Natasha Bershadsky
{1. The rain/opening credits [1] }
Sheets and sheets of rain pouring over the Trojan plain. The rain falling on some dilapidated mudbrick structures. Zoom: the mudbrick slowly melting under the rain. Back to the broader view: now streams of water are surging everywhere. The flood carries big stones, logs, pieces of armor, turning and tumbling in the water. [2] The rain gradually stops. In the meanwhile, the towers and walls of Troy have emerged in the distance. A sandy beach; a gigantic golden shield lies on the sand, shining. Zoom: the litigation scene. [3]
{2. The quarrel}
The figure of Agamemnon, filmed over Achilles’ shoulder (Achilles’ long hair frames the shot on the right). Agamemnon: But I will myself come to your hut and take Briseis, your so-called prize, so that you may know how much stronger I am than you are. [4] A still shot of Agamemnon’s face in the increasingly bright light of Achilles’ anger. [5] When there is about to be an explosion, a cut: Athena (the shot is now over her shoulder) grabs Achilles’ hair, standing behind him. [6] Achilles turns his head, furious; a flash of recognition in his eyes. [7] A brief interaction between Athena and Achilles, in which we do not see Athena’s face nor hear what is said; as a result, Achilles calms down somewhat. [8] A shot of Agamemnon’s face again: but now, the bright lighting begins to fade rapidly. Agamemnon’s face passes through several distortions: a bulge, a dent, a squeeze. [9] The colors dull even further (the reds disappear), and the face goes out of focus. A hum, or a drone, starts. Achilles’ hand, slowly rotating a scepter as he speaks; a great precision of golden details. [10] His voice is aloof, muted. Achilles: One day a longing for Achilles will take the Achaeans, when they drop dying before Hector; and you will claw at your heart [11] that you didn’t honor the best of the Achaeans. [12] The hand throws the scepter down; [13] the camera moves to the faces of the Greeks, but they don’t come into focus. Indistinct busy movements of the assembly breaking up. [14]
*
Near Achilles’ tent. The out-of-focus shooting continues. Silent terrified faces of the messengers, hazily. [15] Then the face of Patroklos comes into a sharp focus, looks interrogatively, nods, goes away. [16] The focus vanishes. We see Patroklos’ dim silhouette tenderly leading out of the tent a female figure and entrusting her to the messengers. [17] The unmoving camera traces three blurry reluctant figures disappearing along the beach. [18]
{3. Achilles and Thetis}
Achilles alone, sitting by the sea. He is all muffled up: perhaps, in a hoodie with a hood on. [19] Achilles’ vision is sharp, but the sounds are mostly stifled. Noiseless gray waves of the sea. Achilles stretches his hands toward them. [20] Out of nowhere, a woman sits in front of him: Thetis. [21] The melody of her voice comes through, even though it is hushed: Why do you weep, my child? What is your sorrow? Let us both know. [22] Achilles: You know everything, goddess. We sacked Eetion’s city, and divided the spoils, and gave Agamemnon the daughter of Khryses. [23] A series of fast cuts: Khryses, silently standing by the sea; Apollo, with long hair, filmed from the back, shooting flaming arrows at the Greek camp; Odysseus leading a female figure onto a ship; two messengers taking another female figure away. [24] Achilles: Hold you hands round your child, if you can, now: go beg Zeus — if you ever helped him in word or deed — that he may aid the Trojans… [25] An ant-like teeming of little figures, killed en masse by the ships. [26]
{4. Thetis and Zeus}
Mount Olympus. [27] An aerial shot of the whole world. Thetis in supplication to Zeus. No full figures are ever shown. The shots are extreme close-ups, nearly abstract: Thetis’ dark clothes are clinging to, encroaching on, and containing the gold of Zeus’ garments. [28] Thetis: If I ever helped you by word or deed, honor my son, the most fleeting of all. Assist the Trojans, till my son is given honor by the Achaeans. [29] A pause. Thetis’ voice: Bow your head — or refuse me. [30] A register of the Iliadic silences is flash-forwarded in the mind of Zeus: [31] the angry faces of Hera and Athena, [32] the stricken assembly of the Greeks after the return of the embassy to Achilles; [33] silent deaths, silent picking up of the corpses; [34] Antilochus’ face as he learns of Patroklos’ death. [35] A close-up of Zeus’ face. Zeus: I will bow my head to you. Zeus’ locks cascade onto his face, hiding it. [36]
{5. Hector, Andromache, Astyanax}
Zeus’ hair dissolves into twisting and turning of small Trojan alleys, where Hector is looking for Andromache. [37] His shield is swung behind his back and strikes his neck and ankles, [38] on which the camera momentarily lingers. While he is still going round in empty clay alleys, Andromache’s music already starts. It’s a distinctive tune, recognizable in other episodes even without the words. [39] A female voice:
There came running toward him
Andromache, Eetion’s daughter —
Ah Eetion, who lived below Plakos,
Oh in Thebes from below Plakos —
his daughter came running to Hector… [40]
Andromache, Eetion’s daughter —
Ah Eetion, who lived below Plakos,
Oh in Thebes from below Plakos —
his daughter came running to Hector… [40]
Andromache runs toward him, holding Astyanax, who is smiling, brightly, [41] because of the bumpy ride in his mother’s arms. Hector looks on smiling, in silence; Andromache’s tears flow. [42] A motionless scene of smiling and flowing, a moment longer than it’s comfortable: you cannot understand whether the reel is stuck, or whether the three have turned into a black-and-white picture, animated only by the flickering of the film. And then it moves on.
