The Iliad Religion Quotes

Rage - Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles - Home quote, The Iliad

Rage – Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,
murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,
great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,
feasts for the dogs and birds,
and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.
Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,
Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 1-8. The opening lines describe the ferocity of the Trojan War and the rage of Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior and hero to fight in that war. We learn about the conflict within the Greek camp between Achilles and King Agamemnon. While some of the most powerful heroes of the time took part in the Trojan war, it claimed the lives of many of these mighty heroes. We also learn about higher forces at play and shaping the lives of humans and influencing events – the will of Zeus, king of the Greek gods, who seems to control fate.

Down he strode from Olympus’ peaks, storming at heart
with his bow and hooded quiver slung across his shoulders…
First he went for the mules and circling dogs but then,
launching a piercing shaft at the men themselves,
he cut them down in droves.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 51-59. Apollo, a god of healing, sends a plague to the Greek camp which kills many soldiers. He has been angered by Agamemnon’s offense to Apollo’s priest Chryses in refusing a ransom to free the priest’s daughter Chryseis.

Calchas rose among them,
Thestor’s son, the clearest by far of all the seers
who scan the flight of birds. He knew all things that are,
all things that are past and all that are to come,
the seer who had led the Argive ships to Troy
with the second sight that god Apollo gave him.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 79-84. Calchas is a very valued seer in the Greek army who watches birds and other signs of the will of the gods that controls the fate of humans. He guides the Argive ships to Troy and makes a major contribution to the war effort. The god Apollo has blessed him with second sight.
Picture of Agamemnon lashing back at Achilles

You – I hate you most of all the warlords
loved by the gods. Always dear to your heart,
strife, yes, and battles, the bloody grind of war.
What if you are a great soldier? That’s just a gift of god.
Go home with your ships and comrades, lord it over
your Myrmidons!
You are nothing to me – you and your overweening anger!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 208-213. As his conflict with Achilles comes to a head, Agamemnon delivers this hostile speech to Achilles. Acknowledging that Achilles is a great warrior who has fought many battles, he tells him that this is only so because the gods have helped him. And on Achilles’s threat to quit the war, Agamemnon tells him to go home with his ships and soldiers, that Achilles and his anger are nothing to him.

Pallas Athena! the terrible blazing of those eyes,
and his winged words went flying: "Why, why now?
Child of Zeus with the shield of thunder, why come now?
To witness the outrage Agamemnon just committed?
1 tell you this, and so help me it’s the truth –
he’ll soon pay for his arrogance with his life!"

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 235-240. Achilles asks the goddess Athena why she has appeared to him. Achilles is in a rage because of Agamemnon’s disrespect to him, by threatening to take away his war prize Briseis.

Her gray eyes clear, the goddess Athena answered,
"Down from the skies I come to check your rage
if only you will yield.
The white-armed goddess Hera sped me down:
she loves you both, she cares for you both alike.
Stop this fighting, now. Don’t lay hand to sword.
Lash him with threats of the price that he will face."

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 241-246. Achilles considers attacking Agamemnon, but goddess Athena is sent down from heaven by Hera to calm their favored hero. Athena asks Achilles to stay his anger, and demands self control and obedience from him.
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.

And Thetis answered, bursting into tears,
"O my son, my sorrow, why did I ever bear you?
All I bore was doom…
Would to god you could linger by your ships
without a grief in the world, without a torment!
Doomed to a short life, you have so little time.
And not only short, now, but filled with heartbreak too,
more than all other men alive – doomed twice over.
Ah to a cruel fate I bore you in our halls!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 491-499. A weeping Thetis tells her son Achilles that cruel fate has determined he will have a short life filled with heartbreak. His destiny is so bad that she laments the fact he had ever been born. As a mother she is understandably upset that she is fated to love her son.
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.

Maddening one…you and your eternal suspicions –
I can never escape you. Ah but tell me, Hera,
just what can you do about all this? Nothing.
Only estrange yourself from me a little more –
and all the worse for you.
If what you say is true, that must be my pleasure.
Now go sit down. Be quiet now. Obey my orders,
for fear the gods, however many Olympus holds,
are powerless to protect you when I come
to throttle you with my irresistible hands.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 674-683. When Hera continues to taunt Zeus with what she knows about his pact with Thetis to help the Trojans, he orders her to be silent and threatens her with violence. The quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, mediated by the elder Nestor, is paralleled in heaven with the quarrel between Zeus and Hera, mediated by Hera’s son Hephaestus.

