Books 4 and 6 shift focus from individual honour disputes (Books 1 & 3) to BROADER questions: What is war actually LIKE? What does it COST? What are warriors fighting FOR? These books juxtapose WAR'S BRUTALITY (battlefield violence) with DOMESTIC LIFE (home, family, love). The contrast is DEVASTATING.
The Central Contrast
Book 4 = War begins in earnest. Mass slaughter. Individual deaths given names and backstories. This is what war LOOKS like.
Book 6 = Hector goes home. Wife, baby son, domestic tenderness. This is what war DESTROYS.
Homer places these books consecutively to make you FEEL the cost. You can't read Hector with Astyanax without thinking about all the fathers who just died in Book 4.
Key Themes in Books 4 & 6
War's brutality vs war's glory: Is warfare heroic or horrifying? Homer shows BOTH
Domestic life and family bonds: What warriors are fighting FOR—and what they'll lose
Xenia (guest-friendship): Bonds that transcend war (Diomedes & Glaucus)
Oaths and their violation: Sacred bonds broken by divine manipulation (Book 4)
Duty vs desire: Hector KNOWS Troy will fall but fights anyway
Fate and human agency: Can heroes change their destiny, or just face it bravely?
Quick Reference: The Four Major Themes
WAR'S BRUTALITY
What it is: The physical and emotional reality of warfare
Book 4 focus: Individual deaths described in graphic detail
Effect: War isn't abstract—it's personal, bloody, traumatic
Key example: Simoisius killed by Ajax—backstory makes death tragic, not glorious
DOMESTIC LIFE
What it is: Home, family, love—what exists outside war
Book 6 focus: Hector with Andromache and baby Astyanax
Effect: Shows what warriors lose when they die
Key example: Hector praying for his son's future—prayer that won't be answered
XENIA (ξενία)
Translation: Guest-friendship, hospitality
Significance: Sacred bond that transcends conflict
Effect: Even enemies can find common ground
Key example: Diomedes and Glaucus discover ancestral friendship, exchange armour instead of fighting
OATHS & FATE
What they are: Sacred promises and unavoidable destiny
Book 4: Oaths broken by divine manipulation (Pandarus shoots Menelaus)
Book 6: Hector accepts his fate (knows Troy will fall)
Effect: Oaths bind mortals; fate binds everyone, even gods
War's Brutality: Glory vs Horror
Book 4 is where Homer stops teasing and shows you what war ACTUALLY looks like. Not glorious single combats between named heroes—MASS SLAUGHTER. Bodies piling up. Blood soaking the earth. Families losing sons, fathers, brothers.
Why Homer Does This
Books 1-3 focused on individual conflicts: Achilles vs Agamemnon, Paris vs Menelaus. Book 4 zooms OUT to show the COLLECTIVE cost. Homer gives us:
• Individual deaths with names and backstories
• Graphic physical descriptions
• Families and homelands mentioned
• The sheer NUMBER of casualties
This makes war REAL, not abstract. Every death is someone's loss.
The armies advanced and met in a single space with a clash of shields, spears and bronze-armoured warriors. The bossed shields collided and a great roar went up – the screams of the dying, the jeers of the victors – and the earth ran with blood.
— Book 4, lines 446-451
Breaking Down the Battle Description
"clash of shields, spears and bronze-armoured warriors": SOUND first—war assaults the senses
"bossed shields collided": Physical impact—bodies HITTING each other
"great roar went up": Collective noise—not individual voices, but mass chaos
"screams of the dying": Death isn't quiet or dignified
"jeers of the victors": Winners mock losers—war brings out cruelty
"the earth ran with blood": SO MUCH death that blood becomes a river
Individualised Deaths: Making It Personal
Homer could just say "many men died." Instead, he gives us SPECIFIC deaths with names, backstories, and brutal physical detail. This makes each death MATTER.
