Fire In The Odyssey

The brutal war between the Achaean and Trojan armies and the consequences of these battles are vividly depicted by Homer in The Iliad. Although the author crafted this story during a period of complex civilization, Homer’s descriptions give insight into just how primitive the people of his time still remained. Fire, one of society’s earliest tools, is an image that is used to portray the perpetual rage of various characters that drives the action of the story forward. Besides the metaphorical use of fire, it is also appears materially, and its frequent appearance throughout the story communicates the underlying concern with control and power that Homerian characters struggle to claim for themselves and their people.

Fire is first introduced

In turn, Apollo sends a plague to strike the Achaeans and a meeting of the ranks is called by Achilles to determine the cause of the plague. One man, Calchas, rises among them and offers a reply, with the promise that Achilles will protect him against the rage of whom he blames the plague. Calchas warns, “Even if he can swallow down his wrath today, still he will nurse the burning in his chest until, sooner or later, he sends it bursting forth,” (80). Although the word is not said explicitly, the description of rage is equated with that fire because of the surrounding vocabulary. The “burning” sensation of the rage is like heated sparks that can be kept down for a while. Like a fire, the burning sensation felt by Agamemnon will eventually burst forward, not into flames, but in the form of words and savage actions. Agamemnon, in

Instead of taking on a metaphorical life, Hector uses fire several times in order to achieve control over their situations. Mid-battle Zeus lets out three bolts of lightening in the face of the Achaeans, and Hector shouts out to his men, knowing victory is near for the Trojans:

They’ll never hold me back in my onslaught now, with a bound my team will leap that trench they dug. But as soon as I reach their hollow ships, torches -- don’t forget now, one of you bring me lethal fire! I’ll burn their ships, I’ll slaughter all their men, Argive heroes panicked in smoke along their hulls!