The Iliad Honor Quotes

But I am willing to give her back, even so,
if that is best for all. What I really want
is to keep my people safe, not see them dying.
But fetch me another prize, and straight off too,
else I alone of the Argives go without my honor.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 135-139. The proud Agamemnon is a very selfish king. He is willing to give back his spoil of war, the enslaved daughter of Apollo’s priest Chryses. But he will only do so if he is given another "prize," because otherwise he would be left without honor.

And now you threaten to strip me of my prize in person –
the one I fought for long and hard, and sons of Achaea
handed her to me.
My honors never equal yours,
whenever we sack some wealthy Trojan stronghold –
my arms bear the brunt of the raw, savage fighting,
true, but when it comes to dividing up the plunder
the lion’s share is yours, and back I go to my ships,
clutching some scrap, some pittance that I love,
when I have fought to exhaustion.
No more now –
back I go to Phthia. Better that way by far,
to journey home in the beaked ships of war.
I have no mind to linger here disgraced,
brimming your cup and piling up your plunder.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 190-202. The dispute between the two dominant Greeks Achilles and Agamemnon escalates. A proud Achilles launches a strong verbal attack on Agamemnon for theatening to take his war prize, Briseis. He complains that Agamemnon takes the lion’s share (metaphor) of the spoils and honors of war, while he gets the scraps after fighting to exhaustion. Achilles says that he would rather go home than remain in Troy dishonored.

Mother! You gave me life, short as that life will be - Achilles in Homer's Iliad

Mother!
You gave me life, short as that life will be.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 416-417. Achilles’s short life and early death are emphasized in his meeting with his mother Thetis. This is the first foreshadowing in the poem of the great warrior’s premature demise. Achilles is pleading with his goddess mother to appeal to Zeus to grant him honor in his short time on earth. He wants Zeus to help the Trojan cause, so that Agamemnon will see how mad he was to disgrace and wrong Achilles.

So, who of the gods this time, my treacherous one, was hatching plans' with you - Homer

So, who of the gods this time, my treacherous one,
was hatching plans’ with you?
Always your pleasure, whenever my back is turned,
to settle things in your grand clandestine way.
You never deign, do you, freely and frankly,
to share your plots with me – never, not a word!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 648-653. A row breaks out in heaven as Hera chides her "treacherous" husband Zeus for hatching plans behind her back. This is after Thetis comes to beg of Zeus that he honor Achilles by helping the Trojans. This displeases Hera as she favors the Greeks.

Paris, appalling Paris! Our prince of beauty - Hector in The Iliad

Paris, appalling Paris! Our prince of beauty –
mad for women, you lure them all to ruin!
Would to god you’d never been born, died unwed.
That’s all I’d ask. Better that way by far
than to have you strutting here, an outrage –
a mockery in the eyes of all our enemies. Why,
the long-haired Achaeans must be roaring with laughter!
They thought you the bravest champion we could field.
and just because of the handsome luster on your limbs.
but you have no pith, no fighting strength inside you.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 3, lines 43-52. Hector rebukes his younger brother Paris for his cowardice and lack of honor after he backs away from combat with Menelaus and hides within the Trojan ranks. Hector says that Paris is an embarrassment to his family and to Troy. The man who later kills Achilles by shooting an arrow through his heel is portrayed by Homer as weak, cowardly, and a womanizer who doesn’t pull his weight on the battlefield.

Now what’s this, Atrides,
this talk that slips through your clenched teeth?
How can you say I hang back from the fighting
when Argive units spur the slashing god of war
against these Trojan horsemen? Just you watch,
if you’ll take the time and care to taste some action,
watch Telemachus’ loving father lock and fight
with enemy champions, stallion-breaking Trojans.
You and your bluster – you are talking nonsense!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 4, lines 406-414. Odysseus angrily responds to Agamemnon’s criticism that he is not giving his best in battle and is hanging back from the fighting. His pride hurt and honor offended, he accuses Agamemnon of bluster and speaking nonsense.

