Homer and the Will of Zeus Author(s): Joe Wilson Reviewed work(s): Source: College Literature, Vol.

34, No. 2, Reading Homer in the 21st Century (Spring, 2007), pp. 150-173 Published by: College Literature Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25115425 . Accessed: 02/07/2012 05:21
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Will of Zeus Homer andthe

Joe Wilson

Joe Wilson

isprofessor of

After indeed them,

Classical Studies at the

University written and Latin Homer of Scranton. extensively literature, He has

reading after I cannot

the Homeric reading help what

poems,

and

of interpretations Homer about asking he thought he was

and wondering

on Greek

doing. Andrew

(Ford 1992, 1) Ford's question the study haunts all who that with of Homer, of figures, endowed predicates
singer, or monumental

especially His

on

undertake most none

the

and Sophocles.

book,

illusive

The Hero

and the City (1997).

of the ordinary
putative author,

of existence,

composer the Odyssey,

of

Iliad and/or the incomparable or neither.1 R. Martin has sug

gested that, in the midst of the intense revi sionism that has beset tragedy and comedy, Homeric studies are still fairly removed from seems (1988, 2). Martin in the of work optimistic, especially light to the publi done in the decade subsequent cation of his own book, during which the critical controversy split
everyone extreme.2

between
else

pure
seems

oralists
to have

and
grown

virtually
more

Still, challenging,

Ford's

question, while undeniably at least offers those who would

JoeWilson

151

attempt

to

answer

it some

hope,

no matter

how

faint,

of

success,

as

opposed

to questions which have raged unresolved of authorship and composition, for centuries. After all, asMartin the Iliad may have come observed, however it is now a text, "and that has made into existence, all of the difference" 1). A text can be analyzed, if not to discern the putative will of its we can perhaps do its own methodology.3And author, at least to disclose there are many rooms." Even the better than that. "In my father's house (1988, densest, least skilled, and most haphazard (and I do not mean of architects must have the Iliad reflects any such ineptitude) of them in the original plans.4 Like Ford, I would like to examine the Iliad.5 Yet to suggest that included a few

he what Homer was doing when seems too that broad question, baldly stated, composed/wrote for the scope of the current discussion. Alas, we possess no detailed notes It remains the most axiomatic of axioms from the poet on his methodology. into his work, in Homeric studies that the poet never injects himself and to uncover a "historical" Homer invariably founder.6 We do, howev we his do have observes have his and er, poem, (and repeats plot. As Nagy and Nimis often [1979, 35-36, 97-99]), (1987, 90) and Richardson (1990) also confirm, the plot of an epic poem is simply the will of Zeus. An inves (or the text's) own intentions can with profit begin there. tigation of Homer's efforts as Redfield the logic of Aristotle's Moreover, carefully argues, following of the invention the is the invention of a narrative Poetics 1451b27-29, plot or the tradition invents the plot of the work; we poem (1994, 58). Homer assume that will of Zeus conforms therefore the rather exactly to the may will of the poet?in that the will of Zeus in the Uiad operates to guarantee the of Achilles, the will of the poet must be to do the same. Moreover, the on all of of Achilles will the then condition decisions dis the honoring poet's tribution ofkleos, the glory (from kluein,"to hear"), gained from oral poetry.7 can carry the discussion We still further. To quote the cogent summary honor of Mark
Fate,

Edwards:
of course, is the will ... of the poet, In an obviously the limited artistic, decree Poseidon of by the major not fate, rescues line shall of religious, and the features motif, gods for of the

traditional holds ensure son, 308). up

legends. his scales

Zeus act this to rea

to determine of that such

the fulfillment as it is fated On two

a decree; him

Aeneas continue saving

occasions

through Zeus

Dardanus'

considers

the possibility

(20.300 a hero from

the death that fate has decreed (his son Sarpedon, 16.433ff., and the beloved Hector, 22.167-81), but both times another deity declares this to be excep tional and a bad policy, and Zeus gives up the idea. (Edwards 1987, 136) will to Edwards s initial observation: I offer a slight refinement fate is not the to must in most of the poet, but the poetic which the tradition, poet

152

34.2 [Spring 2007] CollegeLiterature

mines

conform, lest he lose all of his authority.8 The poet, however, deter the plot of the poem, and the poet's metaphor for that determination is the will of Zeus. For example, when Zeus must reluctantly allow the deaths and Hector, we have a metaphor to a tradition, a tradition to which to maintain his own or Hector for the poet acknowledging he must, in crucial specifics, Should Sarpedon escape the

instances

of Sarpedon his allegiance adhere,

in order

onslaught would compromise,

Tales," to borrow Poetic favor,

of Patroclus,
Lord's of

perhaps
course,

credibility. fall to Ajax instead of Achilles, the poet a as status his his and both tale fatally, "Singer of
no protective talisman to the characters.

phrase. offers

Zeus

the poet precisely as "Zeus Hector the and Griffin loves observes, yet, expresses greatest interest, but the of end the Iliad three of the and Sarpedon, Patroclus and Achilles; by

directs

his affections

to those

characters

for whom

four are dead, and the fourth will be slain very soon."(1980, 86). Zeus s loves are the crucial figures around whom the poet fashions his tale, the men whose
epic

death
confers.9

in battle will

earn them

the kleos aphthiton, "undying

fame," that

will

a technical problem. How does the in and how, specifically, does it relate the poem, actually operate to the program of the poet? How does it guarantee that Achilles will be hon 1: in Book itsmemorable first appearance ored? The will of Zeus makes These observations of Zeus
Sing, Achilles, number souls bodies Goddess, son on of the destructive which and to death the dogs and wrath laid pains sent many and rendered and the of without strong their

still leave us with

of Peleus, the Achaeans, down for

of heroes carrion

birds,

will of Zeus

[bouleDios] was accomplished, from the time when [ex hou] the son of Atreus, the lord of

and godlike Achilles first fought in strife. (Iliad 1.1-9) boule Dios, and the ex hou, offer the initial difficulty. Some ancient con commentators suggested that ex hou was causal, and should be taken in men, The with the Kypria, in which Zeus is blamed (credited?) for starting the excess war to in the world of relieve order Trojan population.10 Aristarchus neoteroi of the and this interpretation argued that the boule Dios refers rejected nection to the promise of Zeus to Thetis I (Kirk 1985, 53). The Iliad, in Book merely s view: the will of Zeus at first glance, appears to lend support to Aristarchus does not seem to enter into the story until the end of Book I,when Zeus to that Thetis that he will honor Achilles. Indeed, may explain the pledges rather independent role of Athena and Apollo in the first book. In subsequent

