イーリアスにおける神々 : 人間界を映す鏡

Abstract

In the first Book of the Iliad, Apollo. Athena and Thetis intervene in human affairs, just as, in the last Book, Thetis, Iris and Hermes do. However, the important difference between the divine interventions in Book I and those in Book XXIV is that, while all those in Book I are out of personal motives, those in Book XXIV are by order of Zeus. This difference, in fact, parallels how the story develops ; Book I is the beginning of a disturbance, while Book XXIV is its end. The former is dynamic and the latter static. The manner of divine intervention reflects the condition of the humau world, and the private interventions and those by Zeus frame the course of the progression from the energetic Book to the tranquil Book. The condition of the divine world parallels that of the human world as a glass reflects an image, and foreshadows how the story will develop. In Books XIII-XV, a lengthy exposition of divine revolts against the Plan of Zeus unfolds. In Books XIII-XIV, Poseidon intervenes against the will of Zeus in battle, and, in Book XIV, Hera supports his intervention. Finally, in Book XV, Zeus sends Iris and Apollo into the battlefield, which dispatch marks a period of successive revolts. These private interventions by Poseidon and Hera (Books XIII-XIV) and those at the will of Zeus by Iris and Apollo (Book XV) frame the sequence of events in the same manner as Books I and XXIV frame the entire story of the Iliad. The Iliad is said to be a succession of numberless retardations, and we can say that the chronicle of revolts in Books XIII-XV is but one of them. The personal interventions in Books XIII-XIV constitute one long retardation, which the interventions of Zeus in Book XV end. On the other hand, the story of the Iliad itself can also be said to be one retardation preceding the fall of Troy. We can also say, then, that Book I, which relates the cause of one retardation, and Book XXIV, which concludes it, together likewise frame it. Moreover, the activities of the gods function to clarify events in the human world by reflecting its state. In the descriptions of battles (13.455-520 and 13.526-554), for example, while the Greeks aud Trojans seem as if they are equally matched, through the description of the gods (13.521-525), we are given to understand that the Trojans are in fact inferior to their enemies. According to Whitman, there can often be found in Zeus a reflection of the characteristics, of Achilles. Is this relation between Zeus and Achilles really constant? The first apparent reflection of Zeus appears in Book XIV ; when Zeus falls asleep, Hector falls in battle, and when Zeus awakens, Hector recovers his senses. Certain passages (15.610-612, 15.636-637, and 15.693-695) reinforce this close connection between Zeus and Hector. Zeus and Achilles, on the other hand, begin to seem like two symmetrically opposed figures. In Book XV, Zeus takes pity upon Hector (15.12) and allows the Trojans to recover from defeat, while, in Book XVI, Achilles, out of pity for Patroclus, aids the Greeks. At 17.591-594, Hector and Zeus are both described with a motif of "cloud and flash", and here the reflection of Zeus in Hector is noticeable. The description of Achilles (18.22) employing the motif of "cloud" is similar to that of Hector (17.591), returning the reflection of Zeus to Achilles. Moreover, at 18.203-206, Achilles is described with an element of "cloud and flash" which is very similar to that at 17.591-594 describing Zeus and Hector. The successive repetition of the same motif traces the shift of the reflection of Zeus back to Achilles. Since Zeus is often identified with the concept of "victory", we may say that this shifting of the reflection of Zeus from Achilles to Hector and back to Achilles again foreshadows which party will gain victory. The activities of the gods, as we have seen, function to foreshadow how the story will develop. It was observed in particular that the petsonal interventions of the gods cause a retardation, and that, conversely, those of Zeus bring it to an end. The personal interventions and those of Zeus frame retardations. In short, the divine world parallels the human world as a glass reflects its image ; the descriptions of gods illustrate the events in the human world and how the story will progress. We have also seen that, in the Iliad, a god is reflected in an individual hero, although this relationship is never constant, and a shift in this relationship also foreshadows how the story will develop. Thus, the gods in the Iliad help the audience to understaud how the story unfolds.