The Birdman of Chios

 

The Birdman of Chios

            Over the course of history, the most unusual people often develop a keen interest in something that totally absorbs them. Take birds for example, and those who become ‘birders’, either casual observers of our feathered friends or dedicated enthusiasts who are keen on adding to their life-list of species observed. Robert Stroud, the ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’, is a prime example of an unusual man with a deep interest in birds. Stroud was one of the most violent and vicious criminals in the history of the US justice system, often held in solitary confinement for his crimes and for his attacks on fellow inmates. After being convicted of killing one man, he was then sentenced to death for the murder of a guard but his punishment was later commuted to life in prison. While in the prison yard one day, Stroud came across an injured canary and nursed it back to health in his cell. He eventually raised some 300 birds during his life as a prisoner and wrote two books on the health and diseases of canaries. Stroud’s story was featured in the 1962 Hollywood movie ‘The Birdman of Alcatraz’, starring Burt Lancaster.

            When we study the Iliad and the Odyssey we come across numerous references to birds. Homer frequently uses birds as similes and symbols to portray divine intervention or the actions of humans, as well as omens of good or evil things about to happen. We see him use birds in various contexts like representing the swiftness of gods, the movements of humans, the foretelling of events, or the characteristics of humans or immortals. What is very interesting from an ornithological point of view is that Homer accurately describes the physical details of the various bird species that he mentions. He seems to know a lot about birds, which is unusual for a wandering bard from the islands. Perhaps Homer was the ‘birdman of Chios’.

            Now there are those who have undertaken very in-depth studies of Homer and his birds and I, in no way, will attempt to do likewise. Extensive studies and articles on the subject abound, such as the 298 page PhD dissertation entitled ‘The Birds in the Iliad’ submitted by Karen Johansson in 2012. My approach to classical scholarship is a little more casual than Johansson’s and I think that a brief overview of Homer’s treatment of birds in his epics is enough to convince us that the man was a genius, insofar as his ability to talk with ease and in detail about so many topics or issues, birds being one of them.

            Birds were important to the ancient Greeks and featured prominently both in their culture and in their religion. Birds were considered to be more than just creatures of nature and were viewed as symbolic, as well as message bearers from the gods and portents of things to come. Bird sightings, behaviour and flight patterns were observed closely to gain insights into divine plans and different birds were symbolic of different attributes or qualities. For example, the owl was always considered a symbol of wisdom and was associated with Athena. As the patron of the city named after her, owls were featured on the coinage of Athens. The sighting of an eagle was regarded as witnessing Zeus in flight, and the swallow was viewed as the coming of spring. In later classical times, birds were depicted commonly on pottery, coins, sculptures, mosaics and other forms of art.

            When referring to birds in his two epics, Homer most often resorts to using the simile as a literary device and we will concentrate on passages such as those for the purposes of this study. The Homeric simile, also known as an epic simile, is an extended, elaborate poetic comparison, usually running for several lines, which uses vivid imagery to link a character's actions or a narrative event to something from nature or daily life that is familiar to the audience or listener. The purpose of a simile is to enhance the reader's understanding and appreciation of the narrative, by linking the unknown or the unusual to something well known or more commonplace. Homer also uses the simile to glorify a character or to call attention to them, or to heighten the intensity or importance of an event. A simile provides a way for the narrator to talk directly to the audience and to pause for a moment to build understanding while the action is taking place. According to Ian Johnston of Vancouver Island University, “What distinguishes the Homeric simile from an ordinary simile is its length, its detail, and often the energy of its impact, for the length and syntax of the trope (especially the longer versions) enable the lines to gather considerable momentum.”

            Birds are often used by Homer to signify omens or portents of things to come. In Book II of the Iliad he tells the story of a dreaded serpent that crawls out from under an altar where the Achaeans are offering a sacrifice. The serpent devours eight young nesting sparrows that are hiding in fear under the leaves and then snatches the mother that has been shrieking and lamenting their loss, with nine birds destroyed in total. The son of Cronos turned the serpent to stone as the Greeks stood wondering in amazement, trying to make sense of what they had seen. Calchas the priest interpreted it for them and Homer expresses the sign from the god with a beautiful simile:

But it was immediately afterwards that Calchas spoke to the assembly in prophecy. ‘Why are you now struck dumb my long-haired Achaeans? Zeus the wise counsellor has shown us this sign indeed of an event long in the future whose fame will never be destroyed. As the serpent devoured the eight young of the sparrow and then the mother, making her the ninth, thus then shall we war there for as many years, but in the tenth year we shall seize the city with the wide streets.’

