War & Peace in Homer

                                                              War & Peace in Homer

War is most often viewed as a state of organized, prolonged and often widespread armed conflict between two or more opposing parties and is generally characterized by extreme violence, disruption of the social order, destruction of physical property and harm rendered to individuals and entire populations. Peace, on the other hand, is a state of harmony and calm in the absence of such violence and hostilities, and the word is commonly used to designate a lack of conflict such as war, as well as freedom from the fear of violence between individuals and groups. Although those participating in war can experience and feel personal rage and animosity towards the enemy, war is a collective entity and is not considered personal in nature. In contrast, peace is a complex concept that encompasses both inner tranquility as well as the absence of violent conflict in the outer world. For true peace to occur, not only does conflict have to cease, but participants must also personally experience a sense of harmony, justice and security. In other words, peace is more than just the absence of war.

One might form an initial impression that Homer glorifies war, since this subject appears to be the main focus of the narrative of the Iliad. Heroes who bear nicknames like Man-Slayer, Master of the War-Cry and City-Sacker seem to be placed on a pedestal and Homer’s grand warriors seek to attain their kleos or long-lasting fame and glory through heroic deeds and glorious death on the battlefield. But the bard indicates early on that war is a brutal and all-consuming force. The personal wrath of Achilles is served up as an example of all-out warfare and its consequences are clearly spelled out at the very beginning. Sing of the accursed rage of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought untold woes to the Achaeans and banished to Hades many stalwart souls of heroes, turning them into carrion for dogs and birds of prey. Heroes may indeed be glorified in the epic, but the results of their actions are exposed for all to see and to abhor. The bravery and fighting ability of warriors like Achilles are contrasted with the extreme and profound human cost that is exacted by war and the narrative becomes a treatise on the loss and suffering that war and violence occasions. Our initial impression that Homer glorifies war vanishes in the light of understanding the Iliad as an anti-war poem.

As stated, Homer positions war as a stage upon which a hero can achieve kleos. This is especially true in scenes which depict the one-to-one combat of enemy warriors. In this case it is not war which Homer glorifies, but rather the heroic deeds and displays of courage of the fighters. These actions and displays are glorified for the opportunity for kleos that they present to each of the combatants. The hero is driven by his need for everlasting fame and renown and we remember the life choice that was presented to Achilles himself by his mother Thetis. He had the choice of returning home to Phthia in Thessaly and living a long life in obscurity, or choosing to stay and fight in Troy, dying an early and glorious death in battle and being remembered forever as a heroic warrior. For a hero seeking kleos, his choice was obvious, and the stage upon which he performed was the battlefield.

War is also depicted as noble to a degree because it provides an opportunity for warriors to display their intense camaraderie, loyalty and respect for each other. There are tremendous bonds of friendship forged between comrades and allies in the face of all the danger and hardships that they face. We see this displayed in the way that they protect one another in battle and how they desperately fight to protect the integrity and dignity of a fallen companion. The most famous example of the depth of such friendship is the relationship between Achilles and his dearly beloved Patroclus. We witness the depth of this relationship when Patroclus is slain in battle and Achilles attacks and kills Hector and then submits his body to utter desecration in an almost sub-human response. In this case, violence breeds more than violence as a come-back. The love which Achilles bears for Patroclus is lost in the frenzy of his horrid answer and in the depths of his violation of the standard norms of humanity and morality. War creates more than violence when it creates a monster.

One has to envision the bard singing his tale by a blazing fire at night before a spellbound audience of listeners, sometimes common folk and sometimes nobles. In this context, we can see Homer using his vivid language and his riveting imagery to build the excitement of his audience and to have them experience the adrenaline rush of combat themselves. They aren’t there wielding swords themselves or hurling spears, but through his words, Homer can have them feel the swoosh of an arrow as it passes them by. In the story of the Iliad, warfare appears to be appealing and almost intoxicating to the combatants involved and Homer also seeks to make it so for those who listen to his narrative. In other words, warfare is not being glorified by Homer, but rather it is being presented for its pure entertainment or perhaps educational value.

Whether we believe that Homer is glorifying war or not, the fact remains that he goes out of his way to depict the most gruesome realities of the conflict. We read graphic descriptions of arrows, swords and spears piercing and penetrating bodies in every conceivable manner, decapitated heads rolling in the dust and the ground beneath the feet of the warriors soaked with blood. Hardly a page goes by without the telling of a dismal wound, a wretched suffering or an agonizing death. Women are violently raped, old men are run through with swords and spears, infants are dashed to the floor and thrown from citadel walls, and their mothers are bound into slavery.

Homer’s physical descriptions of the gruesome reality of war is so over the top that we can reach the valid conclusion that he presents it this way for one very obvious reason, and that is to condemn war, not to glorify it. The Iliad is indeed an anti-war poem and Homer, I believe, is the inspiration for poets who followed him, poets like Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon who broadcast the same anti-war message in WW1. They, like Homer, expressed a rejection and a condemnation of war by highlighting its devastation, futility, suffering and disillusionment. The concept of “Dulce et Decorum est” is just patriotic bullshit in Wilfred Owen’s mind. Despite what the originator of the phrase, the Roman poet Horace said, there is nothing sweet or fitting in coughing up one’s lungs for one’s country, and Owen held that those who witness such things firsthand would agree that war, or death within war, can never be viewed as glorious..

