Reinterpreting the Homeric Simile of Iliad 16.7–11: The Girl and Her Mother In Ancient Greek Warfare

Though long regarded as a scene of mother-daughter domesticity during peacetime, Iliad 16.7–11 reveals the destruction of normal life for a daughter and her mother on the verge of being captured by ancient Greek warriors. As such it provides exemplary insight into this fundamental aspect of ancient warfare. Further, as reinterpreted here, the simile gains great dramatic and emotive power, strengthens the Homeric characterization of Achilles as a forthright speaker given to poetic realism, and heightens the tragedy of Patroclus by revealing how Achilles by his own admission fails to fulfill his protective role as Patroclus' warrior mother.