"Let There Be Some Intervals in Your Sorrow."

Or

The Use of the Games in Escaping Human Misery, and Approaching the Divine

The games which Achilles initiates after the funeral of his beloved Patroclus serve the purpose of providing a necessary interval in the sorrow of the Achaeans. Against the backdrop of war and death, human beings are briefly permitted to laugh, practice generosity, and enjoy the suspension of grave consequences which comes with true leisure. While retaining their essential humanity, they temporarily bask in the privileges of the Olympian gods.

Even the most casual reading of the Iliad reveals the human lot as brutal and filled with anguished uncertainty. The horror of earthly existence is most glaring in the numerous battle scenes in Homer’s epic, during which man’s greatest enemy- death, is most visible. Providing the backdrop to these scenes of supreme violence, however, is a disturbing array of seduction, kidnapping, separation of loved ones, fraternal jealousy, betrayal, revenge, and hatred. While evil is most explicit in moments of bloodshed, the human realm is always stalked by darkness. Beyond this world of tragedy are the Immortal gods on sunny Olympus; secure themselves, they take an active role in shaping the destinies of the beleaguered humans. Achilles, who is something of a boundary figure between the human and divine realms (being the son of a goddess and a human father) summarizes the human predicament in a speech to the grieving King Priam.

“You must have iron courage; sit upon this seat, and for all our grief we will hide sorrow in our hearts, for weeping will not avail us. The immortals know no care, yet the lot they spin for man is full of sorrow; on the floor of Zeus’ palace there stand two urns, the one filled with evil gifts, and the other with good ones.”#1

He goes on to make it clear that the most a man can hope for in life is a mixture of good and evil gifts. A life free from misfortune is not an option for man, and is a prerogative only of the gods “who know no care”. Even were there a happy proportion of good to ill fortune in man’s life, there remains the inevitability of death-- note the symbolism of the urns. Achilles next addresses Priam’s misfortune directly.

“From the day when the dweller’s in heaven sent this evil upon you, war and slaughter have been about your city continually. Bear up against it, and let there be some intervals in your sorrow. Mourn as you may for your brave son, you will take nothing by it. You cannot raise him from the dead, ere you do so yet another sorrow shall befall you.#2

Given the tragedy inherent in man’s life, forever separating him from the Immortals, there remains for him to “bear up against” his sorrow, and indeed to find ways (albeit temporary) of escaping sorrow. As man is unhappy primarily insofar as he is not like the gods, it follows that an “interval” in his suffering would consist in man’s being allowed temporarily to enter a divine state of being. Such a state is attained in the funeral games initiated by Achilles in Book XXIII. This will become clear upon a closer examination of the nature of divine life.

The last two paragraphs of book I constitute a key text in understanding the world of the gods.

“Then Hephaestus drew sweet nectar from the mixing bowl, and served round among the gods, giving from left to right; and the blessed gods laughed out a loud applause as they saw him bustling about the heavenly mansion.” “Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they feasted, and everyone had his full share, so they all were satisfied. Apollo struck his lyre, and the muses lifted up their sweet voices, calling and answering one another. But when the sun’s glorious light had faded, they went home to bed, each to his own abode, which lame Hephaestus with his consummate skill had fashioned for them.”#3

Striking in this passage is the image of Hephaestus distributing sweet nectar from a mixing bowl to all the gods. How great a contrast between this mixing bowl with which the gods are nourished and Zeus’ two urns (symbols of death) from which mankind draw their blend of pleasure and agony. Apparent in this passage is that the life of the gods is essentially one of fulfillment (feasting) and leisurely entertainment (being charmed by the song of the muses and the lyre of Apollo). The one pitiful character in this whole scene is Hephaestus (who happens to seem the most human), and yet it is his bustling about the heavenly mansion which elicits laughter and loud applause from the other gods. Laughter is truly fitting as a god’s response to suffering: the one who laughs recognizes the reality of an imperfection, and at the same moment is blissfully detached from it and any of its consequences. The wretchedness of Hephaestus is obvious to the Olympians, and yet it poses no threat to them; as such it becomes a source of delight. This said, it must not be concluded that the gods are incapable by nature of aiding those less fortunate than themselves. From book I until the final chapter the Olympians continually intervene on behalf of unfortunate mortals. Their graciousness, however, is a condescension. They give out of their overwhelming abundance, and their generosity is expended on those for whom they could never feel true compassion. Forever separating earth from Olympus is the fact that humans die and gods do not. Human choices engender consequences and the greatest of all consequences is death. The choices gods make are not without consequences (numerous are the mishaps and temporary misfortunes of the gods), and yet because they will never face the greatest consequence of any life decision- death, there is an anguish and gravity missing from their existence which divorces them from humans and makes true sympathy impossible.

