Chapter 9. Poetic Categories for the Hero

9§1. In the Iliad, Hektor's aspiration to get the same tīmḗ that is accorded to Athena (and Apollo) not only formalizes the antagonism between hero and god; it also implies a slighting of the superior god's tīmḗ by the inferior hero. On the level of Homeric discourse, the dimension of cult that is conveyed by the word tīmḗ is latent in such situations, so that the hero's stance amounts to what seems to be—on the surface of the narrative—simply a slighting of the god's honor. On the level of Hesiodic discourse, by contrast, the tīmḗ of the gods in an analogous situation is overtly expressed in terms of cult. [1]

9§2. The passage in question comes from the Myth of the Five Generations, in the Works and Days. Let us join the narrative midstream, at the description of the Second, or "Silver," Generation of Mankind, and how it came to grief after having enjoyed only the briefest span of adolescence (Works and Days 132–134). We are now about to be told the reason for this sudden demise:

9§3. In this passage, remarkable as it is for both its explicitness and its precision, we see the institutional observance of cult being overtly expressed in terms of giving the gods tīmaí. [2] This point is essential as we read further in the Works and Days. For, despite the fact that the men of the Silver Generation did not give tīmaí to the gods, they still receive what they had failed to give: The Silver Generation is "second," of course, to the First, or "Golden," Generation (Works and Days 109–126); by implication, it is to the Golden rather than Silver Generation that tīmḗ is primarily due—next to the gods themselves. [3] Also by implication, the tīmḗ received by the Golden and Silver Generations comes from sacrifice, as performed by the mankind of the here-and-now.

9§4. It is not immediately clear from these Hesiodic verses, however, if the Silver Generation actually represents a classification of heroes, in their ritual dimension as antagonists of gods. The specifically heroic nature of the Silver Generation becomes explicit only when we see how it complements the nature of the Golden Generation, with which it is formally and thematically coordinated. This coordination was observed in the irreplaceable Psyche of Erwin Rohde, and it is his reading that I will attempt to reformulate here. [4] The narrative of the Works and Days makes it clear that the lifespan of the Silver Generation would have been but a copy of the Golden, had it not been for the former's committing húbris 'outrage' (Works and Days 134–135). [5] The húbris of the Silver Generation is a consequence of its nature, which is to be contrasted with that of the Golden (Works and Days 129). In the case of the Golden Generation, the Hesiodic description of its nature is explicitly appropriate to heroes as they are worshiped in cult: {152|153} Whereas the Silver Generation commits húbris, the Golden is here described as upholding díkai (Works and Days 124). We will have more to say presently about this contrast in húbris/díkē, as also about the explicitly heroic characteristics of the Golden Generation; for now, the most important thing to observe is the description of this class of mankind as epikhthónioi (Works and Days 123). [9]

9§5. As Rohde points out, [10] the epithet epi-khthónioi marks the earthbound condition of mankind (besides Works and Days 123, see Theogony 416, Iliad IV 45, etc.; khthṓn = 'earth'), as compared to the celestial existence of the Olympian gods, who are ep-ouránioi (see Iliad VI 129, etc.; ouranós = 'sky'). We must keep in mind that the function of epi- 'on, at' in these two formations is simply to associate figures with places. That much said, we now come to the description of the Silver Generation as the hupo-khthónioi 'those who abide under the earth': Let us juxtapose the corresponding description of the Golden Generation: [11] True, the Silver Generation abides beneath the earth by virtue of being hupo -khthónioi, but this formation does not imply that the Golden Generation abides above the earth by virtue of being epi -khthónioi. As Rohde surveys the association of institutional hero cults with figures like Amphiaraos, Trophonios, Althaimenes, Teiresias, Erekhtheus, Phaethon, and others, he finds that the characteristics of these heroes match closely those of the Golden Generation, and yet their abodes in cult are all under the earth. [12] Even the diction of Hesiodic poetry bears out this feature. A figure like Phaethon is specifically called a daímōn in his function as nēopólos múkhios 'underground temple-attendant' of the goddess Aphrodite (Theogony 991). [13] As we have already seen, those in the Golden Generation are also specifically called daímones (Works and Days 122).