Then Ajax son of Telamon hit Anthemion's son Simoisius, an unmarried young man at the prime of his youth. His mother bore him by the banks of the River Simois when she was returning from Mount Ida where her father and mother had taken her to see to their sheep. So they called him Simoisius. His life was too short to repay his parents for their loving care, for it ended when he met the spear of great-hearted Ajax.
— Book 4, lines 473-479
Why Simoisius's Death Matters
"unmarried young man at the prime of his youth" = future STOLEN
"His mother bore him by the banks of the River Simois" = connection to homeland
"her father and mother had taken her to see to their sheep" = NORMAL LIFE before war
"His life was too short to repay his parents" = parents lose their investment, their future
"for their loving care" = emphasises the LOVE that's destroyed
"great-hearted Ajax" = killer praised even while victim mourned—war's complexity
💡 The Pattern: Every Death Is Someone's Son
Homer repeatedly mentions fathers, mothers, wives, children. Simoisius's parents named him after the river where he was born. That's LOVE—giving your child a name that connects him to home. And now he's dead in the dust, far from that river. War destroys these connections.
The Physical Horror of Death
Homer doesn't shy away from GRAPHIC violence. He describes exactly how weapons pierce flesh, which bones break, where blood flows. This isn't gratuitous—it's HONEST.
Antilochus was the first to kill his man, brave Echepolus, who was fighting in full armour in the Trojan front ranks. Antilochus hit him on the ridge of his plumed helmet. The bronze spear hit Echepolus' forehead and pierced right through the bone. Darkness engulfed his eyes and he crashed, like a tower, in the thick of the action.
— Book 4, lines 457-462
The Anatomy of a Death Scene
Target specified: "ridge of his plumed helmet" = precision, not random
Impact described: "pierced right through the bone" = graphic, visceral
Effect on victim: "Darkness engulfed his eyes" = experiencing death from his perspective
Simile: "crashed, like a tower" = massive, dramatic fall
Context: "in the thick of the action" = happens mid-battle, not one-on-one
Another Example: Odysseus Kills Democoön
"Odysseus, infuriated by his companion's death, hit him with his spear on the temple, and the bronze tip passed right through and came out the other side. Darkness engulfed Democoön's eyes; he thudded to the ground, and his armour clattered about him." (Book 4, lines 501-504)
Notice: "infuriated by his companion's death"—Odysseus kills from RAGE, not glory-seeking. "Passed right through and came out the other side"—graphic detail. "Armour clattered"—even in death, we hear the SOUND. War is sensory overload.
The Similes: Comparing War to Nature
Homer uses extended similes to compare battle to natural forces. This serves TWO purposes: makes the abstract concrete, and shows war as UNSTOPPABLE as nature itself.
As two mountain rivers in winter, fed by their great springs higher up, meet in full spate in some deep ravine, while far off in the mountains a shepherd hears the thunder, such were the yelling and turmoil as the two armies came to grips.
— Book 4, lines 452-456
What the Simile Does
Makes battle scale COMPREHENSIBLE (like rivers meeting)
Emphasises FORCE and inevitability
Distant shepherd = we observe from outside
Thunder = sound carries—violence echoes
Winter floods = seasonal, natural, unstoppable
The Deeper Meaning
War is a NATURAL FORCE—not moral, just destructive
Individual deaths = drops in the flood
Shepherd hears but can't stop it
Humans are powerless against war's momentum
Creates emotional distance while showing scale
The Book 4 Ending: No Winners
Indeed, this was no idle skirmish. Anyone arriving fresh in the middle of this battle uninjured by throw or thrust of a sharp spear – he would have needed Athene to shield him from the hail of missiles and lead him by the hand – would have soon found that out. Trojans and Greeks that day lay there in their multitudes, stretched out alongside each other, face down in the dust.
— Book 4, lines 539-544
Homer's Verdict on War
"Stretched out alongside each other, face down in the dust"—Trojans and Greeks EQUAL in death. No one is winning. War isn't glorious conquest—it's MUTUAL DESTRUCTION. The counter-factual ("Anyone arriving fresh... would have needed Athene") emphasises impossibility of survival. Even divine protection would barely be enough.