*
On Hector’s way back, he is overtaken by Paris in shining armor, who runs ahead, laughing. [43]
{6. Greeks and Trojans in the night}
Night. Flashes of lightning, thunder. [44] Amid the flashes, the Trojans, in the city, and the Greeks, by the ships, pouring and pouring libations, in fear. [45] The shot of the two-handled cup, time after time pouring out wine, will recur in the scene of Achilles pouring wine on the ground by Patroklos’ pyre. [46]
{7. The Greeks are pressed by Hector}
Zeus on Mount Ida. An aerial shot of the city of Troy and the Greek ships. [47] Next, the Greek army marching into battle. Odysseus, while the soldiers pass:
Sack strong-walled Ilios and return home.
Like children or widows, you weep to return home.
It’s toil and grief, the wish to return home. [48]
Like children or widows, you weep to return home.
It’s toil and grief, the wish to return home. [48]
The camera stops on a chance face, excitable and young, which turns toward the motionless camera as he goes away, slowing down a bit. The voice-over: Nireus of Simi… Nireus of three ships… Nireus the most beautiful of all,| Except for Achilles… [49] Nireus stumbles, jumps up and hastens to catch up. [50]
A cut: now we see the Trojans marching, led by Hector. Sarpedon… Asteropaios… Nastes and Amphimakhos, Amphimakhos and Nastes… [51] (The music brings up a shadow of Andromache’s tune). Nastes, whose hair is decorated by golden spirals, smiles to the camera. [52]
*
The middle of the battle. A thunderbolt strikes the ground in front of Diomedes’ chariot. [53] The Greeks in rout, Hector at their heels, hungrily stabbing at those in the rear. [54] Hector’s face, pressing on into the camera: the eyes rolling, the mouth open in shout, the tongue protruding. [55]
*
Hector, to the Trojan assembly: If only I could be immortal and ageless, and be honored equally to Athena and Apollo, as surely as tomorrow brings evil to the Greeks. [56]
{8. The embassy}
The storm is starting as the envoys go along the beach. Sharp little waves hit the sand, throwing out seaweed and foam. [57]
*
Achilles and Patroklos by the piano. [58] Schubert; then, Andromache’s tune. [59] At the delegation’s entrance, Achilles springs up. [60]
Image by multipleusernamedisorder
*
A dinner scene. Both paradisiacal and funereal, not the part of the mênis. The colors are deep, lots of reds. The camera shows only Achilles and Patroklos. A series of close-ups: attention to the detailed movements of their hands. Achilles carves the meat, Patroklos starts a big fire. [61] The fire dies down, and for a few moments the camera focuses on the glow of embers. [62] Patroklos’ hands spreading the embers flat, putting the meat on spits over them. [63] He sets the bread in baskets on the table, Achilles serves the meat. [64]
*
Achilles, after listening to Agamemnon’s offer: Tomorrow you will see, if you care to look, my ships at dawn sailing over the Hellespont. [65] An extreme long shot of the ships over the Hellespont, and, immediately, a cut: Zeus and Hera. Zeus, to resentful Hera: Tomorrow at dawn you will see, if you care to look, the Argives all hemmed in, fighting over the dead Patroklos. [66]
*
Achilles again: No — even if you give gifts as sand and dust… [67]
{9. Hector sets fire to the ships}
A mass of Trojans, led by Hector and huge Apollo before him, advances against the wall of the Greeks. [68] Apollo strides over the trench, takes hold of the wall. [69] A cut: Astyanax, exuberant, scattering a sand castle. [70] Back to the battle: there is a wide gap in the wall, through which the Trojans pour. [71] A shot of Ajax standing on his ship. [72] A close-up of his helmet, hit and hit by arrows; as the arrows hit the helmet’s cheekpieces; [73] Ajax stares into the camera intently, without blinking. Zeus, peering down from Ida, strains to see something. [74] An aerial shot of the indistinct dark earth and after a moment, a tiny spark. Back to the eye-level shooting: Hector strikes at the spear in Ajax’s hand, the spearpoint falls down with a reverberating clang. [75] Ajax closes his eyes. [76] At the same moment, the fire is thrown onto the ship and flares up. A shot of the ship’s stern, surrounded by fire. [77]
