Get to grips with Homer’s Iliad in five minute chunks in this blog series! If you’re an A Level Classics or Ancient History student, each of these blog posts is a five-minute summary of some of the main topics you will need for your exams. For university-level scholars or independent researchers, we’ve included clickable links to useful literature, primary sources and canonical scholarship you’ll need to know.
In this post, explore family, friendship and the ancient concept of hospitality the Iliad!
Carl Friedrich Deckler’s The Farewell of Hector to Andromaque and Astyanax
Xenia
Xenia (hospitality) is one of the most important ideas in the Iliad. It is a reciprocal agreement between the host and guest.
There are strict rules to be followed. The host provides the guest with food, drink and a bath. He must not ask the guest’s name before he has eaten.
Gifts are a big part of Xenia. Hosts must provide their guests with a gift before they leave and the guest must also provide a gift for the host. A story is an acceptable gift.
Xenia was important for travellers as it meant that they could call at an unknown house and receive shelter and food. The host needed to be able to do this safely, so there was an understanding that to harm the guest or host was an affront to Zeus himself.
Without the concept of xenia, the Trojan myth would lose much of its impact. Paris violates the rules of xenia by stealing Helen from Menelaus when he is there as a guest.
We see xenia at work throughout the Iliad. In Book Six, Glaucus and Diomedes, on opposing sides of the war, refuse to fight when they learn that their grandfathers once exchanged gifts. They seal their friendship by exchanging armour.
Diomedes exchanging weapons with Glaucus. Attic red-figure pelike by the Hasselmann Painter.
When Phoenix, Ajax and Odysseus visit Achilles in his tent, Achilles puts aside his anger in order to provide hospitality, giving them purple rugs to sit on and instructing Patroclus to prepare food for them.
Finally, in Book Twenty four, Achilles welcomes Priam, father of his enemy Hector, into his tent. Achilles has slaughtered Hector in a rage and desecrated his corpse after Hector killed Patroclus. Priam approaches as a suppliant (someone who appeals for something) and begs for the return of Hector’s body.
Priam appeals to Achilles’ humanity and love for his own father Peleus. Achilles offers Priam food and the two men bond over grief and self-imposed fasting. Achilles offers Priam a bed spread with purple rugs and gives Priam Hector’s body as a parting gift.
Friendship
Other kinds of friendship are important in the Iliad, especially when it comes to Achilles and Patroclus’ friendship. They were friends as children, as Patroclus was also brought up by Achilles’ father Peleus.
Achilles’ friendship with Patroclus plays an important role in the story. Knowing of Achilles’ affection for Patroclus, Nestor appeals to Patroclus to convince Achilles to rejoin the battle. It is only when Patroclus dies that Achilles does so. In a sense, it could be said that the story of the Iliad is hinges on Achilles’ relationship with Patroclus.
Gerard de Lairesse’s Achilles Playing a Lyre Before Patroclus
Click the link to explore more about Patroclus’ role in the Iliad or read Aristotle’s discussion of friendship in his Nicomachean Ethics.
Family
Family was patriarchally structured at the time of the Iliad. While men are in charge of politics and war, women’s domain was the oikos (household). A good woman would produce children, amnage the household and develop skills in textiles.
Hector’s family in Troy is a good example. Hector tells his wife Andromache, that a man cannot pray to Zeus with unwashed hands: “It is you who must pray. Collect the older ladies, and go with offerings to the temple of Athena the Warrior.” While it is the women’s job to pray, Hector tells Andromache, “War is men’s business.”
Some scholars have argued that women’s roles in the Ancient world have been misunderstood Certainly, by the fifth century, there is evidence that women were involved in business, although in a limited way. One certainty in Homer’s age is that women’s importance lay in providing sons.
In fact, Andromache does not go to pray; she climbs the tower of Ilium in distress, followed by the nurse and Astaynax. Concerned, Hector follows. Andromache explains that her distress is due to her worry that Hector will be killed in the war.
Hector says that he cannot succumb to cowardice, and that he must fight, as he cannot bear to think of Andromache carried off by the Greeks if they defeat Troy.
Jérôme-Martin Langlois’s Priam at the Feet of Achilles
One of the most touching scenes in the Iliad is between Hector, Andromache and their son Astyanax. Hector tries to embrace his son, but Astaynax is afraid of his father’s appearance in his bronze helmet with its horsehair plume.
Hector prays for his son: “Zeus, and you other gods, grant that this boy of mine may be, like me, pre-eminent in Troy; as strong and brave as I; a mighty king of Ilium. May people say, when he comes back from battle, “Here is a better man than his father.” Let him bring home the blood-stained armour of the enemy he has killed, and make his mother happy.”
Hector tells Andromache, “No one is going to send me down to Hades before my time. But Fate is a thing that no man born of woman, coward or hero, can escape.”
For A Level Students
If you’ve found this series helpful, we also have a five-minute summary series on Greek Religion.
We offer one-on-one online A Level tuition in Classics and Ancient History. Your tutor has a PhD in Classics as well as teaching and exam-marking experience. Click the link to read testimonials from our previous students and contact us to find out more!
We also offer adult interest courses in Ancient Philosophy, Religious Studies and Classics. Dr. Orton will work with you to design a course of private tutorials tailored to your needs, ability and schedule. Find out what it’s like to work with her or contact us to find out more!
Undertake Your Own Research Project in Classics or Ancient History
Whether you are writing a book, making a documentary, aiming for academic publication or simply pursuing a personal interest, working on your own independent research project needn’t be a lonely task. Contact us for a chat to find out how we can help with ad hoc or ongoing support.
If you’re not ready to reach out yet, follow our Classics or Research Methods series on this blog for more ideas!
Reach Out
Follow our Orton Academy Instagram to keep up with our latest research – we would love to connect with you!
Commentaires