The Iliad Irony Quotes

at last one plan seemed best:
he would send a murderous dream to Agamemnon.
…"Zeus commands you to arm your long-hatred Achaeans,
to attack at once, full force –
now you can take the broad streets of Troy!"

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 2, lines 5-7, 33-34. Zeus gives a false steer to Agamemnon in his war with the Trojans, by sending a fraudulent dream of hope commanding him to attack Troy immediately. The king of the gods is fulfilling his promise to Thetis to help the Trojans. This interference by the gods in human affairs is an example of dramatic irony. Agamemnon is convinced by Zeus that his army is about to inflict defeat on the Trojans, but the reader knows that the Trojans will be able to inflict terrible damage in this full-on attack.

But soon as magnificent Paris marked Atrides
shining among the champions, Paris’ spirit shook.
Backing into his friendly ranks, he cringed from death
as one who trips on a snake in a hilltop hollow
recoils, suddenly, trembling grips his knees
and pallor takes his cheeks and back he shrinks.
So he dissolved again in the proud Trojan lines,
dreading Atrides – magnificent, brave Paris.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 3, lines 34-41. When Paris sees Menelaus facing him in battle, he is described as being wary and nervous. An epic simile tells us how Paris reacts like he has tripped on a snake, he recoils, goes weak at the knees and shrinks back into the relative safety of the Trojan ranks. Homer is being sarcastic and ironic when he calls Paris magnificent and brave here, since he trembles at the prospect of facing Menelaus.

The rest of them fought on like a mass of whirling fire.
But Hector dear to Zeus had no idea, Hector
heard nothing of how his men, left of the ships,
were torn and mauled in the Argives’ rough response.
The glory might even have gone to them at any moment,
so intent was the god who grips and shakes the earth
as he surged his Argives on and the god surged too,
adding his own immortal force in their defense.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 13, lines 777-784. The support of the gods has suddenly flipped in favor of the Greeks. Hector is unaware of this and also the casualties that the Trojans troops are suffering elsewhere. Zeus had manipulated the battle to favor Hector and enable him to be the first Trojan to cross the Achaean fortifications. But Zeus has left the battlefield and Poseidon is urging on the Greeks, with glory almost within their reach. And poor Hector "dear to Zeus" hasn’t a clue. This is another case of dramatic irony that we find throughout The Iliad, showing that advantage in the Trojan war is a forever changing thing. It perpetually seesaws from one side to the other – often depending on the will and whim of the gods. Homer uses a simile to describe the Trojans still fighting on "like a mass of whirling fire" oblivious to the sudden shift in the battle.

My child –
why in tears? What sorrow has touched your heart?
Tell me, please. Don’t harbor it deep inside you.
Zeus has accomplished everything you wanted,
just as you raised your hands and prayed that day.
All the sons of Achaea are pinned against the ships
and all for want of you – they suffer shattering losses.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 18, lines 84-90. Thetis says these words to her son Achilles, who is devastated at the killing of his friend Patroclus by the Trojans. She reminds him that he prayed to the gods that the Achaeans should suffer in the war without his participation. His prayer was granted, but it is a bitter irony that it ends with the death of his friend. Be careful what you pray for!

That man who robbed me of many sons, brave boys,
cutting them down or selling them off as slaves,
shipped to islands half the world away…
Even now there are two, Lycaon and Polydorus –
I cannot find them among the soldiers crowding Troy,
those sons Laothoe bore me, Laothoe queen of women.
But if they are still alive in the enemy’s camp,
then we’ll ransom them back with bronze and gold.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 22, lines 51-58. As Priam watches Achilles coming towards the city of Troy, he is unaware of the fate of his two sons Lycaon and Polydorus. He speaks of paying a ransom for their return if they are still alive in the enemy’s camp. This is an example of dramatic irony, as the audience has already heard that Achilles killed them both in battle (Books 20, 21).

No more running from you in fear, Achilles!
Not as before. Three times I fled around
the great city of Priam – I lacked courage then
to stand your onslaught. Now my spirit stirs me
to meet you face-to-face. Now kill or be killed!
Come, we’ll swear to the gods, the highest witnesses –
the gods will oversee our binding pacts. I swear
I will never mutilate you – merciless as you are –
if Zeus allows me to last it out and tear your life away.
But once I’ve stripped your glorious armor, Achilles,
I will give your body back to your loyal comrades.
Swear you’ll do the same.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 22, lines 296-307. A supremely confident Hector stops running from Achilles. He faces him and challenges him to a death duel. He is so full of confidence that he offers a pact to Achilles: if Zeus allows him to take Achilles’s life, he will give his body back to his comrades. He asks Achilles to swear that he will do the same. This is an example of dramatic irony, because the audience already knows that Hector will die, having learned it from conversations between Zeus and Athena, who decided it between them. But you have to admire the heroism of Hector, even if it means his doom.

And now death, grim death is looming up beside me,
no longer far away. No way to escape it now. This,
this was their pleasure after all, sealed long ago –
Zeus and the son of Zeus, the distant deadly Archer –
though often before now they rushed to my defense.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 22, lines 354-358. When Hector shouts out to his brother Deiphobus for another spear and finds that he has vanished, he realizes that he has been tricked by Athena. The goddess had appeared to him in the form of Deiphobus saying that they would face Achilles together. This is a good example of dramatic irony, because the audience already knows about Athena’s deception and the gods’ decision that Hector should die. With death looming before him, Hector knows that his fate was sealed by the gods long ago, despite Zeus and Apollo coming to his aid often before now.

Hector, what help are you to him, now you are dead? –
what help is he to you? Think, even if he escapes
the wrenching horrors of war against the Argives,
pain and labor will plague him all his days to come.
Strangers will mark his lands off, stealing his estates.
The day that orphans a youngster cuts him off from friends.
And he hangs his head low, humiliated in every way…
his cheeks stained with tears, and pressed by hunger
the boy goes up to his father’s old companions,
tugging at one man’s cloak. another’s tunic.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 22, lines 571-580. When Andromache learns that her husband Hector is dead, she is grief stricken, but her thoughts turn straight away to the fate of her son. Without his renowned father being there to support him, Astyanax will have to rely on others for his survival, she laments. Even if her son escapes the horrors of this awful war with the Achaeans, he will be plagued by a life of pain and labor, she says. Since Astyanax will actually die shortly after the fall of Troy, this makes Andromache’s comments sadly ironic. Andromache’s deep love for her family shine through here.
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