{10. Patroklos’ aristeia and death}
Rows of waves, rolling, breaking. Patroklos’ voice: Gray sea and rocks, that’s what brought you forth — not Peleus and Thetis. That harshness of yours. At least, send me in… [78] Achilles’ voice is semi-drowned by the roar of the wind and the waves. One hears fragments: awful sorrow… that girl… [79] Waves, hitting a cliff: the water runs off the smooth stone in streams and trickles, then a new wave crashes. [80] The camera focuses on a far off ship, then zooms in rapidly: in the haze and spray, figures of frantic seamen; [81] a freak wave nearly topples the ship. [82] The camera is completely blinded by the foam. [83] Achilles’ voice: I wish we were alone left, the two of us, to rip Troy’s veil off. [84] Through the sea water, draining off the camera’s lens, a flash of a distant fire. [85] When the camera finds the fire again, after a cut, it’s the glare of the burning ships. [86] Achilles: Beat the fire from the ships, and come back. [87]
*
Near Achilles’ tent. Achilles’ horses are led to harness. A close-up of eight hooves: they walk just above the ground, not leaving traces. Then four more hooves, these one making imprints in dust. [88] The voice-over:
A brief echo, from afar: Oh Eetion… [90] Patroklos and the Myrmidons around him: packed-in movements and glints of armor. [91] They are arming, hastily, to a Myrmidon war song:
Like a pack of wolves
Lapping up black water.
Their tongues are slender,
Their jaws are murder,
Their jaws are murder,
Lapping up black water. [92]
Lapping up black water.
Their tongues are slender,
Their jaws are murder,
Their jaws are murder,
Lapping up black water. [92]
*
Patroklos’ entrance to the battle is marked with an establishing shot in a deep focus: a moment of a superior vision. [93] The fire is extinguished, [94] and the battle acquires a prominent rhythm and a dance-like quality. The first killings are easy: unbroken shots that each ends in a (variously colored) blackout. [95] The scenes become longer and grislier; some of them end in a sharp rattling noise at the moment of a warrior’s fall (doupêsen de pesôn). [96] The fighting develops into chaos: Patroklos in the crush of overturning chariots. [97] Sarpedon strikes Pedasos with a spear, and the horse moans, dying. [98] Patroklos kills Sarpedon. [99] Zeus is not on Mount Ida any more: his face appears right above the battle, enormous. [100] He adjusts things here and there with a laser pen, sending Hector into panic by shining it into Hector’s horses’ eyes, [101] and giving Patroklos a sign to attack. [102] Patroklos hurls a stone at Hector, and hits Hector’s charioteer Kebriones, on the forehead. [103] Kebriones’ eyes plop on the ground, and the body slowly tumbles over afterward. [104] Patroklos: How smoothly he dives! He’d be a star if he fished for oysters. [105] A battle around Kebriones’ body, in which Kebriones’ disfigured face, as it comes in and out of focus, obstructed and revealed by bodies and weapons, mutates and becomes beautiful again, showing, in sequence, the features of Patroklos, Hector, Achilles. [106]
*
A close-up of Patroklos’ face, sad, serene. The voice-over: Whom did you kill first, whom last, when the gods called you deathward, horseman Patroklos? [107] Patroklos listens to the names, nodding. The voice-over continues: But when for the fourth time you rushed on like a god, then the end of life appeared for you. For Phoebus met you in battle. He struck your back with the flat of his hand… [108] Patroklos’ face disintegrates into Skype-like disturbances.