JoeWilson

153

at least tolerated) by Zeus to books, the two are sent (or their interference intervene on behalf of the Greeks or the Trojans, or, in the case of Athena's IV to break the truce, on behalf of Zeus himself, effort in Book (should the be over). In Book the prayer of I, however, endure, the poem would a to the motivates unleash Greek camp (1.43 plague upon Chryses Apollo in the quarrel between Agamemnon intervention and 52), while Athena's Achilles at the behest of Hera, "who loves you both," (1.208-10).n other view, however, does find support from both the Iliad and the claims that Zeus "stole his wits away" in the quarrel Odyssey: Agamemnon over the girl, and Achilles does not contradict him. Indeed, he had suggest The comes truce

ed the very same thing at IX.377. As Dodds observes, this is no mere use of can we the gods as a fa?on de parler (1951, 3-5). Nor simply dismiss a as own respon not he remark facile does his Agamemnon's apology: deny on for his actions. Zeus has manufac Agamemnon's Clearly, analysis, sibility tured this episode in the Trojan War as a function of a general plan to work that Zeus "started" the Trojan War for havoc on the Greeks. The suggestion his own purposes finds additional support from the subsequent epic: in the as "conjuring is described up a great wave of disasters for Odyssey Zeus and Trojans alike," at a time before the action of the Iliad, indeed, Greeks ever left for Troy (8.81-82).12 The same plan is ascribed before the Greeks to Zeus the summary of the Kypria in Proclus and in the Hesiodic Catalogue ofWomen.13 There is away to reconcile the two possibilities. Homer employs the will of Zeus as the motivation for the action of the poem because the tradition of epic, which recorded the afflictions wrought by Zeus on Trojan and Greek in the tradition. At the it.14 Thus he affirms his membership alike, mandated same time he claims his own originality the traditional boule Dios by taking the plot of his epic, and altering it to fit his own story and provide not merely but the poet to enter into the story.15 The poet never departs from the traditional view that Zeus wants to kill Greeks and Trojans over that tradition by changing his mastery the alike, but he demonstrates for terms under which the slaughter takes place. As Scodel notes: Since, in his Iliad, the plan of Zeus is in effect the plan of Achilles, the tra ditional theme of the Trojan War as the cause of many deaths has been is not ignorant of the Cyclic and Hesiodic adapted to the wrath. Homer
explanations of the war, but he turns them to his own purpose. (Scodel

a mechanism

1982, 47)16 for his part, reminds us of just how open the entire boule Lynn-George, is. "In all its possibilities this plan of Zeus possesses a powerful indeter a a is function its which of As he goes on minacy, (1988, 38). might mystery" at the outset of the to observe, there seems to be a boule already at work Dios

154

34.2 [Spring 2007] CollegeLiterature poem, yet at the beginning that boule might be. Hence, continuity of Book II we see Zeus still considering what of epic there is dis

"Throughout and yet also an unpredictable of irreconcilable indissociability and open to choice in a narrative which positions. All is both predetermined is fixed forever and constantly refashioned" else accounts for such (41).What determined tradition The work to work within the Cyclic but Homer's decision indeterminacy and coordinate itwith the specific plan of the honoring of Achilles? is that nothing within the logical upshot of such coordination

the structuring

can truly lie outside the plan of Zeus. Zeus himself allows the delay to Thetis, both when he permits the of his promise of the accomplishment in Book VIII, to keep the rout of the Greeks from interference of Athena too quickly, and again when he tacitly permits Poseidon's inter happening at the beginning of Book ference, by going off to the land of the Thracians

and seduction of Zeus by Hera) XIII, and in the apate Dios (the deception In each instance, the Iliadic plan seems derailed; but the gen of Book XIV forward when eral epic plan, the slaughter of Greek and Trojan alike, moves in the Iliad dif the battle. Hence, the Achaeans nothing rally and prolong fers from will the Plan of Zeus, and thus the plan of Zeus stands revealed as the of the poet. As a consequence of this, we should pay very close atten with the tion to the will of Zeus, since the poet has invested the metaphor sees own claim to his Indeed, Morrison authority.17 just this type of oper off

in the Iliad. On 18 of 33 occasions in which Homer's plot might have a a to in intervenes different direction, gone god keep the story on for Zeus track?and the gods are very often working (1992, 62-71). Even ation when as they seem to be working against Zeus's plan to honor Achilles, are in in fact rallies the Greek troops Books XIII-XIV, when Poseidon they sim serving Zeus's other plan, to slaughter Greeks and Trojans alike. Quite lays claim to both "plans" to structure the plot of his poem 1990, 187f). (Richardson we accept that argument and see the will of Zeus acting on Whether to the initial quar events from a time prior to the Iliad, or only posterior the will of Zeus guides most of the and Agamemnon, rel between Achilles I on to the ransoming of Hector's action from the end of Book body by can see how closely Zeus's will conforms to the Priam in Book XXIV We ply, Homer poetic which program of honoring Achilles by examining to the desires of that hero. Zeus consents those (The He alone, alone, and does so rather unambiguously. is responsible of Troy, by killing for the destruction on whose life the fate of Troy rests. He speaks the most initial passages in Iliad does honor

and Achilles Achilles, in Homer's account,

the man Hector, is absolute, from his repeated humilia lines in the poem. His dominance to the assertion of his authority over all of the Greeks tions of Agamemnon

Wilson Joe

155

at the funeral

games

of Patroclus,

and to his final mastery

over

the van

quished Priam.) over Bris?is, a the quarrel between Agamemnon After and Achilles in gaining revenge over the help of his mother humiliated Achilles demands the Greeks. He cites the fact that Zeus is indebted to Thetis for her help in the king of the gods from an ignominious rescuing imprisonment hands of the other Olympian deities (1.348-406).18 He continues: Persuade him to aid the Trojans, to pin the Achaeans back against their ships, trap them down. (Uiad 1.408-10) more ambiguous and at the

them around the bay and mow Thetis relays the request less bloodthirsty:
Father Zeus, if among

in terms

that are somewhat

the

immortals

I have aided you by word

this prayer. Honor my son,

or deed, fulfill
doomed to

meet
other.

