The second song of the Iliad covers the beginning of the events of the first day of the struggle recounted in the epic, that is, the 22nd day of the poem's plot, counting from the arrival of Chryses at the camp of the Achaeans. The Alexandrian division includes songs two through seven. Song II consists of two parts. In the first Zeus enacts his plan to honour Achilles by sending defeat to the Achaeans through the 'fatal' Dream, on the basis of which Agamemnon will decide to proceed to a final showdown with the besieged city; in the second the poet presents the audience with a catalogue of the Achaean ships that have arrived at Troy. Zeus sends a "fatal Dream" to Agamemnon's tent, who takes the form of Nestor and falsely informs him that Zeus and the gods agree on the fall of Troy that day. About the world Agamemnon calls a council and then an assembly of the Achaeans to issue a conclusive battle. When the battle has been decided, the poet moves on to the second part, in which he presents a catalogue of the ships and chiefs who have come to Troy.
The animal sacrifice scene is introduced three times. The first time is in Odysseus' speech to the assembly, which recalls the sign given by Zeus during the hecatomb at Aulis interpreted by Kalchas as foreshadowing the fall of Troy. This external analepsis, which goes beyond the time of the story, at the same time foreshadows the events that will follow the time covered by the main story in the Iliad, concluding the plot about the Trojan War (prolepsis). The human inability to recognise the will of the god, ironically, leads Agamemnon, Nestor and Odysseus to recognise this day as the time of the fulfilment of a sign, although in fact this day will come in the future. The second extract comes from the main narrative and is a typical scene. After the assembly is disbanded, the Achaeans proceed to offer animal sacrifices and a feast. The narrator focuses his attention on the sacrifice of an ox made by Agamemnon in the company of the members of the council, thus closing the ring structure of the whole episode, in keeping with the poet's intention - Agamemnon's prayer is not accepted by Zeus, although no sign warns the leader about the realisation of the god's disastrous plan. The third text is part of the so-called catalogue of ships, in which the poet describes the contingents of the Achaean army that arrived on ships under the command of the heroes mentioned by name.
Iliad 2.299–322
Agamemnon, deceived by a dream sent by Zeus, calls an assembly of the Achaeans and presents a motion to end the siege of Troy and return to Hellada. He is followed by a speech from Odysseus, who calls for perseverance and recalls Kalchas' divination of the time when the army assembled at Aulis laid hecatomb on the altars. The scene of sacrifice recalled by Odysseus is important for several reasons: (1) it is not constructed from formulas characteristic of typical scenes, but focuses on the miraculous events accompanying the blood sacrifice; (2) the sign sent by the god is not directly related to the ritual of sacrifice, but accompanies it as independent events - Homer does not mention at all the signs of acceptance or rejection of the sacrifice appearing during the ritual activities, such as the behaviour of animals, the specific features of the entrails of the sacrifice, especially the liver, or the characteristic positioning of the tail during the burning on the altar; (3) the text was used in arguments concerning the history of the myth of Iphigenia's sacrifice. Odysseus' evocation of the sacrifice in Aulis has a persuasive function: a series of unexpected events (the appearance of the serpent during the sacrifice - the devouring of the sparrows - the transformation of the serpent into stone), of increasing semioticity, was interpreted by Kalchas as an omen foreshadowing the conquest of Troy.
τλῆτε φίλοι, καὶ μείνατ᾽ ἐπὶ χρόνον ὄφρα δαῶμεν
(300) ἢ ἐτεὸν Κάλχας μαντεύεται ἦε καὶ οὐκί.
εὖ γὰρ δὴ τόδε ἴδμεν ἐνὶ φρεσίν, ἐστὲ δὲ πάντες
μάρτυροι, οὓς μὴ κῆρες ἔβαν θανάτοιο φέρουσαι·
χθιζά τε καὶ πρωΐζ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἐς Αὐλίδα νῆες Ἀχαιῶν
ἠγερέθοντο κακὰ Πριάμῳ καὶ Τρωσὶ φέρουσαι,
(305) ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἀμφὶ περὶ κρήνην ἱεροὺς κατὰ βωμοὺς
ἕρδομεν ἀθανάτοισι τεληέσσας ἑκατόμβας
καλῇ ὑπὸ πλατανίστῳ ὅθεν ῥέεν ἀγλαὸν ὕδωρ·
ἔνθ᾽ ἐφάνη μέγα σῆμα· δράκων ἐπὶ νῶτα δαφοινὸς,
σμερδαλέος, τόν ῥ᾽ αὐτὸς Ὀλύμπιος ἧκε φόως δέ,
(310) βωμοῦ ὑπαΐξας πρός ῥα πλατάνιστον ὄρουσεν.
