Ascend - The Great Books Podcast Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan

Dcn. Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan discuss Book 17 of the Iliad: Menelaus' Finest Hour.
Summary of Book 17What is the "dark heart" of Hector?Can human agency affect fate?What about the horses of Achilles?
Check out our 115 Question & Answer Guide on the Iliad.

But grief bore down on Hector, packing his dark heart.
Homer (17.92)
 
75.      What happens in books seventeen?
The body of Patroclus still lays on the plains outside of Troy. Menelaus, the Spartan king, slays Euphorbus, the Trojan who had speared Patroclus (17.51). Apollo spurs Hector to fight for the body of Patroclus (17.84), and Hector is able to remove Patroclus’ gear—but Ajax returns and stops him from decapitating the corpse (17.146). Glaucus, friend of the dead Sarpedon, chastises Hector for retreating from Ajax and implies that if Hector was more like Ajax, they could have saved the body of their comrade, Sarpedon (17.172). Hector retorts he is no coward, but the will of Zeus forces cowardice upon him (17.201). Hector then puts on the armor of Achilles, stripped from Patroclus, and Zeus, taking pity on Hector, grants him power and makes the armor fit well—but also states Hector will never return home again (17.230).
Hector leads the Trojans in battle for the body of Patroclus (17.263), and the Achaeans, led by giant Ajax and Menelaus, mount a defense (17.290). The Achaeans take the advantage, and Apollo spurs Aeneas to rally the Trojans (17.379), but Ajax and the Achaeans remains stalwart in their defense (17.420). Zeus shifts his favor to the Achaeans and sends Athena to rouse their fighting spirits (17.623). Apollo chastises Hector, and as Hector charges to the frontlines, Zeus releases a bolt of lightning to show he now favors the Achaeans (17.670). Giant Ajax laments: “Dear god, enough! Any idiot boy could see how Father Zeus himself supports these Trojans” (17.707). Zeus pities Ajax and thus removes his storm clouds from the battlefield and “the whole war swung into view” (17.729). Menelaus, at the suggestion of Ajax, sends Antilochus, son of Nestor and “a favorite of Achilles,” to go tell Achilles what has happened (17.776).[1] The Achaeans grab the body of Patroclus and bear him back to their ships, as the two great Aeantes hold off the Trojans (17.823, 843); until Hector and Aeneas come leading the Trojans “like a crowd of crows… screaming murder,” and the Achaeans break and flee for the ships (17.846).
 
76.      What should we make of the “dark heart” of Hector?
In book seventeen, we are introduced to the “dark heart” of Hector (17.92). The “dark heart” is presented within the juxtaposition of Apollo spurring Hector to fight (17.84), and Hector surveying the reality of the battlefield (17.93).[2] It is a moment of “grief” for the Trojan Prince (17.92). Hector does charge the front line “loosing a savage cry, and flaring on like fire, like the god of fire” (17.96). Such a reaction to the spurring of a god seems normative in the Iliad, but what seems abnormal is the moment of grief in between. Moreover, the pattern occurs again later in which Apollo again spurs Hector, Hector bears a “black cloud of grief,” and then charges the frontlines (17.660, 670).
The “dark heart” of Hector gives further credence to his role as the tragic, tortured hero

Dcn. Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan discuss Book 16 of the Iliad: Patroclus Fights and Dies.
Summary of Book 16What is the difference between Zeus and Fate?What is the relation of Fate to the free will of men?Did Patroclus deserve his fate?
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70.      What happens in books sixteen?
 
Patroclus returns to Achilles and begs Achilles to send him out to fight in Achilles’ armor (16.43). Homer writes: “So [Patroclus] pleaded, lost in his own great innocence, condemned to beg for his own death and brutal doom” (16.53). Achilles comes to understand his rage cannot last forever, but he recalls his promise not to fight until the “cries and carnage reached” his own ships (16.72). Thus, Achilles agrees and sends Patroclus with his armor and the Myrmidons to fight (16.74). However, Achilles tells Patroclus to only fight the Trojans off the Argive ships and not to pursue them back to Troy, because that may diminish his glory, the fame of Achilles (16.105).
 