his fate more

But now the

quickly
lord

than all
Agamemnon

of men

has dishonored

him. For he has taken

and kept his prize. But you honor him,

Wise Zeus of Olympus. until Give strength honor to

the Trojans,

the Achaeans

(Uiad 1.503-10) to Thetis request of Achilles specified slaughter: tous de kata prumnas te kai amph'hala elsai Achaious kteinomenous, "push back the dying Achaeans to their ships and to the sea."19 Thetis, however, that Zeus tithei suggests only kratos, "give strength" to the Trojans, until the Greeks restore his honor (Kirk 1985, 96).20 In theory, the terms of Thetis's more considered fulfilled by the action of Books VIII-IX; general request may be the Trojans have won a to offer Achilles delegates

my The

son and even increase his honor.

and the Greeks have selected substantial victory more than adequate compensation. But Thetis s version of the story is not the one that carries authority: Zeus'a own plan agrees with Achilles's initial version of his mother.21 request, rather than the mediated Zeus's rather bloodthirsty intent at the beginning of Book Sweet sleep did not hold Zeus, but rather he weighed Achilles in his mind how he might honor The II: poet depicts

and destroy many

of the Achaeans

next to their ships (Iliad II.2-4)

156

34.2 [Spring 2007] CollegeLiterature the will of Achilles himself. Zeus conjures The will of Zeus is identical with a up plan by which olese{i} de poleas epi neusin Achaion, "he might destroy we should note that the many of the Achaeans by the ships," (II.4). Moreover, plan of Zeus will operate in its own good time. The first day of battle (Books II-VII), does not lead directly to the slaughter of the Greeks among their ships. If anything, the long day achieves nothing and ends in a draw. To derive of the spe poetic intent from the apparent gap between Zeus's conception and its operation, which cific plan to honor Achilles does not truly begin until the beginning of Book VIII, Homer wants us to understand that the will of Zeus encompasses of the first day the action the entire poem, for without the gods, the the aristeia of Diomedes, his fights with battle, with the intimate the and of Catalogue, Teichoskopia, portrayals family and city lose much of its force and nearly all of its appeal. life in Troy, the Uiad would II through VII recapitulate Books the long and bloody stalemate of the first of ten years of the war. Homer introduces the Greek the and frames actual of battle with Catalogue day Menelaus
construct,

and Paris
and like any

(perhaps
poetic

to demonstrate
construct, not

and Trojan forces in the two inconclusive duels: that Homer's war is a poetic
to practical consid

accountable

and Ajax, whose inconclusive erations), and Hector brawling marks the mid and then Achilles dle books, before Patroclus, the ritual substitute of Achilles, himself take the field. All things, even those that do not immediately work to to the god's advantage, as the poet condenses the futility Zeus's desire, work
of ten years into the space of a single day.

Zeus a dream choice

elects that of Nestor

to send the dream initiates

in the form

of Nestor

to Agamemnon,

in the work. The the first day of battle described is hardly coincidental: the great besides being Nestor, a prominent in the of the Greeks, occupies role as a quasi-poet counselor a with and few other characters Phoenix, Priam, work, providing, along a deeper poetic tradition from which the poet can (Glaucus, for example) draw material.22 to assert the poet What better way for the poet (Homer) than by using a character who is a virtual ic authority of Zeus's deception to will the that deceive aoidos himself information the convey (Nestor)
Agamemnon.

clueless

in which the Greek the third day of battle, from Books XI-XVII, Only wall is pierced and the fighting takes place along the ships, actually fulfills the will of Zeus as stated in its rather limited form (and thus accounts for Achilles have final rejection of the embassy in Book IX?should as as the will of Zeus, his own, the offer of the Achaeans, well accepted Zeus makes clear his own will in coun would have been left unfulfilled).23 Achilles's sel with Book and subsequently the Olympians IV. After the Greeks and Trojans of it at the beginning confirms to over settle the agree quarrel

JoeWilson

157

Paris and Menelaus that we (a battle single combat between know since such an outcome would be inconclusive, contradict the to save Zeus in of Book the of interference I?hence, promise Aphrodite to the plot), Zeus asks his fellow divinities Paris is not really germane if the war should end: Helen by will Let us consider how whether we this work will be,

stir up evil war and the din

of battle, or we bring both sides together in friendship. If this seems good and
pleasant might to all, remain then the city of Priam

inhabited,

and Menelaus

might

take back Argive Helen.

(Iliad IV.14-19)

The goddesses are not pleased, but only Hera raises her voice against the states quite definitely divine plan. Zeus that he holds no personal grudge to surrender one of her favorite the and he Hera against Trojans, compels to him at some future time (recalling once more cities of the Greeks the divine of the Greeks as well as suggested in the Kypria: the destruction the Trojans seems to be an ineluctable part of the plan of Zeus). He then employs Athena, now as his own agent, to attempt to break the truce: plan Go quickly among the Trojans and the
Greeks, first and attempt their oaths to make and the Trojans attack

violate

the Achaeans. (Iliad IV.70-72) to end So Zeus rejects (or more properly, fails to seize) an opportunity war to encourage and instead instructs Athena the the Trojans to become oath breakers. Homer could not make his point more clearly: Zeus's real as are interests are served by more the slaughter, poet's (times of peace being difficult to distill into good epic). Zeus, by accepting from Hera notoriously or Sparta at some future date, seems the right to destroy Argos, Mycenae, to the slaughter of the Greeks, as the Kypria suggests.24 determined continue to accept the destruction he is equally willing of Troy, a city that However, he finds behavior for Zeus in Book IV evaluates the quite innocent of wrongdoing, of the Trojans not by a standard of human justice, but by a standard concern of divine expedient. The crimes of stealing and then keeping Helen are, in his view,
a fair We feast, have

him not at all. The Trojans

Never has my or altar lacked

a just people:

or drink,

burnt-offering.

always received our due. (Iliad IV.48-49)25

158

34.2 [Spring 2007] CollegeLiterature Zeus not peace, just or otherwise, but war; he is not swayed by the counsels of others.26 Rather, he employs the gods to justify the continuation of the war, in the absence of which the poet has no story, and Zeus cannot to his initial Thetis. promise keep desires Confirmation be detected of Zeus's emotional instances investment in which in the numerous in continuing Zeus is shown the war can as "delight as Zeus

ing in war." One of the most striking instances occurs in Book unleashes all the gods to fight on whatever side they choose:
I still care about those who are going

