Terms

Menis The Greek word for wrath, Menis, the poem's first word, placed before the hero's name. Homer almost only uses it for gods and for Achilles, and giving it to a man already says how large what is to come will be. In Book V, Athena evokes the wrath of Zeus with... Aristeia The part of the poem in which a hero, with a god's favor, stands out above all others in combat. Books V and XI take their names from the aristeia of Diomedes and the aristeia of Agamemnon. In the first, Athena gives him strength, daring, and the vision that... Ate Madness or blindness that takes away judgment and leads a man into error. Agamemnon names her in his prayer to Zeus in Book VIII, and tells, in Book XIX, how Ate, daughter of Zeus, passes over the heads of men without touching the ground and blinds even Zeus... Moira The share that falls to each person in the order of the world, above all the hour of death. Hector tells Andromache that no one escapes moira once born, and Hera says in Book XX that Achilles will suffer later what destiny spun for him at birth. The gods... Ker Power that carries death, which often appears in the plural, like the portions of death of each man. Zeus places two Keres on the pans of the golden balance in Book VIII, one for the Trojans and one for the Achaeans, and in Book XXII those of Achilles and... Kleos Greek word for fame, what is heard of a man after he passes. In the Catalog, the poet says that men only hear kleos and know nothing, and for that reason he invokes the Muses. The honor Achilles hopes for in his short life and the glory Hector wants to leave... Hecatomb Solemn sacrifice offered to the gods, whose fat smoke rises to heaven. In the poem, it is what should be done when raising a great work: the Greeks' wall rises without hecatombs and, for that reason, against the will of the gods. The Trojans offer hecatombs... Aegis Zeus's weapon of war, fringed and golden, which terrifies whoever sees it when it is shaken. In Book XV, Apollo holds it still while the darts fly and then shakes it before the Danaans, who forget their strength and flee. Athena also uses it, and in Book... Danaans One of the three names the poem gives to the Greeks, alongside Achaeans and Argives. All three apply to the whole army and appear on everyone's lips: Chryses asks Apollo to make the Danaans pay for his tears, Menelaus rebukes the Achaeans for keeping silent... Supplication Gesture of asking for protection or pity, in which the suppliant embraces the knees of the one who can grant it or touches his chin. It is the poem's central rite: Chryses asks for his daughter back, Lycaon and Tros embrace Achilles' knees, Hector beseeches...