ἔνθα δ᾽ ἔσαν στρουθοῖο νεοσσοί, νήπια τέκνα,
ὄζῳ ἐπ᾽ ἀκροτάτῳ πετάλοις ὑποπεπτηῶτες ὀκτώ,
ἀτὰρ μήτηρ ἐνάτη ἦν ἣ τέκε τέκνα·
ἔνθ᾽ ὅ γε τοὺς ἐλεεινὰ κατήσθιε τετριγῶτας·
(315) μήτηρ δ᾽ ἀμφεποτᾶτο ὀδυρομένη φίλα τέκνα·
τὴν δ᾽ ἐλελιξάμενος πτέρυγος λάβεν ἀμφιαχυῖαν.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατὰ τέκνα φάγε στρουθοῖο καὶ αὐτήν,
τὸν μὲν ἀρίζηλον θῆκεν θεὸς ὅς περ ἔφηνε·
λᾶαν γάρ μιν ἔθηκε Κρόνου πάϊς ἀγκυλομήτεω·
(320) ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἑσταότες θαυμάζομεν οἷον ἐτύχθη.
ὡς οὖν δεινὰ πέλωρα θεῶν εἰσῆλθ᾽ ἑκατόμβας,
Κάλχας δ᾽ αὐτίκ᾽ ἔπειτα θεοπροπέων ἀγόρευε·
τίπτ’ ἄνεῳ ἐγένεσθε κάρη κομόωντες Ἀχαιοί;
ἡμῖν μὲν τόδ’ ἔφηνε τέρας μέγα μητίετα Ζεὺς
ὄψιμον ὀψιτέλεστον, ὅου κλέος οὔ ποτ’ ὀλεῖται.
Endure, friends, and remain until we know,
whether or not Kalchas truly foretold.
(300) For we know it well in our hearts - you are all
witnesses, unless the death-bringing kers have come to you.
A few days have passed since the ships of the Achaeans
came bringing evil to Priam and the Trojans,
and we around the spring on the sacred altars
(305) we sacrificed to the immortals perfect hecatombs,
under the beautiful plane tree where the shining water flows,
when a great omen appeared. A snake with a blood-coloured back,
a frightening one, which the Olympian himself sent into the light,
fell out from under the altar and ran towards the plane tree.
(310) And there were sparrows, little children,
in a nest on high, hidden under the leaves,
there were eight of them, and the ninth mother who bore the children,
there the serpent devoured the deplorable, chirping,
the mother flew around, mourning her children:
(315) her, as she circled around, writhing he seized her by the wing,
after which, when he had eaten the children sparrows and the mother,
the god who had shown him before made him a visible sign -
turned him into stone by the son of Kronos the cunning,
and we, standing around, marvelled at what had happened to us.
(320) So this terrible monster from gods haunted hakatomby,
Kalchas immediately announced his prophecy.
Why do you continue in silence, long-haired Achaeans?
This augury sign was revealed to us by the cunning Zeus,
late to be fulfilled, whose fame shall never perish.
300: ἢ ἐτεὸν Κάλχας μαντεύεται ἦε καὶ οὐκί – "whether truly Kalchas foretold or not"; the question posed will be answered, according to the rules of ring composition, by Odysseus in verse 330.
