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The wounds in Iliad 13–16*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

K. B. Saunders
K. B. Saunders
Affiliation:
Blackheath, London, ksaunders@btinternet.com
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Extract

The wounds inflicted by Homer's warriors fascinate readers, since they are vividly described and often curious or even grotesque. Commentators have struggled to explain some of them since commentaries began: some of the explanations are more curious than the wounds. Not surprisingly, the commentaries have not usually been graced by a high standard of anatomical or, especially, physiological background knowledge, and are often misleading in these respects. When such knowledge is applied, some wounds which have appeared problematic become realistic, but some which have been accepted as straightforward become problematic.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , December 1999 , pp. 345 - 363
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1999

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References

1 Kirk, G. S. (General Editor), The Iliad: A Commentary (Cambridge: Books 1–4 G. S. Kirk, 1985; Books 5–8 G. S. Kirk, 1990; Books 13–16 R. Janko, 1992).Google Scholar

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8 I know of no scholarly consideration of the transmission of miraculous, as opposed to heroic but realistic events, but I am not confident that I have searched in appropriate places. R. Wiseman and P. Lamont collected forty-eight eye-witness accounts of the Indian rope trick, and searched for a correlation between the recorded impression of the trick, and the time lapsed between the event and the recording of it. They found that accounts became more elaborate with the passing of time. This may have some relevance (‘Unravelling the Indian rope trick’, Nature 383 [1996], 212–13).

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11 LSJ II. In Iliadic fighting, Homer is precise. If the wound is μέση δ’ υ γαστέρι it involves the θώρηξ, on five of six occurrences. If it is υειαíρη δ’ υ γαστρí, at the base of the belly, it involves the ζωστ⋯ρ, on three of four occasions. If, uniquely, it is παρ’ ⋯μøαλóυ no armour is cited. Thus Homer sees the θωρ⋯ξ as protecting the upper belly and the ζωστ⋯ρ the lower belly below the navel, the hypogastrium of Figure 1. Only once in the Iliad does γαστ⋯ρ refer to hunger (19.225), appropriately in a speech by Odysseus, for in the Odyssey the γαστ⋯ρ is primarily the seat of hunger and greed: οὐλομέυη, ἂυαλτος, στυγερ⋯ (thirteen occurrences). Three times it refers to the actual viscus, but to the paunches of goats, prepared, ironically, for feasting on, and once to the shaggy belly of the ram to which Odysseus clings in his escape from Polyphemus.

12 An alternative possibility is that the corslet does not protect against the spear because the spear hits the belly below its lower border. ảρκέω is found eight times in the Iliad, twice in the Odyssey. On the four occasions (other than the pair considered here) where the protection of armour against a weapon is involved (II. 13.440, 15.529, 15.534, 20.289) the meaning is that the armour is struck, but does not withstand the blow. Thus in 13.440, the bronze Χιτώυ is broken by the spear. The alternative is then unlikely.

13 The standard use of ảøὐσσω refers to the transfer of wine from wineskin to jar, from jar to mixing bowl, or from bowl to cup (five out of nine in the Iliad, seven out of ten in the Odyssey). It clearly means draw off with controlled flow, in the sense of ‘pour’, hardly ‘gush’, certainly not ‘spurt’. Twice in the Odyssey there is a parallel use in ‘drawing water’. The other five occurrences are metaphorical. In II. 1.171 it means ‘draw full draughts of wealth’. In Od. 7.286 Odysseus ‘poured leaves over himself’ to keep warm when sleeping rough, striking onomatopoeia. The final three refer, as here, to the ‘bronze spear drawing off the guts’. Since the guts should ‘pour out’, it is far more appropriate to a slashing wound with a sword. In a notorious wound at 20.470 we find an abdominal gash through which the liver slips out—and the wound is made by a øάσγαυου. At 4.526 Χὐυτο Χαμαì Χολάδες —but the wound is made by a spear.

14 In a Bronze Age assassination in a book by a different author, we read of the death of Eglon king of Moab, when ‘Ehud put forth his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly; and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the blade out of the belly; and the dirt came out’ (Judges 3, Authorized Version). But not the intestines.

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17 Fenik (n. 7), 133.

