Book 23

Abstract

Abstract Iliad 23 has fascinated readers and scholars as much as it has been neglected by them. Entering the narrative after the most anticipated and pivotal event of the Iliad, Achilles’s duel with Hector, book 23 emanates the aura of a much-needed pause in the action, the need to take in the rapid events of the last, action-packed, six books, and allow space for the heroes and the audience to recuperate before moving to the close of the Iliad. Iliad 23 offers a view of the Achaean army inaccessible elsewhere, free of the fear of death but simultaneously familiar to the reader, as issues related to kleos, timē, and heroic standing in Homeric society are evoked within the microcosm of the funeral games.