303: χθιζά τε καὶ πρωΐζ᾽ ὅτ᾽ - "a few days have passed since..."; the interpretation of the idiom χθιζά τε καὶ πρωΐζα is important for the placement of the recounted event in the chronology of the Trojan cycle, especially in view of its connection to the sacrifice of Iphigenia suggested by some scholars. In view of the importance of the sacrifice of Iphigenia for the fate of Agamemnon, the commander-in-chief of the Achaean armies, modern scholars have looked carefully at all possible allusions to this silent or unknown episode. The phrase χθιζά τε καὶ πρωΐζ᾽ ὅτε literally means 'yesterday and the day before' and is interpreted as an idiom. Its meaning here is the subject of controversy. Three translation proposals can be distinguished. Some scholars and translators believe that the phrase emphasizes the subjective feeling of the passage of time, "only just now", "as if recently", "it seems as if it were yesterday" (Kirk, comm. ad loc., cf. "yesterday - it seems - the day before yesterday" in the translation of I. Wieniawski, 'it seems like only yesterday' - Hitch 2009: 74). Indeed, in the later Greek we have the phrase πρώην τε καὶ χθές (e.g. Hdt. 2.53.1) denoting a subjective sense of 'recently'. In this way, the poet of the Iliad wished to express the power with which the episode recalled by Kalchas was recorded in the memory of the witnesses. The second interpretation relates the phrase to the time that elapsed between the arrival of the Achaean ships at Aulida and the events recounted by Odysseus, linking it directly to the verb ἠγερέθοντο, "the day after, or after two days, when the Achaean ships / to Aulida hastened" (translated by K. Jeżewska); Lehrs, Leaf, cf. BK, comm. ad loc. Odysseus would thus emphasize that the events took place at the beginning of the standstill of the Achaean army at Aulida, a day or two after the army had gathered there, which would definitely exclude the possibility of connecting the sacrifice invoked by Odysseus and the sacrifice of Iphigenia, but the syntax of the Greek sentence seems to exclude this interpretation. Fred Naiden links the event invoked by Odysseus to a prayer (omitted from the narrative but somehow obvious to the hearers) for favourable winds (2011: 115-116). A third interpretation has been proposed by Martin L. West, invoking the West Semitic phrase ina timāli šalši ūme (akk.), temôl šilšōm (Hebrew), literally 'yesterday and three days before', the sense of which is more general: 'in the past' (West 2008: 332). If indeed the Greek idiom is a general indication of events in the past, it is difficult to show that Odysseus is diplomatically silent about Iphigenia's sacrifice here.
305-7: After assembling their armies at Aulida, the Achaeans circumambulate the altars of the gods, sacrificing to them in hecatombs. The passus is interesting for several reasons. First of all, it is one of the few places in the Iliad where we find a detailed description of the sacred site on which the rite is performed. It appears, however, not in the main narrative, but in the speech of the character Odysseus, who recalls the details in order to visualise for his listeners the memory of an event from long ago.
305: ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἀμφὶ περὶ κρήνην - "we while around the spring"; Greek sacred precincts and altars were often situated by springs, crypts, streams or rivers that provided the sacrificers with a source of ritual water, chernips, necessary for proper sacrifice. In the 2nd century AD, archaeological excavations at Aulida uncovered a spring sheltered by a tent-type structure built on a square plan; a staircase led to the deep pool from the north.
306: ἕρδομεν ἀθανάτοισι τεληέσσας ἑκατόμβας - "we sacrificed to the immortals perfect hecatombs"; on the phrase ἔρδω + ἡκατόμβην, see commentary on Il. 1.315.
307: καλῇ ὑπὸ πλατανίστῳ ὅθεν ῥέεν ἀγλαὸν ὕδωρ - "under the beautiful plane tree where the shining water flows"; The spring or stream over which the plane tree grows is not unusual, so some scholars give this description the meaning of the topos of a perfect sacred place, a suitable setting for a perfect hecatomb (Kirk 1985, ad loc. , cf. Thesleff 1981). Writing in the second century AD. Pausanias mentions the remains of a tree trunk stored in the temple (9.19.7). The manager of the excavations at Aulida interpreted a small stone circle built into a break in the enclosure of the spring on the west side as the site where a plane tree grew in the classical period (and probably earlier) (ThesCRA, Moggi, Osanna 2010: 325-6).
308: ἔνθ᾽ ἐφάνη μέγα σῆμα – "when a great divining sign appeared"; the divining sign (σῆμα) is not directly related to the sacrificial ritual, but appears on the occasion of the sacrifice. The Homeric epic makes no mention of divination practices associated with the ritual process itself, which in later sources became an important component of the blood sacrifice. μέγα σῆμα, cf. τέρας v. 324. The adjective μέγα, literally 'great', is used here in the sense of 'significant', 'obvious', 'expressive'.
