The Theme of Need in "Iliad" 9-11

Abstract

THE NIGHT RAID OF Odysseus and Diomedes that comprises Book 10 of the Iliad contains such eccentricities of expression and linguistic form that on grounds of style commentators are probably correct in viewing it as a separate composition from the Iliad, inserted only later into the poem.1 Moreover, the contents of the book, though sometimes praised for their intrinsic interest, have most often been judged a blemish in the structure and an irrelevance to the plot of the Iliad.2 For Achilles' rejection of the embassy from Agamemnon in Book 9 seems to set the stage sufficiently for the resumption of the battle on the next morning and the defeat of the Greeks in Book 11. The night raid into the Trojan camp, on the other hand, is only rather loosely tied to this causal sequence. The heightened sense of urgency in the Greek camp after Achilles' rejection of the embassy may provide motivation for the intrigue that follows, and the success of Odysseus and Diomedes inspires the Greeks with a confidence that makes the reversal of the next day in Book 11 seem all the more dramatic.3 However, the length of the night raid seems disproportionate to the triviality of this immediate result, and far from having any long-term consequences, the raid is never mentioned again in the poem. There is no parallel to such a lengthy passage of narrative that contributes nothing to the essential logic of the development of the plot. In this paper, I argue, however, that the Doloneia has been carefully integrated into the fabric of the Iliad and, whatever the original form of the story, has undergone such extensive