⚠️ The Brutal Truth
Book 4 ends with bodies "in their multitudes" lying in dust. This is Homer's answer to "Is war glorious?" NO. It's mass death. Both sides lose sons, brothers, fathers. The earth runs with blood. That's the reality beneath the heroic rhetoric.
Domestic Life: What War Destroys
After Book 4's slaughter, Book 6 takes us INSIDE Troy's walls. We see Hector with his mother, with Paris and Helen, and—most importantly—with his wife Andromache and baby son Astyanax. Homer is showing us what warriors are fighting FOR. And what they'll LOSE.
The Structural Purpose
Homer places the domestic scene BETWEEN battle scenes. Book 4 = war. Book 6 = home. Book 7+ = back to war. The domestic life is LITERALLY SURROUNDED by violence. This isn't accidental—it's Homer showing that war ENCROACHES on everything. There's no safe space.
Why This Scene Matters
Without Book 6, Hector is just another warrior. WITH Book 6, he's a father, husband, son. When he dies in Book 22, we don't just lose a warrior—we lose EVERYTHING we saw in Book 6: Andromache's husband, Astyanax's father, the man who laughed when his baby cried at his helmet.
This is Homer's genius: he makes you CARE by showing you what's at stake BEFORE taking it away.
Family Bonds: Andromache's Plea
'Your own great strength will be your undoing. Have you no pity for your infant son or for your unhappy wife, who will soon be your widow? It will not be long before the Greeks kill you when they attack you all together. And when I lose you, it would be better for me to sink into the earth. I shall have no comfort left when you have met your doom—nothing but grief.'
— Andromache, Book 6, lines 407-413
Andromache's Argument
"Your own great strength will be your undoing": His VIRTUE (courage) will KILL him
"Have you no pity for your infant son": Appeal to paternal love—think of the BABY
"your unhappy wife, who will soon be your widow": She KNOWS he'll die—no false hope
"better for me to sink into the earth": His death = her death (metaphorically)
"I shall have no comfort left": He is EVERYTHING to her
'I have neither father nor lady mother now. My father was killed by the great Achilles when he sacked our lovely town, Thebe of the High Gates... As for my seven brothers, who were all at home, they all went down to Hades' House in one day. The swift-footed great Achilles killed them all.'
— Andromache, Book 6, lines 414-423
Andromache Has Lost EVERYONE
Father: killed by Achilles
Seven brothers: ALL killed by Achilles IN ONE DAY
Mother: died later (also connected to war's aftermath)
Hector is literally the ONLY family she has left
When Hector dies (to Achilles!), she loses everything AGAIN
💡 The Weight of This Information
Andromache has ALREADY experienced what Book 4 showed us: the mass slaughter of families. She's not being dramatic when she says losing Hector would be unbearable—she's lost EVERYONE ELSE. Hector is her last connection to family, love, safety. And he's going back to battle anyway.
The Helmet Scene: Father and Son
With this he stretched out his arms to take his boy. But the child shrank back crying into the bosom of his nurse, frightened at the sight of his father, terrified by the bronze and the horsehair plume that he saw nodding menacingly from the top of his helmet.
— Book 6, lines 466-470
The Symbolism
The baby doesn't recognise his father IN ARMOUR. To Astyanax, Hector the warrior is a MONSTER, not a parent. The helmet—symbol of Hector's heroic identity—is what SEPARATES him from his son. War transforms men into something their own families don't recognise.
His father and lady mother laughed aloud, and at once glorious Hector took the helmet off his head and laid it on the ground, shining as it was. Then he kissed his dear son and danced him in his arms.
