Iliad, Homer - Ronald Knox and Joseph Russo (essay date October 1989)

Ronald Knox and Joseph Russo (essay date October 1989)

SOURCE: Knox, Ronald, and Joseph Russo. “Agamemnon's Test: Iliad 2.73-75.” Classical Antiquity 8, no. 2 (October 1989): 351-58.

[In the following essay, Knox and Russo argue for the cogency of Agamemnon's deception of his own troops in Book 2 of the Iliad, despite its unintended failure.]

πϱω̑τα δ' ἐγoν ἔπεσιν πειϱήσομαι, ἣ θὔἐμιs ἐστί,
aαὶ φεύγειν σὺν νηυσὶ πολυaλήϊσι aελεύσω.
ὑμει̑s δ' ἄλλοθεν ἄλλοs ἐϱητύειν ἐπἐεσσιν.

(Iliad, 2.73-75)

In his recent commentary G. S. Kirk writes a long note to try to make sense of Agamemnon's announcement, quoted above, that he will “first test [the troops] with words” before initiating the battle in which he expects to capture Troy that day (ἤματι aείνo, 37).1 Agamemnon...

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