XX,

to die. But Iwill Olympus,

take The pleasure rest

remain on a cliff of Iwill look on and

terpsomat). into

from which
in my may

heart go

(phrena and enter

of you

the midst
bearing

of the Trojans and Greeks,

aid to either side, as the

mind The will

of each of you desires. (UiadXX.21-30) concern evinced the notion by Zeus here accords well with a the plot of the poem, but also metonymy for the the work but else has the poet evinced throughout unflinching
extent by the

detached

that his will

is not merely of the poet. For what attitude?an this same paradoxical
of war, offset to a certain

description
brilliant

of the worst
similes that

hor
restore

rors

humanity,
the course

if ever so briefly,
of the poem.

to those who

have been

brutalized

and slain in

the proper way of relating the fine in the Kypria that claims that to rid the world is to the Trojan War of excess population Zeus engineers read it as metaphor for the poets' choice of war as the subject for the works in the epic cycle. The Cycle, which almost certainly began as oral poetry, may Indeed, as a take war, with its varied fortunes and routine changes in circumstance, for oral poetry itself? metaphor After Pandarus breaks the truce, the two armies prepare for battle. to the great aristeia of Diomedes, Homer devotes Book V primarily which in the wounding of Ares at the hands of Diomedes and Athena. culminates take their course, as befits the general action of serve as a kind of synopsis of events that logical Books II-VII, books which have taken before the 10th year of the war. Only at one point, should place ly Diomedes's aristeia of Book V, do we see some conclusive fighting; as befits Zeus is content to let events of a true aristeia, ? divinity assists the hero.27 Indeed, the presence of the god at an action simply gives divine sanction to that action, and by as part of the that a significant action has occurred extension, guarantees the action

JoeWilson

159

a hero can accomplish what aristeia demonstrates poetic will. Diomedes's less than the ability to break the lethal stale with a god on his side: nothing mate encapsulated in Books in the two futile single II-VII and symbolized in Book in Book VII) that combats (Paris and Menelaus II,Ajax and Hector is not destined to slay Hector, begin and end the day of battle. But Diomedes asAchilles so not one but two gods.28 content must with he be is, wounding In effect, he serves as a sort of demonstration blast for the poet, a preparation for Achilles.29 Diomedes Iliad, and in the epic Paris; both fight with effect, poetry's strate to his audience rior finds in the lead strangely parallel existences are with both wounded fight by gods; In the Iliad we can see that Diomedes Aeneas. is, in to demon first hero, placed on the Iliadic stage by Homer and Achilles tradition. Both amodel

in which the mortal war for poetic heroism, for his actions by the help and presence of the gods. in their aristeiai must The gods who assist the mortal warriors therefore be as to the the who taken for select war poets themselves, assign metaphors confirmation cerned riors the kleos appropriate in the subsequent to their deeds. Indeed, the same pattern can be dis aristeiai of Hector (who has been inspired, literally, has been and (who himself), inspired by Achilles

Patroclus by Apollo), is assisted by Athena herself. Achilles, who In Book VIII, the poet, having used his first day of battle to telescope the war to date, and having alerted his audience to the possibilities inherent in
the poet-god-hero nexus, opts to change the war from a futile stalemate to

the first stage of the honoring of Achilles. Predictably, Zeus calls the gods into and administers orders that none of them are to interfere in the conference battle
his

on either
are goddess

side?he

himself will

employ
to

force,

if necessary,

to see that

orders No

obeyed: nor my god should attempt but let all

contravene pay attention,

instructions, in order that

I accomplish

[teleuteso] these things as quickly

as possible. Anyone I see wishing to

defy heaven and aid the Trojans or the

Greeks or Iwill will hurl return him to Olympus stricken, Tartarus . . .

into murky

(IliadVlll.7-13) In theory, the will of Zeus, the wholesale slaughter of the Greek troops, should begin today. But we also see how thoroughly the will of Zeus is iden com tified with that of the poet when Zeus relents slightly when Athena so wants has he Zeus he allows the shown to, poet hardly plains: everything

160 College Literature 34.2[Spring 2007]

to appear to change his mind a bit, thereby providing a rationale for amore of the boule Dios. Zeus will allow a bit of inter

accomplishment protracted vention by the goddess:

Take heart, Tritogeneia, my

dear

child.

I do not speak fully what is inmy mind or heart, and Iwish to be kind to you. (I/tWVIII.43-45) The phrase ou nu ti thumo{i} prophroni mutheomai, literally, "I do not now of my purpose," as ever reveals that the will of speak with full forethought Zeus stands too closely allied to the interests of the poet to be merely the bare outline of

construes tradition. Homer the poetic the Plan of Zeus to omens the encouraging that Agamemnon and encompass broadly enough as as well the of interference Athena Poseidon. The receive, and, later, Ajax war must continue and the Greeks must not abandon Troy, or both parts of Zeus's heroes
to naught.

plan,

the general slaughter of men, particularly (the hemitheoi of Book XII), and the honoring

the race of Homeric of Achilles, will come

activated.

In Book VIII, the process by which he will honor Achilles has now been Lest any of the poet's audience miss the point, Homer makes it Zeus to clear when his thunderbolts furi terminate the abundantly employs teia), and drive him from
And now they would

ous attack of Diomedes,

the first poetic the field:

have been forced

hero

(i.e., the first recipient

of an aris

back

to Ilium, penned

in like lambs, if the had not quickly

father of gods and men

realized what was

happening.

Thundering
silvery

terribly he let loose his fearsome

and he struck the earth

thunderbolt,

in front of the horses of Diomedes. Nestor much persuades Diomedes for the son of Tydeus

(UiadVIII. 131-34)

to withdraw, but Hector's taunting proves too to endure, so he wheels his horses again to re three times from Ida," signaling once engage in battle. But Zeus "thunders as to that his time Diomedes and for all poetic hero has ended (VIII. 139-71). next we see him

When

in battle, he is doing nothing more heroic than Thracians. slaughtering sleeping the Trojans, obliges the desperate Agamemnon Zeus, having encouraged the with an omen of his own: an eagle drops a fawn on the altar on which war not in Book VIII, but in ending the lies sacrifice. Zeus's will Greeks both it as long as possible, rather in continuing sides before he unleashes Achilles. allowing Indeed, slaughter although to mount he will up on let the

