Iliad Group

Question:

clayg2
clayg2
Student
Community / Jr. College

What is the literary element of mystery within the "Iliad"?

Specifically concerning the last two books and the last line?

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Posted by clayg2 on Friday April 4, 2008 at 11:52 AM and tagged with iliad, literary element, mystery.

Answers:


  1. gbeatty Teacher
    College - Freshman

    eNotes Editor

    Hmm. Traditionally, mystery is seen as having only a limited role in the "Iliad." Take the last line that you asked about: " Thus, then, did they celebrate the funeral of Hector tamer of horses." There is some mystery here, in the sense that we don't really know what happens to humans after they die, and so no one knows what will happen to Hector. However, for the most part—for the living and the reader—that section of the poem closes off mystery. It resolves things. Likewise, there are minor mysteries in the final two books of the poem, but not major ones, at least not for the reader. Humans in the poem might wonder why the body of Patrocles is not decaying, but since readers have access to the arguments of the gods, we know they are preserving it from decay. Mystery, then, is something for humans (in the poem), but not for the gods. Readers are therefore more god-like than they really are, at least while reading.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/iliad/book-24-summary-analysis

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    Posted by gbeatty on Monday September 1, 2008 at 2:48 PM