Homer on Life and Death
...f the work. For example, he describes the heart-rending scene in which Andromache sees the dead body of her husband Hector being dragged behind Achilles' chariot. She casts down her headdress, which "became hers on her wedding day" (p. 2). Griffin refers to this as a "vivid symbol of her loss" (p. 2). He goes on to describe how Andromache burned Hector's clothes and places this gesture within the context of Greek culture. Griffin states that the Greeks, as in other cultures in the ancient world, believed that one buried or burnt objects so that the deceased could use them in the afterlife. However, he argues that Homer, who was "anxious as he always is to underline the absolute separation of the world of the dead from that of the living, will have none of this" (p. 3). The Iliad makes it clear that Hector will derive no benefit from his burnt clothes. Andromache gesture is intended purely to show the "richness of Hector's household and the completeness with which her own life is destroyed" in one act of "heroic glory" (p. 3). As this illustrates, Griffin's style is to plunge immediately into the heart of the topic and offer specific examples. This is the pattern that he carries out throughout the text, applying his insight to a variety of topics that further illuminate his principal thesis. Along the way, he supplements his insight with considerable scholarship. Practically every page is heavily footnoted with clarifying references to Griffin's sources. Another positive point concerning Griffin's scholarship is that he translates everything. Many serious scholars seem to have the attitude that even the casual reader will have a thorough knowledge of Greek and Latin. Thankfully, Griffin does not do this, but rather always provides translations to quoted Greek text. In the final chapters, Griffin addresses the topic of the how the ancient Greek religion is portrayed in the Iliad. Griffin points out that Greek myth can be distinguished from that of other cultures above all by the manner in which it focuses on myths about heroes. These myths, according to Griffin, serve to Illuminate both the potential and the limitations of man in the real world. In the noble speeches of a hero, Hector or Achilles, the reader sees both the fearsome and unalterable laws of human mortality, but also the greatness which human beings are capable of in facing such challenges (Griffin, 1983). The loyalty of Penelope, the self-sacrifice of Patroclus, and even the inherent dignity of the guilty Helen serve to show the reader that in the midst of suffering and disaster, human beings are capable of greatness and nobility and almost "god-like" behavior (Griffin, 1983).Normally, scholarly works on Homer and the Iliad lie outside the parameters of what most people would define as light or enjoyable reading, but Griffin's text is the ex...