This book continues the story of the battle at the ships, but switches focus to explain how Hera tricked Zeus in order to give Poseidon a chance to rally the Greek forces.
Nestor and Machaon, the doctor, are drinking wine as the battle for the ships rages outside. As the cries outside grow fiercer, Nestor decides he must go see how the battle is progressing. Nestor grabs his son’s shield and a spear and heads outside. Nestor finds the Argive wall in ruins and the Greek forces routed or under pressure. He decides to find Agamemnon. He is joined by Diomedes and Odysseus. Both have been resting due to wounds they now bear. Other kings whose ships are moored further from the battle also join them to see what is happening.
The arrangement of the ships is explained. The bay is not wide enough to accommodate all the ships at the water’s edge, so many have been pulled ashore in several rows.
As they walk, a line of kings, including Agamenon and an old horseman, appears, looking anguished and tired. Agamemnon expresses his fear that Hector may yet keep a threat he once made: that he will burn their ships before returning to Troy. The old Horseman echoes the king’s gloomy mood, recounting that the rampart is down and the Trojans seem to harry them from every side. Agamemnon is fatalistic. He believes that it must please Zeus to see the Achaeans defeated on the shore. In this mood he orders that the ships at the water’s edge should be launched and taken to safety in the water. He orders that if they survive the night, the rest of the fleet can be launched the following morning.
Odysseus is angered by this command. He thinks it is a cowardly plan that will destroy the Achaeans’ will to fight if they see boats being launched from the beach. Odysseus thinks the plan is dangerous. Agamemnon asks for suggestions.
Diomedes decides to speak, but first lists his family lineage as a reminder that he does not come from a family of timid or cowardly men. Diomedes’ suggestion is that they return to the fight, but avoid situations where the Trojans might have a chance to inflict further wounds upon them. In this way they will be present to spur their armies in battle.
Poseidon has been keeping watch on the group of kings as they speak. He decides to appear before them as an old army veteran. He speaks to Agamemnon, expressing his contempt for Achilles. He suggests that Achilles will be enjoying the setbacks suffered by the Greek forces. Poseidon assures Agamemnon that the gods are not angry with him, and that his fortunes will change. Soon it will be the Trojans beating a retreat back to Troy. Then Poseidon gives a shattering cry and surges across the plain, inspiring the Greek forces with a warlike inspiration in their hearts.
Meanwhile, Hera is happy to see Poseidon amongst the troops. Nearby, on Mt Ida, she sees Zeus is at rest and she feels contempt for him. She wonders how she can thwart Zeus, and decides to seduce him and send him to sleep, thereby taking his focus from the battle. Hera bathes and prepares herself to look seductive. Next, she goes to Aphrodite, who supports the Trojans like Zeus, to ask for a favour. Hera asks Aphrodite to imbue her with the power of Love. She lies to persuade Aphrodite. She says she wants this power to resolve the long running animosity between Ocean and Mother Tethys. With the power to imbue love, Hera says, she will drive the two back to bed and make them forget their feud. Aphrodite agrees to do this. She removes her enchanted breastplate and gives it to Hera. Hera puts it on. But instead of visiting Ocean and Tethys as she said she would, she next heads to Lemnos to visit Sleep. She asks him to put Zeus to sleep as soon as she gets him to bed, and promises Sleep a magnificent throne made by her son Hephaestus as a reward. Sleep is unwilling to put Zeus to sleep without his permission. He recalls a time, previously, when he placed Zeus into a sleep while Hera got Heracles, Zeus’ son, lost at sea using mighty winds that blew him off course. That time Sleep was only saved from Zeus by the falling of night. Hera argues that Zeus does not care for the Trojans as much as he cares for Heracles. Sleep agrees to Hera’s plan on the condition he is given Pasithea, a Grace, as his wife. Hera solemnly swears to this arrangement.
