We shall come closer to a solution of the astronomical problem
2 See R. Carpenter, "The Antiquity of the Greek Alphabet" and B. Ullman, "How Old Is the Greek Alphabet?" in American Journal of Archaeology, XXXVII (1933) and XXXVIII (1934), respectively.
3 When the ancient site was discovered, Schliemann identified the ruins of the second city (from the bottom) as those of the Ilium of the Iliad; but later explorers disagreed and pronounced the ruins of the sixth city as those of Homeric Troy.
* G. Karo, "Homer" in Ebert's Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte, Vol. V.
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with which we are concerned and the problem of the epics of Troy if we recognize the cosmic scene of these epics.
A simple test can be made. If Ares, the Mars of the Greeks, is not mentioned in the creations of Homer, this would support the view that the Iliad and Odyssey were created in the tenth century or earlier, or at least that the drama they describe had taken place not later than this time. But if Ares is presented as a war god in these epics, it would indicate that they were composed in the eighth century or thereafter. It was in the eighth century that Mars-Nergal, an obscure deity, became a prominent god. Epic poems, rich in mythology, that originated in the eighth or seventh century, would not be silent about Mars-Ares, who became "outrageous" at that time.
With this yardstick at hand, the epic poems of Homer must be re-examined. The task will not be difficult; the Iliad is full of descriptions of the violent deeds of Ares.
In this epic the story is told of the battles which the Greeks, besieging Troy, waged against the people of Priam, king of Troy. Deities took a prominent part in these battles and skirmishes. Two of them— Athene and Ares—were by far the most active. Athene was the protectress of the Greeks; Ares was on the side of the Trojans. They were the chief antagonists throughout the epopee.
At first Athene removed Ares from the battlefield:
And flashing-eyed Athene took furious Ares by the hand and spake to him, saying: "Ares, Ares, thou bane of mortals, thou blood-stained stormer of walls, shall we not now leave the Trojans and Achaeans to fight?" . . . [She] led furious Ares forth from the battle.5
But they met together again in the field; "furious Ares" was "abiding on the left of the battle."
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Aphrodite, the goddess of the moon, wished to participate in the war also, but Zeus, presiding in heavenly Olympus, told her:
"Not unto thee, my child, are given works of war; nay, follow thou after the lovely works of marriage, and all these things shall be the business of swift Ares and Athene."
5 The Iliad, Bk. V (transl. A. T. Murray; Loeb Classical Library, 1924-1925).
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Thus the god of the planet Jupiter admonished the goddess of the moon to leave the combat that it might be fought out by the god of the planet Mars and the goddess of the planet Venus.
Phoebus Apollo, the god of the sun, spoke to the god of the planet Mars:
Then unto furious Ares spake Phoebus Apollo: "Ares, Ares, thou bane of mortals, thou bloodstained stormer of walls, wilt thou not now enter into the battle?" . . .
And baneful Ares entered amid the Trojans'ranks. . . . He called: . . . "How long will ye still suffer your host to be slain by the Achaeans?"
The battlefield was darkened by Ares:
And about the battle furious Ares drew a veil of night to aid the Trojans ... he saw that Pallas Athene was departed, for she it was that bare aid to the Danaans.
Hera, the goddess of the earth, "stepped upon the flaming car" and "self-bidden groaned upon their hinges the gates of heaven which the Hours had in their keeping, to whom are entrusted great heaven and Olympus." She spoke to Zeus:
"Zeus, hast thou no indignation with Ares for these violent deeds, that he hath destroyed so great and so goodly a host of the Achaeans recklessly? . . . Wilt thou in any wise be wroth with me if I smite Ares?"
And Zeus replied:
"Nay, come now, rouse against him Athene . . . who has ever been wont above others to bring sore pain upon him."
So came the hour of the battle.
Then Pallas Athene grasped the lash and the reins, and against Ares first she speedily drave. . . .
Athene put on the cap of Hades, to the end that mighty Ares should not see her.
Ares, "the bane of mortals," was attacked by Pallas Athene, who sped the spear "mightily against his nethermost belly."
"Then brazen Ares bellowed loud as nine thousand warriors or ten thousand cry in battle, when they join in the strife of the War-god."
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Even as a black darkness appeareth from the clouds when after heat a blustering wind ariseth, even in such wise . . . did brazen Ares appear, as he fared amid the clouds unto broad heaven.
In heaven he appealed to Zeus with bitter words of complaint against Athene:
"With thee are we all at strife, for thou art father to that mad and baneful maid, whose mind is ever set on deeds of lawlessness. For all the other gods that are in Olympus are obedient unto thee . . . but to her thou payest no heed ... for that this pestilent maiden is thine own child."
And Zeus answered:
"Most hateful to me art thou of all gods that hold Olympus, for ever is strife dear to thee and wars and fightings."
The first round was lost by Ares. "Hera and Athene . . . made Ares, the bane of mortals, to cease from his manslaying."
In this vein the poem proceeds, its allegorical features being only too readily overlooked. In the fifth book of the Iliad Ares is called by name more than thirty times, and throughout the poem he never disappears from the scene, whether in the sky or on the battleground. The twentieth and twenty-first books describe the climax of the battle of the gods at the walls of Troy.
[Athene] would utter her loud cry. And over against her spouted Ares, dread as a dark whirlwind, calling with shrill tones to the Trojans.
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Thus did the blessed gods urge on the two hosts to clash in battle, and amid them made grievous strife to burst forth. Then terribly thundered the father of gods and men from on high; and from beneath did Poseidon cause the vast earth to quake, and the steep crests of the mountains. All the roots of many-fountained Ida were shaken, and all her peaks, and the city of the Trojans, and the ships of the Achaeans. And seized with fear in the world below was Ai'doneus, lord of the shades
. . . lest above him the earth be cloven by Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, and his abode be made plain to view for mortals and immortals ... so great was the din that arose when the gods clashed in strife.
In this battle of gods above and beneath, Trojans and Achaeans clashed together and the whole universe roared and shivered. The
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battle was fought in gloom; Hera spread a thick mist. The river "rushed with surging flood, and roused all his streams tumultuously." Even the ocean was inspired with "fear of the lightning of great Zeus and his dread thunder, whenso it crasheth from heaven." Then rushed into the battle a
"wondrous blazing fire. First on the plain was the fire kindled, and burned the dead . . . and all the plain was parched." Then to the river turned the gleaming flame. "Tormented were the eels and the fish in the eddies, and in the fair streams they plunged this way and that. . . . The fair streams seethed and boiled." Nor had the river "any mind to flow onward, but was stayed,"
unable to protect Troy.
Upon the gods "fell strife heavy and grievous." "Together then they clashed with a mighty din, and the wide earth rang, and round about great heaven pealed as with a trumpet. . . . Zeus—the heart within him laughed aloud in joy as he beheld the gods joining in strife."