            Flocks of birds and their movements and sounds are often used by Homer to portray the movement of troops on the battlefield. One might think that using birds in this context is unusual because we normally think of birds as small, graceful and peaceful creatures. Homer solves that problem by using large and raucous birds like cranes, geese and swans in his comparisons. The size of these birds and the din that a flock of them creates are perfect for painting a picture of screaming warriors rushing across a battlefield. As one who has often been treated to the sight and the sound of a sky full of vees of migrating Canada Geese flying past, I can attest to the amount of noise that a flock of such birds can create, and cranes and swans are even louder.

Just as the many flocks of winged birds like geese, cranes and long-necked swans fly here and there about the Asian meadow above the streams of the Cayster and exult in their wings and settle with such a noise that the meadow resounds, so also did the many tribes pour forth from the ships and the tents onto the Scamadrian plain so that the earth resounded mightily under the feet of the soldiers and their horses.

Once they had been arranged in the correct order with their leaders, the Trojans came forth like a great clamoring flock of birds. It sounded like the tumult of a multitude of cranes coming down from the heavens as when they have taken flight from winter and a thundering storm and fly with noise over the waters of the ocean to deliver slaughter and cruel fate to the Pygmies, bringing wicked strife to them as they fly aloft. But truly the Achaeans came on, breathing great rage in silence and eager in their minds to be of assistance to one another.

            Raptors in flight or in hunting mode are often featured in Homer’s bird similes and generally he compares these types of birds to either heroes or gods. This is only natural because humans tend to rank raptors like eagles, hawks and falcons as the highest and most powerful forms of birdlife. One has to only think of sports teams like the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Black Hawks and Philadelphia Eagles to see that this line of thinking that was common in Homer’s time, has extended into the present day as well. Somehow teams called the the Philadelphia Sparrows or the Atlanta Nightingales would not give rise to the same degree of respect on the playing field.

Birds of prey in Homer often represent the divine power of the gods and their influence over characters and events and many times are used as symbols or omens or foreboding signs. When the comparison of birds of prey is made to humans, it is done so to emphasize the power, strength and skill of the warrior hero in action. Homer uses the attributes that we ascribe to ferocious birds of prey to describe the character in question, human or divine and that in itself creates an extra level of comparison. When he describes a god as a bird of prey in one passage and then a warrior hero in the same way in another, by default we can say that he is also describing the hero as a god.

Like a swift-winged falcon, he flew forth and hovered above them over a sheer rock and darted across the plain like he was chasing another bird and even so did Poseidon the earth-shaker speed away.

Nor did Hector linger among the throng of the well-armoured Trojans, but as a fully-fledged eagle swoops down on a flock of winged birds that are feeding by the side of a river, wild geese or cranes or long-necked swans, so did Hector press on swiftly against the dark-prowed ships and from behind Zeus pushed him along with a strong hand and aroused the people with him.

And on the other side, Patroclus jumped from his chariot board when he saw him. Just like vultures with crooked talons and hooked beak fight with loud screams on a high rock, in the same way these two rushed at each other with blood-curdling screams.

Then grief came over Patroclus on account of his slain comrade and he flew forward into the fray like a swift falcon that puts to flight jackdaws and starlings.

And so speaking, the fair-haired Menelaus stepped away and glanced around in every direction like an eagle that men say has the keenest eye of all flying things under heaven’s skies. Though it flies on high, it can still spot a swift-footed animal that cowers under a leafy bush and makes a quick dive at it and swiftly takes away its life. Even so did the bright eyes of Menelaus who was cherished by Zeus, range in all directions over the throng of his comrades, trying to determine if Nestor’s son might still be alive.

Other similes like the above are given to us by Homer in the Iliad and include the Achaeans fleeing in fear like a flock of jackdaws or starlings that have spotted a falcon, Achilles running as fast as a black eagle plummets from the sky, Artemis rushing from the battle and crying like a pigeon speeding from a hawk, and Achilles chasing Hector around the walls of Troy like a mountain falcon after a trembling pigeon. We find similar passages in the Odyssey where Homer uses bird similes to compare gods and heroes with images familiar to his listeners. For example, he tells us of Hermes riding over the crowded waves like a cormorant in flight, and Odysseus pursuing the suitors like a falcon with hooked talons and a curved beak swooping down from the mountains chasing birds.