Come,
let us give each other gifts, unforgettable gifts,
so any man may say, Trojan soldier or Argive,
"First they fought with heart-devouring hatred,
then they parted, bound by pacts of friendship."

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 7, lines 345-348. Sometimes on the battlefield, there is a fine line between enemies and friends. After agreeing to a truce in their duel until the next day because night falls, Hector suggests to Great Ajax that they exchange gifts. This shows that the Trojan hero believes his sworn enemy is due a certain respect and honor as a worthy opponent.

But about the dead, I’d never grudge their burning.
No holding back for the bodies of the fallen:
once they are gone, let fire soothe them quickly.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 7, lines 471-473. Agamemnon agrees a temporary truce in the war with the Trojans, during which time they will be allowed to tend to their dead and give them proper funeral rites. This speaks to the code of respect and honor for the war dead – although this principle is often not adhered to when bodies are left unburied and mutilated in this brutal war.

Just as the sun began to strike the plowlands,
rising out of the deep calm flow of the Ocean River
to climb the vaulting sky, the opposing armies met.
And hard as it was to recognize each man, each body,
with clear water they washed the clotted blood away
and lifted them onto wagons, weeping warm tears.
Priam forbade his people to wail aloud. In silence
they piled the corpses on the pyre, their hearts breaking,
burned them down to ash and returned to sacred Troy.
And just so on the other side Achaean men-at-arms
piled the corpses on the pyre, their hearts breaking,
burned them down to ash and returned to the hollow ships.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 7, lines 488-499. The opposing Achaean and Trojan armies may have had important differences that brought them into bloody conflict with one another. But they had one thing in common. They both shared the time-honored tradition of stopping to grieve for and attend to their dead. While Priam forbade his people to wail aloud, after battle they burned the bodies of their fallen, then went home with "their hearts breaking." Regardless of who or what they were fighting for, the soldiers on both sides were men with real feelings and human emotions who honored and mourned their dead.

But you – the son of Cronus with Cronus’ twisting ways
gave you gifts by halves: with that royal scepter
the Father gave you honor beyond all other men alive
but he never gave you courage, the greatest power of all.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 42-45. The courageous warrior Diomedes is not afraid to stand up to Agamemnon. Here he tells him that Zeus gave him gifts by halves, he gave him the honor of being king but never gave him courage. He calls out Agamemnon, who is considering running for the ships and sailing home, as a coward.

No one will offer a better plan than this…
the plan I still retain, and I’ve been forming,
well, for a good long while now, from the very day
that you, my illustrious King, infuriated Achilles –
you went and took from his tents the girl Briseis,
and not with any applause from us, far from it:
I for one, I urged you against it, strenuously.
But you, you gave way to your overbearing anger,
disgraced a great man the gods themselves esteem –
you seized his gift of honor and keep her still.
But even so, late as it is, let us contrive
to set all this to rights, to bring him round
with gifts of friendship and warm, winning words.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 123-135. Nestor, King of Pylos and oldest Achaean commander, calls out Agamemnon for his self-pride and says that it is not too late to heal his rift with Achilles. He tells us that Agamemnon in anger stole Achilles’s gift of honor Briseis and keeps her still, infuriating Achilles, a hero with the gods on his side. Nestor urges Agamemnon to acknowledge his fault and set things right.

One and the same lot for the man who hangs back
and the man who battles hard. The same honor waits
for the coward and the brave. They both go down to Death,
the fighter who shirks, the one who works to exhaustion.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 385-388. Here Achilles is speaking about heroism and cowardice in war. The same honor waits for the coward and the brave – death. So he tells Odysseus, who tries to persuade him to return to battle to win glory and kill Hector.