Notwithstanding the deficit of moral seriousness which marks the life of the gods, theirs is a truly enviable position as compared with the wretched human lot described by Homer. For human beings to approach a divine state (as in the games) is a blessing beyond measure. To summarize briefly the distinguishing characteristics of divine existence: The gods live lives in which their needs are fulfilled and in which they are continually entertained. Secure and powerful, their actions are incapable of engendering grave consequences, most especially death. Two faculties which mark the gods are humor and condescending generosity, both being responses to those misfortunes in others which leave one ultimately unaffected. Let us now see how these traits of divine life are manifested in the funeral games.

The games mimic the battlefield at Troy in that they involve an intense competitive struggle between human beings. War is the normal mode of life for these men and it is noteworthy that in seeking to transcend this daily struggle they should do so in a way which is not alien in form to that struggle. What sets apart the activities of the funeral games from those taking place on the battlefield is that death has been removed as a potential consequence for any action. As we have said, freedom from death is that which chiefly distinguishes the life of the gods from that of men. Because they are virtually guaranteed not to be killed during games such as these, a whole new mode of existence is opened up to the Achaean soldiers who participate. With a few exceptions, to be generous on the battlefield at Troy would be stupid, and to laugh insane. In the funeral games we see numerous examples of generosity, and of humor. Beginning on line 534 of Book XXIII we see a string of generous acts. Achilles awards a prize out of pity to Eumelus. Antilochus objects and then is himself given a compensation by Achilles. Menelaus speaks out that Antilochus had sabotaged his chances of winning the race, and demands Antilochus’ prize. Antilochus humbly hands his prize over to Menelaus, only to have it returned in forgiveness. Shining through all this squabbling is a freedom of give and take which would be all but impossible on the battlefield. Because life is no longer a constant struggle to escape one’s own death, men have the luxury to be generous with one another. When Ajax, through Athena’s mischief, slips on manure and loses a race to Odysseus, he merely makes a sarcastic joke and all are induced to laughter. No true harm is done either way and we see that at the funeral games humans share in the divine capacity for responding to ugliness and imperfection with humor. The plentiful distribution of prizes during the games mimics the extensive satisfaction of needs enjoyed by the gods, and the fact that they are games makes the divine privilege of leisurely entertainment transparent throughout the whole affair.

A fascinating, though imperfect parallel to the funeral games is provided by the brawl between the gods, the description of which begins on line 383 of Book XXI. In this violent encounter Ares battles Athena, Athena pursues Aphrodite, and Hera painfully wounds Artemis. Nevertheless, as in the Achaean games, nobody dies, and a general air of entertainment prevails: “Zeus heard as he was sitting on Olympus, and laughed for joy when he saw the gods coming to blows among themselves.”#4 Zeus could be said to be playing a role vaguely resembling that played by Achilles in the human games. Toward the end, droll judge that he is, he playfully consoles his wounded daughter Artemis, demanding to know who hurt her. All of the gods eventually go back to Olympus, “some angry and some triumphant.”#5 None are dead. These statements could easily be applied to the Achaeans leaving the contest of Achilles.

Having established that in the funeral games the Achaeans temporarily enter the divine sphere, transcending their human condition, it remains to be said in what way they continue to differ from the gods while in that state. On close examination what sets the human festivities apart from either the Olympian scene closing Book I or the violent encounter between the gods in Book XXI is their overall wholesomeness and dignity. Despite a few instances of trickery (god instigated), a couple of harsh arguments, and one violent accident, the prevailing atmosphere is one of fair play and good will. Beyond humor or condescending generosity there is the genuine compassion Achilles shows toward Nestor in awarding the old man an urn, this in honor of the dead Patroclus. It is then that Achilles is revealed as a boundary figure between the human and divine realms in the profoundest possible way. Godlike, but aloof and narcissistic, he has now been perfected through suffering and can feel the deepest human tenderness. One could dare to say that in the games of Book XXIII, Achilles and the Achaeans not only reach the Olympian level, but rise above it. For an all too brief period we see what it might be like if humans were freed from death or if gods knew how to love.




#1 The Iliad of Homer, Rendered into Prose by Samuel Butler, Book XXIV, lines 522-528
#2 Book XXIV,lines 543-551
#3 Book I, lines 595- 613
#4 Book XXI, lines 390- 392
#5 Book XXI, line 520