Homer sometimes uses bird similes to describe emotions being felt by his characters. Similes involving birds are used to illustrate both the appearance and emotional states of characters, especially in battle. Additionally, bird imagery is used to convey the intensity of emotions like grief or ferocity, often drawing on the natural behaviors of birds, such as a mother bird protecting her young or, as we have seen from our examples above, birds of prey attacking their victims.

Destruction comes both to him who does nothing as well as to him who works the hardest. There is no gain for me who has suffered greatly in spirit and who has risked his life in fighting. Even as a bird brings to her unfledged chick in her beak whatever she finds but herself goes hungry, even so have I spent many sleepless nights and spent many blood-filled days waging war and fighting along with warriors for the sake of their wives.

Bird similes expressing emotions are more often found in the Odyssey and less so in the Iliad. The primary reason for this is that the Iliad is a story of battles and there is, in the main, only one overriding emotion in the story, that is the wrath of Achilles. The Odyssey, on the other hand, is a story filled with emotions of all sorts and as a consequence, one would expect to find in this story more similes that detail emotions. The reunification of Odysseus and Telemachus was filled with emotion.

So he spoke and sat down and Telemachus wrapped his arms around his goodly father and lamented and wept tears and a longing for grief rose in the hearts of both of them. And they cried aloud more than close-packed birds of prey or vultures with crooked talons, whose young ones people take from the nest before they are fully fledged. In such manner did they piteously let the tears fall from their eyes.

Penelope is filled with anxiety and talks about the emotions which prey upon her each night as she wrestles with her uncertainty about which path to follow.

But some god has given me sorrows beyond all measure, for every day I find my joy in mourning and weeping while I care for the work and the maids of my house, but when night comes and grasps all things, I lie upon my bed and sharp woes crowd in on my distressed heart and upset me as I lament. Just like the daughter of Pandareus, songstress of the green woods, sings ever so sweetly when spring arrives as she perches amid the thick leaves of the trees and with many changing sounds sings richly in a voice of lament for her dear child Itylus, who she had one day killed with a sword by mistake, he being the son of king Zethus, in the same way my heart is broken in two and sways this way and that way, whether to continue to live with my son and keep all my things safe, my possessions, my slaves, my great high-roofed house, paying attention to the bed of my husband and the will of the people, or to go now with whichever one is deemed the best of the Achaeans who proposes marriage to me in my great hall and who offers me countless bride gifts.

Homer has an innate ability to describe events in the clearest way possible and the bird simile is the key poetic and literary device that makes this possible. Two final examples will underscore this point. The first is from the final book of the Iliad and Homer tells us about Zeus sending an eagle as an omen to Priam. The second example is found late in the Odyssey as we learn the fate of the twelve handmaidens who were unfaithful to Penelope and aligned themselves with the suitors.

Thus he spoke in prayer and immediately Zeus the counsellor sent a bird of omen, a dark coloured eagle that is the surest of omen-bearing birds and hunters, the one that men call the black eagle. Its wings to this side and that are as wide as the well-fitted and bolted door of some rich man’s high-roofed treasure chamber. It appeared to them from the right side and darted across the city and at the sight of it they all rejoiced and their hearts in their breasts were cheered on.

Thus he spoke and he tied the cable from a dark ship to a great pillar and tied it around the dome, binding it tightly on high so that none of them would be able to touch the ground with their feet. Just like when long-winged thrushes or doves strike against an enclosure that is set up in a thicket when they try to reach their perches and hated is the bed that greets them, even so all the women held their heads in a row and around their necks nooses were placed so that they would die in a most pitiable manner. Their feet writhed for a short time but not for long.

Of the many symbols found in the Odyssey, birds are one of the most frequent motifs. Homer uses them to symbolize peace, bad omens and emotions. They are sent from the gods to be portents of things to come and to reveal the good and the bad in characters. In the Iliad, we see birds being used to symbolize communication between immortals and mortals and especially so when birds act as omens and messengers. In this role they detail to humans the will of the gods, warnings of doom and prophecies of future events. Birds of prey, like the raptors, are frequently used to show the power, strength, ferocity and skill of characters, whether human or divine. As I stated at the beginning, Homer accurately describes the physical details of the various bird species that he mentions. He seems to know a lot about birds, which is unusual for a wandering bard from the islands. Perhaps Homer was the ‘birdman of Chios’.