— Book 6, lines 471-474
The Gesture's Meaning
"laughed aloud": Brief moment of NORMALCY—just parents amused by their baby
"took the helmet off": Removes his warrior identity to be a FATHER
"laid it on the ground": War temporarily set aside—but still THERE, waiting
"shining as it was": The helmet is beautiful, deadly—can't ignore it
"kissed his dear son and danced him": Pure tenderness—this is LOVE
⚠️ The Temporary Nature of This Moment
Hector takes OFF the helmet—but he'll put it back ON. This moment of domestic peace is TEMPORARY. The helmet on the ground is a visual reminder: war is always there, waiting. Soon Hector will pick it up and return to battle, leaving Andromache and Astyanax forever.
Hector's Prayer: The Tragic Irony
'Zeus and you other gods, grant that this boy of mine may be, like me, pre-eminent in Troy; as strong and brave as I; a mighty ruler of Ilium. May people say, when he comes back from battle, "Here is a better man than his father." Let him kill his enemy and bring home the bloodstained armour, and give his mother joy.'
— Hector, Book 6, lines 476-481
Why Every Line Is Heartbreaking
"pre-eminent in Troy" → Troy will be DESTROYED—no Troy for him to rule
"as strong and brave as I" → Hector will be DEAD before Astyanax grows up
"a mighty ruler of Ilium" → Astyanax will be MURDERED to prevent exactly this
"when he comes back from battle" → He'll NEVER fight—he'll die as a child
"Let him kill his enemy" → His enemies will kill HIM instead
"give his mother joy" → His mother will watch him die
💡 Dramatic Irony at Its Cruelest
Homer's audience KNOWS what happens to Astyanax: after Troy falls, the Greeks throw him from the city walls to prevent him growing up to avenge his father. Every hope in Hector's prayer is DOOMED. Homer gives us a father's natural wishes for his son, knowing NONE will come true. This is tragedy perfected.
The Farewell: "Laughing Through Her Tears"
With that he laid the child in his dear wife's arms; and she took him to her fragrant breast, laughing through her tears. Her husband was moved to pity at the sight. He stroked her with his hand and said: 'My dear, I beg you not to be too distressed. No one is going to send me down to Hades before my proper time. But Fate is a thing that no man born of woman, coward or hero, can escape.'
— Book 6, lines 482-489
The Most Famous Phrase in the Iliad
"Laughing through her tears"—Andromache holds her baby, laughing at the helmet moment but crying because she knows this is goodbye. The juxtaposition of laughter and tears captures the ENTIRETY of human experience: joy and sorrow inseparable. This is what war destroys—not just lives, but moments like THIS.
Hector's Final Words to Her
"No one is going to send me down to Hades before my proper time": Trying to comfort her (but it's FALSE—he'll die soon)
"But Fate is a thing that no man... can escape": Immediately undercuts his own reassurance—admits we ALL die
"Go home now, and attend to your own work, the loom and the spindle": Invoking gender roles to END the conversation
"War is men's business": Creating distance so he CAN leave
Glorious Hector picked up his helmet with its horsehair plume; and his wife went home, turning back again and again and letting the tears fall thick and fast.
— Book 6, lines 494-496
⚠️ The Image That Haunts
"Turning back again and again"—Andromache can't stop looking. She KNOWS she'll never see him alive again. The repetition emphasises her desperate need to hold onto this moment. "Tears fall thick and fast"—not quiet grief, but overwhelming sorrow. This is the cost of war: not just death, but THIS—wives watching husbands leave forever.
Xenia: Guest-Friendship Transcends War
Xenia (ξενία) = guest-friendship, the sacred bond between host and guest. In Greek culture, this relationship was PROTECTED BY ZEUS HIMSELF. Violating xenia was one of the worst sins possible. And xenia was HEREDITARY—if your grandfather hosted someone, you owe that person's descendants hospitality forever.
Why Xenia Matters in War
Greeks and Trojans are ENEMIES. They're supposed to kill each other. But xenia creates bonds that OVERRIDE war alliances. Book 6 shows this through Diomedes and Glaucus: two warriors who meet as opponents but discover their grandfathers were guest-friends. Result? They DON'T fight.
This demonstrates that even in war, there are VALUES that transcend conflict. Xenia is more important than victory.