The sound of “he fell with a thud,” then a total silence. [109]
{11. Fighting over Patroklos}
In the battle over Patroklos’ body, an increasing confused destruction; then, at some point, like a fluid crystallizing under pressure, the disorderly fighting resolves itself into a phalanx. [110] In the dark tumult, an immobile image of Achilles’ dazzling horses, crying. [111]
{12. Lament for Patroklos}
Achilles, anxiously watching the Greeks in rout. [112] The face of Antilokhos, reporting the news to Achilles. [113] Achilles on the ground, enormous in his length, in the same position that we have just seen Kebriones in. [114] His shout, [115] which continues through a cut to the bottom of the sea and to the face of Thetis, whose eyes change, as she listens: she slowly brings her hands to her head, opens her mouth wide and shrieks in response. [116] The camera goes from face to face of the Nereids. Each next one, as the camera stops on her face, warped by the swinging and swaying of the seawater, opens her mouth and starts to wail. [117] A cut: Zeus and Hera. Zeus, teasing Hera: You have had your way, queen Hera — now you have roused swift Achilles. [118]
{13. Achilles returns}
Thetis’ and Achilles’ voices. –You will be gone soon, my child, from what you are saying, since at once after Hector your destiny is at hand. – Let me die then, at once, since I was not around to protect my companion when he was killed. [119] While this conversation is going on, a series of quick-paced episodes: Hector putting on Achilles’ armor; [120] Achilles showing himself to the Trojans; [121] Patroklos’ body brought out from the battle and washed; [122] Agamemnon talking, and gifts piled up in the middle of the agora; [123] Briseis crying over Patroklos; [124] Thetis and Hephaistos; [125] Achilles arming. [126]
{14. Achilles fighting}
A rout. Achilles, in pursuit, jumps into the river. In the water, a chaos of men and horses, at whom Achilles hacks. [127] Nastes’ face, and his gold-bedecked hair streaming in the water. [128] A cut: on the riverbank, a naked, sweaty and dazed young man. [129] Achilles looks at Lykaon with a scientific interest.
The sea, it seems, didn’t hold him off.
Will the earth now hold him down? For
it holds a stronger man fast and close. [130]
Will the earth now hold him down? For
it holds a stronger man fast and close. [130]
A flashback: night. [131] The face of Lykaon, which is very beautiful, between fig branches. [132] Turning toward the camera slowly, with an expectation of happiness. The expression changes to terror. [133] A cut to the present time. Naked Lykaon from Achilles’ point of view, at his feet, holding on to Achilles’ spear, pleading frantically: the words are not audible. [134] Achilles: No, dear, you will die. So did Patroklos. And one morning or night or midday, I will, too. [135] Achilles’ face, shot from a low angle, tender. Lykaon lets go of the spear and melts onto the ground. [136] Achilles strikes him on the clavicle with a sword, which sinks in without any resistance. [137] Achilles, looking for the next person: Formerly, I suppose, it was easier to appease me. Now you hear a harsher voice. Perish you all: horses, heroes, seers, prophesies; I will pursue you till you pay the price for Patroklos. [138]
{15. Water and fire}
Achilles’ fight with the river: Technicolor, or perhaps 3D? At that point floods, fires and falling trees of the similes irrupt into the main narrative, [139] hence the difference in texture. Amid the torrents and blazes, in the scene of the burning of Scamander, [140] with smoldering trees and fishes, a cut to a memory that the seething river evokes in Achilles: the fire under the tripod, and the boiling water, heated to wash Patroklos’ dead body. [141]
{16. Fight of Achilles and Hector}
An empty Trojan plain; Hector, alone, under the city wall. [142] On an adjacent tower, gesticulating figures of Priam and Hecube, small enough to be ignored: Priam tearing his hair, Hecube showing Hector her breast. [143] A figure of approaching Achilles in the distance. [144] Hector glances at him intermittently, deciding what to do. [145] Hector: There’s no talking to him… He smiles crookedly, suddenly reminded of an old, silly song:
Hector raises his head: a shot of Achilles, unexpectedly close. The vision is blinding, like a nearby explosion. Details are lost in the glare; visible are a spearpoint and Achilles’ eyes. [147] The chase begins.
*
The end of the fight. We see the point of Achilles’ spear, aimed at the camera, moving. Stopping, gleaming. Poised. Moving again. [148] The camera is turning to follow it. This is slow. A close-up of Hector’s neck and shoulders: [149] a glow of the armor with one shadowy spot of unprotected skin (like a dark spot left on the retina from the shine of Achilles’ spear). [150] Astyanax’ laughing face. [151] With all force, Achilles’ spear hits Hector’s neck. [152]
{17. Andromache’s lament}
An establishing shot steadily and somewhat mechanically takes in large, orderly rooms. Everything is immobile. The camera, without slowing down, rolls over a large piece of weaving on the loom, with intricate flowers. [153] A glimpse of a peaceful fire under a great tripod in the adjacent room. [154] The shot ends up on Andromache, who is gripped by anxiety. She sits down by the piano, uncertainly touches the keys. An indistinct hum is heard — she stops, frozen. The camera does a few minor Dutch tilts. The noise grows into a sound of a distant crying: hair in the dust… all head… [155] The camera goes into a spin; the whirl of Andromache’s hair and eyes morphs into writhing coils of a snake, killing sparrows. [156] The face of silently crying, slightly older, Astyanax. Andromache’s voice: Oh in Thebes from below Plakos… Oh in Troy in the house of Priam… [157] Images of Astyanax begging, being kicked away, running in tears, interspersed with, or superimposed on, scenes of turmoil, rooms in flames, an overturned piano burning. [158]
{18. Postmortem chat}
Night, Achilles’ tent. Achilles, staring at an empty computer screen (the screen background is a black-figure dragging of Hector). Suddenly lines of chat start to appear on the screen. [159]
| 3:05 AM | you sleep achi;;es |
| and have forgotten me | |
| 3:06 AM | you loved me living |
| but mow | |
| 3:08 AM | that I am dead |
| you think og me no further |
|
| 3:09 AM | fury |
| *bury me withall speed that I may pass the gates pg hades |
|
| 3:11 AM | the ghosts drvie me away gtom them |
| (Patroklos is typing) (Patroklos has entered text) |
|
| 3:14 AM | I wander desolatr |
| by the wise gates of the house of hades | |
| 3:27 AM | you know you also soon |
| 3:28 AM | Achilles godlike |
| 3:30 AM | you will die |
| ————connection lost———— | |
| 3:34 AM | something else |
| don’t tel *let my bones lie apaty *apart from yours |
|
| 3:37 AM | when I was small |
| 3:38 AM | your attendant |
| 3:42 AM | our bones also put them togther in that vase golden two-handleld |
| 3:48 AM | you mother gave you |
| Achilles: | |
| 3:49 AM | why dearest have you come and tell me all these things I will do everything exacltly but can we hug jusr for a moment can we cry toegtehr |
No more lines appear. Achilles stares at the screen for a while, then jumps up. [160] An enormous moth circles around the room and alights on the computer screen.