Homer notably invokes the Muses to help him sing about the burning of the Achaean ships (16.135). Ajax is unable to stop Hector and his men from setting the ship ablaze, and Achilles sees the flames and sends out Patroclus with the Myrmidons (16.151). The Trojan columns “buckle” upon seeing Patroclus who they believe is Achilles (16.328), as Patroclus bears all of Achilles’ war gear save his spear (16.168); thus, Patroclus and the Argives set upon the Trojans like “ravenous wolves” upon lambs (16.415). Sarpedon, son of Zeus, is slain by Patroclus (16.570), and Glaucus, strengthened by Apollo, rallies his fellow Trojans to secure Sarpedon’s body (16.631). Similarly, Patroclus rallies Ajax and the Argives to the body of Sarpedon, the first to storm the Argive wall (16.653), to “mutilate him, shame him, [and] tear his gear from his back” (16.653). Thus, the body of Sarpedon, son of Zeus, becomes lost under the “mass of weapons, blood, and dust” (16.743).
 
Zeus makes Hector a coward, and the Trojan prince calls for a retreat (16.763). The Achaeans win the body of Sarpedon, but Zeus sends Apollo to rescue the body before it can be mutilated (16.777). Patroclus, not heeding the command of Achilles, pushes his assault onward toward Troy (16.803). Apollo repels Patroclus’ assaults on Troy and warns the warrior that it is “not the will of fate” that Troy falls to him (16.826). Though Apollo strengthens Hector (16.840), Patroclus still presses forward but Apollo sneaks behind him and slams Patroclus to the ground with a slap across the back (16.920). Disoriented, Patroclus is then stabbed in the back by Euphorbus, a Trojan (16.938), who then retreats. Hector then runs forward and spears Patroclus in the gut—the “brazen point went jutting straight out through Patroclus’ back” (16.967). Hector taunts the dying Patroclus (16.967), and Patroclus dies prophesying that Hector will die soon (16.998).[1] The last word of Patroclus is “Achilles” (16.1000).
 
71.      What do we observe about Zeus and the nameless fate in book sixteen?
 
We see Zeus lament his “cruel fate” in his son, Sarpedon, having to die to bring about the death of Patroclus (16.514). Knox holds this shows the “will of Zeus is thwarted by fate.”[2] He writes that the “will of Zeus” and this “nameless destiny”...

Today we welcome Joshua Charles in the studio to talk about his new project Eternal Christendom, a preservation and revival of the Great Tradition for future generations. In this episode we will discuss:
Wisdom from the Early Church FathersWho is Joshua Charles and hear his conversion storyHis political journey and how that has shaped his new projectWhat is Eternal Christendom and what is the visionSt. Augustine and true religion
Want our whole guide to The Iliad? Download it for free.
You can follow Joshua Charles on X and visit his website to find out more information.