Diomedes and Glaucus: The Discovery
'Great-hearted son of Tydeus, why do you ask about my ancestry? The generations of men are like the leaves of the forest. The wind scatters the old leaves on the ground, but the living tree burgeons and puts out new ones when the spring comes round. So it is with men: one generation grows while another dies.'
— Glaucus, Book 6, lines 145-149
The Leaves Simile
Glaucus begins with philosophy: we're all temporary, like leaves. Why does lineage matter when we're all going to die anyway? But then he DOES tell his lineage (because it DOES matter), and this saves both their lives. The tension between "we're all the same in death" and "family connections matter" is never fully resolved—both are true.
'So you are my hereditary guest-friend! My grandfather Oeneus once entertained the noble Bellerophon in his house for twenty days, and they exchanged beautiful gifts... Let us avoid each other's spears, even in the thick of battle.'
— Diomedes, Book 6, lines 215-226
The Xenia Bond in Action
"my hereditary guest-friend" = debt passed down through generations
"twenty days" = length of hospitality shows depth of bond
"Let us avoid each other's spears" = xenia OVERRIDES military duty
"even in the thick of battle" = this promise holds even when surrounded by war
They Exchange Armour
To seal their renewed guest-friendship, Diomedes and Glaucus exchange armour—just as their grandfathers exchanged gifts. "Zeus took away Glaucus's wits, for he exchanged gold armour for bronze, the worth of a hundred oxen for the worth of nine" (lines 234-236). Glaucus gets massively ripped off, but he doesn't care—xenia matters MORE than material value.
Xenia vs War: The Moral Hierarchy
The Diomedes-Glaucus scene establishes a crucial principle: SOME VALUES TRANSCEND CONFLICT. Even enemies can find common ground through shared cultural bonds.
What Xenia Demonstrates
Family honour extends across generations
Sacred bonds can't be broken even by war
Hospitality creates lasting obligations
Personal relationships matter more than politics
There are rules even warriors must follow
The Contrast with Paris
Paris VIOLATED xenia by stealing Helen
He was Menelaus's GUEST when he took her
This is why Greeks are so united against him
Xenia violation = unforgivable sin
Diomedes/Glaucus show xenia WORKING properly
Xenia Across the Iliad
Book 3: Paris's xenia violation is the CAUSE of the war—he betrayed Menelaus's hospitality
Book 6: Diomedes and Glaucus honour xenia properly—refuse to fight each other
Book 24: Priam supplicates Achilles as a guest—invokes xenia to reclaim Hector's body
The epic is framed by xenia violation (Paris) and xenia restoration (Priam-Achilles)
Oaths: Sacred Bonds Broken by Gods
Book 4 centres on OATH-BREAKING. The Greeks and Trojans swore sacred oaths (sealed with wine, blood, and divine witnesses) that whoever won the duel between Paris and Menelaus would take Helen and the war would END. Then Athene manipulates Pandarus into breaking that oath. Divine intervention RUINS human agreements.
Why Oaths Matter
Oaths were the FOUNDATION of Greek society. No written contracts—just sworn promises witnessed by gods. Breaking an oath was inviting divine punishment. Zeus himself punishes oath-breakers.
But Book 4 shows: what happens when GODS THEMSELVES orchestrate oath-breaking? Who's responsible—the mortal who shoots (Pandarus) or the goddess who manipulates (Athene)?
'Off with you immediately to the Trojan and Greek battle front, and try to arrange for the Trojans to be the first to break the oaths made with the proud Greeks.'
— Zeus to Athene, Book 4, lines 70-72
Zeus's Orders
"try to arrange": Not "command Pandarus"—manipulate him into CHOOSING to break oath
"for the Trojans to be the first": Zeus wants Trojans to LOOK guilty
"break the oaths made with the proud Greeks": Acknowledging these are SACRED oaths
Zeus KNOWS this is wrong but does it anyway—divine politics > mortal morality
Athene Manipulates Pandarus
'Pandarus, shrewd son of Lycaon, you should do what I say. If you could bring yourself to shoot a flying arrow at Menelaus, you would cover yourself in glory and put every Trojan in your debt, lord Paris most of all.'