18 Thompson, A. R., ‘Homer as a surgical anatomist’, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 45 (1952), 765–7.Google ScholarPubMed

19 Bailey, H. and Love, McN., A Short Practice of Surgery, 11th edn (London, 1959), fig. 1326, p. 1009.Google Scholar

20 The figure is omitted in the most recent edition because the results of magnetic resonance scans in similar patients do not bear out the original hypothesis. Professor B. A. Bell, St George's Hospital Medical School, personal communication.

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24 Figures based on Perseus 2.0. There are only nineteen instances of the use of πíπτω referring to persons, but not implying death. Of these, eleven form a special case ‘falling into ships’, at least some of which are probably μπíπτω with tmesis. Three cases refer to gods, who cannot die, two are in simile, and three in metaphor.

25 See under (3) on p. 345 above.

26 I am indebted to Professor David West for this suggestion.

27 Thompson (n. 18). W has read this reference. Other commentators mention it but seem not to have read it, preferring to quote W. as having done so.

28 Grmek, M. D., Diseases in the Ancient Greek World, trans. M., Muellner and L., Muellner (Baltimore and London, 1989), 32.Google Scholar

29 Common sense tells us that the sun goes round the earth, which is flat. It routinely misleads us in science.

30 LSJ ἂπειμι 2 occurs eight times in the Iliad, always as the present participle. Of six occurrences in combat, one definitely refers to departure with the back turned (13.650, where Harpalion is hit in the buttock by Meriones) and four definitely to backing away (13.516, 13.567, 14.409, and 14.461).

31 Fenik (n. 7), 45.

32 In 13.423 Hypsenor is carried off βαρέα στευάΧουτα. J. says this is a ‘slip of the poet’ because of ‘Idomeneus’ retort that he has slain three men in exchange for one (447); moreover γαὐυατ’ ἒλυσε always denotes killing’. In this episode Hector is undoubtedly alive and there is no reason why he should not be described as βαρέα στευάΧουτα.

33 In the Iliad, ảυαπυέω is normally active in voice and means literally ‘take breath’ or more metaphorically ‘get respite from', e.g. πóυοιο or κακοτητος (ten of eleven occurrences). ảμπυὐυθη is unique, and passive, and perhaps close to the middle ἒμπυuτο, twice in the Odyssey, both times with καì ς øρέυα θυμɂς ảγέρθη. The first of these refers to Odysseus’ recovery, when cast up on the beach, from the state of being ἂπυευστος καì ἂυαυδος, ‘without breath or speech’ but not unconscious (5.458). The second refers to the recovery of Laertes (24.349) who is overcome by the revelation that the stranger is his son. Odysseus catches him as he collapses ảποΨὐΧουτα (again unique), but before he loses consciousness.

34 On these four occasions, υɉξ κάλυΨε definitely signifies temporary loss of consciousness. At 13.580, where Deipyros is hit on the head and his helmet struck off, it probably means death. At 5.659, where Tlepolemos is hit by a spear which goes clean through his neck, it almost certainly means death. Once at 10.201 it is used more literally: ‘night covered the battlefield’.

35 Doctors have used the singular second-person imperative of this verb from time immemorial, since it causes the soft palate to rise and the posterior pharynx (back of the throat with the tonsils) to become visible to inspection.

36 Galen, , In Hippocratis aphorismos commentarii vii, ed. Kühn, , Claudii Galeni Opera Omnia, vol. 17.2 (Leipzig, 1821).Google Scholar

37 To sever the neck reliably, one needs a heavy axe descendinag from a great height, as J. I. Guillotin realized in 1789.

38 Posterior longitudinal ligament and inferior longitudinal band of the cruciate ligament: Gray's Anatomy (London, 1949), figs 502, 503.

39 Aristotle, HA 491a33.

40 In his explanation of ἰδυώθη, at 2.266, Eustathius says it means ảπɂ τοû τɂ ἰυíυ δουηθ脴υαι,… ἒστι δέ ἰυíου τɂ ⋯πíσω τῆς κεøαλῆς.

41 What stops the head falling forward in the absence of muscular tone is the chin hitting the chest, as academics best know.

42 Gray's Anatomy (n. 38), fig. 750.

43 Fenik (n. 7), 196.

44 Hamilton, S. and McGarry, G. W., ‘From Minerva's photo album’, British Medical Journal 313 (1996), 1653.Google Scholar They pulled it out under anaesthesia and she went home.