The Concept of Plot and the Plot of the "Iliad"
Author(s): Matthew Clark
Source: Phoenix, Vol. 55, No. 1/2 (Spring - Summer, 2001), pp. 1-8
Published by: Classical Association of Canada
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THE CONCEPT OF PLOT AND THE PLOT OF THE ILIAD
MATTHEW
THE
CLARK
MEANING OF A WORK OF ART is not somethingwhich can be extractedfrom
a container,
likea messagefroma bottle;everyelementis potentially
meaningful,
of the author'smindand intention.And one potentially
potentially
expressive
elementofa storyis theshapeoftheplot.In thisessayI examinethe
expressive
plotof theIliad, usingsomeconceptsderivedfromrecenttheoriesof narrative.
The complexnestingstructure
ofsuccessive
in thisnarrative
conflicts
I
expresses,
a worldin whichno resolution
leadsfinally
believe,a worldofradicalinstability,
to peace.This pattern
incidentin thestoryand continues
to
beginswiththefirst
theveryend.
ofAgamemnonat thebeginning
oftheIliad (1.17-21)
Chryses'supplication
takesthe formof speech,but it is also an action: a speechact, to use the
of theschoolinitiated
terminology
byJ.L. Austin(1975 [1962]) and continued
It is alsoan actionin a sensespecific
byJohnSearle(1979; 1985) amongothers.1
to narrative-without
it, the storyof the Iliad could hardlyhappen. Cedric
Whitman(1965: 131) quiterightly
callsAgamemnon's
insultto Chryses"the
to Agamemnon,
and
germof theplot."If Chryseshad notcomeas a suppliant
ifAgamemnonhad not scornfully
thenApollowould
rejectedthesupplication,
nothavesenttheplague,Agamemnon
wouldnothavearguedwithAchilles,and
Achilleswouldnothavewithdrawn
fromthebattle.Chryses'speechis partofthe
whichmakesup thespecificplotof theIliad, and
sequenceof cause and effect
thusit is an actionwithintheplot.Not everyspeech(or speechact) is an action
in thissense.2
As ithappens,thetextoftheIliad provides
a convenient
testofthisdistinction.
AfterAchillesand Agamemnonargue,Achillescallsto hismotherforhelp.She
comesto himfromthedepthsofthesea andaskswhyhe is grieving:
tCKov,
~i KXcai~tC:
ti
6~ oc 4pva;
i'Kto
7trvOo;:
(1.362-363)
ActG68a,
p Kc\0iev6p,i'vaE'80oCEv
6Ltpo.
hasreached
Child,whydoyouweep?Andwhatgrief
yourheart?
so thatwemaybothknow.
Speak,do nothideitinyourmind,
Achillesanswers:
oioat-
sti tot totuta18uin
idtvt'd~yopc6oo:
(1.365)
Youknow;whyshouldI tellallthesethings
toonewhoknows?
1 For discussion
ofChryses'supplication
as a speechact,see Clark1998.
2"Somethingsthathappenin theepic tale maybe movingor frightening
to theaudience,but
theyarenotessentialforthestory.Had theynothappened,theIliad wouldstillbe theIliad" (Bakker
1997: 166). Bakkerarguesthatthemoments
when"theveryfateofepiccharacters,
ortherightcourse
ofepicaction,areat stake"arethemoments
whenepiccharacters
receivetheirepithets(166-167).
PHOENIX,VOL. 55 (2001) 1-2.
1
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2
PHOENIX
but omniscient
Epic is inconsistent:in principlethe gods knoweverything,
fora story,
characters
areinconvenient
so in practicethenarrative
treatsthegods
as iftheyneedto be told-even as iftheycan be deceived.Narratology
trumps
forThetistheargument
and theevents
theology.And so Achillessummarizes
whichled to it.3
introduceinformation
Althoughthe firstfewlines of Achilles'explanation
new to theaudience,thebulkof it simplyrepeatswhatwe havealreadyheard.