Wilson Joe

161

Greeks

and Hera to turn the tide of bat regroup, he will not permit Athena tle, sending Iris to the recalcitrant pair to inform them of the punishment, should they attempt to drive the Trojans back to their city: Iwill maim
chariots, and

their swift horses before their

Iwill knock them from the car,

and Iwill
they recover

shatter their chariot. Nor will

from their wounds for ten years,

ifmy Let me

thunderbolt

strikes them. (BadVIII.402-05)

reiterate: Book VIII could, in theory, have been sufficient for the ful of Thetis s request to Zeus?however, fillment Zeus's plan exceeds the to the original request of Achilles and request made by Thetis, and conforms to the tradition of the Cycle: not merely to allow the death of many Greeks, but to create havoc successes he would,
dawn, ox-eyed

Trojan Athena:
At

to come

a poem. Nor to make could Zeus allow the a to naught because of timely intervention by on the next day, make matter far worse for the Greeks: sufficient
queen Hera, you will see,

if you wish,
destroy spearmen. leave off more

the mighty
of For the terrible war until from his army

son of Cronos
of the Achaean will swift on not son the day

Hector the

from

of Peleus

rouses

ships,

that they battle with

by the prows For of the

the deadliest force

ships over the by fallen

Patroclus.

so it is decreed

heaven

VIII. 470-77) [thesphaton]. (iftW Thesphaton, of the plot who confirms that the most literally, "god-spoken," important action so than the will of Achilles, is solely the will of Zeus, far more certainly did not want his best friend killed. XI the will Hector of Zeus from takes a slightly engaging different Agamemnon turn, as he sends during the Achaean

In Book

Iris to discourage king's aristeia:

Go, As swift long

Iris, and as he sees

tell

this

to Hector: shepherd

Agamemnon,

of the host, fighting

slaying rank after

in the forefront,
of men, so

rank

long hold off from engaging him, and

162

34.2 [Spring 2007] CollegeLiterature

rest

let him

the with

of your their

army But

battle after

with he

spears.

has withdrawn

in his chariot, wounded

by

spear or arrow, then Iwill give him

strength to slay, until he comes and the to sun

the well-benched

ships

sets and holy night comes on. (IliadXL 186-94) passage may seem, at first glance, to represent the traditional use of the is gods asfa?on de parler, after all, it is only good sense to avoid a fighter who a on a cuts But the (or advice) warning deeper having particularly good day. warns not to in ruin the level. Zeus the of Hector, effect, poem. poetic plot A premature death, before he has led the Trojans in firing the ships, violates This the promise of Zeus and hence eventually Agamemnon from Coon. hardly lethal wound leaves the plot of the poem.30 the field after receiving Paris wounds Diomedes with a painful but an arrow to

is skewered in the latissimus dorsi by Socus. We also the foot, while Odysseus see in Book XI the beginning of the role of Ajax as the personal foil to the leave the field, of the Achaeans will of Zeus. Gradually, all the great warriors save Ajax, who will battle, often alone, against the onslaught of the Trojans to and their ships.31 Ajax receives no wound: he is rather taken out of the battle directly by Zeus, a peculiar "erasure" of the hero. After all, as Nestor have been wounded," says later, "the best (aristoi) of the Achaeans save his comrades to be among the best of the but Ajax, who (XI.658-59), certainly ought is not the second best after Achilles he is that Achaeans, (11.768-69) given nor in who mention him his Nestor list of those does wounded, subsequent As Nimis have fallen to the Trojans observes, he has been (XI.660-64). Zeus forces here (1987, 53-54).32 only one Achaean, replaced by Eurypylus even to all the and the field withdraw from others, Eurypylus directly; Ajax, Machaon, The
mous

retire only after being wounded.33 identity of interest between Zeus

seems clear. Two test cases will

and the poet

demonstrate

and their metony

the extent of the

existence

identification. Wall of the Achaeans Zeus and the Tradition1:The battle becomes side in increasingly more desperate for the Greek XII, as the Trojans break the wall around the Greek camp. The wall merits and has received much discussion.34 The Greeks build the wall at the The Book tacit acknowledgment that the inconclusive day of battle how futile the has rendered them equal to the Trojans.The poet demonstrates same verses to the and the Greeks has been the day by assigning virtually end of Book VII:

JoeWilson

163

he describes Trojans when held by either side: Then

the collecting

of the dead

and the mass

funerals

they [Trojans and Dardanians]

quickly, the dead, for and either some task, to

prepared
some wood.

themselves, to collect

gather

And
their to The

the Argives
ships, some

on their side hastened from

to collect the dead, some

gather

wood. now striking the fields, climbing

sun was

the heavens from the deeps of the soft-gliding

Ocean. The two sides met face-to-face. Then

itwas a difficult
face of each man.

thing to recognize
But washing away

the
the clotted

blood with water, and shedding hot tears,

they allowed heart, loaded no they them crying; heaped on wagons. so in silence, the corpses on But great sick at Priam

the fire.

And when
went way away

they had burned

to holy Ilium. And

them all, they

in the sick same at heart,

the well-greaved

Achaeans,

heaped
they had

the corpses on the fire. And when

burned them all they went to the

hollow To

ships. (i/wdVII.417-32) now

the equivalence that had developed the Greek and between no on was that Achilles the Homer has field, Trojan longer a a metis" recommend that wall be built Nestor, "weaving (uphaineinjmetiri), to protect from the funeral mound the camp (VII.324-43).35 is The wall forces clearly a poetic construct. The wall gives structure to the day of battle and marks the equivalence between the two sides. Moreover, the existence of the to emphasize wall enables Homer the superiority of the Trojans, backed by Zeus, when they break through the fortifications have become the besieged. as Poseidon the wall Moreover, complains, with the fame of his own in Book XII.The besiegers

accent

competition walls of Troy for Laomedon kleos, just as the poet is the final arbiter of poetry. Kleos

gives a variety of kleos, in he and Apollo built the deed, when But Zeus is the final arbiter of (VII.446-53). cannot be earned; it

164

34.2 [Spring 2007] CollegeLiterature must

answers

be given. And Zeus will

Poseidon's complaint: Earthshaker,

not permit
what are you

the kleos of the wall

to remain. Zeus

Wide-ruling

saying. Another
device, but only

god might
one who

fear this
is weaker than

you by far in strength of hand and might. But your kleos will
as far haired as the dawn. Come. have

extend
the with long

When home

Achaeans

gone

their swift ships to their dear homeland, then break the wall and carry it into
the sand, sea, and so that cover the beach of with

the wall

the Achaeans

may be brought The honored. not defensive The

to naught. wall

(BadVll.455-63)

defensive

of Troy shall be remembered, the kleos of Poseidon wall of the Greeks shall be obliterated. Homer does stands in the way of like static texts, hold no interest for the earns the fre that his real hero, Achilles, he retreats. Defense

like defense; Hector fails when poetry, and stationary fortifications, oral poet. quent about

