The Death and Afterlife of Achilles

6 Motif Sequences in the Iliad

c h a p t e r 6 Motif Sequences in the Iliad As demonstrated in chapter , the Iliad alludes to the fabula of the death of Achilles through motif transference.A further line of inquiry is to explore the possible arrangement of these transferred motifs. Chapter  has shown that Iliadic reflection of the whole war seems to involve some conglomeration of transferred motifs ; a series of motifs about the beginning of the war occur in the first part of the poem, whereas motifs about later events in the war (including the death of Achilles) are collocated in the later books of the poem. It is instructive to examine the possible sequence of motifs that have been transferred from the death of Achilles fabula. Do these transferred motifs exist in isolation within the Iliad, occurring in haphazard sequence, or do they in their totality constitute an overall, if indirect narrative? If we consider the evidence from the perspective of the vengeance theory, nothing comprehensible becomes apparent. The vengeance theory attempts to establish very many correspondences, and as a result no overall continuity between the motifs seems possible. I have considered only some of the most common correspondences that have been argued by neoanalysts, and no coherent narrative is suggested by their sequence. If we list the correspondences that I examined , we find the following series, according to my lettering scheme: A, B, E, A, B, C, D, B/E, F, G, A, B, D, G, H. Such a jumble of motifs is possible if the Iliad simply reused material from the death of Achilles fabula in a random manner. But if the individual transferred motifs are significantly allusive, as I have argued, then their collocation in a recognizable sequence would be an even more effective evocation of non-Homeric narrative. Motif transference need not occur in a sequential patterns, of course. Two commonly accepted examples appear to be isolated: the rescue of Nestor in book  (comparable to his rescue from Memnon by Antilochos) and the wounding of Diomedes in the foot in book  (comparable to the wounding of Achilles in the ankle). Once the vengeance theory is rejected, however, and the strained neoanalyst association between Antilochos and Patroklos is dropped, then it becomes apparent that many transferred motifs concerning Achilles’ death do occur in extended narrative patterns. This chapter suggests how the actions of Patroklos and Achilles are organized to foreshadow the whole story of the death of Achilles within the Iliad. Most of the motifs constitute two“sequences”that revolve around the characters Patroklos (reflecting the death of Achilles) and Achilles (foreshadowing his coming death).1 The sequence in which motifs belonging to Achilles have been transferred to Patroklos I call the Patroklos sequence. In this sequence Patroklos is an altera persona of Achilles. Sarpedon serves as a Memnon figure to some degree, but this correspondence need not be stressed. Achilles in this sequence may represent his mother in general ways, but again the correspondence, though interesting, need not be stressed. Some motifs in the Patroklos sequence belong to the fabula of the death of Achilles. Other motifs are typical for heroes (e.g., funeral games) but inappropriate for Patroklos’s status. This invites recognition of their allusive function , which is confirmed when they are considered in the context of the sequence as a whole. The motifs from the death of Achilles fabula that are transferred chronologically back into the Iliad’s portrayal of Achilles I call the Achilles sequence . Here Achilles prefigures the actions of his future self. In the Achilles sequence , Hektor serves as a Memnon figure, though this is another correspondence that need not be stressed. In table , I graph the two motif sequences side by side, using the letters employed above in my reconstruction of Achilles’ death. In the Patroklos sequence, most of the possible motifs in the reconstruction are evoked, and they occur in the order of the narrative of the death of Achilles. The Achilles sequence reflects many significant motifs in the fabula of the death of Achilles, though not as many. Some of the transferred motifs are specific to myth about Achilles, even when considered alone (e.g., death through Apollo). Other motifs are typical (e.g.,battle over a corpse) and do not certainly reflect the death of Achilles fabula when considered by themselves but can do so when interlaced with specific motifs in the narrative order of the narrative of...