Pondering The Sinister in The Iliad
I have been thinking about Plato's criticism of the dream that Zeus sent to Agamemnon. Plato said this was foolish because Zeus as a god, could not act in a manner that was clandestine. According to Plato, gods could not be other than what they were, which was divine, and the divine acknowledges no responsibility for anything of harm.
Why did this dream happen? Was Zeus going to use this dream to shake Agamemnon from his poor attitude? Afterall, neither a priest's begging, nor Achilles telling him to appease the god (Apollo), made any difference to Agamemnon. He was unwilling to let Khryseis go back to her father except that Apollo's nine days of arrows were plaguing the Achaians.
Agamemnon's answer to the man who stood up to him (Achilles) was to return Khryseis, but to strike a 'low blow' at Achilles by taking Briseis from him. Athena arrived at exactly the right moment to stop the killing rage that Achilles felt toward Agamemnon, and was preparing to follow through on. Agamemnon, no matter how weak his leadership, is still the leader, and there is some honour in not seizing power from the leader. Despite this, Achilles' is broken-hearted and sheds tears over what his leader has done to hurt him, and the loss he feels in having Briseis taken from him.
When Thetis went to Zeus to beg on behalf of her son to have Agamemnon "pay for this" (I - 582), Zeus "said never a word but sat umoving for a long time, silent" (I - 586,587). Zeus is "greatly perturbed" (I593); however, "my word is not revocable nor ineffectual, once I nod upon it" (I - 604,605). The words show disturbance in the highest of the highest realm.
Zeus "thought it best to send to Agamemnon that same night a fatal dream." (II - 7,8). Zeus then calls by name "Sinister Dream" (II - 10) as an entity apart from himself, and commands the "Sinister Dream" to go and visit Agamemnon (II - 11).
I did some reading up on the word "sinister". I post here the definition I found. It is, I think, interesting in its ability to extend thought on this topic.
Noun
sinister
1. On the left hand, or the side of the left hand, left -
__opposed to dexter, or right.
2. Unlucky, inauspicious, disastrous, injurious, evil, -
__the left being usually regarded as the unlucky side,
__ as sinister influences.
3. Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity,
__ perverse, dishonest, corrupt, as sinister aims.
4. Indicative of lurking evil or harm;
__ boding covert danger, as a sinister
__countenance, sinister aspect.
(Astrol) an appearance of two planets happening according to the succession of the signs, as Saturn in Aries, and Mars in the same degree of Gemini.
Adj.
1. sinister - threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; "a baleful look", "forbidding thunderclouds", "his tone became menacing", "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm clouds", "a sinister smile", "his threatening behaviour", "ugly black clouds", "the situation became ugly"
Synonyms: menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, threatening, baleful, forbidding, ugly.
2. sinister - stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonourable; "black deeds", "a black lie", "his black heart has concocted yet another black deed", "Darth Vader of the dark side", "a dark purpose", "dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility",
"the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him" - Thomas Hardy
Synonyms: black, dark
3. sinister - on or starting from the wearer's left, "bar sinister" [as seen on shields]
Following the dream's visit to Agamemnon, it "left the man to envision, rapt, all that was not to be" (II 43). And "waking, he heard the dream voice ringing round him still" (II - 48). When speaking to his council of peers alongside Nestor's ship, he declared "A vision in a dream has come to me in the starry night" (II - 65,66), and "when he had said all this, the phantasm [yes, this is the word Homer uses] departed like a bird" (II - 81,82). And finally, when Nestor speaks, his words carry weight with the others because he is revered. "Friends, lord and captains of the Argives, If any other man had told this dream, a fiction, we should call it; we'đ be wary. But he who saw the vision is our king. Up with you, and we'll put the men in arms." (II - 90-95).
My questions:
1. Do the days of the Iliad's story hinge on one sinister dream?
2. Do the days of the Iliad's story hinge on one man's
__ (Agamemnon) inappropriate idea of power in relation
__ with the gods?
3. Since Zeus calls the sinister dream by name,
__could it be then thought that Zeus relinquished all
__of his power over Agamemnon - afterall, Agamemnon
__ had already ignored any idea of there being a
__'right thing to do'?
4. Could this be Zeus' way of teaching Agamemnon
__ a life lesson, i.e. consequences for choices that are
__driven by human will alone?
5. Do the days hinge on an unresolved battle for the
__ 'right way' to treat others and the 'wrong way'
__ to treat others? (both Khryseis with Agamemnon
__ and Achilles with Agamemnon)
6. Did Plato miss the point?
My observations:
Agamemnon awakens with the words of the dream "ringing round him still"(II-48). It is only when he gives this dream voice and has witnesses to these words, that the dream then "departed like a bird "(II - 81/82). I don't know why, but this fascinates me. I think it speaks of the phantoms that can be haunting until they are expressed to another or others - they need to be confirmed or denied somehow for Agamemnon, as being legitimate or not. It is actually Nestor who sells Agamemnon's dream to the Achaians as being legitimate because his claim is that a king could not be wrong.
These days of the Iliad are only a portion of the larger war that was caused by Helen being spirited away to Troy. So, although we read of Helen and what she was doing in Troy with Paris, the Iliad is in medias res and yet, a full story. It 'dives down' into the individual actions of people and gods (the immediate effect of this relationship in a way that we can see) and gives us as readers, a bird's eye view of what humanity looks like from 'hovering distance'. In this way, the characters do not seem to be aeons removed from us in time, but are shown to have all the same characteristics and propensities of action as we ourselves do. This is one way in which Homer's writing is most powerful.