— Athene (disguised), Book 4, lines 93-96
Athene's Manipulation Techniques
Disguises as Laodocus (Trojan warrior Pandarus trusts)
Appeals to GLORY ("cover yourself in glory")
Appeals to GRATITUDE ("put every Trojan in your debt")
Promises REWARDS ("Paris most of all" will owe you)
NEVER mentions he'll be breaking sacred oaths
Makes oath-breaking sound like SMART TACTICS
💡 Who Bears Responsibility?
Pandarus makes the CHOICE to shoot. He's not mind-controlled. But he's been DECEIVED by a goddess in disguise and tempted with glory. Is he guilty? The Greeks will blame ALL Trojans. But WE know Athene (acting on Zeus's orders) orchestrated everything. Homer leaves this morally ambiguous—both divine and human agency matter.
Agamemnon's Prophecy: Oath-Breakers Will Pay
'Olympian Zeus may postpone the penalty, but he exacts it, in full, in the end, and oath-breakers pay a heavy price with their own lives and their wives' and children's too. But deep in my heart I know well the day is coming when sacred Ilium will be destroyed, together with the people of Priam and Priam himself of the good ash spear.'
— Agamemnon, Book 4, lines 160-165
Dramatic Irony
Agamemnon is RIGHT—Troy will fall, oath-breakers will pay. But he doesn't know ZEUS HIMSELF set up the oath-breaking! The gods don't just punish oath-breakers—they CREATE oath-breaking to justify their plans. This is the tragedy: mortals are punished for crimes gods orchestrated.
Fate in Book 6: Hector's Acceptance
While Book 4 deals with OATHS (human promises), Book 6 deals with FATE (divine/cosmic inevitability). Hector explicitly acknowledges Troy's doom but fights anyway.
'I know this well in my heart and in my soul: the day will come when sacred Ilium will be destroyed, and Priam, and the people of Priam of the good ash spear.'
— Hector, Book 6, lines 447-449
What Hector Knows
"I know this well": Not speculation—CERTAINTY
"in my heart and in my soul": Deep, fundamental knowledge
"the day will come": Inevitable, not preventable
"sacred Ilium will be destroyed": Even "sacred" cities fall
"Priam, and the people of Priam": Everyone—king, citizens, warriors—all doomed
Why Hector Fights Despite Knowing
Duty: "I cannot hide like a coward" (line 442)
Social shame: "I could never face the Trojans" (line 441)
Identity: "I have trained myself always to be brave" (line 444)
Family honour: "Winning glory for my father and myself" (line 446)
Not fighting = worse than dying
The Tragic Nature of This
He's not deluded—he KNOWS the truth
He fights for a LOST cause consciously
His courage is MORE impressive because futile
This is pure tragic heroism
Fate can't be changed, only faced bravely
⚠️ Fate vs Free Will
Hector KNOWS his fate but CHOOSES his actions. He can't change the outcome (Troy will fall), but he CAN choose HOW he faces it. This is the heroic code's answer to inevitability: you may not control your fate, but you control your response to it. Die bravely or live as a coward—that's the only real choice.
How the Themes Connect in Books 4 & 6
Like Books 1 & 3, these themes don't exist in isolation. They INTERACT, creating the tragic complexity that makes the Iliad so powerful.
The Central Pattern
1. War's brutality (Book 4) shows WHAT heroes do 2. Domestic life (Book 6) shows WHAT they're fighting for 3. Xenia (Book 6) shows values that TRANSCEND war 4. Oaths broken (Book 4) show divine manipulation RUINS human solutions 5. Fate accepted (Book 6) shows heroes KNOW they're doomed but fight anyway
Together: War destroys what matters most, even when warriors know it's futile.
