Menelaus cradles the body of Patroclus
As the editors of our text chose to excerpt portions of the Iliad, they excerpted parts of the Books themselves, as well. What is left out is that, earlier in the book, Patroclus has asked Achilles if he can lead the Myrmidons in battle and Achilles agrees, giving the younger man his armor. So, as our version of Book XVI opens, Sarpedon, the son of Zeus, comes upon Patroclus in battle. Patroclus is whipping the Trojans. The two men start toward each other, and Zeus looks on from his seat on Mt. Olympus.
He turns to Hera and laments that Fate has destined his son to die in battle. Here again is the hero's quandary: should Zeus allow his son to be killed (perhaps garnering a hero's funeral and honored by posterity) or, should Zeus intervene, take him out of battle and return him to Lycia where he's safe, but unsung? Hera snaps at him, saying:
"Son of Cronus, what a thing to say!
A mortal man, whose fate has been long fixed,
And you want to save him from rattling deat?
Do it. But don't expect all of us to approve.
Listen to me. If you send Sarpedon home alive,
You will have to expect other gods to do the same
And save their own sons--and there are many of them
In this war around Priam's great city.
Think of the resentment you will create.
But if you love him and are filled with grief,
Let him fall in battle at Patroclus' hands,
And when his soul and life have left him,
Send Sleep and Death to bear him away
To Lycia, where his people will give him burial
With mound and stone, as befits the dead" (Lines 477-491).
Sarpedon and Patroclus close in for combat. Patroclus kills Sarpedon's charioteer. More men down. Glinting spears and swords. Finally, Patroclus charges toward Sarpedon, and "the bronze point/ caught Sarpedon just below the rib cage/Where it protects the beating of the heart (513-15). With his last breath, Sarpedon calls to Glaucos to call the troops together and defend his body. Patroclus pulls his sword from the fallen Sarpedon, pulling out the lungs with it (538).
At this stage, one may wonder, "why so much gore?" Is it really all that necessary--we know going in that war is bloody. The text, nonetheless, seems to provide vivid detail of the gore in death. Why might that be?
So overcome with the death of Sarpedon is Glaucus that he is reminded of the wound he received from Teucer, who shot him with an arrow. He calls upon Apollo to ease his suffering in grief and to heal his wound. He asks the god for strength to call the Lycians into battle and protect Sarpedon's body, which, we find out later, is nearly destroyed. Apollo hears Glaucus's prayer and is healed. He calls on the Lycians to defend the body of their fallen hero--but not before encountering Hector. He chastises Hector for falling behind on protecting Sarpedon's body. Then the Greeks descend on the body and a battle ensues. Zeus darkens the sky. For his part, Zeus debates whether Hector should kill Patroclus, or whether Patroclus should live on for a short while longer, to rack up on glory points. Sensing impending defeat, Hector calls his troops to retreat back to Troy. The hordes of warriors depart, leaving Sarpedon's body at the bottom of a heap.
Zeus instructs the god Apollo to take the body away, "out of range" (700). He orders him to clean him in the river, anoint him with oil, and prepare him for funeral in Lycia.
Notice the narrator's address shifts here:
"Do you remember it, Patroclus, all the Trojans
You killed as the gods called you to your death?
Adrastus was first, then Autonus, and Echeclus,
Perimas, son of Megas, Epistor, Melanippus...
And it would have been more, but the others ran,
Back to Troy, which would have fallen that day
By Patroclus' hands" (724-31).
Patroclus would make three attempts to reach the parapet at Troy, but he was driven back by Apollo. On the fourth try, Apollo forced him back, saying:
"Get back, Patroclus, back where you belong.
Troy is fated to fall, but not to you,
Nor even to Achilles, a better man by far" (740-2).
Apparently Fate has other plans.
Meanwhile, Hector is torn over whether to retreat further within the walls of Troy. Apollo comes to him in the disguise of Asius (his mom's brother) and tells him to "Get in that chariot and go after Patroclus" (755). Hector drove straight into the throng, making a beeline for Patroclus, who was perched on his chariot holding a big rock. Patroclus threw it, hitting Hector's chariot driver, Cebriones (King Priam's illegitimate son). Thus follows another gory scene involving eyeballs. Patroclus has a chuckle at the poor guy's fate.
Hector gets mad and leaps at Patroclus, big battle to follow. Patroclus hurls himself into a mass of Trojans, killing nine of them. Here again the narrator's focus turns to addressing Patroclus:
"Then--did you feel it, Patroclus?--out of the mist,
Your death coming to meet you. It was
Apollo, whom you did not see in the thick of battle,
Standing behind you, and the flat of his hand
Found the space between your shoulder blades..." (826-30).
Hector is not content to kill Patroclus and let him die: he must taunt the fallen warrior. Patroclus's dying words taunt Hector back, saying that he cannot rival the great Achilles.
To what extent does fate intervene in the action of Book XVI? How do the gods handle fate? Do they go along with it--or tempt it?
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