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Article Excerpt
In the Iliad the Greater Aias has a complicated relationship with the gods. His interactions with Zeus are markedly inconsistent, and no god physically intervenes on his behalf, although he spends more time on the battlefield than any other Greek hero. A close look at these issues shows that the strange nature of the gods' interactions, or lack thereof, with Aias reflect a conflict between two deities' feelings about the hero and the circumstances of the Trojan War. Zeus cares for Aias, but his promises concerning the Trojans and Hektor specifically frequently force him to work against the Greek hero. Athena, the Greeks' primary divine benefactor, hates Aias in the Iliad as she does in other places in the Greek literary tradition, but her desire to see the Greeks defeat the Trojans keeps her from directly acting against him.
The question (1) of the Greater Aias' (2) relationship to the gods is actually two questions: what Zeus' inconsistent behavior towards the hero means and why Aias does not receive assistance from the gods. (3) The first issue is complicated by the contradictory nature of the Zeus/ Aias interactions, the second by the lack of evidence inherent in any question about why something does not happen. The close examination of evidence from the Iliad and other literacy sources ultimately reveals that both questions are iterations of the same phenomenon: the emotional feeling of a god towards a hero complicated by the circumstances of the Trojan War.
The question of Aias' relationship with Zeus will ultimately impact the issue of the hero's lack of divine aid. Therefore, we must address that issue first. Zeus interferes in Aias' affairs eight times. These interferences are dispersed throughout the hero's time on the battlefield. (4) The number of interactions between the god and the hero, although substantial, is not unusual. The inconsistency of Zeus' behaviors towards Aias, on the other hand, deviates from other hero/god interactions, which are typically consistent. (5) Zeus is partially (if not mostly) responsible for all of Aias' battlefield defeats, but Aias prays exclusively to Zeus, and the god shows kindness to the hero more than once (Whitman 1958, 173).(6) However, nearly all of the Zeus/Aias interactions have one thing in common--the presence of Hektor.
Seven of the eight points of contact between Zeus and Aias on the battlefield involve Hektor. (7) The fact that Hektor and Aias meet sixteen times on the battlefield, far more often than any other pair of opposing heroes (Scott 1918, 608-609), (8) certainly has something to do with this. Still, Hektor's involvement in the Zeus/Aias interactions may influence how the god treats the Achaean hero. The first substantive meeting between Hektor and Aias, (9) their Book 7 monomachia, (10) provides some clues as to what this influence might be.
The first pieces of evidence about Zeus' relationship with Aias come during the hero's manomachia with Hektor at //. 7.206-311 and the events leading up to it. While the god does not expressly act or speak here, the prayers to him and the speeches about him provide valuable clues about what factors will influence his later dealings with Aias. (11)
Before Aias meets Hektor in battle, the Greeks (on Aias' request) pray to Zeus for a favorable outcome:
"Father Zeus, ruler from Ida, most glorious (and) greatest, Grant (that) Aias receive victory and shining glory: But if you also love Hektor and take care of him, Bestow the same strength and honor upon both of them." (Il.7.202-205) (12)
This prayer is strangely ambivalent (O' Higgins 1989, 45), (13) possibly indicating that the Achaeans are so unsure of the outcome of the battle, and specifically about what side Zeus will take, that they are unable to even wish for victory without qualification. Kirk refers to the Greeks' refined prayer as "a prudential wish for a draw in case Zeus is favoring Hektor" (1990, 260-61). But why would the Achaeans feel the need to make such a prayer? Zeus did promise to aid the Trojans against the Greeks at It. 1.511 -27, but the Achaeans did not know this. At the time of the prayer, the Trojans have broken an oath (at 4.104-25) and the Achaeans have outperformed them on the battlefield. Therefore, the Greeks had no reason to believe that they were on the wrong side of the gods' intentions. Perhaps the unusual prayer does not reflect the Achaeans' circumstances, but rather the characters mentioned within it: Zeus, Aias and Hektor. If so, it provides an important jumping-off point for a discussion of how the god's interac- tions with the former hero might be affected by his relationship with the latter one.