9§6. The essence, then, of the Golden and Silver Generations is that together they form a complete picture of the hero in cult. The evidence of Hesiodic diction even corroborates that both generations—not just the Golden—qualify as daímones. [14] In this respect, they are both like the Olympian gods, who also qualify as daímones (e.g., Iliad I 222, etc.). [15]

9§7. If indeed the First and Second Generations of Mankind are designed as complementary categories, it remains to ask why a distinction was made in the first place. The answer is available in a study by Jean-Pierre Vernant, who has observed that the entire Myth {154|155} of the Five Generations is permeated with the central theme of contrasting díkē with húbris. [16] The composition of the Works and Days elaborates this theme even further in the lengthy moral (Works and Days 213–285) that follows the Myth of the Five Generations (Works and Days 106–201). [17] We have, in fact, already seen that the concept of díkē characterizes the First Generation, as compared to the húbris of the Second. We must now add that the Third Generation is again characterized by húbris (ὕβριες: Works and Days 146); [18] furthermore, it is then set off from the Fourth Generation for the specific reason that the Fourth has díkē, as compared to the Third (δικαιότερον: Works and Days 158). [19] By virtue of díkē, the Fourth is also superior to the Third (δικαιότερον καὶ ἄρειον: Works and Days 158), whereas the Second had been inferior to the First (πολὺ χειρότερον: Works and Days 127). In other words, Generation I, which is marked by díkē, serves as a positive foil for Generation II, marked by húbris; correspondingly, Generation III, which is marked by hubris, serves as a negative foil for Generation IV, again marked by díkē. As for Generation V, which describes the realities of the Hesiodic world, the good is to be mixed in with the bad (Works and Days 179). In this world of the here-and-now, húbris is engaged in an ongoing struggle with díkē (Works and Days 213–218 and beyond). I could put it another way: Generation V is the quintessence of the four opposing types of human condition, Generations I versus II, and III versus IV. The here-and-now incorporates all the oppositions of the past and the hereafter.

9§8. It remains to ask what kind of human condition is represented by Generations III and IV. My answer will be based on the proposition that Generations I and II together form an integral picture of the hero in cult. Correspondingly, I propose that Generations III and IV together form a complete picture of the hero in epic. Furthermore, just as Generation I had represented the positive side {155|156} of Generation II, so also Generation III represents the negative side of Generation IV.

9§9. As in our discussion of the first two generations, let us approach the next two by beginning with the negative side of the picture. The Third or "Bronze" Generation is depicted as bent on nothing but húbris and war: Their very birth and essence, ash trees and bronze respectively, add up to a prime emblem of war: the generic spear of epic diction has a staff made of ash wood and a tip made of bronze, so that a Homeric word for ‘spear’ like énkhos can bear either the epithet meílinon 'of ash' (e.g., Iliad V 655) or khálkeon 'of bronze' (e.g., Iliad V 620). [21] The description of the Bronze Generation continues, with more details about their savage ways:

9§10. As the comparative studies of Francis Vian have shown, [24] this blood-crazed behavior of the Bronze Men is like that of a runaway Männerbund on the fringes of civilized society. [25] The Bronze Men are in the same mold as various other bands of impious warriors in Greek myth—most notably the Spartoi and the Phlegyai. [26] We may note in particular that the Phlegyai are also characterized by húbris (Φλεγύων ... ὑβριστάων: Hymn to Apollo 278), [27] while the Spartoi are traditionally depicted as bearing the sign of the spear as a birthmark (Aristotle Poetics 1454b22). [28]