Why did this dream happen? Was Zeus going to use this dream to shake Agamemnon from his poor attitude? Afterall, neither a priest's begging, nor Achilles telling him to appease the god (Apollo), made any difference to Agamemnon. He was unwilling to let Khryseis go back to her father except that Apollo's nine days of arrows were plaguing the Achaians.
Agamemnon's answer to the man who stood up to him (Achilles) was to return Khryseis, but to strike a 'low blow' at Achilles by taking Briseis from him. Athena arrived at exactly the right moment to stop the killing rage that Achilles felt toward Agamemnon, and was preparing to follow through on. Agamemnon, no matter how weak his leadership, is still the leader, and there is some honour in not seizing power from the leader. Despite this, Achilles' is broken-hearted and sheds tears over what his leader has done to hurt him, and the loss he feels in having Briseis taken from him.
When Thetis went to Zeus to beg on behalf of her son to have Agamemnon "pay for this" (I - 582), Zeus "said never a word but sat umoving for a long time, silent" (I - 586,587). Zeus is "greatly perturbed" (I593); however, "my word is not revocable nor ineffectual, once I nod upon it" (I - 604,605). The words show disturbance in the highest of the highest realm.
Zeus "thought it best to send to Agamemnon that same night a fatal dream." (II - 7,8). Zeus then calls by name "Sinister Dream" (II - 10) as an entity apart from himself, and commands the "Sinister Dream" to go and visit Agamemnon (II - 11).
I did some reading up on the word "sinister". I post here the definition I found. It is, I think, interesting in its ability to extend thought on this topic.
Noun
sinister
1. On the left hand, or the side of the left hand, left -
__opposed to dexter, or right.
2. Unlucky, inauspicious, disastrous, injurious, evil, -
__the left being usually regarded as the unlucky side,
__ as sinister influences.
3. Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity,
__ perverse, dishonest, corrupt, as sinister aims.
4. Indicative of lurking evil or harm;
__ boding covert danger, as a sinister
__countenance, sinister aspect.
(Astrol) an appearance of two planets happening according to the succession of the signs, as Saturn in Aries, and Mars in the same degree of Gemini.
Adj.
1. sinister - threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; "a baleful look", "forbidding thunderclouds", "his tone became menacing", "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm clouds", "a sinister smile", "his threatening behaviour", "ugly black clouds", "the situation became ugly"
Synonyms: menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, threatening, baleful, forbidding, ugly.
2. sinister - stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonourable; "black deeds", "a black lie", "his black heart has concocted yet another black deed", "Darth Vader of the dark side", "a dark purpose", "dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility",
"the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him" - Thomas Hardy
Synonyms: black, dark
3. sinister - on or starting from the wearer's left, "bar sinister" [as seen on shields]
Following the dream's visit to Agamemnon, it "left the man to envision, rapt, all that was not to be" (II 43). And "waking, he heard the dream voice ringing round him still" (II - 48). When speaking to his council of peers alongside Nestor's ship, he declared "A vision in a dream has come to me in the starry night" (II - 65,66), and "when he had said all this, the phantasm [yes, this is the word Homer uses] departed like a bird" (II - 81,82). And finally, when Nestor speaks, his words carry weight with the others because he is revered. "Friends, lord and captains of the Argives, If any other man had told this dream, a fiction, we should call it; we'đ be wary. But he who saw the vision is our king. Up with you, and we'll put the men in arms." (II - 90-95).
My questions:
1. Do the days of the Iliad's story hinge on one sinister dream?
2. Do the days of the Iliad's story hinge on one man's
__ (Agamemnon) inappropriate idea of power in relation
__ with the gods?
3. Since Zeus calls the sinister dream by name,
__could it be then thought that Zeus relinquished all
__of his power over Agamemnon - afterall, Agamemnon
__ had already ignored any idea of there being a
__'right thing to do'?
4. Could this be Zeus' way of teaching Agamemnon
__ a life lesson, i.e. consequences for choices that are
__driven by human will alone?
5. Do the days hinge on an unresolved battle for the
__ 'right way' to treat others and the 'wrong way'
__ to treat others? (both Khryseis with Agamemnon
__ and Achilles with Agamemnon)
6. Did Plato miss the point?
My observations:
Agamemnon awakens with the words of the dream "ringing round him still"(II-48). It is only when he gives this dream voice and has witnesses to these words, that the dream then "departed like a bird "(II - 81/82). I don't know why, but this fascinates me. I think it speaks of the phantoms that can be haunting until they are expressed to another or others - they need to be confirmed or denied somehow for Agamemnon, as being legitimate or not. It is actually Nestor who sells Agamemnon's dream to the Achaians as being legitimate because his claim is that a king could not be wrong.
These days of the Iliad are only a portion of the larger war that was caused by Helen being spirited away to Troy. So, although we read of Helen and what she was doing in Troy with Paris, the Iliad is in medias res and yet, a full story. It 'dives down' into the individual actions of people and gods (the immediate effect of this relationship in a way that we can see) and gives us as readers, a bird's eye view of what humanity looks like from 'hovering distance'. In this way, the characters do not seem to be aeons removed from us in time, but are shown to have all the same characteristics and propensities of action as we ourselves do. This is one way in which Homer's writing is most powerful.
posted by maggiesong at 11:56 AM
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