Time And Narrative Notes

One of the properties of the Iliad that has long been admired since ancient times is its handling of time. The actual narrative of the work follows just a short period of time in the tenth year of the Trojan war, but considerable prolepsis and analepsis in the framework of the narrative allows it to refer and allude to times outside of this period, to events in other years of the conflict, and to events before and after the war.

The Iliad is very economical in the amount of time directly narrated: it does not describe the whole Trojan war, but chooses a small number of crucial days at the end of the conflict. From the start of the plague in the Greek camp to the final burial of Hector is a period of time just fifty days long. However, the figure of fifty days is in fact misleading, as in both the first and the last book two periods of nine days are narrated in a very short space of time, for example the plague of Apollo: ‘ἐννῆμαρ μὲν ἀνὰ στρατὸν ᾤχετο κῆλα θεοῖο, / τῇ δεκάτῃ...’¹. The other three periods passed over in a similar way are: the period after the return of the ship from Chryse when Achilles rages and does not go to the assembly in book 1, and the mutilation of Hector’s corpse, and the period of truce to allow the Trojans to mourn for him in book 24.

This leaves fourteen days of actual narrated events, but this is concentrated even further by the fact that 85% of the poem describes just four days of fighting - days 22, 25, 26 and 27 in the fifty day sequence. The entire epic is 15, 685 lines long of which day 22 (duel of Paris and Menelaus, and fighting in the absence of Achilles, particularly by Diomedes) lasts 3,653 lines, day 25 (Trojans start to win and drive back Greeks, embassy to Achilles) lasts 1857 lines, day 26 (high point of Trojan success followed by return and death of Patroclus) 5667 lines, and day 27 (return of Achilles to the fighting, slaughter of the Trojans resulting in the death of Hector) 2161 lines. The remaining ten days are narrated, but in not nearly so much detail as the four key days of fighting.

The key division of time in the Iliad is into days and nights. A routine is established early on in the epic whereby each day of fighting follows a similar pattern: dawn; breakfast; arming for battle; advance into the plain; battle until sunset; withdrawal of Greek and Trojan forces; dinner; night watches and sleep. This creates a predictable rhythm of events that the reader can use as markers to measure the progress of time. Because of the flexibility in how long is spent narrating each episode of the Iliad, the narrative speed is not constant. Significant events can be described in immense detail, which slows down the pace. Neighbouring scenes can also be elongated which allows the poet to both anticipate key moments, and provide a response to them afterwards. This creates a constantly changing dynamic between the pace of the story and the pace of the narrative.

It is central that there is an element in the routine described above where plot moves cannot normally take place: the breaks between days, after the two sides have withdrawn.² This not only clearly divides the narrative into discrete units of time, but also creates a feeling of closure at the end of each day. This allows a time for councils and assemblies to be held, and a period of reflection and deliberation on the day’s events. The nights also act as turning points in the overall narrative and this is particularly true of the two nights either side of day 26. In fact some commentators, including Taplin, have divided the epic not into the traditional 24 books, but into three larger sections: books 1-10 (up to day 26); books 11-18 (day 26); books 19-24 (after day 26).

Both sides use the night before day 26 to reflect on the coming day, and the many temporal markers in their speeches show how crucial this time is. Book 8 describes the Trojan response to day 25 – when the Trojans started to take the upper hand – hence there is a feeling of confident expectation: Hector says ‘νῦν ἡμέρη ἥδε κακὸν φέρει Ἀργείοισιν.’³. Book 9 correspondingly shows the Greeks despairing and so sending the embassy to Achilles. There are forward-markers in the Greek speeches too, such as Diomedes’ ‘αὐτὰρ ἐπεί κε φανῇ καλὴ ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς, / καρπαλίμως πρὸ νεῶν ἐχέμεν λαόν τε καὶ ἵππους /ὀτρύνων…’⁴ Likewise the night after day 26 is a time of anticipation – Achilles, after discovering the death of Patroclus, awaits the arrival of his new armour from Thetis, while the Trojans debate tactics in the knowledge of Achilles’ return – Polydamas tries and fails to convince Hector to retreat inside the walls. This prepares the audience for Achilles’ awful slaughter of the Trojans on day 27.

From the beginning of book 1 to the end of book 24 the primary narrative progresses in the main part in a linear way, unlike, for example, the Odyssey, where events are not narrated in the order they occur. However there is considerable foreshadowing of key events within the narrative timeframe. Hector’s death is alluded to in various ways, though Hector himself (unlike Achilles) does not know how, when, or even whether he will die. This creates irony as the narrator and audience share knowledge that he does not know, which means that the audience’s emotions are more involved, as we can see the hopes and fears of a man who has no foreknowledge of what is going to happen: ‘οὐ γὰρ οἶδ εἰ ἔτι σφιν ὑπότροπος ἵξομαι αὖτις, ἦ ἤδη μ ὑπὸ χερσὶ θεοὶ δαμόωσιν Ἀχαιῶν.’⁵ His death is however predicted by both gods and men, for example Zeus says to him (unknowing) ‘τῶν ποινὴν ὅ τοι οὔ τι μάχης ἐκνοστήσαντι

δέξεται Ἀνδρομάχη κλυτὰ τεύχεα Πηλεΐωνος.’⁶ Patroclus tells him (though Hector does not listen):

οὔ θην οὐδ αὐτὸς δηρὸν βέῃ, ἀλλά τοι ἤδη

ἄγχι παρέστηκεν θάνατος καὶ μοῖρα κραταιὴ

χερσὶ δαμέντ Ἀχιλῆος ἀμύμονος Αἰακίδαο.⁷

Finally near the start of book 22, Zeus is described with a pair of scales, with one side for Achilles and the other for Hector and...

Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Homer's Iliad Notes.