9§11. Besides such remote figures as these Spartoi and Phlegyai, we can find a much more immediate manifestation of the heroic type represented by the Bronze Men. As we have seen in Chapter 7, Achilles himself is associated—however remotely—with the theme of plundering Delphi, as if he were of the same mold as the wanton {157|158} Phlegyai. [29] Then too, Achilles himself has his epic moments of wanton slaughter, where the diction of even the Iliad presents its prime hero on the very fringes of savagery. More than that, we have seen in Chapters 3 and 4 that Achilles himself is the champion of bíē in the Homeric tradition. [30] Now as we begin to see in the Works and Days that bíē is also the mark of the Bronze Generation (Works and Days 148), we may be ready to infer that this Hesiodic classification of mankind suits the dark and latent side of the Homeric hero. [31] What may carry conviction is yet another striking convergence in detail between the figures of Achilles and the Bronze Men.

9§12. We have already seen that bronze and ash wood are emblematic of the Third Generation (Works and Days 143–151) and that the spear of Homeric diction consists of the same elements: a tip of bronze and a shaft of ash wood. We must now observe further that the bronze-tipped ash spear of Achilles in particular is the only piece of the hero's armor that was not made by the divine smith Hephaistos (see Iliad XVII 194–197, XVIII 82–85). Rather, the spear of Achilles was inherited from his father, to whom it had been given by Cheiron the Centaur: In fact, Achilles is described as the only hero who could wield this magnificent spear (Iliad XVI 140–142), which is also the only piece of the hero's armor that Patroklos did not take with him when he fatally replaced Achilles (Iliad XVI 139–141) and which is therefore the only piece not to be despoiled and then actually worn by the killer of Patroklos, Hektor. As Richard Shannon points out, the spear of Achilles is a theme that reaffirms the hero's connection with his mortal father, just as the rest of his armor connects him with his immortal mother. [32] What is more, as Shannon's whole monograph {158|159} shows convincingly, the melíē 'ash spear' of Achilles is a word that is "restricted in the Iliad to describing the individual weapon of a specific character in particular contexts." [33] In sum, the diction of the entire Iliad makes the bronze-tipped ash spear an emblem of Achilles just as surely as the birthmark of a spear characterizes the wanton Spartoi, or as bronze and ash wood characterize the equally wanton Bronze Men. [34]

9§13. Having seen how the Third Generation corresponds to the recessive dark side of the Homeric hero, we are ready to examine whether the Fourth Generation corresponds to the dominant illustrious side, worthy of glorification by epic poetry. [35] In the process, we will also have to examine the more basic question: to what extent may we look at Generation IV as the positive side of Generation III?

9§14. The Hesiodic description of those in the Fourth Generation overtly names them as the heroes who fought at Thebes and at Troy (Works and Days159–165). Even the diction corresponds to that of Homeric Epos: the expression ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων θεῖον γένος 'the divine generation of hḗrōes' (Works and Days 159) features the conventional Homeric word for ‘hero’: hḗrōs/hḗrōes (Iliad I 4, etc.). In the entire Works and Days, the word hḗrōs/hḗrōes is in fact restricted to the Fourth Generation (Works and Days 159, 172).

9§15. Conversely, the next epithet applied to the Fourth Generation, hēmítheoi 'half-gods' (Works and Days 160), is restricted in the entire Iliad and Odyssey to one attestation, Iliad XII 23. The immediate context is one of those rare moments when the narrative of the Iliad distances itself from the epic action of the moment long enough to take in the wider view of the entire Iliad—and then the even wider view of the entire Trojan War. As the time frame expands, the perspective shifts from the heroic past to the here-and-now of the Homeric audience. The whole shift is occasioned by the topic of the wall that the Achaeans had built. [36] After a description of how the wall had functioned up to this point in the narrative (Iliad XII 3–9), we hear {159|160} that it will no longer exist after a while (Iliad XII 9). Then comes a recounting of all the epic action that is yet to happen before the wall is destroyed: at this point in the narrative, Hektor is still alive (Iliad XII 10), Achilles still has his mênis (Iliad XII 10), and the Troy of Priam is not yet destroyed (Iliad XII 11). With the mention of the last theme, we are transported beyond the time frame of the Iliad into a brief account of Troy's destruction (Iliad XII 12–16)—after which Apollo and Poseidon let loose the rivers of the Troad in order to sweep away all traces of the Achaean Wall (Iliad XII 17–33, especially 26–32). [37]