Deacon Harrison Garlick welcomes Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson to the podcast to discuss Book 15 of The Iliad, The Achaean Armies at Bay.In this episode we will discuss:
What happens in book fifteen?What is the relationship between men and the will of the gods in book fifteen? What else should be noted in book fifteen?You can follow Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson on X at @HootenWilson
Want our whole guide to The Iliad? Download it for free.
67. What happens in book fifteen?
Zeus, the father of gods and men, awakes to find the Trojans in full retreat (15.05). Poseidon is leading the Achaean charge, and Hector lays sprawled upon the ground (15.10). Zeus immediately blames Hera (15.18), and Hera denies any involvement with Poseidon’s actions (15.45). Zeus explains to Hera his plan in detail: Patroclus will fight, Hector will kill him, and Achilles will then kill Hector (15.80). The Achaeans will then push the assault until Troy falls (15.88). And Sarpedon—Zeus’ own son—will be sacrificed to bring about this fate (15.84). Zeus, via Hera, sends Iris to tell Poseidon to “quit the war and slaughter” and return to the sea (14.210). Poseidon eventually obeys (15.251). 
Zeus, via Hera, sends Apollo to rally the Trojans and gives Apollo his storm-shield (15.272). Apollo heals Hector and the two lead a Trojan assault against the Argives (15.302). The Achaeans panic (15.385) and “clambered back in a tangled mess” (15.405). Meanwhile, Patroclus was still tending to the wounded Eurypylus when the new Trojan assault spurs him to return to Achilles (15.470). Giant Ajax forms a phalanx, a “wall of bronze,” to stop Hector from burning the Achaean ships (15.657). The defense fails, yet Giant Ajax carries on jumping from ship to ship with an “enormous polished pike for fights at sea” (15.787). Hector calls for fire to burn the ships (15.832), and the book ends with Ajax fighting off the hordes—having “impaled” twelve Trojans thus far (15.866). 
68. What is the relation between men and the will of the gods in book fifteen?
A predominant theme in Homer and a perennial question throughout many of the great books is the relationship between the human will and the divine. In book fifteen, Thoas, an Achaean, is able to discern Zeus is favoring Hector; thus, he counsels Giant Ajax to call a “withdraw to the ships” (15.349). We receive yet another example of interpreting what should be done by reading the will of the gods in earthly affairs. Homer provides us a unique example of interpreting the divine will when Zeus lets loose a crack of thunder in response to Nestor’s prayer—but the Trojans interpret it in favor of them (15.445). In fact, Hector tells us it is “easy to see what help Zeus lends to mortals” (15.570). Homer invites us to consider what irony Hector’s statement bears by revealing later that as Zeus glorifies Hector, Athena is already preparing his death (15.712). On the matter of burning the Achaean ships, Hector himself acknowledges that at times Zeus “blinds” men to a certain purpose and then later “drives” them to it (15.840). 
How men are supposed to know what the gods will for them—amongst such capricious gods or gods that disagree with each other—is a question raised by Homer and later taken up by Plato. 
69. What else should we observe in book fifteen?
The story of Zeus stringing up Hera with two anvils hanging from her legs (15.24) is the same story referenced in the first book in which Zeus throws Hephaestus—who had...

Deacon Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan welcome Thomas Lackey back to the podcast to discuss Book 14 of The Iliad, Hera Outflanks ZeusIn this episode we will discuss:
What happens in book fourteen?What are we to make of Love and Sleep conquering Zeus?Why is this one of the funniest books thus far (according to Adam)?What else should be noted in book fourteen?
Want our whole guide to The Iliad? Download it for free.
Book Fourteen
Hera Outflanks Zeus
And so, deep in peace, the Father slept on Gargaron peak,Conquered by Sleep and the strong assault of Love.  Homer (14.419)64. What happens in book fourteen?
Nestor, who was still tending to the injured Machaon, leaves his tent and, upon seeing the ruined wall of the Achaeans, goes to find Agamemnon (14.27). Nestor finds the wounded Agamemnon alongside the also wounded Odysseus and Diomedes (14.34). Agamemnon again despairs and orders the Achaean to prepare to sail home (14.90), and he is chastised by Odysseus who calls him a “disaster” (14.102). Diomedes counsels the wounded kings to return to battle but inspire the soldiers from behind the front lines (14.158). Poseidon inspires Agamemnon and the sea god lets out a cry as loud as “nine, ten thousand combat soldiers” to strengthen the Achaeans (14.182). Meanwhile, Hera, wanting to run interference for Poseidon, plots “to make immortal love” with Zeus and lure him into a deep sleep (14.199). She lies to Aphrodite about her motives, and receives from the goddess of love a band with the power to “make the sanest man go mad” (14.261). Hera next enlists the god Sleep to help her overpower Zeus (14.279) by promising him one of the younger Graces to marry (14.323). Hera seduces Zeus, and the father of gods and men is conquered by love and sleep (14.420). 
Sleep tells Poseidon of Zeus’ slumber, and the sea god leads the Achaeans against the Trojans (14.430, 456). Ajax and Hector clash on the front lines, and Ajax lifts a “holding-stone”—a large stone used to anchor a ship—and strikes Hector (14.486). Hector “plunged in the dust” (14.494) and was taken back to Troy by his comrades (14.509). The retreat of Hector rises the Achaean battle-lust (14.520), and they push back against the Trojans until “the knees of every Trojan shook with fear” (14.592). Homer ends the book with an invocation to the Muses—the 5th invocation—as Poseidon shifts the favor of war to the Achaeans (14.596). 
65. What are we to make of Love and Sleep conquering Zeus?
To overcome Zeus, the father of gods and men, Hera must employ two powers: Love and Sleep. Hera avers that Love may “overwhelm all gods and mortal men” (14.242). Moreover, in the band of Love that Aphrodite gives Hera, it is said “the world lies in its weaving” (14.265). Similarly, Hera calls Sleep, the “twin brother of Death,” the “master of all gods and all mortal men” (14.279). She makes a similar statement about Night, stating: “old Night that can overpower all gods and mortal men” (14.312). Homer explicitly tells us that Zeus was “conquered by Sleep and the strong assaults of Love” (14.420). 
The conquering of Zeus raises questions as to the power and role of these more primordial gods. Homer does not present his reader with a clear relation or history between these personifications of primal power and the Olympian gods; however, the Greek poet Hesiod, who lived after Homer in the 700s BC, composed a genealogy of the gods called Theogony....