In addition to these horrid physical acts, the psychological toll of war is also explored by the author and Homer ensures that we fully appreciate the human cost of warfare. In addition to watching the mourning of fallen heroes like Patroclus, we also see the devastating effect of war on families. The interplay between Hector and Andromache, with her begging him not to return to battle for fear that she be left a widow and their son an orphan, and him vowing to fight on because he recoils at the thought of her becoming enslaved by an Achaean warrior. The fright shown by their son as he sees his father’s war helmet, and the love demonstrated by the father is one of the most poignant scenes in the epic. We watch as Priam and Hecuba stand on the citadel walls and agonize over the fate of their son Hector, and look on as Helen expresses her regret and self-hatred for her actions. The women of Troy gather for the funeral of Hector and his praises are sung in sorrow by his wife Andromache, his mother Hecuba, and his sister-in-law Helen. His family’s despair is palpable.

Homer also presents war as being the destroyer of values and in particular how it can bring out the worst in people. We see this demonstrated in the character of the demeaning bully Agamemnon, he who is king and supposed to be the epitome of leadership. We see women dismissed as objects and relegated to the role of war prize and sex slave. We watch in horror as the wrath of Achilles overpowers the hero entirely and reduces him to a raving maniac who abandons all his principles of decency and violently desecrates the corpse of his fallen enemy. At every turn, Homer’s narrative presents us with a picture of rage, revenge, violence and loss of human values in the context of ongoing warfare. War is the stage for violence and warriors become its instruments. In the Iliad, war seems to be an inevitable component of the human experience and though it does provide the hero with an opportunity for kleos, it does so by delivering devastating consequences for all who are involved in it.

If we view the Iliad as an anti-war poem, then we must look for peace as the alternative. Peace is harder to find in Homer’s narrative but it does come through in very subtle ways. There is no clearer presentation of peace as a counterpoint to war than in the description of the war shield that Thetis commissions Hephaestus to make for her son Achilles. On the shield is depicted a city at peace and it is contrasted with one that is under siege. In the peaceful city we see people reveling at festivals and marriages and taking part in legal affairs. Fields are being cultivated and harvests are being gathered and grapes are being picked. All of the wonderful aspects of life are shown on the shield and we are presented a picture of what life should and could be without warfare. The irony of course is that this aspiration for a peaceful life is presented on a weapon of war.

We have to turn to the Odyssey to find a true picture of what this world of peace might look like in real life. On Scheria, King Alcinous and Queen Arete rule over the Phaeacians in a land of peace and plenty. There is not a hint of war or strife and the people are proud and happy. There is abundance everywhere and a beautiful young princess like Nausicaa and her handmaidens can roam freely without fear of molestation, not even from the likes of a naked stranger who washes up on their shore. The peaceful city and land shown on the shield of Achilles can indeed be achieved, and the proof of that is found in the land of the Phaeacians in the Odyssey.

Returning to the Iliad, Homer presents Hector to his listeners as a peace-loving man. Despite being a great warrior and the leader of the Trojan forces, we learn that Hector is a reluctant fighter who looks on war with disdain and has a preference for peace. He is shown as a loving and thoughtful husband and father who says, on the one hand, that he puts his family above the well-being of his city, and yet in the next breath tells Andromache that it is his duty to leave her and to return to the battlefield. But unlike Achilles, who returns to the battle out of rage and revenge and a search for kleos, Hector fights out of a sense of loyalty and duty rather than for personal glory.

It is interesting to note that at the end of the Odyssey, we see the hero Odysseus evolve from being a glory-seeking warrior, stalwart adventurer and vengeful protector of his oikos, to a peace-loving king who succumbs to divine intervention at the end of the story and is happy enough to settle down with his faithful wife and establish peace with the other inhabitants of Ithaca. The Iliad tells us that war is bad and that peace is possible. The Odyssey demonstrates that peace can indeed happen.

Of course we cannot conclude a discussion of War & Peace in Homer without referencing Leo Tolstoy and his own War and Peace. He was very much influenced by Homer and the Iliad with its themes of war, mortality and the human condition provided a model for Tolstoy’s seminal piece. Tolstoy was so taken by Homer that he also used many of the Greek bard’s literary techniques like formulaic epithets, repetitive phrases and highly realistic descriptions to build his own literary style. Like Homer, Tolstoy presents the violence of war as a deeply impactful event for those participating in it and affected by it and he explores in great depth the psychological effects of war on people. In particular, Tolstoy mirrors Homer’s approach by demonstrating how those who are facing imminent death can experience honourable and profound moments. The heroic and Homeric epic was a constant source of inspiration for Tolstoy.

In summary, my conclusion is that the Iliad is an anti-war poem and while the work features war prominently, the subtle presence of peaceful themes and characters leads us to consider peace as the alternative to war and holds it out to us as hope for social order and harmony in the world.