9§16. It is almost as if all the "props" that mark an Achaean expedition against Troy are to be obliterated once the expedition is over and the attention of epic switches to other places, other stories. [38] Among these "props" destined for obliteration, we get the following description of the remains lying on the riverbanks: I have taken all this time in elaborating on the single Homeric attestation of hēmítheoi in order to show how closely the diction of archaic hexameter poetry responds to variant traditional perspectives on heroes. Whereas hḗrōes is the appropriate word in epic, hēmítheoi is more appropriate to a style of expression that looks beyond epic. [40] {160|161}

9§17. In sum, I propose that the diction of the Works and Days represents the Fourth Generation of Mankind in a manner that is both appropriate to the heroes of epic tradition (consider hḗrōes at Works and Days 159) and at the same time removed from the epic perspectives of the heroic age (consider hēmítheoi at Works and Days 160). It follows that we are now faced with an important question about the theme reflected by the diction. In specifically identifying the men of the Fourth Generation as those heroes who had fought at Thebes and at Troy, the Works and Days is doubtless making reference to actual epic traditions, and we have yet to ask what these may be.

9§18. Let us look first at the Theban War. Actually, we may have to choose between two separate epic traditions about two separate Theban Wars: the Seven against Thebes, otherwise known as the Thebais, and the Epigonoi. Through the medium of Athenian tragedy—specifically through the Seven against Thebes by Aeschylus—we at least know indirectly the main themes inherited by the first of these two epic traditions, although there is very little that survives directly from either (see Thebais/Epigonoi at 112–114/115–116 Allen). Even aside from the Aeschylean play, however, the Iliad itself gives us valuable glimpses of themes from the traditions of both the Thebais and the Epigonoi. [41] In fact, the references in Iliad IV–V reveal an interesting contrast between heroic types as represented by two distinct epic traditions.

9§19. As we join the action in Iliad IV, we find Agamemnon goading Diomedes into battle with taunting words of neîkos 'blame' (νείκεσσεν: IV 368). [42] The king's taunt takes the form of an episodic {161|162} narrative about the heroic exploits of Tydeus in one of his skirmishes with the Thebans (IV 370–400). [43] Since Tydeus was of course not only the father of Diomedes but also one of the Seven against Thebes, the narrative has a special application as a taunt for Diomedes, since he in turn was one of the Epigonoi. Even more important, the conclusion of Agamemnon's taunt is that Diomedes is inferior, khéreia (accusative), to his father in battle (Iliad V 400), and we note that we have seen a variant of the same word used in contrasting the Generations of Mankind (kheiróteron 'inferior': Works and Days 127).

9§20. Diomedes responds to the taunt of Agamemnon by showing an eagerness to prove himself in battle (Iliad IV 401–402, 412–418), but his comrade Sthenelos cannot resist a rejoinder to Agamemnon. As we examine his words, we must keep in mind that Sthenelos was also one of the Epigonoi, while his father Kapaneus was also one of the Seven against Thebes: Although Diomedes is socially compelled to answer Agamemnon's taunt with action rather than words, [44] the very theme of the taunt {162|163} leads to his vindication. If indeed action weighs more heavily than words—which is after all the ideological basis for the taunt itself— then surely the Epigonoi are better than the Seven against Thebes, since the sons captured Thebes and thus succeeded where their fathers had failed. [45] Thus the whole interchange that began with the taunt of Agamemnon amounts in the end to an affirmation that the Epigonoi were indeed superior to the Seven against Thebes. [46]