War's Brutality ↔ Domestic Life: The Core Contrast
This is Homer's STRUCTURAL GENIUS: placing brutal warfare (Book 4) directly before domestic tenderness (Book 6). The contrast makes BOTH more powerful.
Book 4 Shows
Simoisius killed—his parents named him after the river
"Life too short to repay parents for loving care"
Multiple deaths with family backstories
Bodies "stretched out alongside each other, face down in dust"
War as mass destruction of families
Book 6 Shows
Astyanax—Hector's son, future "Lord of the City"
Hector prays for son to grow strong, rule Troy
Andromache already lost entire family to war
Father holding baby, laughing at helmet
What war destroys when warriors die
💡 The Devastating Effect
After Book 4's mass slaughter, we KNOW what happens to families when warriors die. Then Book 6 shows us Hector's family—and we know THEY'RE NEXT. Simoisius's parents couldn't "repay him for their loving care" because he died young. Hector prays for his son's future. Both are DOOMED. The juxtaposition makes the tragedy unbearable.
'Yet it is not so much the thought of the Trojans' anguish that disturbs me, nor even of Hecuba herself or of King Priam, or of my brothers... No, it is your suffering that troubles me most, when one of the bronze-clad Greeks leads you off in tears and robs you of your freedom.'
— Hector to Andromache, Book 6, lines 450-455
What Hector Fears Most
Not his own death. Not Troy's fall. Not his family's deaths. But ANDROMACHE'S SLAVERY. He imagines her future: "toiling for some other woman at the loom, or carrying water from a foreign well, a helpless drudge with no will of your own" (lines 456-459).
This is what Book 4's warfare CREATES: widows enslaved, children orphaned, families destroyed. The domestic scene shows us WHAT'S AT STAKE in those battlefield deaths.
Xenia vs Oath-Breaking: Two Moral Systems
Book 4 shows oaths BROKEN by divine manipulation. Book 6 shows xenia HONOURED despite war. Both are sacred bonds, but one survives while the other is destroyed.
OATH-BREAKING (Book 4)
What happened: Sacred truce broken when Pandarus shoots Menelaus
Why it happened: Divine manipulation (Athene deceives Pandarus)
Result: War continues, thousands die
Theme: Even sacred bonds can't survive divine politics
XENIA HONOURED (Book 6)
What happened: Diomedes and Glaucus discover ancestral friendship, refuse to fight
Why it happened: Human choice to honour tradition
Result: Both survive, exchange gifts peacefully
Theme: Some values can transcend even war
The Difference
Oaths in Book 4 involve EVERYONE (armies, leaders, gods as witnesses)—too many players, too much at stake, gods interfere. Xenia in Book 6 is PERSONAL (just Diomedes and Glaucus)—intimate, individual choice, gods don't intervene. Homer suggests: personal bonds can survive where collective agreements fail.
But Remember Paris
Paris VIOLATED personal xenia (guest in Menelaus's house)
This violation STARTED the entire war
So even personal xenia can be broken—but it's treated as UNFORGIVABLE
Diomedes/Glaucus show xenia working as it SHOULD
Paris shows what happens when it's violated: ten years of war
Fate Accepted ↔ Futile Heroism
Hector KNOWS Troy will fall (fate), but fights anyway (heroism). This creates the Iliad's TRAGIC CORE: courage in service of a lost cause.
The Tragic Progression
Book 4: War's brutality shown—this is what fighting COSTS
Book 6: Hector with family—this is what HE will lose
Book 6: Hector admits Troy will fall—he KNOWS it's futile
Book 6: Hector returns to battle anyway—duty over survival
Book 22 (later): Hector dies exactly as he predicted
Result: His courage doesn't SAVE anything—but it defines him as hero
'All that, my dear, is surely my concern. But if I hid myself like a coward and stayed out of the battle, I could never face the Trojans and the Trojan ladies in their trailing gowns. Besides, it would go against the grain, for I have trained myself always to be brave and to fight in the front line, winning glory for my father and myself.'