They both travel back to where Zeus is resting on Mt Ida. Sleep hides in a pine tree while Hera makes herself easily seen by Zeus. Zeus is filled with lust. Hera tells him the same lie she told Aphrodite, that she is going to see Ocean and Tethys. She pretends she has come to Zeus seeking his permission. Zeus says she can go tomorrow. Instead, he is only focussed on expressing his desire for her, trying to persuade her of the enormity of his feelings by diminishing any romantic conquest he has ever made as a lesser feeling than his present desires. Hera responds, saying she will not have sex in the open where other gods can see them. She asks to be taken back to his bedroom. Zeus, instead, promises to shield them from prying eyes by creating a dense, impenetrable cloud. He grabs Hera and he immediately falls asleep. Next, Sleep sends a message to Poseidon, urging him to take up the fight on the Argives’ side while Zeus is asleep. Poseidon receives the message and immediately urges the Greek forces to fight once more. Poseidon dismisses Achilles’ absence as unimportant. Poseidon says he will lead the Greeks. But first, he urges the soldiers to swap armour so that the best men are given the best armour. They do this.
As the battle is rejoined Hector takes a shot at Greater Ajax with his spear, but it bounces off his strapping. In response, Ajax lifts a large rock and hurls it at Hector. It glances off his shield rim and hits him near the throat, knocking him down. The Achaeans are inspired by this and rush in to kill Hector. But the Trojans fight fiercely to save him, and they rush him back towards Troy in a chariot. Once clear of danger, they try to revive Hector with water from the river. He vomits blood.
The Greek forces are inspired by the blow given Hector. Several kills are made. Polydamus tries to save Satnius, who is skewered by Little Ajax. Panthous lances the arm of Prothoënor in return and Polydamus cries out triumphantly on seeing this. Ajax is angered by Polydamus’ triumphant cry and tries to spear him, but he dodges and Archelochus is speared instead. Ajax taunts Polydamus back. Acamus avenges his brother’s death immediately by killing Promachus as he tries to drag the corpse away. Like Polydamus, Acamus taunts the Greeks triumphantly. Peneleos, enraged by Acamus’ taunt, tries to attack Acamus. Acamus runs from the fight, so Peneleos stabs Ilioneus, who dies gruesomely. Peneleos scoops out his eyes and then cuts off his head. He holds the head up with his spear stuck through an eye socket. He taunts the Trojans, telling them to tell the families of the slain to begin their funeral dirges.
The Trojans begin to lose courage and the Greeks begin to make headway in the fight. Greater Ajax kills Hyrtius. Antilochus kills Phalces. Meriones kills Morys and Hippotion. Teucer kills Periphetes and Prothoon. Ajax runs down Oileus’ son, who had skewered Satnius after Hector was injured.
As it turns out, Hera is able to attract Zeus’ attention and fire his lust to enable her to get him into a position where he can be put to sleep. This is essential so that Poseidon may rally te Greek troops without Zeus interfering.
She forms her plan early:
Homer expresses the sexual energy of Zeus and Heras through their corresponding effect on a fecund world:
It is a startling moment different to almost anything else in The Iliad overflowing with dismembered bodies and death.
While initially making her plans, Hera wonders how she might outmanoeuvre Zeus who has at his command his “battle-shield of storm and thunder”. Of course, the obvious answer is that Hera employs her sexuality to defeat Zeus. But there is a hint that Hera’s plan may extend beyond this victory; that she has other means available to overcome the god of thunder. Hera’s plan, in fact, is to get Zeus to her bedroom. At a critical moment when she is trying to persuade Zeus not to have sex in the open she protests modesty – “What if one of the deathless gods observes us” – and she calls her bedroom “your own bedroom”, thereby suggesting a reinvigorated marital bond more strongly than she had intended.
The clue comes immediately after she first formulates her plan to seduce Zeus:
When Hera encourages Zeus back to the bedroom she may call it “your own bedroom”, but it is unambiguous that Hera means her own room with the special bolt:
It seems almost certain that Hera’s plan is not only to put Zeus to sleep, but imprison him while Poseidon sorts out the rest of the war. But Zeus is insistent and effecting her plan in the open is the best Hera can do. That they make love in the open instead, hidden by “a marvellous cloud of gold” is possibly the only thing that saves Zeus from being neutralised. If this is true, this small moment of victory is also a lost moment of opportunity.
While the fourteenth book of The Iliad continues the story of the defence of the ships against the Trojans, it also provides some welcome relief from the slaughter by way of a digression. Hera’s attempt to overcome the hold Zeus has on the battle causes her to form a plan to put Zeus to sleep. The first three images below are paintings from the 18th century show Hera putting her plan into action. The paintings bear the Roman names for their equivalent dieties, yet still represent moments from Book 14 of The Iliad.