9§21. Again, we are reminded of the Hesiodic Myth of the Five Generations. Since Generation IV is not only "more just" but also ‘better’ (áreion: Works and Days 158) than Generation III, we may ask whether there is a traditional parallel in the theme that makes the Epigonoi superior to the Seven against Thebes. Here too, after all, we see a contrast of actual generations. Moreover, the fathers of the Epigonoi are said to have died because of their ‘wantonness’, atasthalíēisin (Iliad IV 409), and we must recognize that the word atásthalo- 'wanton' and its derivatives are conventionally associated in Homeric diction with acts denoted by the word húbris and its derivatives (Iliad XI 695, XIII 633–634, Odyssey iii 207, xvii 588, etc.); the adjective atásthalo- even serves as an epithet of the noun húbris (Odyssey xvi 86, xxiv 352). So too in Hesiodic diction: in fact, it is the same epithet atásthalo- 'wanton' that marks the húbris of Generation II (Works and Days 134), which is parallel to the húbris of Generation III (Works and Days 146).

9§22. As we look about for an instance illustrating the ‘wanton’ (atásthalo-) nature of the Seven against Thebes, we come upon a particularly grisly and negative theme—one that also happens to contrast sharply with a positive theme that reflects on the nature of the Epigonoi. We begin by considering the positive theme. There is a poetic tradition, as we learn from Skolion 894P, that both Diomedes and Achilles were immortalized on the Isles of the Blessed. [47] In the case of Diomedes, we see from the Pindaric allusion at Nemean 10.7 {163|164} that it was Athena who brought about his immortalization. The scholia to this passage reveal the corresponding negative theme. [48] Athena was about to confer immortality upon Tydeus, father of Diomedes, as he lay dying from wounds inflicted in his duel with the Theban hero Melanippos, who had also been mortally wounded. What stopped the goddess from fulfilling her initial design was her sheer disgust at what she saw: Tydeus was eating the brains of Melanippos. [49] Here, then, is the grisly deed that deprived Tydeus of an immortality that could have been his—but was passed on to his son Diomedes. Again we may compare the Hesiodic Myth of Generations, and how the men of Generation III are assigned to Hades (Works and Days 153) while those of Generation IV are eligible for the Isles of the Blessed (Works and Days 164–173). [50] For all these reasons, I conclude that the war against Thebes at Works and Days 162–163 is the war of the Epigonoi. [51]

9§23. Having first looked at the Theban War, let us now turn to the Trojan War. The compressed Hesiodic retelling of the fate in store for the Achaean heroes who fought at Troy (Works and Days 167–173) resembles the plot of the Aithiopis more than that of the Iliad, in that the heroes who fell are said to be transported after death into a state of immortality on the Isles of the Blessed (Works and Days 171). [52] In the Aithiopis, both the main hero and the main heroic opponent—Achilles and Memnon respectively—are similarly transported after death into a state of immortality by their respective divine patronesses, Thetis and Eos (Proclus 106.14–15 and 6–7 Allen). By contrast, the plot of the Iliad ends on the theme of death for both the main hero and the main heroic opponent; the death of Hektor, which is the theme that ultimately closes the composition, explicitly requires the ensuing {164|165} death of Achilles (Iliad XXII 359–360), and there is no overt prediction of impending immortality for either Achilles or Hektor anywhere in the Iliad (or in the Odyssey). [53]

9§24. This dichotomy in how the Achilles story ends has led to the commonplace inference that the Iliad, being apparently an older composition than the Aithiopis, somehow represents an older set of beliefs according to which the Achilles figure fails to achieve immortality after death. [54] The two underlying assumptions are (1) that the Achilles figure ends at the same point where a given Achilles story ends and (2) that Hades had always represented an eschatological rather than a transitional state. Neither assumption carries conviction.