At that the white-armed goddess Hera smiled
and smiling, took the cup from her child’s hands.
Then dipping sweet nectar up from the mixing bowl
he poured it round to all the immortals, left to right.
And uncontrollable laughter broke from the happy gods
as they watched the god of fire breathing hard
and bustling through the halls.
That hour then
and all day long till the sun went down they feasted
and no god’s hunger lacked a share of the handsome banquet
or the gorgeous lyre Apollo struck or the Muses singing
voice to voice in choirs, their vibrant music rising.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 1, lines 717-727. All is not well on Olympus as a quarrel breaks out between Zeus and his wife Hera, over Zeus helping the Trojans in the war. But the tension is broken at a banquet when Hera’s son Hephaestus, god of fire, intervenes to make peace. All the happy gods end up roaring with laughter as the deformed Hephaestus, who limps because he has crooked legs, bustles through the halls pouring out sweet wine for Hera and all the gods. They feast and celebrate all day until sunset. Note that Homer often refers to the gods as "the immortals" – their immortality is one of the most important things that distinguishes them from mortal human beings.

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.

Cronus’ son has trapped me in madness, blinding ruin –
Zeus is a harsh, cruel god. He vowed to me long ago,
he bowed his head that I should never embark for home
till I had brought the walls of Ilium crashing down.
But now, I see, he only plotted brutal treachery:
now he commands me back to Argos in disgrace,
whole regiments of my men destroyed in battle.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 2, lines 130-136. Agamemnon blames Zeus for his defeat in battle by the Trojans and the destruction of whole regiments of his army. The king who forced Achilles out of the army fails to take personal responsibility.
Athena pleads with Odysseus to persuade men to stay and fight

Royal son of Laertes, Odysseus,
great tactician – what, is this the way?
All you Argives flying home to your fatherland,
tumbling into your oar-swept ships? Leaving Priam
and all the men of Troy a trophy to glory over,
Helen of Argos, Helen for whom so many Argives
lost their lives in Troy, far from native land!
No, don’t give up now. Range the Achaean ranks,
with your winning words hold back each man you find –
don’t let them haul their rolling ships to sea!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 2, lines 201-210. As the Achaeans prepare to sail for home, Athena tells Odysseus to hold the men back from readying the ships. She pleads with him not to give Priam and the Trojans the glory of keeping Helen, for whom many Achaeans have died in Troy. She inspires him to appeal to the men to stay and fight the Trojans, in spite of their fears.

and down their ranks the fiery-eyed Athena bore
her awesome shield of storm, ageless, deathless –
a hundred golden tassels, all of them braided tight
and each worth a hundred oxen, float along the front.
Her shield of lightning dazzling, swirling around her,
headlong on Athena swept through the Argive armies,
driving soldiers harder, lashing the fighting-fury
in each Achaean’s heart – no stopping them now,
mad for war and struggle. Now, suddenly,
battle thrilled them more than the journey home,
than sailing hollow ships to their dear native land.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 2, lines 528-538. Goddess of war and wisdom Athena loves a good battle and in this instance she is providing the Achaeans with the courage to keep fighting. War is hell – even when glorified in Homer’s Iliad – but it is also intoxicating and gives an adrenalin rush to the participants. This passage tells us that after Athena’s encouragement, battle provides more of a thrill to the Achaean soldiers than the prospect of going home.

there in the midst strode powerful Agamemnon,
eyes and head like Zeus who loves the lightning,
great in the girth like Ares, god of battles,
broad through the chest like sea lord Poseidon.
Like a bull rising head and shoulders over the herds,
a royal bull rearing over his flocks of driven cattle –
so imposing was Atreus’ son, so Zeus made him that day,
towering over fighters, looming over armies.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 2, lines 565-572. Godlike Agamemnon’s powerful presence among the Achaean warriors is dramatized in an epic simile, which attributes to him the eyes and head of Zeus, great girth of Ares, broad chest of Poseidon and power of a royal bull rearing over his cattle.