Twelve cities of men I’ve stormed and sacked from shipboard,
eleven I claim by land, on the fertile earth of Troy.
And from all I dragged off piles of splendid plunder,
hauled it away and always gave the lot to Agamemnon,
that son of Atreus – always skulking behind the lines,
safe in his fast ships – and he would take it all,
he’d parcel out some scraps but keep the lion’s share.
Some he’d hand to the lords and kings – prizes of honor –
and they, they hold them still. From me alone, Achilles
of all Achaeans, he seizes, he keeps the bride I love.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 398-407. Achilles angrily tells Agamemnon’s ambassadors that in all the cities he stormed and plundered, Agamemnon kept the lion’s share (metaphor) of the plunder for himself. Agamemnon would hand out prizes of honor to some leaders, but from Achilles alone he seizes his prize – the woman he loves, Briseis.

Why must we battle Trojans,
men of Argas? Why did he muster an army, lead us here,
that son of Atreus? Why, why in the world if not
for Helen with her loose and lustrous hair?
Are they the only men alive who love their wives,
those sons of Atreus? Never! Any decent man,
a man with sense, loves his own, cares for his own
as deeply as I, I loved that woman with all my heart,
though I won her like a trophy with my spear…
But now that he’s torn my honor from my hands,
robbed me, lied to me – don’t let him try me now.
I know him too well – he’ll never win me over!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 409-420. Achilles questions the motives for the Trojan war, as Odysseus attempts to bring him back to the fighting. If the war is for Helen, are Agamemnon and Menelaus the only men alive who love their wives, Achilles asks Odysseus? Any decent man loves his own, he says, accusing Agamemnon of robbing him of his honor and the woman he loves with all his heart, Briseis.

So fight by the ships, all together. And that comrade
who meets his death and destiny, speared or stabbed,
let him die! He dies fighting for fatherland –
No dishonor there!
He’ll leave behind him wife and sons unscathed,
his house and estate unharmed – once these Argives
sail for home, the fatherland they love.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 15, lines 574-580. Hector’s cry as he tries to instil fresh fighting spirit into each of his soldiers. He tells them that a comrade who falls fighting for the fatherland and to protect his family dies with honor. He reminds the Trojans of what is at stake in the battle against the Greeks and uses it to help build morale among his men.

Even so, Patroclus, fight disaster off the ships,
fling yourself at the Trojans full force –
before they gut our hulls with leaping fire
and tear away the beloved day of our return.
But take this command to heart – obey it to the end.
So you can win great honor, great glory for me
in the eyes of all the Argive ranks, and they,
they’ll send her back, my lithe and lovely girl,
and top it off with troves of glittering gifts.
Once you have whipped the enemy from the fleet
you must come back, Patroclus. Even if Zeus
the thundering lord of Hera lets you seize your glory,
you must not burn for war against these Trojans,
madmen lusting for battle – not without me –
you will only make my glory that much less.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 16, lines 92-106. When Achilles lends his armor to Patroclus, he tells tells him that Patroclus can win great honor and glory for him and he will get back his "lithe and lovely girl" Briseis. But Achilles warns him that when he drives the Trojans away from the Greek ships, he must come back, even if Zeus allows him seize this glory. If Patroclus goes on to pursue battle against the Trojans without Achilles, that would make lessen Achilles’s glory, he tells Patrocles. The fact that Achilles is more interested in his own glory than his friend’s safety only serves to demonstrate Achilles’s major character flaw, excessive pride.

So you sprang at Cebriones, full fury, Patroclus,
as Hector sprang down from his chariot just across
and the two went tussling over the corpse as lions
up on the mountain ridges over a fresh-killed stag –
both ravenous, proud and savage – fight it out to the death.
So over the driver here and both claw-mad for battle,
Patroclus son of Menoetius, Hector ablaze for glory
strained to slash each other with ruthless bronze.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 16, lines 878-885. Pride, honor and glory are at stake as Patroclus and Hector fight over the body of Hector’s charioteer Cebriones. They are compared to two lions fighting to the death over a freshly killed stag.

And the first one she roused was Atreus’ son
powerful Menelaus – he stood right at hand –
she took the build and tireless voice of Phoenix:
"Yours is the shame, Atrides. You will hang your head
if under the walls of Troy the dogs in all their frenzy
drag and maul the proud Achilles’ steadfast friend.
Hold on, full force – spur all our men to battle."