The Argives' qualified prayer to Zeus at Il 7.202-05 is predicated on a specific concern--that Zeus' love for Hektor will prevent him from granting glory to Aias. Since Zeus' future interactions with Aias will almost always involve the Trojan prince, this prayer provides something specific to look for in the god's dealings with the hero. If the Greeks' fear foreshadows future events in the poem, Zeus' works against Aias should directly benefit Hektor, not just the Trojan army in general. (14)
If the Argives' prayer to Zeus before the Aias/Hektor monomachia accurately predicts the god's future behavior, it could indicate that when Zeus works to Aias' detriment he does so out of love for Hektor. It could not, on the other hand, say anything about Zeus' feelings toward Aias. For this, Idaios' speech to Aias and Hektor at the end of their battle may prove helpful.
When attempting to persuade Aias and Hektor to stop fighting, Idaios makes the following speech;
Dear young men, do not fight or battle any longer: For the cloud-gatherer Zeus loves both of you, And both [of you are] skilled spearmen: And indeed we all know this. But night now is coming upon us: and it is good to obey the night. (//. 7.279-82)
Several scholars have stated that Idaios says that Aias and Hektor should stop fighting because of the arrival of night.15 While the herald certainly mentions this, the first reason he gives for why the two should bold off is Zeus' love for the two "warriors. If Idaios' statement accurately relates Zeus' feelings, this passage provides the first explicit statement in the Iliad concerning the god's feelings towards Aias.
Possible concerns about the veracity of Idaios' statement derive from the questions of whether he can relay Zeus' thoughts and whether his comment is appropriate considering the way the Aias/Hektor monomachia ended. A look at these issues shows that neither one should cause the heralds words to be discounted.
There is no evidence in the Iliad that suggests that Idaios cannot act as a messenger of Zeus. 11.7.274 identifies Talthubios and Idaios as "messengers of Zeus and men (Dios aggeloi ede andron)."This phrase describes heralds elsewhere (Kirk 1990, 271), but that does not argue against Idaios' ability to perform the function of Zeus' messenger. If anything, it bolsters the claim that heralds in general were thought to have a connection to the divine. (16) Moreover, nothing in the passage suggests that Idaios is relating a message from a mortal source. Idaios' speech does not mention the Trojans' concerns about the battle; (17) the beings whose thoughts and intentions he relates are Zeus' and personified Night's. Also, the poem does not indicate whether the heralds received any orders from their respective armies (Kirk 1990, 271). (18) Finally the battle ends exactly in the way that the Greeks prayed to Zeus for it to end (provided he loved Hektor), a way that Hektor did not count as among the possible outcomes of the duel (O' Higgins 1989, 45), (19) potentially indicating the god's involvement. The combined weight of the evidence allows for the possibility that Zeus had something to do with Idaios' statement, although the herald would not have to act under the direction of the god to accurately transmit his feelings. At the very least, the Iliad gives us no reason to doubt the accuracy of Idaios' speech on account of who makes it. Still, before accepting the herald's statement as true, it is necessary to make sure that the timing of the speech does not preclude this.
At first glance, the heralds' intervention seems to have prevented Aias, who had been winning the fight, from killing Hektor (O' Higgins 1989 46). If Idaios' statement that Zeus loves Aias occurred in the context of a speech which denied the hero a sure victory, its veracity would be questionable. A closer look at the end of the Aias/Hektor monomachia, however, indicates that stopping the battle did not necessarily hurt Aias:
And he [Hektor] was lain out on his back With his shield pressed into him: but Apollo immediately stood him upright. And now they would have thrust [at each other] at close range with Swords if the heralds, messengers of Zeus and men, had not come, one from the Trojans, the other from the bronze-chitoned Achaeans, Talthubios and Idaios, both wise. But they held their staffs in the middle of the two [heroes]. (Il. 7.271-76)
Apollo's interference at Il. 7.272 completely changes the state...
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