TheLittle Iliad (Greek:Ἰλιὰς μικρά,Ilias mikra;Latin:parva Ilias) is a lostepic of ancientGreek literature. It was one of theEpic Cycle, that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of theTrojan War in epic verse. The story of theLittle Iliad comes chronologically after that of theAethiopis, and is followed by that of theIliou persis ("Sack of Troy"). TheLittle Iliad was variously attributed by ancient writers toLesches of Pyrrha (7th century BCE),Cinaethon of Sparta (8th century BCE), Diodorus of Erythrae,Thestorides of Phocaea, orHomer himself (8th century BCE) (seeCyclic poets). The poem comprised four books of verse indactylic hexameter, the heroic meter.
TheLittle Iliad was probably composed in the latter half of theseventh century BCE, although there is much uncertainty. Ancient sources date Lesches to theseventh century BC; but it is typical for ancient writers to place archaic literary authors earlier (sometimes centuries earlier) than the period they actually lived.[citation needed]
TheLittle Iliad is one of the better-attested epics in the Epic Cycle: nearly thirty lines of the original text survive. Nevertheless, we are almost entirely dependent on a summary of the Cyclic epics contained in theChrestomatheia attributed to an unknown Proclus (possibly to be identified with the 2nd-century CE grammarianEutychius Proclus). Numerous other references give indications of the poem's storyline.
The poem, "a fast-paced episodic epic with a lot of ground to cover"[1] — which opened it toAristotle's criticism that it had more plot than an epic should have[2] — opens with the judgment ofAchilles's arms, which are to be awarded to the greatest Greek hero: the contest is betweenAjax andOdysseus, who recovered Achilles's body in battle. With the help ofAthena, the arms are awarded to Odysseus, and Ajax goes insane and attacks theAchaeans' herd. Later, in shame, he commits suicide, and is buried without full heroic honours, in a coffin rather than cremated on a funeral pyre, "because of the anger of the king",Agamemnon.[3]
Calchas, the Greek prophet, prophesies that the city ofTroy will not fall unless the Greeks recover the arrows ofHeracles from the heroPhiloctetes, who was left behind onLemnos when he was bitten by a poisonous snake. In accordance with this prophecy,Odysseus andDiomedes go to Lemnos to bring back Philoctetes, who is healed of his wound byMachaon. Philoctetes then fightsParis in single combat and kills him. After Paris's death,Helenus andDeiphobus fight overHelen. Deiphobus wins and marries her. The defeated Helenus angrily abandons Troy in spite and moves to Mount Ida.
Odysseus, who is a recurrent figure of interest in theLittle Iliad,[4] ambushes Helenus and captures him; Helenus then reveals three new prophecies concerning the preconditions for the Greeks' conquest of Troy, notably, that the city will not fall while it harbours thePalladium. The other two conditions are that the bones ofPelops are recovered fromPisa, a rival ofElis, and thatNeoptolemus, son of Achilles, is brought into the war.
While a ship of Mycenaeans sail to Pisa to bring back the bones of Pelops, Odysseus brings Achilles's son Neoptolemus to Troy and gives him his father's armor. Achilles's ghost appears to him. When the Trojan allyEurypylus dominates the field in battle, Neoptolemus kills him.
Odysseus and Diomedes go into Troy disguised as beggars, where Helen recognises them but keeps their secret; they return safely with thePalladium, killing some Trojans on the way.
On the goddessAthena's initiative, the Greek warriorEpeius builds the wooden horse, and the Greeks place their best warriors inside it, burn their camp, and withdraw to the nearby islandTenedos. The Trojans, believing that the Greeks have departed for good, breach a section of their city wall to bring the horse inside, and celebrate their apparent victory.
The emergence of the heroes from the horse, and the Greeks' destruction of Troy, seem not to be recounted in theLittle Iliad, but are left for theIliou persis. Nonetheless, a substantial fragment which is securely attributed to theLittle Iliad describes how Neoptolemus takesHector's wifeAndromache captive and killsHector's baby son,Astyanax, by throwing him from the walls of the city.[5]
TheLittle Iliad does not seem to have been redacted in a single, authoritative version, according to varying accounts of its details that cannot securely be harmonised.[6]
Works related toHomer in antiquity | ||
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