321: ὡς οὖν δεινὰ πέλωρα θεῶν εἰσῆλθ᾽ ἑκατόμβας - "so such terrible omens of the gods haunted the hecatomb"; it is not known whether the Achaeans completed their sacrifices after the omens appeared. The verb εἰσῆλθε, which means "to haunt", "to interrupt", does not give a sure indication here.
324: ἡμῖν μὲν τόδ' ἔφηνε τέρας μέγα μητίετα Ζεὺς - 'to us Zeus the counsellor revealed this great omen': the noun τέρας denotes any phenomenon outside the norm that can be interpreted as an omen sent by the gods, cf. Nenci 1957-1958; Pizzani 1997; Pizzani 2000, 528 ff.
Iliad 2.398–430
Typical scene - animal sacrifice. In the second extended typical scene, the narrator focuses on the sacrifice made by Agamemnon, to which six of the most prominent chiefs were invited, as well as Menelaus, who, however, appeared without invitation, αὐτόματος. The narrator contrasts the offerings made in the various tents with those made by the chiefs: the former pray for personal gain - avoiding death in battle (v. 401), the latter for a common victory. It is also worth noting the different vocabulary in the two descriptions. The sacrifices offered by the army to the gods are framed by the general term (ἔρεζε) 'to perform a (sacrificial) rite', while the sacrifice offered by Agamemnon is specified by the verb (ἱερεύω), 'to perform the duty of a priest > to sacrifice > to kill an animal sacrificed to the gods'. On Agamemnon's prayer, see Chapot, Laurot 2001: 34-35 (G3).
ἀνστάντες δ᾽ ὀρέοντο κεδασθέντες κατὰ νῆας,
κάπνισσάν τε κατὰ κλισίας, καὶ δεῖπνον ἕλοντο.
(400) ἄλλος δ᾽ ἄλλῳ ἔρεζε θεῶν αἰειγενετάων
εὐχόμενος θάνατόν τε φυγεῖν καὶ μῶλον Ἄρηος.
αὐτὰρ ὃ βοῦν ἱέρευσε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων
πίονα πενταέτηρον ὑπερμενέϊ Κρονίωνι,
κίκλησκεν δὲ γέροντας ἀριστῆας Παναχαιῶν,
(405) Νέστορα μὲν πρώτιστα καὶ Ἰδομενῆα ἄνακτα,
αὐτὰρ ἔπειτ᾽ Αἴαντε δύω καὶ Τυδέος υἱόν,
ἕκτον δ᾽ αὖτ᾽ Ὀδυσῆα Διὶ μῆτιν ἀτάλαντον.
αὐτόματος δέ οἱ ἦλθε βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Μενέλαος·
ᾔδεε γὰρ κατὰ θυμὸν ἀδελφεὸν ὡς ἐπονεῖτο.
(410) βοῦν δὲ περιστήσαντο καὶ οὐλοχύτας ἀνέλοντο·
τοῖσιν δ᾽ εὐχόμενος μετέφη κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων·
Ζεῦ κύδιστε μέγιστε κελαινεφὲς αἰθέρι ναίων
μὴ πρὶν ἐπ᾽ ἠέλιον δῦναι καὶ ἐπὶ κνέφας ἐλθεῖν
πρίν με κατὰ πρηνὲς βαλέειν Πριάμοιο μέλαθρον
(415) αἰθαλόεν, πρῆσαι δὲ πυρὸς δηΐοιο θύρετρα,
Ἑκτόρεον δὲ χιτῶνα περὶ στήθεσσι δαΐξαι
χαλκῷ ῥωγαλέον· πολέες δ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ἑταῖροι
πρηνέες ἐν κονίῃσιν ὀδὰξ λαζοίατο γαῖαν.
Ὣς ἔφατ᾽, οὐδ᾽ ἄρα πώ οἱ ἐπεκραίαινε Κρονίων,
(420) ἀλλ᾽ ὅ γε δέκτο μὲν ἱρά, πόνον δ᾽ ἀμέγαρτον ὄφελλεν.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥ᾽ εὔξαντο καὶ οὐλοχύτας προβάλοντο,
αὐέρυσαν μὲν πρῶτα καὶ ἔσφαξαν καὶ ἔδειραν,
μηρούς τ᾽ ἐξέταμον κατά τε κνίσῃ ἐκάλυψαν
δίπτυχα ποιήσαντες, ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν δ᾽ ὠμοθέτησαν.
