Delahoyde & Hughes Orpheus HOMER'S ILIAD: BOOK XVII

Questions for Book XVII:

• Why is there such fierce fighting over the dead body of Patroclus?
• Describe the new side of Zeus we get to see in this book.

The tug-of-war for Patroclus' body, because of the armor, is pretty grisly. And how weird is it for Achilles that Hector will appear before him in Achilles' own armor? It's the closest practical situation to a doppelgänger phenomenon: Achilles sort of seeing a mirror image of himself, and being in a relationship of homicidal antagonism with this other self.

Zeus offers a lament for Hector ahead of time (17.230ff). He even seems to have some heartfelt compassion for the plight of mortality (17.515f) -- that is, in an address to the crying horses. Yes, Achilles' chariot horses weep over the death of Patroclus, and Zeus meditates on the fact that humans have a special agony all their own.

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Iliad: Book XVIII
Iliad Index
Orpheus: Greek Mythology