9§25. Let us begin to look beyond these assumptions by quickly examining a parallel to the Iliadic finale of Achilles, in an epic composition known as the Oikhalias Halosis ('Capture of Oikhalia'), [55] transmitted by a rhapsodic organization at Samos known as the Kreophyleioi. [56] Thanks to Walter Burkert's meticulous survey of the attested documentation about this lost epic, [57] we know that there were several features in the plot structure of the Oikhalias Halosis that paralleled the specific conventions of the Iliad. (The parallelisms between this epic composed in the tradition of the Kreophyleioi of Samos and those composed in the tradition of the Homeridai of Chios [58] had even led to a myth that has the founding father Kreophylos being "given" the Oikhalias Halosis by Homer himself, who had left Chios to visit him in Samos and had then wanted to reward the host's cordial treatment of his guest.) [59] We find perhaps the most striking parallel between the Iliad and this particular Herakles epic in the emphasis on the theme of mortality. As we see from the retelling in Apollodorus 2.7.7, Herakles at the end of the Oikhalias Halosis arranges for the funeral of those who fought on his side, [60] much as {165|166} Achilles makes possible the funeral of Hektor at the end of the Iliad. Thus the Oikhalias Halosis ends on a note of death and lamentation, and Burkert infers that such an ending foreshadows the impending death of Herakles himself. [61] In fact we know from the Hesiodic tradition that the inherited story of Herakles and Iole, the central theme of the Oikhalias Halosis, presupposes his subsequent suffering and death on Mount Oeta (Hesiod fr. 25.20–25 and fr. 229MW) [62] —a traditional theme that is pictured again for us many years later by Sophocles in his Women of Trachis. [63] And yet we also know that the inherited theme of the hero's death and descent to Hades (Hesiod fr. 25.20–25MW) in turn presupposes his subsequent accession to Olympus and immortality (Hesiod fr. 25.26–33MW). [64] Note the transition from death and Hades to Olympus and immortalization: As Burkert points out, the theme of immortality in store for the hero is simply left outside the framework of the Oikhalias Halosis, by virtue of its epic ending. [66] In this respect, then, the composition bears a Homeric mark. [67]

9§26. Accordingly, we should not be surprised to find an adherence to the same sort of Homeric touch in the genuinely Homeric Odyssey, where we indeed see Achilles languishing in Hades (Odyssey xi 467–540, xxiv {166|167} 15–18). [68] If the Odyssey is to complement the Iliad, Achilles must not yet be seen on the Isles of the Blessed.

9§27. Beyond the Iliad and Odyssey, Achilles is regularly featured as having won immortality after death through the intervention of his divine mother Thetis; in this glorious state, he abides on the mythical island of Leuke (Aithiopis/Proclus 106.12–15 Allen), [69] which is an individualized variation on his other traditional abodes in the afterlife—either the Isles of the Blessed (Skolion 894P, Pindar Olympian 2.68–80) or Elysium itself (Ibycus 291P, Simonides 558P). [70]

9§28. The formal description of these diverse mythical places in the diction of archaic poetry presents a remarkably unified vision. We begin our survey of the relevant passages with the Homeric account of the Plain of Elysium (Ēlúsion pedíon: Odyssey iv 563), situated at the Edges of Earth (peírata gaíēs: Odyssey iv 563), [71] where Menelaos will be "sent" by the gods because he is consort of Helen (Odyssey iv 564–569). Life here is described as ‘most easy’ for humans (ῥηΐστη: Odyssey iv 565), and there is no bad weather (Odyssey iv 566), but instead the earth-encircling River Okeanos makes the Wind Zephyros blow so as to reanimate mortals (Odyssey iv 567–568). [72] Let us straightway juxtapose this picture with {167|168} the Hesiodic description of the Isles of the Blessed, the abode of such heroes as those who fell at Troy and were then given immortal life by divine agency (Works and Days 167–168). These Isles of the Blessed are also situated at the Edges of Earth (peírata gaíēs: Works and Days 168), where the earth-encircling Okeanos flows (Works and Days 171); here too life is easy (Works and Days 170) and the weather is so good that the Earth bears crops three times yearly (Works and Days 172–173).