Sing to me now, you Muses who hold the halls of Olympus!
You are goddesses, you are everywhere, you know all things –
all we hear is the distant ring of glory, we know nothing –
who were the captains of Achaea? Who were the kings?
The mass of troops I could never tally, never name,
not even if I had ten tongues and ten mouths,
a tireless voice and the heart inside me bronze,
never unless you Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus
whose shield is rolling thunder, sing, sing in memory
all who gathered under Troy. Now I can only tell
the lords of the ships, the ships in all their numbers!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 2, lines 573-583. Homer invokes the Muses to divinely inspire him to list the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy, commonly known as the "Catalogue of Ships." This enumeration of Greek contingents makes up a major part of Book 2. Homer lists 29 contingents under 46 captains and a total of 1,186 ships. In asking the Muses to help him describe the fighting forces, Homer uses a metaphor saying that he himself could never tally them all even if he had a heart of bronze.

and the ground thundered under them, deep as it does
for Zeus who loves the lightning, Zeus in all his rage
when he lashes the ground around Typhoeus in Arima,
there where they say the monster makes his bed of pain –
so the earth thundered under their feet, armies trampling,
sweeping through the plain at blazing speed.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 2, lines 889-894. The formidable noise of the Achaean army thundering through the plain is compared in one of Homer’s epic similes to Zeus in a rage and lashing the land with thunder and lightning.
But ceaseless war's upon us - quote with picture of Hector

But ceaseless war’s upon us!
Time and again I’ve gone to battle, fought with men
but I’ve never seen an army great as this. Too much –
like piling leaves or sand, and on and on they come,
advancing across the plain to fight before our gates.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 2, lines 906-910. Zeus sends messenger goddess Iris to Troy, alerting them to assemble their armies to meet the Achaeans advancing towards the city. She warns Trojan King Priam and his son Hector that she has never seen an army as great as this. She likens them in a simile to piling leaves or sand.

Maddening one, my Goddess, oh what now?
Lusting to lure me to my ruin yet again?
Where will you drive me next?
Off and away to other grand, luxurious cities,
out to Phrygia, out to Maeonia’s tempting country?
Have you a favorite mortal man there too?
…Well, go to him yourself – you hover beside him!
Abandon the gods’ high road and be a mortal!
Never set foot again on Mount Olympus, never! –
suffer for Paris, protect Paris, for eternity…
until he makes you his wedded wife – that or his slave.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 3, lines 460-465, 470-474. When Aphrodite bids the beautiful Helen over whom the Trojan War is fought to join Paris in his bed, Helen rebukes the goddess of love for interfering in her life. Aphrodite is protector of Hector, who kidnapped Helen from her Achaean husband Menelaus. Helen sees herself as the "slave" of Hector and implies that her kidnap was Aphrodite’s doing, telling the goddess to go him Hector herself.

Not a single Trojan, none of their famous allies
could point out Paris to battle-hungry Menelaus.
Not that they would hide him out of friendship,
even if someone saw him –
all of them hated him like death, black death.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 3, lines 529-533. Paris disappears from the battlefield after Aphrodite saves him from being killed by Menelaus. She scoops him up and transports him back to his bedroom in Troy. Both Trojans and Greeks search for him. The reason why all the Trojans hate Paris "like death" is because he stole the Spartan queen Helen from Menelaus and started the Trojan War.

Whenever I am bent on tearing down some city
Filled with men you love – to please myself –
Never attempt to thwart my fury, Hera,
give me my way. For I, I gave you this,
all of my own free will but hardly willing. No,
of all the cities under the sun and starry skies,
wherever men who walk the earth have dwelled,
I honor sacred Ilium most with my immortal heart.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 4, lines 47-54. Zeus says this angrily to Hera, when the gods sit in council on Mount Olympus and watch events take place in Troy. The two row over the level of intervention in the war on different sides by the gods, including Hera. But Zeus is supreme god and makes clear to Hera that it is he who has power to destroy cities, at his pleasure, and she is never to twart him.
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