It is hardly coincidental while Diomedes, all fly Patroclus, and Hector, epithet "swift-footed," in chariots. The hero of the later epic wins the footrace the battlefield XXIII, smind to forewarn Homer's audience that the swiftness

in Book

of

is nearly matched Odysseus by that of his feet. In Book XII, Homer steps outside of his narrative to describe the even to the Trojan War, but tual destruction of the wall at some time posterior own cannot be coin to account Homer's time. The of the positioning prior cidental; it stands almost at the dead middle of the text. The whole passage has been much discussed, but the last part ismost significant for my purposes:
Zeus rained continuously, the wall with in order the salt to sea.

overwhelm

The Earthshaker, carrying the trident in his hands, led the way, and swept
away wooden in the waves beams and the foundations that of the Achaeans

stones

had constructed with

all smooth again and along again

such toil, and made

the covered stream of the

Hellespont,

the beach

JoeWilson

165

with

sand, when

he

had

swept

away

the

wall.

(IliadXII.25-32) of man are rendered

and time

obscured by the processes of weather race in Book XXIII the chariot affords anoth (the turning post for are er instance), unless they the poet chooses to elucidated by the poet.What is destroyed by the nat ignore we forget, or never learn; like the wall, which

The works

ural processes of rain, wind, and earthquake, that which the poets decrees suf fers oblivion. Men, will all be memorable affairs, events, only so long as poets choose to remember them. The poet shows Zeus, the poet's metonym, tak an the active in human of endeavor. part demonstrating ing impermanence Even Schliemann, the will of Zeus: Troy the city was perhaps, was defying what less important than Troy less impressive. the city of poetry, and, as it has worked out, some

Ford has written about the wall, suggesting that Homer here eloquently text. renders a judgment on the impermanence of the written is ulti Writing an to the contents without oral elucidate the sema, poet mately unintelligent cannot match of writing and contexts, and the flimsy new technology the wisdom of the oral poet (192, 152-57). A written text, like the wall, is prey to any mischance, and no match for the collective wisdom of the traditions of oral poetry. 2: The Death of Sarpedon Zeus and the Tradition In Book XII, Homer ale for the hero's life:
Glaucus, with why seats are we

puts
two and

in the mouth

of Sarpedon
all

the famous

ration

honored full cups

above in Lycia,

and meat

and why do all look upon us as gods?

We a possess lovely a great tract of by the Xanthus, must the

orchard, among

and wheat the first

fields. We ranks of

now

stand

Lycians and take our part in the blazing

battle, say, "our so that kings one that of the Lycians us may

rule

are not

without

fame [aklees],who

eat fat sheep

and drink the select, honeyed wine. Their might

the

ismost noble, since they fight among

of the Lycians." Friend, if

foremost

166

34.2 [Spring 2007] CollegeLiterature

we could from and the battle and then I live

escape ageless

forever,

immortal,

myself would nor would

neither fight among the foremost

I send you into the battle for fates lead us to

can give it for escape or avoid,

glory. But the myriad

death, which no mortal either or to

so let us go, to another,

glory ourselves. (Bad XII.310-28)

to gain

for death, the kleos aphthiton of is the compensation die in battle earn. Telamonian Ajax stabs at Sarpedon, shield and driving him back. But "Zeus kept death from his son, Homer instead be killed at the prows of the ships," (XII.402-03). Kleos those who

poetry

that

piercing his that he not reserves the

terms glory of killing Sarpedon for Patroclus, the "ritual substitute," man mar the who best the rationale for the it, of Achilles, expresses killing in Book XII; Tlepolemos, tial ethos in his speech to Glaucus the son of now Ajax to kill had been denied the chance and Heracles, Sarpedon earlier, son same instead will go to the of Menoitius: will be denied the glory, which s is the poem's hero, Patroclus is poetry's substitute. is traditionally considered one of the most mov death of Sarpedon the "heroic code" in his ing scenes in the poem. He has best articulated to embrace the risks of to in his Book and Glaucus XII, willingness speech and of course life and death later guarantees him heroic status, cult worship, ifAchilles The poetry
As

as Nagy

itself.
Patroclus advances towards Sarpedon, Zeus addresses Hera:

My

heart is divided
still him alive, from

in two as I consider, do
snatching the tearful him war up and and place

I save him removing

him in the rich land of Lycia, or do I

slay him now at the hands of the son of

Menoitius? At one

(Bad XVI.435-38) the question are additional that other divinities who see

confronts level, Zeus merely must There favorites confront. spare saves Paris in Book When Aphrodite a goddess

of the poet merely ic tradition, the Iliad may in Book end too soon. Similarly, ifAchilles kills Hector when they first meet too the inter will Zeus aristeia has tolerated the of Achilles end XX, quickly. so he finds ventions of the gods in order to protract the action of the work,

III, or Aeneas a fallen favorite: rather, the maintenance saving or even the poem itself. If Paris falls to Menelaus,

considerations, in BookV, we

however. do not

Wilson Joe

167

of the gods in saving a favorite here and there acceptable. saved again in Book XX, must live to carry on the Trojan Moreover, Aeneas, name. Hence, there must have been a tradition in which Aeneas survived, a to respect. of Iliad tradition that the monumental bound the feels composer the intervention the walls of Troy, or stops Patroclus from storming Similarly, when Apollo to kill Hector, the issue is not one of the gods unfair Athena helps Achilles ly favoring one side or another, but the poet's use of the presence of a god (each amessenger ify the maintenance
the poet operates.

from Zeus

of the poetic

to the Trojans and Greeks, respectively) to rat of within the boundaries which tradition,

For Zeus, however, Zeus faces the situation is not quite so simple. When to save Sarpedon, we see how closely governed by the tradition the decision the poet is.As Hera points out to him, if Zeus decides to rescue Sarpedon,
consequences will abound.