(425) καὶ τὰ μὲν ἂρ σχίζῃσιν ἀφύλλοισιν κατέκαιον,
σπλάγχνα δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἀμπείραντες ὑπείρεχον Ἡφαίστοιο.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατὰ μῆρε κάη καὶ σπλάγχνα πάσαντο,
μίστυλλόν τ᾽ ἄρα τἆλλα καὶ ἀμφ᾽ ὀβελοῖσιν ἔπειραν,
ὤπτησάν τε περιφραδέως, ἐρύσαντό τε πάντα.
(430) αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ παύσαντο πόνου τετύκοντό τε δαῖτα
δαίνυντ᾽, οὐδέ τι θυμὸς ἐδεύετο δαιτὸς ἐΐσης.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο,
τοῖς ἄρα μύθων ἦρχε Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ·
So they arose and moved dispersing among the ships,
They covered their tents with smoke and ate a feast.
(400) Each performed a sacrifice to another of the everlasting gods,
praying to escape the death and hardship of Ares.
Whereas the lord of men Agamemnon sacrificed an ox
a fat one, five years old for the mighty Cronides.
And he summoned the elders, the best leaders of all the Achaeans,
(405) first Nestor and Idomeneus, the lord,
then the two Achaeans and the son of Tydeus,
as sixth - Odysseus, equal to Zeus in cleverness.
And arbitrarily Menelaos came to him with a strong voice:
For he knew in his heart how his brother toiled.
(410) They set themselves round about the ox, and cast barley crumbs,
and praying for them the mighty Agamemnon spoke:
"Zeus superstitious, greatest, black-clouded, dwelling in the skies!
Let not the sun set and the dusk come,
Before I bring down the soot-covered soffit
Priam's house, and with hostile fire burn its gates,
(415) Before I tear Hector's breastplate
before I tear the breastplate of Hector, and before his many companions
shall not gnaw the ground overthrown face down in the dust."
So he said, but he had not yet complied with his request of Kronid,
though he accepted the offerings, he multiplied the toil unbearably.
(420) When they had prayed and thrown the sacrificial barley,
first they deflected (the throats) and butchered and skinned,
they cut out the legs and covered them with fat (of the peritoneal membrane)
wrapping on both sides, on these they placed pieces of raw meat.
Then they burnt them on leafless logs,
(425) And the entrails they stuffed on spits and held over the fire of Hephaestus.
When the legs were burnt and they had tasted the entrails,
they chopped up the rest and stuffed them on spits,
They toasted it carefully, and then took it all down from the spits.
When they had rested after their toil, they prepared a feast,
they feasted, and nothing was missing from the heart of an equal feast.
398–9: The Achaean troops rise and scatter from the rally to their ships. The participle κεδασθέντες, 'dispersed', and the phrases κατὰ νῆας, 'among the ships' and κατὰ κλισίας, 'in the tents' emphasise the disintegration of the community following the dissolution of the assembly.
399: κάπνισ(σ)άν τε κατὰ κλισίας - "they covered the tents with smoke": the metonymic description of the preparation of the sacrificial meal precedes the statement that this refers to offerings to the gods (v. 400). The verb καπνί(ζ)ω (from καπνός, 'smoke', Homeric hapax) actually means 'to smoke', 'to cover with smoke'; here it is probably used in the metonymic sense of 'they smoked > cooked' (LfgrE, s.v.). The form κάπνισαν transmitted by papyri and medieval manuscripts is argued for by M.L. West ('Glotta' 2001, pp. 124-5). Cf. the variant of this hexameter in Il. 7.466: βουφόνεον δὲ κατὰ κλισίας καὶ δόρπον ἕλοντο (see comm. ad loc.). καὶ δεῖπνον ἕλοντο - "and they ate a meal"; in the epic the word δεῖπνον denotes a basic meal regardless of the time of day at which it was eaten. In Il. 10.578 it is the third meal that Odysseus eats in one night. In Aeschylus (frg. 304) δεῖπνον takes its place between breakfast (ἄρίστον) and dinner (δόρπον). In this case it is the midday meal, since the sacrifices were offered after the close of the assembly convened as a result of the deliberation in Agamemnon's tent that took place in the morning.