Deacon Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan welcome Thomas Lackey back to the podcast to discuss Book 13 of The Iliad, Battling for the ShipsIn this episode we will discuss:
What happens in book thirteen?How does the story of Asius end?Why Adam is frustrated with this book and why it's Dcn. Garlick's least favorite so far.What else should be noted in book thirteen?
Want our whole guide to The Iliad? Download it for free.

Zeus, Father Zeus, they say you excel all others… all men and gods, in wisdom clear and call—but all this brutal carnage comes from you. - King Menelaus (13.727)64. What happens in book thirteen?
Father Zeus, believing that the deathless gods will not violate his strict decree to not interfere with the Trojan war, turns his attention “a world away to the land of the Thracian horsemen” (13.06). Poseidon seizes this opportunity to help the Achaeans. He blesses the Aeantes (13.74) and whips up the fighting strength of the whole Argive army (13.112). Battalions are formed around the Aeantes, and they war against Hector and his Trojans (13.149). Meanwhile, the two Achaeans, Idomeneus and Meriones, rush to the left flank where the Argives are suffering the most (13.363, 80). Poseidon continues to secretly war against the will of Zeus by spurring on the Achaeans against the Trojans (13.408). Idomeneus, the Achaean, crushes the Trojan Asius (13.452) and Alcathous (13.512) on the left flank. In return, Aeneas, the son of Aphrodite, arrives to bolster the Trojans and both sides clash around the corpse of the Trojan Alcathous (13.575). Menelaus, the Spartan King, squares off with Helenus, the Trojan prophet (13.672). Helenus’ arrow bounces off the Achaean war-lord’s breastplate (13.679), but Menelaus’ spear goes through Helenus’ first (13.686)—and his Trojan campions drag him away from the battlefield for care (13.687). 
While the Argives hold the left flank, Hector, favored by Zeus, continues to collide against the Achaeans, blessed by Poseidon, back where Hector smashed the gate (13.785). Polydamas advises Hector to regroup, warning Hector that he has been blessed to fighting power but not necessarily in tactics (13.841). Hector listens, and he goes to recall his warlords (13.873). Hector finds Paris and the carnage that the Trojans suffered on the left flank (13.884). The two princes rejoin the main force at the broken gate, but the Achaeans are immovable under the leadership of giant Ajax (13.935). Ajax taunts Hector that the Trojans will be forced to retreat soon, and a bird-omen appears to confirm his words (13.948). Hector returns the taunt, and both sides prepare for another Trojan charge (13.951). 
65. How does the story of Asius end?
We met Asius charging his chariot into the Achaean wall and—as the attempt fails—calling Zeus a liar (Question 60). In book thirteen, Idomeneus spears Asius in the throat with the tip “ripping” through the nape of his neck (13.450). Later, Asius’ son, Adamas, is speared by Meriones “between the genitals and the naval—[a] hideous wound, the worst the god of battles deals to wretched men” (13.657). Homer describes him as “hugging the shaft he writhed, gasping, shuddering (13.660). Given the manner of their deaths, one is left inclined that Asius has brought the doom of Zeus upon himself by his own words.
 66. What else should be noted in book thirteen?
Despite his prowess on the battlefield, it is notable that giant Ajax does not immediately recognize Poseidon in the...