Iwill
in your beware to send

tell you this, and you lay it up

heart. lest his For If you someone own their son send of away Sarpedon the gods home, should the fierce of gods wish

from sons

battle.

are many

season for the gods to to I is simply this. Should read this contend, passage, right way as save to exercise the for his Zeus, poet, metaphor right Sarpedon, any other save turn in other character. Should this poet may any happen, the tradition not which has been threatened by the other rescues of itself, substantially intervene. The mortals and the poem (instead, the tradition has been maintained The tradition itself enhanced), would collapse.36 apparently saves Aeneas, not once but twice. Homer himself to be working understands a tradition upon which he substantially improves, but upon which he within is in no small part dependent. He has no interest in seeing the tradition col itself has been lapse entirely. Hera offers Zeus discussed an alternative to saving his son. It is the alternative, well death of a hero: in the work

fighting around the city of Priam. (IliadXVI.444-49) it will become Should Zeus rescue Sarpedon, open

by Nagy, If he is dear to you, and your heart is grief, allow him to die in

of the glorious

heavy with

the fierce battle at the hands of Patroclus

the son of Menoitius. But when his soul

and his life have left him, send Death and sweet Sleep to bear him until they come

168

34.2 [Spring 2007] CollegeLiterature to the wide

will bury him

land of Lycia. There his kin

with a mound and a stele:

for this is the reward of the dead. (UiadXVI.450-57) As Nagy observes, ship of a cult-hero Sarpedon will now attain the status and receive the wor This in no way precludes, but rather com (1992,122-42). as a status hero of epic, for he has achieved the kleos aph plements, Sarpedon's thiton of death in battle. Sarpedon has, in effect, lived the perfect poetic life, and Zeus/Homer, having rewarded him with poetry already, now guarantees the consequent award of cult. Most heroes who appear in the Iliad can expect cult-hero of a stele status, whether they die at Troy or not. But the memorial alone does not suffice; without the aid of the poet, who gives the warriors
kleos, a stele may not communicate anything.37

Notes
1 For a synopsis of the ancient opinion on Homer's date and provenance, see

Kirk

(1996,13-63) will give a good idea of the depth of the split. Clay (1983, 3) usefully argued that the argument over orality had improp erly overwhelmed matters of interpretation. Pucci (1987,27) outflanks the oralists by
employing deconstructive techniques to assert that, whatever the manner of com

(1985, 2-4). 2A careful reading of Nagy

position, the Odyssey and the Iliad are to be taken as texts. And Ahl and Roisman (1996,12) have reaffirmed the essential position of Clay. Lloyd-Jones makes the best
suggestion poems, of very of all, that "Without treatments value" Unitarians, summary limited great are complicated problems scholarship His of the between (1990, 19). comparison disputes Analysts, is characteristically and the rest, to Passchendaele colorful of the of Homeric a detailed re-examination of the text of the two

Neo-Analysts, and apt.

3 Ford (1992, 3) offers amemorable

Critics, structuralists, and

formulation

of the theoretical objections

would raise against any

that

New

deconstructionists

attempt
19-27), tures

to discover authorial
who lays on any it would that

intent. All
have

those have been outdone

as author the heart a catachetical of Fr. Furniss.

by Nagy
list of

(1996,
stric

discussion

of Homer gladdened

so severe

4
extent ers the

Taplin
to which role that

(1992, 5ff.), performs

the poet maintains putative in will of Homer's the

an admirable
control over in the have them no poetry. his

service by reminding
story, of of although the work. appeal?their he He

us of the
also consid well do does actions

audience the work grant

creation court

to note not

characters

guarantee

that

5 I am intrigued by the possibility

attendant impact of such a

the poet

that literacy never disappeared from Greece

on the Homeric poems. On this, see

and

the

possibility

Ullmann

(1927), Bernai (1990, 1-26), and Ahl and Roisman (1996, 4-8). Powell (1992) has raised excellent points on Homer and his relationship to written Greek.

JoeWilson 6There
for Smyrna 7 As intended

169

is no need
as Homer's

to detail them all, but Iwould

birthplace, sometime around 850

note
B.C.,

that Scott, who

is still a fairly

argues
cogent

and novel argument that is now largely overlooked

Rabel to offer observes, a measure "The of poet's legitimacy

(1921, 3-8).
to Zeus's stories intentions told within is the

reference ambiguous to the in advance

Uiad that conflict with what is said by theMuse-Narrator" (1997, 37). 8 Leaf to Zeus the of of Hector (XXII.209f?), scales that the fate referring weigh
states that "The poet has to acknowledge that there are certain data which he regards

as historical,
Given ded that in the

as things done, with which

the deaths of Zeus's the poet. the characters connection were tradition, and

he himself must
most to moira and

not tamper" (1915, 18).

imbed analogy

the firmest element likely an aisa clearly suggests

between

Zeus

9The matter of kleos apthiton has no doubt been too much discussed, but in the long run, I find Nagy's basic argument, made most famously inNagy 1979 (244-55),
and reiterated often since, most persuasive?kleos apthiton brought by death in battle

is the prize of epic poetry itself. 10 The reading is not impossible: Monro allows that ex as causal (1891,191-92), with the genitive is possible, citing IX.566 and 3.135 and 5.468; Pagliaro (1963,16ff), (1994, syntactically relates ex hou to the boule_dios. I owe this observation toRedfield 272). 11 It is not out of place here to note the work of Bremer
in Homer commentary. are essentially poetic devices, rather

(1987,32-45),
than

that the
or

Gotterapparat philosophical

theological

12This

Nagy
attributes

quarrel between Achilles and Odysseus has been much discussed by (1979, 15-25), and other places. Nagy also observes that Hesiodic poetry
the tale of the destructive wars at Troy and Thebes, both subjects of epic,

to the will of Zeus

epic poetry and the

itself. It seems evident that the will of Zeus

trope by which the epic poets named their

is simply the basis for

own activities.

13 Hesiod, Catalogue of Women, fr.204,, 95-104; for a discussion, see Nagy (1979, For the 219-20); relationship between this fragment and the plan at the beginning of the Kypria, see Scodel (1982, 39fi).
14 For the connection of Dios boule to the tradition of the Kypria, see, in addi

tion to those mentioned

15 On the determination

below, Kullmann
of Homer

(1956,132-33),
to create an original

and Slatkin (1995,118f?).

work within the exist

ing tradition, see Kakridas

16 Scodel errs

(1971, 65-68).
though, when she suggests that Homer "is not

unconscionably,

confirming this [the Cyclic] tradition" (Scodel 1982, 39) in passages like XIV.84-87, inwhich of course Homer is doing exactly that.Authority comes from membership
in a tradition.