{19. Patroklos’ funeral}
Mules carrying wood on the mountain slope; [161] Achilles cutting a lock of his hair. [162] Patroklos’ body is put on the pyre. [163] Corpses of Trojan men and horses, heaped on the pyre pell-mell, like they were the river. [164] Achilles, dragging Hector’s body around the pyre. Achilles, pouring and pouring wine on the earth by the blazing pyre. [165] His movements are of a very tired old man. [166]
*
The pyre dies down: a shot of flickering embers, recurring from the dinner scene with Patroklos. [167] Achilles watches the glowing embers, then falls asleep by the pyre. [168] In a reverie, he sees himself at the start of his wrath, alone on the beach. [169] A loud noise of voices, steps, clanking of armor. Achilles sees himself opening the door, angrily: there, the bewildered and desperate faces of Odysseus, Phoenix and other delegates. [170] He opens his eyes: it is Agamemnon and his people. [171] Achilles: It’s time to gather the bones of Patroklos. [172]
{20. Dragging of Hector}
Achilles in the darkness, turning around: on his side, on his face, on his back. [173] Getting up repeatedly, dragging Hector around Patroklos’ mound, leaving the corpse to lie on his side, on his face. [174] A cloud-like fabric shimmers in the early morning sky above Hector, protecting him from the sun: a more transparent version of Andromache’s flowery weaving. [175]
{21. Thetis goes to Olympus}
Image by artofdreaming
{22. Achilles and Thetis}
Achilles’ dwelling. A huge slaughtered ram lies in the middle, obstructing the passage around the room. [177] Thetis appears and sits by Achilles’ side, embracing him. [178] The scene is strangely quiet: things are simple, visible and audible. Thetis: It is good to eat and sleep, my child; it is good to love a woman. You won’t be here long. But now it is time to give Hector back, the gods are angry. [179] Achilles: Whoever ransoms him — let him take the dead, if the gods command it. [180] An unbroken sequence shot: The mother and son keep talking; they stand up and walk outside, stroll on the beach. The camera starts to pull back and lift higher, taking in a wide panorama: the Greek ships stand in a wide semicircle around the figures of talking Achilles and Thetis. [181]
{23. Priam seeing Hermes}
Night. Priam on his way to Achilles. The setting is close to the tumulus of Ilus, by the river. Sounds of horses drinking. [182] A dusky figure of Hermes appears nearby. Priam stands, dazed, struck by fear. [183] Priam, in a whisper: Who are you? Hermes: I am Achilles’ attendant. A Myrmidon. [184] A close-up of Hermes’ face: in the pale light and moving shadows, it seems that this is Patroklos.
{24. Priam and Achilles}
The Greek camp, close to Achilles’ house. Darkness. Hermes jumps off Priam’s chariot and disappears. [185] Priam goes into the house. A shot of a large dim entrance hall, with heaps of laptops, covered in blood and grime. Priam’s silhouette at the far end of the hall, against the lit doorway. The next shot is filmed already within the interior room, looking toward the door: it’s blurry and refracted, then a figure of Patroklos emerges for a moment. [186] The focus sharpens: it is Priam. A cut: Priam at Achilles’ feet. [187] A shot of Lykaon clutching Achilles’ spear. [188] Achilles’ face, filmed from a low angle. Then the camera pulls back, including both Achilles and Priam. [189] Achilles takes Priam’s hand and at the same time gently pushes him away just a little: [190] the last reverberation of the cycles of withdrawal and return. They remain like this for a while.