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 17, lines 630-636. When Patroclus is killed in battle, Menelaus has to decide whether to leave his body and fall back, or fight to protect the body. Goddess Athena takes Phoenix’s form and meets Menelaus to convince him to save Patroclus’s body from the Trojans and continue fighting to preserve his honor.

Ah for a young man
all looks fine and noble if he goes down in war,
hacked to pieces under a slashing bronze blade –
he lies there dead…but whatever death lays bare,
all wounds are marks of glory. When an old man’s killed
and the dogs go at the gray head and the gray beard
and mutilate the genitals – that is the cruelest sight
in all our wretched lives!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 22, lines 83-90. King Priam talks about how noble it is for a young man to die in war and battle. While he lies there slashed to pieces, all his wounds are marks of glory. But the death of an old man is not an honorable thing, when he is killed and dogs mutilate his body, that is the cruelest sight of all. Priam is speaking to his son Hector, trying to dissuade him from fighting Achilles. He doesn’t want to lose Hector, but he also realizes that Hector’s willingness to die on the battlefield is his best chance for glory.

No way out. If I slip inside the gates and walls,
Polydamas will be first to heap disgrace on me –
he was the one who urged me to lead our Trojans
back to Ilium just last night, the disastrous night
Achilles rose in arms like a god. But did I give way?
Not at all. And how much better it would have been!
Now my army’s ruined, thanks to my own reckless pride,
I would die of shame to face the men of Troy
and the Trojan women trailing their long robes…
Someone less of a man than I will say, "Our Hector –
staking all on his own strength, he destroyed his army!"

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 22, lines 118-128. Hector probes his own heart as he waits to fight Achilles. He blames his own reckless pride for not listening to Polydamas’s advice to retreat after Achilles returned to the battlefield. However, if he slips back behind the city walls, he will be called a disgrace and lose his honor. Hector knows that he is in a bad situation, but cannot get out of it.

But this Achilles – first he slaughters Hector,
he rips away the noble prince’s life
then lashes him to his chariot, drags him round
his beloved comrade’s tomb. But why, I ask you?
What good will it do him? What honor will he gain?
Let that man beware, or great and glorious as he is,
we mighty gods will wheel on him in anger – look,
he outrages the senseless clay in all his fury!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 24, lines 58-65. The gods take pity on fallen Trojan hero Hector, after Achilles in a rage drags the body behind his chariot and plans further disgrace to it. Apollo addresses the gods asking why they don’t allow Hector a proper burial and funeral. He questions what honor will it bring Achilles and warns that the gods will turn on him in anger for this outrage.

Now, Hera, don’t fly into such a rage at fellow gods.
These two can never attain the same degree of honor.
Still, the immortals loved Prince Hector dearly,
best of all the mortals born in Troy…
so I loved him, at least:
he never stinted with gifts to please my heart.
Never once did my altar lack its share of victims,
winecups tipped and the deep smoky savor. These,
these are the gifts we claim – they are our rights.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 24, lines 79-87. When Hera rages to Apollo that Hector is less deserving than Achilles because he does not have a divine parent, Zeus responds. He agrees that Hector will never have the degree of honor as Achilles. But he says that the gods loved Hector dearly and he was generous with his gifts and sacrifices at the altar of Zeus. The gods are discussing Hector’s right to a burial.

Here, quickly – pour a libation out to Father Zeus!
Pray for a safe return from all our mortal enemies,
seeing you’re dead set on going down to the ships –
though you go against my will. But if go you must,
pray, at least, to the great god of the dark storm cloud,
up there on Ida, gazing down on the whole expanse of Troy!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 24, lines 339-344. Hecuba tries to protect her husband Priam from harm as he sets out against her wishes for the enemy Achaean camp to beg for the return of Hector’s body. She asks him to honor the gods by pouring a libation out to Zeus and praying for his safe return.