans. This paper will show the instances where messengers have been used and their impact towards the reaction to the given message. It will show that where else messengers were expected to be impartial as to the message, sometimes they intervened to ease the impact of the message and favor the outcomes. Three sets of communications are evident in the poem, messages from a god to another god, messages from the gods to the mortals, humans, and from humans to humans. Communication from a god to another god via messenger has been revealed in several instances in the poem. In book eight of the poem, Zeus sends Iris to tell two other gods, Hera and Athena to turn back and not intervene to help the Greeks in war (Homere, 65). This is after the gods had met at the mount Olympus and Zeus had specifically warned them against intervening in the war between the mortals. He promised to punish the god who would contravene that directive. Hera and Athena; however, decide to help the Greeks, and Zeus sends Iris to turn them back. On receiving the message, Hera heeds to his father’s command and turns back citing that it was not worth for the immortals to fight over mortals. The importance of the messenger here is to prevent a possible war between the gods and the messenger succeeds in averting it by delivering the message precisely and in time. Another instance in the poem where gods communicate with other gods through a messenger is when in book 15; Zeus sends Iris to warn Poseidon that he must quit the battle field and return to the sea or face Zeus’ wrath. Iris delivers the message to Poseidon who angrily retorts that he is not afraid of Zeus, who is also his brother and the god of the sky and lightening. Poseidon tells Iris that he would not heed Zeus orders and Iris talks him down to accept the order and leave the battle field. Iris then goes back to Zeus and is full of praise for him for maintaining peace with his brother. In this instance, the messenger not only delivers a message but also acts as a mediator between the sender and the receiver of the message. Iris suits Poseidon to take back his angry words which the messenger does not repeat to the sender. This is necessary as Iris did not serve to fuel the feud between the two parties by repeating the details on reception of the message. What is essential is that the message is adhered to accordingly. The second mode of communication depicted in the play is when gods communicate to humans through a messenger. One instance when a god communicates to a human through a messenger is in book eleven. As the battle ranges in the battlefield, Zeus has evil intent over the Greeks as Zeus wants Agamemnon killed. However, because Zeus is exceptionally strong he sends a messenger to Hector with a winning strategy. Zeus is urging Hector to hold back fighting until Agamemnon is wounded and ready to retire to his chariot. He then should carry on with the battle to the beached ships and attack Agamemnon’s chariot so as to kill him. Iris recites the message to Hector who obeys. Iris serves as an intermediary between god and humans and as a messenger he delivers the message as it was given to him. He mainly delivers it as it was and in so doing helps maintain a healthy rapport between the Greeks and the gods. The messenger by obeying to deliver the message, and so in a timely manner helps hector win the war. It goes without emphasizing the importance of the message minding that it was passed at a critical period of the war (Homere, 89). Another instance where the gods communicate to humans through a messenger is in book 24. Zeus sends a message to Priam through Iris. Zeus wants Priam to go and ask for the body of his dead son Hector form Achilles. Priam on receiving the message intends to obey Zeus and go to Achilles to ask for his son’s body, but he must consult with his wife, Hecuba, first on what to do. Hecuba instructs him to offer a peace offering to Zeus which Zeus accepts showing his acceptance of the offering with the bird sign. The messenger in this instance helps resolve a question, which the gods had thought about and found that the only solution was Priam to ransom his son’s body in person. In this case; however, Iris leaves immediately after he delivers the message and does not wait for the answer or compliance to the message. This is important as the messenger gives the receiver enough space to make his decision and reply in due time. The third form of communication in the poem is between humans and humans. Humans also use messengers to pass their messages and several instances are presented in the poem. One such instance is in book six of the long poem (Homere, 145). Helenus sends Hector to Hecuba, their mother. Helenus wants their mother to gather around all the older noble women of the city and together they offer a distinctive sacrifice at the temple of Athena. The noble women must pray to the goddess so as to hold Diomedes back. Hecuba does as the message from Helenus through Hector had asked thus ensuring that the goddess helped the Greece in the war. The key point in this mode of communication is to show the urgency in which the message is delivered, and the weight a message delivered this way is given. Also, to show how the distance that the messengers use helps to bridge between the sender and the receiver. Another instance in the play where a message is passed from a human to a human in the poem is when Agamemnon sends Odysseus to Achilles in book nine. Odysseus is accompanied by phoenix and the Great Ajax with a message from Agamemnon, asking Achilles to rejoin the Greek army. Odysseus as a messenger delivers the message from Agamemnon word for word, but only the parts that suits his mission. He neglects to tell the part where the king commands that Achilles must rejoin the army. He does because he knows that Achilles would not bow down to threats and gives the message that he feels will make ends meet. However, Achilles knows about the technical error of omission and refuses to honor the message. To him, his personal pride is more valuable than the material wealth that the king was promising (Homere, 675). The messenger does a lousy job in this instance of delivering the message impartially which makes the receiver agitated. This is one instance in this poem where the messenger distorts the message, or rather omits an essential part of the message to aid his own course. In conclusion, the poem consists of extremely many messages that were passed towards the end of the Trojan War, and their impact on the ultimate outcome of the war. The messages from the gods to gods were paramount because they shaped the direction of the war. Zeus for instance did not want the other gods to meddle in the affairs of the mortals which would have significantly aided the Greeks in the war. Messages passed to humans by the god were also vital in the war because they served to warn the leaders on consequences of not following the wish of the gods. Messages also played a vital role in this poem as the checks between humans who during the war, were distanced, to avoid acting in contravention of the common good. The most significant impact of the messages was outplayed by the messengers themselves. The messages arrived as the messengers would have wished and as most instances indicate, honesty as to the message is vital. Sometimes; however, the messenger can alter the message accordingly to help prevent a misunderstanding with far greater consequences. The messenger must; however, be ready to bear the consequences of misrepresenting the message, but he cannot be held responsible for passing a message that turns out to be evil. His responsibility ends when he delivers the message. Work Cited: Homere, Pope. The Iliad. London: Rivington, 1760. Print Read More