400: ἄλλος δ᾽ ἄλλῳ ἔρεζε θεῶν αἰειγενετάων – The Achaean troops rise and scatter from the rally to their ships. The participle κεδασθέντες, 'dispersed', and the phrases κατὰ νῆας, 'among the ships' and κατὰ κλισίας, 'in the tents' emphasise the disintegration of the community following the dissolution of the assembly.
399: κάπνισ(σ)άν τε κατὰ κλισίας - "they covered the tents with smoke": the metonymic description of the preparation of the sacrificial meal precedes the statement that this refers to offerings to the gods (v. 400). The verb καπνί(ζ)ω (from καπνός, 'smoke', Homeric hapax) actually means 'to smoke', 'to cover with smoke'; here it is probably used in the metonymic sense of 'they smoked > cooked' (LfgrE, s.v.). The form κάπνισαν transmitted by papyri and medieval manuscripts is argued for by M.L. West ('Glotta' 2001, pp. 124-5). Cf. the variant of this hexameter in Il. 7.466: βουφόνεον δὲ κατὰ κλισίας καὶ δόρπον ἕλοντο (see comm. ad loc.). καὶ δεῖπνον ἕλοντο - "and they ate a meal"; in the epic the word δεῖπνον denotes a basic meal regardless of the time of day at which it was eaten. In Il. 10.578 it is the third meal that Odysseus eats in one night. In Aeschylus (frg. 304) δεῖπνον takes its place between breakfast (ἄρίστον) and dinner (δόρπον). In this case it is the midday meal, since the sacrifices were offered after the close of the assembly convened as a result of the deliberation in Agamemnon's tent that took place in the morning.
403: βοῦν… πίονα πενταέτηρον – "an ox ... fat, five years old": = Il. 7.315. The epithet πενταέτηρον indicates the age of the animal chosen for the king's feast. In the case of the ox it emphasises its value, so it is not surprising that it appears twice in the Iliad in the context of the animals killed in Agamemnon's tent. In Il. 7.315 the scene of a typical animal sacrifice is shortened by the description of sacrificial rites so that one gets the impression that the verb here means the slaughter of an animal for a meal. In the Odyssey, the epithet πενταέτηρον was probably used jocularly to refer to the hog slaughtered for supper for Odysseus by the pig-herder Eumaios (14.419) and to the feast prepared by Autolycus in honour of his grandson, Odysseus (19. 420), which essentially repeats the formulaic verses used to describe Agamemnon's feast in Il. 7.315. In later sources, the age of the animal is one of the distinguishing features taken into account when choosing the appropriate type of sacrifice.
404-9: Agamemnon convenes the most venerable Achaean commanders, who form part of the council, to the sacrificial feast. The order in which they are listed is not entirely coincidental, although it depends in part on metrical considerations. The names of the aged warriors appear first: Nestor and Idomeneus, whom Agamemnon held in special esteem (Nestor: Il. 21.370 ff., 4.311 ff.; Idomeneus: 4.255 ff.), then the strongest and bravest, and finally the poet mentions Odysseus 'equal to Zeus in cunning', who evidently plays here the role of a wise advisor, the counterpart of Nestor in Agamemnon's generation. On the social functions of the feast in the chief's tent in the Homeric epic, see Latcz 1990: 360; van Wees 1995: 164-177; Rundin 1996: 200-205.
410-431: typical scene - animal sacrifice. Verses 2.421-424 and 2.427-432 exactly repeat verses 1.458-461 and 1.464-469.
410: Formular hexameter (cf. Il. 1.449), in which the first hemistich to the caesura (Il. 1.449a χερνίψαντο δ᾽ ἔπειτα) is replaced by the hemistich βοῦν δὲ περιστήσαντο.
413-420: Agamemnon raises a prayer on behalf of all the chiefs gathered in his tent (cf. Chryses' prayer on behalf of all those gathered at the altar of Apollo Sminteus (Il. 1.450 ff.). Bibliography: Aubriot-Sévin 1992: 68, 285-286; Cosset 1990: 5 ff; Jouanna 1992: 411-412; Lang 1975: 309-314; Morrison 1991: 145-157.