— Hector, Book 6, lines 440-446
⚠️ The Question Homer Asks
Is Hector's heroism ADMIRABLE (facing fate bravely) or WASTEFUL (dying for nothing)? Homer doesn't answer. He shows you BOTH: the nobility of Hector's courage AND the futility of fighting for Troy. The audience must decide: is it better to die honourably for a lost cause, or live "shamefully" and survive?
💡 Connecting to Book 4's Slaughter
Every warrior in Book 4 who dies—Simoisius, Echepolus, Democoön—they ALL made Hector's choice: fight despite the possibility of death. Some chose glory (like Hector), others had no choice (conscripted). But ALL end up "face down in the dust." Book 6 makes us sympathise with ONE warrior (Hector) so we understand ALL the deaths in Book 4. They weren't just bodies—they were fathers, sons, husbands.
"Homer's structural placement of Book 6's domestic scene directly after Book 4's battlefield slaughter creates devastating dramatic irony. Book 4 shows war's brutality through individualised deaths like Simoisius, whose 'life was too short to repay his parents for their loving care' (4.478-479). This emphasis on parental loss sets up Book 6's emotional core: Hector holding his infant son Astyanax while praying for his future. The audience knows—as Hector himself knows ('the day will come when sacred Ilium will be destroyed', 6.447-449)—that this prayer will never be answered. Hector's acceptance of fate ('Fate is a thing that no man born of woman, coward or hero, can escape', 6.488-489) paradoxically drives him to return to battle, creating the tragic cycle: he fights BECAUSE he knows death is inevitable, not despite it. The contrast between Book 4's mass slaughter and Book 6's intimate domesticity demonstrates Homer's central argument: war destroys precisely what makes life worth living. When Andromache takes Astyanax 'to her fragrant breast, laughing through her tears' (6.484), Homer captures the simultaneity of joy and impending loss that defines the heroic experience."
Why This Approach Works
✓ Addresses multiple themes simultaneously (war's brutality, domestic life, fate) ✓ Shows STRUCTURAL awareness (why Homer places books consecutively) ✓ Uses specific evidence with line references ✓ Explains dramatic irony and tragic patterns ✓ Connects individual moments to broader meanings ✓ Demonstrates sophisticated understanding of Homer's technique
Key Takeaways
What You Must Know About Books 4 & 6 Themes
War's brutality: Book 4 shows graphic violence—individual deaths with backstories make war PERSONAL, not abstract
Domestic life: Book 6 shows what warriors fight FOR (and what they'll LOSE)—family, love, normalcy
Xenia: Sacred guest-friendship can transcend war (Diomedes/Glaucus) but its violation starts wars (Paris)
Oaths broken: Divine manipulation ruins human agreements—even sacred vows mean nothing when gods interfere
Fate accepted: Hector KNOWS Troy will fall but fights anyway—heroism defined by facing inevitable doom bravely
The tragic cycle: War destroys domestic life → heroes know it's futile → but duty/honour compels them to fight anyway
The Ultimate Tragedy of Books 4 & 6
Book 4 shows you WAR: brutal, bloody, deadly. Bodies piling up. Families destroyed. Book 6 shows you HOME: tender, loving, precious. Everything worth protecting. Then Book 6's ending makes clear: the home WON'T be protected. Hector returns to war knowing Troy will fall. His baby son will be murdered. His wife will be enslaved. But he goes anyway because NOT going would destroy who he is. This is the Iliad's tragedy: the heroic code REQUIRES men to destroy what they love most. Courage and love are incompatible when fate is fixed.
Connecting to Books 1 & 3
Books 1 & 3 focus on: Individual honour disputes (Achilles/Agamemnon, Paris/Menelaus) Books 4 & 6 shift to: Collective experience (mass warfare) and personal cost (families destroyed)
Books 1 & 3 ask: What happens when timē is violated? Books 4 & 6 ask: What does war actually COST? What are we destroying?
Together they establish: War starts from honour disputes but results in mass destruction of everything warriors value. The heroic code creates the conditions for its own tragic failure.