*
Achilles: Gods don’t cry… It’s mortals who grieve. [191] My father, for example: a king, with a goddess for a wife… And an only son, untimeliest ever. Now he is old and lonely. [192] While Achilles speaks about the previous happiness of Peleus, scenes of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis go by: the golden gifts of the gods, [193] the horses led in, [194] the mournful face of the bride. [195] Achilles: You also used to be happy, they say. You had your wealth, and your sons. Don’t grieve forever — you will not bring him back to life. [196] Priam: But Hector… yet uncried for… Please give him back quickly and accept the ransom, it’s big — let you enjoy it, let you safely return home… [197] Achilles’ face, with a mix of emotions — anger, disbelief, sarcasm, and just at the very end, pity. [198]
*
A dinner scene. A white sheep is slaughtered. [199] A series of close-ups: the meat is cut, put on spits, roasted. It is not clear who is doing these actions. [200] Finally, the camera retreats: we see Achilles serving the meat, and someone else, sitting with the back to the camera, distributing the bread in baskets. [201]
*
Night. A shot of sleeping Achilles with Briseis near him. [202] Hector, on a bier, in darkness. [203] Priam, sitting on a bed, staring on its red covers. Gradually, the red starts to glimmer and transforms into flames. [204]
Footnotes
[ back ] 1. The film script uses modified excerpts from the translations of the Iliad by S. Butler, revised by G. Nagy et al., by R. Lattimore, and by A. T. Murray, revised by W. F. Wyatt, as well as retouched scenes from Lambros oinochoe (Louvre CA 2509).
[ back ] 2. XII 13-33.
[ back ] 3. XVIII 497-508.
[ back ] 4. I 183-186.
[ back ] 5. I 188-192.
[ back ] 6. I 197-198.
[ back ] 7. I 199-200.
[ back ] 8. I 201-220.
[ back ] 9. I 225.
[ back ] 10. I 234-239.
[ back ] 11. Claw at your heart: ἀμύσσω ‘tear, lacerate’ occurs only in this line (I 243) and in XIX 284, Briseis tearing at her face in lament over Patroklos. So, a reverbration of a lament is already here, still implicit.
[ back ] 12. I 240-244.
[ back ] 13. I 245-246.
[ back ] 14. I 305.
[ back ] 15. I 330-332.
[ back ] 16. I 337-348.
[ back ] 17. I 345-347.
[ back ] 18. I 347-348.
[ back ] 19. I’m thinking of vase-paintings with Achilles wrapped in a mantle and of Gloria Ferrari’s reading of this as an image of aidôs.
[ back ] 20. I 348-351.
[ back ] 21. I 360.
[ back ] 22. I 362-363.
[ back ] 23. I 365-369.
[ back ] 24. I 370-392.
[ back ] 25. I 393-395, 408.
[ back ] 26. I 409.
[ back ] 27. I 498-499.
[ back ] 28. I 500-502.
[ back ] 29. I 503-510.
[ back ] 30. I 514-515.
[ back ] 31. I 511-512.
[ back ] 32. I 569, VIII 459.
[ back ] 33. IX 693.
[ back ] 34. VII 427.
[ back ] 35. XVII 695.
[ back ] 36. I 528-530.
[ back ] 37. VI 390–391. The verb ἐλελίζω ‘to shake, whirl round,’ describing the shaking of Olympus after Zeus nods (I 530), is also used of Andromache’s limbs going into a spin when she learns about the death of Hector (XXII 448).
[ back ] 38. VI 115.
[ back ] 39. II 849-850, II 870-871, XX 371-2, XXI 85-6, XXII 127-8: these passages include lament-like repetitions.
[ back ] 40. VI 395-399.
[ back ] 41. Astyanax is “like a beautiful star,” VI 401.
[ back ] 42. VI 404-405.
[ back ] 43. VI 512–514.
[ back ] 44. VII 476–479.
[ back ] 45. VII 480.
[ back ] 46. XXIII 217–221.
[ back ] 47. VIII 51–52.
[ back ] 48. II 288–291. Odysseus repeats (ἀπο)νέεσθαι three times in these lines, in a final position.
[ back ] 49. II 671–674.
[ back ] 50. II 675.
[ back ] 51. II 870–871.
[ back ] 52. II 872–873.
[ back ] 53. VIII 133–136.
[ back ] 54. VIII 341–2.
[ back ] 55. VIII 349, Hector as the Gorgon.
[ back ] 56. VIII 538–541.
[ back ] 57. IX 6–7.
[ back ] 58. IX 189–190.
[ back ] 59. IX 188.
[ back ] 60. IX 193.
[ back ] 61. IX 209–211.