419–20: This single instance in the Iliad, in which the god accepts the sacrifice but does not comply with the request, became the subject of a comment by Aristarchus wishing to remove from Zeus the suspicion of duplicity (schol. in Il. 2.420). Aristarchus' interpretation presupposes the appearance of some auspicious sign that formed the basis of the soothsayers' judgment that the god had accepted the sacrifice. However, one should not go that far. There is no indication that the reading of signs by the soothsayers at the time of the sacrifice was a regular practice in the world of the epic, or that the gods communicated their response to the requests contained in the prayer in a way that was visible and understandable to humans. It seems to be a matter of postponing the fulfilment of a request rather than ultimately rejecting it. From the point of view of the time of the gods, the only one that gives events meaning and order, Zeus carries out his plan: he accepts the sacrifice and the accompanying prayer, which means that Hector will die and Troy will fall, but he will realise this in due course (cf. Il. 1.211-214 with notes from: Vidal-Naquet 2003: 64-65). The narrator, through the gift of the Muses, has access to the time order of the gods and presents events from this perspective. On v. 419-20 see Kirk 1985: 160; Latcz XXXX: 126-127).
419: οὐδ᾽ ἄρα πώ οἱ ἐπεκραίαινε Κρονίων - 'but he has not yet fulfilled his request of Kronid'; the verb ἐπικραίνω occurs six times in the Iliad (1. 455, 2.419, 3.302, 8.242, 15.599, 16.238), always in the context of a request addressed to a god (specifically Zeus, except in 1.455, where it appears in Chryses' prayer to Apollo to end the plague). It appears three times in the main narrative, where it serves to proleptically emphasise the fulfilment of Zeus' will and the pledge given to Thetis. Here and in 3.302 the narrator emphasises that Zeus has 'not yet' fulfilled the request. In the first case, it is a prayer for the death of Hector and the annihilation of Troy in the coming day; in the second, it is an oath containing a threat of annihilation to those who would break it. In both cases, the content of the prayer/oath was fulfilled, not immediately, but in the future. In song XV, the narrator states that Zeus wants to bestow fame on Hector so that he will set the ships afire and can fulfil Thetis' request.
420: ἀλλ᾽ ὅ γε δέκτο μὲν ἱρά - 'though he accepted the sacrifices'; as the context shows, the noun ἱρά, used as a complement to the verb δέχεσθαι, 'to accept', denotes a sacrifice, i.e. a rite of blood sacrifice, of which the sign of reverence shown to the god is the smoke rising to heaven from burnt femurs and peritoneal fat. Jean Casabona stresses that it is difficult to decide unequivocally whether this refers to the sacrificial ritual or to the sacrificial gifts (offrandes) in their material form (Casabona 1966: 7). The proleptic function of the god's reaction to the sacrifice and the accompanying prayer is underlined by the fact that the verses describing it are placed immediately after the prayer.
421-424: formular verses = 1.458-461 with commentary.
425: καὶ τὰ μὲν ἂρ σχίζῃσιν ἀφύλλοισιν κατέκαιον - "then on leafless stumps they burned"; variant of the formular verse Il. 1.462-3: καῖε δ᾽ ἐπὶ σχίζῃς ὁ γέρων, ἐπὶ δ᾽ αἴθοπα οἶνον / λεῖβε. The difference between the two verses is related to the circumstances of the sacrifice and the different focus of the narrative on the characters. In the Chryza sacrifice, the poet focuses on the priest Chryses, who presides over the rite of sacrifice; here, by introducing the plural, the communal character of the sacrifice is emphasised (cf. Kirk, comm. ad loc.; Carlier 1984: 163). In the first case, the poet mentions the pouring of wine on the flames of a bonfire lit on the altar; in the second, he emphasises the fact of the burning of the thighbones by introducing the pronoun τὰ (scil. μηρία) and the verb κατέκαιον, which, through the suffix κατά, emphasises the fulfilment, the complete burning of the thighbones.
426: σπλάγχνα δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἀμπείραντες ὑπείρεχον Ἡφαίστοιο - "And the entrails they stuffed on spits and held over the fire of Hephaestus"; in a scene typical of the first song, the poet does not explicitly speak of toasting entrails over the fire - Chryses as the priest pours wine on the fire, the young men hold spits (1. 463). Here, on the other hand, a verse has been introduced that focuses on two actions expressed by the corresponding verbs: stuffing the animal's viscera on spits (ἀμπείραντες) and roasting them over the fire (ὑπείρεχον). The consistent use of the plural emphasises the communal nature of the ritual.
