Iliad Book Thirteen

This is a translation of the thirteenth book of Homer’s Iliad and continues the sequence of books already available. Though this book is a rather disparate selection of the kind of slayings familiar from previous books a new element is the more direct and extensive involvement of an immortal on the battlefield itself. While Zeus is occupied elsewhere the God of the Sea Poseidon assists the Greeks, defying an injunction from Zeus that the gods should not directly involve themselves in the war. 


The book ends with yet another occasion when it seems Hektor needs to be prodded into action in order to get the army back on track. Indeed the image presented of Hektor as commander-in-chief of the Trojan army is no more flattering than that of Agamemnon on the Greek side. The last scene hints at a general struggle of the two armies about to break out, notably lacking in detail.