9§29. As we now look even more closely at this Hesiodic passage describing the heroes who inhabit the Isles of the Blessed (Works and Days 167–173), we discover a remarkable mirroring of both theme and diction between these representatives of Generation IV and those of Generation I:

9§30. The form of this ring composition is the reflex of a theme: that the progression of mankind has come full circle from Generation IV back to the Golden Age of Generation I. From these convergences in diction and theme, I infer that the ring-composed Hesiodic Myth of the Five Generations of Mankind operates in a cycle from Generation I to II to III to IV back to I, by way of the quintessential V of the here-and-now. [74] In line with this reasoning, I am ready to reinterpret the following verses: The poet's wish to have died before the Fifth Generation would place him in the Fourth, while his alternative wish to be born after the Fifth would place him ahead into the First. Either way, he would reach the Golden Age. His longing is for the Golden Age as a permanent state: he is seeking release from the cycle of human existence, which is diachronically represented in the sequence of I to II to III to IV back to I and synchronically represented in the quintessential V. [75] {169|170}

9§31. The theme of a cycle that leads to the permanency of a Golden Age is attested in the traditional poetic diction of Pindar. Significantly, one attestation comes from a specific type of lamentation, a thrênos: [76] The title hḗroes hagnoí 'holy heroes' at line 5 recalls the words ólbioi hḗrōes 'blessed heroes' (Works and Days 172), describing the immortalized Fourth Generation. Moreover, the title basilêes 'kings' at line 3 recalls the honor appropriate to the Golden Generation, which is called the géras basilḗïon 'honorific portion of kings' (Works and Days 126). [78] In Pindar's Olympian 2, a composition that adopts the thematic apparatus of the thrênos apparently because of this genre's ad hoc appropriateness to the special circumstances of the performance and audience, [79] we see further elaboration on the traditional vision of the Golden Age:

9§32. The envisioning of Achilles on the Isles of the Blessed formalizes the promise of an afterlife—a consolatory theme that is apparently intrinsic to the genre of the thrênos. In the Aithiopis, moreover, the thrênoi sung by the Muses over the dead Achilles himself lead immediately to his being transported into the actual state of immortality by his divine mother (Proclus 106.13–15 Allen). [81] Thus the epic narrative here fulfills on the level of content the promise that the genre of the thrênos offers on the level of form. In the Odyssey, by contrast, no such self-fulfillment can come from the mention of the thrênoi sung by the Muses over the dead Achilles (thrḗneon: Odyssey xxiv 61). It is Agamemnon who is telling of these thrênoi, and he is speaking to Achilles—who along with Agamemnon is at this very moment languishing in Hades!

9§33. As we come back to the Hesiodic passage describing the Fourth Generation of Mankind (Works and Days 156–173), we can reaffirm that the heroes of the Trojan War in this representation belong to a narrative type that fits Achilles as he appears in the Aithiopis, not the Achilles of the Iliad and Odyssey. But we can also expand the comparison by considering the end in store for the Third Generation of Mankind. After these bloodthirsty warriors die, they are relegated specifically to Hades (Works and Days 152–155), which is in direct contrast with the Isles of the Blessed, the ultimate destination of the Fourth Generation. In this particular respect, then, the blood-thirsty warriors of the Third Generation resemble the Achilles of the Iliad and Odyssey, who is likewise destined for Hades. In other respects as well, we have seen resemblances: the wanton behavior of the Third Generation corresponds to the dark and recessive dimension of the prime Homeric hero, just as their very emblems of bronze and ash wood correspond to the spear of Achilles. As we have seen, that spear is the only mortal aspect of this hero's otherwise immortal apparatus. [82] I must add that our calling the armor of Achilles {172|173} ‘immortal’ is not a case of forcing an interpretation. The epithet ámbrota 'immortal' is actually applied to the teúkhea 'armor' of Achilles, as at XVII 194, 202. [83]

9§34. Of course, the Iliad is hardly primitive on account of its delving into the mortal aspect of Achilles. If anything, the Iliadic emphasis on mortality is a mark of sophistication, which we can appreciate only after we take another look at traditional representations of immortality.{173|}