427-432: formular verses (= Il 1.464-469), see commentary.
Iliad 2.546–551
There is one mention of a sacrifice in the ship's catalogue - an offering to Erechteus on the Athenian Acropolis. The site is commonly thought to be an Athenian interpolation from the time of the redaction of the Iliad text under Pisistatus.
Οἳ δ’ ἄρ’ Ἀθήνας εἶχον ἐϋκτίμενον πτολίεθρον
δῆμον Ἐρεχθῆος μεγαλήτορος, ὅν ποτ’ Ἀθήνη
θρέψε Διὸς θυγάτηρ, τέκε δὲ ζείδωρος ἄρουρα,
κὰδ δ’ ἐν Ἀθήνῃς εἷσεν ἑῷ ἐν πίονι νηῷ·
(550) ἔνθα δέ μιν ταύροισι καὶ ἀρνειοῖς ἱλάονται
κοῦροι Ἀθηναίων περιτελλομένων ἐνιαυτῶν·
τῶν αὖθ’ ἡγεμόνευ’ υἱὸς Πετεῶο Μενεσθεύς.
And those who had Athena's city firmly built,
the people of Erechteus the generous, whom Athena once
bred, daughter of Zeus, and bore the wheat soil,
then gave residence in her rich temple,
(550) where with bulls and rams they win him
the Athenian youths in the course of years.
These were led by the son of Petheus, Menesteus.
546: Ἐρεχθῆος - "Erechteus"; a mythical king of Athens, according to the oldest tradition the successor of Kecrops. In the Homeric epic, born of the earth and raised by Athena, he was worshipped in the temple of the goddess, where the Athenian youth offered him annual sacrifices of rams and oxen (probably the festival of Skira or Genesia). On the Acropolis was the Erechtheion, usually identified with the temple of Athena Polias, where Erechtheus was originally worshipped as Poseidon-Erechtheus. Since the reforms of Cleisthenes (508-507 BC) the eponymous heros of one of the Athenian phylacteries. In later tradition, reflected in the works of Euripides among others, Erechteus was the son of Pandion and twin brother of Butes. After his father's death, Erechteus assumed the royal throne and Butes became a priest of Athena. Erechteus was the father of Prokris, Creusa and Orejtya. As king of Athens, he was victorious in a war with neighbouring Eleusis, which was aided by Poseidon's son Eumolpos. Before the decisive battle, Erechteus, following the advice of the oracle, sacrificed his youngest daughter, whose death made victory possible. The other daughters of Erechteus committed suicide because they vowed to die all together. Erechteus was killed by Poseidon, who took revenge for the death of Eumolpos. Later tradition holds that he was lifted up by Zeus and turned into the constellation of the coachman.
549: κὰδ δ' ἐν Ἀθήνῃς εἷσεν ἑῷ ἐν πίονι νηῷ - "afterwards she gave a seat in her opulent temple"; this refers to the temple of Athena Polias on the Athenian acropolis, at which was located the sacred circle (heroon) of Erechtheus - the Erechtheion. The current temple was built in the Ionic order 421-405 BC of Pentelic marble and was a place of worship for Athena Polias, Poseidon, Zeus Hypatos, Erechtheus, Hephaestus and the heroos Butes, which also included a sacred olive, a salt water spring, the tomb of Kekrops - religious symbols associated with the legendary origins of Athens and Athena's dispute with Poseidon over the dominion of Attica.
550-551: ταύροισι καὶ ἀρνειοῖς ἱλάονται / κοῦροι Ἀθηναίων περιτελλομένων ἐνιαυτῶν - "with bulls and rams they win / Athenian youths in the course of years"; The verb ἱλάσκεσθαι, "to propitiate" is a technical term that denotes various kinds of propitiatory rituals designed to avert the effects of the deity's wrath. Often the means of these rites are blood sacrifices (Il. 1.147; 444) or choreia, especially pean (Il. 1.472). Here too the phrase "bulls and rams" (ταύροισι καὶ ἀρνειοῖς) suggests blood sacrifices, and the word 'youths' as the subject of these activities perhaps implies participation in a collective choral dance.