[ back ] 62. IX 212–213. These lines resemble XXIII 228, the fire of Patroklos’ pyre dying down.
[ back ] 63. IX 215.
[ back ] 64. IX 216–217.
[ back ] 65. IX 358–361.
[ back ] 66. VIII 470–476.
[ back ] 67. IX 385.
[ back ] 68. XV 306–309.
[ back ] 69. XV 361–362.
[ back ] 70. XV 362–364.
[ back ] 71. XV 381–384.
[ back ] 72. XV 730.
[ back ] 73. XVI 101–108.
[ back ] 74. XV 599–600.
[ back ] 75. XVI 118.
[ back ] 76. XVI 119–122.
[ back ] 77. XVI 123–124.
[ back ] 78. XVI 33–35, 38.
[ back ] 79. XVI 52, 55–56.
[ back ] 80. XV 618–621.
[ back ] 81. XV 627–628.
[ back ] 82. XV 624–625.
[ back ] 83. XV 626.
[ back ] 84. XVI 99–100.
[ back ] 85. XIX 375.
[ back ] 86. XVI 124. The fire, enveloping the stern of the first Greek ship (XVI 124), has a counterpart in the fire enveloping a cauldron of warm water, in which Patroklos’ body is going to be washed (XVIII 348).
[ back ] 87. XVI 126–127, 95–96.
[ back ] 88. XVI 154.
[ back ] 89. XVI 149, 152–153.
[ back ] 90. VI 397.
[ back ] 91. XVI 216–217.
[ back ] 92. XVI 159–162.
[ back ] 93. XVI 299–300.
[ back ] 94. XVI 301.
[ back ] 95. XVI 333–334, 344, 350.
[ back ] 96. XVI 325, XVI 401, XVI 599.
[ back ] 97. XVI 379.
[ back ] 98. XVI 466–469.
[ back ] 99. XVI 502–503.
[ back ] 100. XVI 644–646.
[ back ] 101. XVI 656.
[ back ] 102. XVI 691.
[ back ] 103. XVI 736–739.
[ back ] 104. XVI 740–743.
[ back ] 105. XVI 745–748.
[ back ] 106. XVI 775–776.
[ back ] 107. XVI 692–693.
[ back ] 108. XVI 786–789, 791.
[ back ] 109. XVI 822.
[ back ] 110. XVII 354–359.
[ back ] 111. XVII 434–439.
[ back ] 112. XVIII 3–4.
[ back ] 113. XVIII 15–17.
[ back ] 114. XVIII 26.
[ back ] 115. XVIII 35.
[ back ] 116. XVIII 37.
[ back ] 117. XVIII 37–51.
[ back ] 118. XVIII 356–358.
[ back ] 119. XVIII 95–6, 98–9.
[ back ] 120. XVII 192–212.
[ back ] 121. XVIII 215–231.
[ back ] 122. XVIII 231–3, 343–351.
[ back ] 123. XIX 185–197, 19.247–50.
[ back ] 124. XIX 282–302.
[ back ] 125. XVIII 368–617.
[ back ] 126. XIX 369–385.
[ back ] 127. XXI 17–20.
[ back ] 128. II 873–875.
[ back ] 129. XXI 50–52.
[ back ] 130. XXI 58–63. Achilles thrice repeats the verb ἐρύκει/ἐρύξει ‘holds/will hold back’ in a final position in these lines.
[ back ] 131. XXI 37.
[ back ] 132. XXI 37–38.
[ back ] 133. XXI 39.
[ back ] 134. XXI 71–96.
[ back ] 135. XXI 106–113.
[ back ] 136. XXI 114–116.
[ back ] 137. XXI 116–118.
[ back ] 138. XXI 100–102, 128–135. In my reworking of these lines, repeating p, r and sh, I attempt to imitate the repetition of ph, th/t, r and s in the verse τόφρά τί μοι πεφιδέσθαι ἐνὶ φρεσὶ φίλτερον ἦεν (XXI 101): phonetically, this line of Achilles prefigures his exclamation φθείρεσθ’ ‘perish you all!’ in XXI 128.
[ back ] 139. For example, XXI 242–246.
[ back ] 140. XXI 365.
[ back ] 141. XVIII 349. Lines XXI 362, 365, and XVIII 349 contain the only three Iliadic occurrences of the verb ζέω ‘to boil.’
[ back ] 142. XXII 5–6.
[ back ] 143. XXII 77–80.
[ back ] 144. XXII 26.
[ back ] 145. XXII 92.
[ back ] 146. XXII 126–8.
[ back ] 147. XXII 131–135.
[ back ] 148. XXII 317–319.
[ back ] 149. XXII 321.
[ back ] 150. XXII 322–325.