17Nimis
the victory and with cile the of

(1987, 90) mentions

with his of honoring realizes

the difficulty of reconciling Achilles's

prayer for both the success and safe return difficult requests. uses the It is indeed figure

prayer for
to recon both

the Trojans intention Zeus's two, unless one

of Patroclus,

that Homer

of Zeus

to access

plans in the Iliad.

170 College Literature 34.2[Spring 2007]

18 For the importance (somewhat overstated) of Thetis's rescue of Zeus, see

Slatkin (1991, especially 53-84). 19As Kirk observes, Achilles is not unduly disturbed by the inevitable conse his of quences request, that is, the death of friends and allies (1985, 96). Zanker sees the passage largely in terms of Achilles' conflict with (1994, 76-77),
Agamemnon, Greek army a reading in general. which ignores the consequences of Achilles's prayer for the

20 Kirk observes
details

the inconsistency
to Zeus'

here and suggests that Thetis

discretion.

has left the

21 As

of "honoring

Achilles"

Achilles,

[1951, 3-4],

Agamemnon Greeks," (XIX.273-74). 22 For Nestor as a (1983, 3), and Dickson (1995, esp. 44 singer, seeMacLeod 91). 23Redfield (1994,139), errs completely when he suggests that the bouleDios is in Book VIII; no Achaean has died "alongside the sterns of their swift completed
XII. is not breached until Book since around the camp the wall ships," are the 24 Redfield "Men Zeus's somewhat relaxed attitude: and cities interprets can a counters in the gods. The but between become game game absorbing, played it is never really worth a quarrel. The gods can always repair their differences by

enjoying the benefit of hindsight, later observes, (and Dodds usefully cautions us against reading this as a polite absolution of and the other Greeks), "Perhaps Zeus wished death upon many of the

allowing the destruction of another ephemeral human thing" (1994, 132). 25 claims that Zeus will punish Lloyd-Jones (1971, 5) notes that Agamemnon
the Trojans that Zeus Greeks ed may for breaking has a genuine want but Zeus does that the moral to truce, role and uses in the Bad; the king's remark, the text would among suggest others, otherwise. and for other to argue The assort

crimes, The to

Zeus

offense. yields human Zeus's

paradox the demands he

for abducting Helen the Trojans punish not to the be appear Trojans punishing that the all-powerful troubles Lloyd-Jones, queen and his daughter, while disappears poet. at

of his basic

any particular of the gods king the same time, on a we realize that

level, decision

affirms

26
with

is a metaphor

principles for the will

of justice, of the

when

Zeus, then, should not be seen as a kind of frustrated Prime Minister

exceptionally recalcitrant cabinet, as he is sometimes portrayed.

dealing

an

See Redfield

(1994,137). 27 For the value of the aid of a god in battle, see usefully Edwards (1987, 137), and Griffin (1980, 144-78). In the long run, Athena and Apollo are both agents of the Will of Zeus. Nagy (1979,142-50) emphasizes the role thatAthena plays as spe
cial antagonist to Hector,

28 Nagy

paralleling

Apollo's

relationship

to Achilles.

(1979, 30-31) discusses the fact that in BookV, Diomedes

twice. The instance at V. 103, when Diomedes is wounded

is called aris
by Pandarus,

tos Achaion

emphasizes the parallel between Diomedes shot by Paris.

29 Achilles Indeed, has Diomedes's ever been, aristeia as the Trojans has, on

and Achilles, who was killed by an arrow

this day at least, made him (VI.98-100). greater than

themselves

acknowledge

Homer

JoeWilson may have included these verses to distinguish his work from the previous epics. Kirk (1990, 168) suggests that Helenus's grimly flattering remarks exceeds what Homer
himself was i.e., making doing, 30 It is that just possible Diomedes the advice the is meant to Achilles. equal to cut the other way. It is general

171

ly taken to be awarning to Hector that he will be killed or at least seriously injured if he engages Agamemnon during the king's aristeia. Another possibility might be and ruin the full honoring of Achilles, considered: Hector might kill Agamemnon
since Achilles twice, Book from first XXIII, a chastened to humiliate is quite prepared Agamemnon in Book in he which XIX, Agamemnon's disregards gifts, a of awarding he under the guise the king when, prize, his prowess in the spear-throw; see the cogent not and once again but in him of

prevents analysis

displaying 31

Postlethwaite

(1995).
recalling that Vico argued that Ajax was not alone when he

It is just worth

defended the ships, but alone with his vassals (1984, 1.559, 4.1033). 32Nimis in general provides a valuable discussion of the relationship of the sim iles to the action in Book XI. 33 Possibly we see here an echo of the story of Ajax 's invulnerability, but as all
our sources for is very this are post-Homeric, concerned and Ajax, over the far from wounded, directly possibility, unafraid of being being as in XV.727 at (repeated

XVI. 102); it seems more

doing something that

likely that this is poetic

wants done. He will

intervention: Zeus
do it again.

is explicitly reminds us

34 Itwill be obvious how much

the wall connects is certainly the more than

the poet

I owe to Ford (1992,147-57)

a collection of stones. Scodel of destruction For doubts

who
(1982,

that fully Zeus

in the Kypria

and the subsequent flooding to the race of heroes. destroy

the wall

about

use 33-53) to the plan of see the wall, Page

defends (1959,315f?), who cites in support Jacoby (1944,37ff). Kirk (1990,276-80) both Nestor's speech in Book VII (although he allows, following Jacoby, that VII.334 35 must be anAttic interpolation) and the wall itself. Hainsworth (1993, 317) makes
the most Uiad out that the remark he points cogent against Thucydides (Page, et al.) when of fiction. is, after all, a work 35 On see Clader to the the equivalence of weaving of poetry, (1976,7 making on metis as a Suzuki the poet's craft, category (1989, 40), possible encompassing 36 with to read Hera's It is just tempting remark that "the as a coded the of "break tradition, way saying, you," with you." not agree gods will other be poets will

8),

see Ford (1992, 35).

other and

unhappy

37 Ford

(1992,144-45)
games of Patroclus. whose marker

remarks upon
That it was, or

the stele that serves as the turning post in

its purpose, if it was since a funeral the Greeks monument. had no even

the way

funeral

stele failed

of knowing

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