[ back ] 151. Astyanax’ laughing face at the moment of Hector’s death has been suggested to me by the metaphor in VI 401, comparing Astyanax with a beautiful star. I glued this metaphor with the metaphor likening the point of Achilles’ spear to a star.
[ back ] 152. XXII 326–327.
[ back ] 153. XXII 440–441.
[ back ] 154. XXII 442–443.
[ back ] 155. XXII 402–405.
[ back ] 156. XXII 448, II 316. The same verb ἐλελίζω ‘to whirl, coil’ describes Andromache’s limbs reeling and the snake coiling around the sparrow.
[ back ] 157. XXII 477–81.
[ back ] 158. XXII 484–506.
[ back ] 159. XXIII 69–74, 80–84, 91–98.
[ back ] 160. XXIII 101.
[ back ] 161. XXIII 115–116.
[ back ] 162. XXIII 141–151.
[ back ] 163. XXIII 165.
[ back ] 164. XXIII 171–172, 175–176, 242.
[ back ] 165. XXIII 218–221.
[ back ] 166. XXIII 222, 225. ἑρπύζων, describing Achilles in XXIII 225, is used for the old man Laertes in Odyssey i.193.
[ back ] 167. XXIII 228, IX 212–213.
[ back ] 168. XXIII 232.
[ back ] 169. The gesture of Achilles, turning away from the pyre (λιασθεὶς, XXIII 231), reminded me of his turning away (λιασθείς, I 349) from his comrades at the beginning of his wrath.
[ back ] 170. The noise of Agamemnon’s people (ὅμαδος καὶ δοῦπος, XXIII 234), waking Achilles up, is a formula that only appears one more time in the Iliad, in the story of Meleager, where the elders supplicate Meleager, while the enemy pounds the gates (IX 573): hence the appearance of Phoenix and the rest of the embassy in Achilles’ dream in my version.
[ back ] 171. XXIII 235.
[ back ] 172. XXIII 239–240.
[ back ] 173. XXIV 10–11.
[ back ] 174. XXIV 15–18.
[ back ] 175. XXIV 20–21, XXIII 185–187. Aphrodite anoints Hector’s body with a rose-scented oil (XXIII 185–187), which seems related to Andromache’s θρόνα ‘flowers’ (XXII 441).
[ back ] 177. XXIV 125.
[ back ] 178. XXIV 126–127.
[ back ] 179. XXIV 128–137.
[ back ] 180. XXIV 139–140.
[ back ] 181. XXIV 141–142.
[ back ] 182. XXIV 349–351.
[ back ] 183. XXIV 358–360.
[ back ] 184. XXIV 396–397.
[ back ] 185. XXIV 459, 468.
[ back ] 186. In XXIV 480–82, Priam is compared to a man who has slain somebody in his home country and seeks refuge in a foreign land — which is Patroklos’ story (XXIII 85–87).
[ back ] 187. XXIV 477–479.
[ back ] 188. Achilles takes (ἁψάμενος, XXIV 508) Priam’s hand; the same verb is used of Lykaon’s desperate hope to take hold of Achilles’ knees (γούνων ἅψασθαι μεμαώς, XXI 65).
[ back ] 189. XXIV 509–512.
[ back ] 190. XXIV 508.
[ back ] 191. When Achilles speaks about the mortals who live in sorrow (ζώειν ἀχνυμένους, XXIV 526), he is already thinking about his father, of whom he speaks using another variant of this formula (ζώοντ’ ἀκάχησθαι, XIX 335).
[ back ] 192. XXIV 525–526, 534–541.
[ back ] 193. XVIII 84.
[ back ] 194. XVI 381, 867.
[ back ] 195. XVIII 85, 432–434.
[ back ] 196. XXIV 543, 546, 549–551.
[ back ] 197. XXIV 553–558.
[ back ] 198. XXIV 559–570.
[ back ] 199. XXIV 621–622.
[ back ] 200. XXIV 623–624.
[ back ] 201. XXIV 625–626 ~ IX 216–17.
[ back ] 202. XXIV 675–676.
[ back ] 203. XXIV 589–590.
[ back ] 204. XXIV 645. The description of Priam’s bed, πορφύρε’ ἐμβαλέειν, στορέσαι τ’ ἐφύπερθε τάπητας, XXIV 645, shares diction with the description of Patroklos’ preparation of the meat for the feast given to the embassy: ἀνθρακιὴν στορέσας ὀβελοὺς ἐφύπερθε τάνυσσε, IX 213. The previous line, αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατὰ πῦρ ἐκάη καὶ φλὸξ ἐμαράνθη (IX 212), in its turn shares diction with the description of the fire of Patroklos’ pyre dying down at the end of the night (XXIII 228). Thus, Priam’s bed mutates into a bed of embers for a sacrificial meal and into a funeral pyre.