Aristarchus
athetized1.366-392,butG. S. Kirk(1985: 91) defendsthepassage:
as hewould,thatneither
thesummary
as a wholenorthe
Aristarchus
noticed,
evidently
itcontained
on thataccount
exactrepetitions
arestrictly
andathetized
alone.
necessary,
arepartoftheoralstyle,
and(b) thatsotoo,onoccasion,
Butweknow(a) thatrepetitions
orr~sum~es.
aresummaries
Aftera closeanalysisofthepassage,Kirk(1985: 92) concludes:
thatthewholepassageis farfrom
demonstrates
Sucha survey
beinga meremechanical
what
it
makes
use
of
theearlier
of
has
extensive
but
preceded;naturally
language,
summary
ormakethecondensation
from
itin ordertobypass
theomitted
often
speeches
departs
Thisisnottheworkofa rhapsode
ordecadent
butofa singer
morefluent.
singer,
working
fordenying
oraltradition.
Thereis noobvious
reason
thatheisthemain
within
theliving
composer
himself....
I haveno doubtthatthepassageshouldstandin thetext,butallthesamewe may
as a hintthatthesummary
oftheeventsdoes nothavethe
taketheathetization
The eventswerenarrative
actionsand their
samestatusas theeventsthemselves.
couldnotbe questioned;thissummary
is nota narrative
actionand
authenticity
ifitwereremovedfromthetext,thestorycouldstillproceed.
The distinctionI am makinghere-betweennarrative
actionsand those
a partof thenarrative-isroughly
actionswhichare notproperly
equivalentto
madeby RolandBarthesbetween"kernels"
thedistinction
(also called"cardinal
and "catalysts."Kernelsare the hingesof the story:"Pourqu'une
functions")
fonctionsoit cardinale,il suffit
que l'actiona laquelleelle se rf'ereouvre(ou
ou ferme)une alternative
bref
maintienne,
consequentpourla suitde l'histoire,
.. ." (Barthes1981: 15). Catalysts,
qu'elleinaugureou conclueune incertitude
on theotherhand,serveto fillin thenarrative
thekernels:
spacewhichseparates
"entreces pointsd'alternative
..., les catalysesdisposentdes zones de s~curitC,
des repos,des luxes..." (Barthes1981: 16). As SeymourChatman(1969: 14)
are alwaysdeletable,"and thustheyare thepassageswhichin
notes,"catalysts
the Homerictextmaybe subjectto athetization.It is not the case, however,
areinsignificant:
"unr~citn'estjamaisfaitde fonctions:
thatcatalysts
tout,a des
degrdsdivers,y signifie..." (Barthes1981: 13). The issueis notthesignifying
that
ofII. 1.366-392as a "mirror
seedeJong1985. De Jongargues
story,"
3Fordiscussion
thatthemirror
assumesthesame"authorial
as thenarrator,
Achillestemporarily
position"
storyallows
oflongpassagescan be explainednot
Achilles'mentalstate,and thattherepetition
us to understand
in termsofnarrative
butalsodefended
technique.
onlyin termsoforalcomposition,
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THE CONCEPT OF PLOT AND THE PLOT OF THE ILIAD
3
act:
unit,butthepositionoftheunitwithinthenarrative
powerofthenarrative
une noyausansaltdrer
maisqu'onne
"disonsqu'on ne peutsupprimer
l'histoire,
le discours"
unecatalysesansaltdrer
(Barthes1981: 16).
peutsupprimer
in termsof its kernelevents,its cardinal
The methodof analyzingnarrative
cardinalevents
hasbeenelaborated
functions,
byClaudeBremond;in hissystem,
of
the
three
made
occurin triads,"elementary
up
obligatory
phases
sequences,"
of all processes:theeventwhichopenstheprocess,theeventwhichrealizesthe
process,and theeventwhichclosestheprocess(Bremond1981: 66).4 Bremond
so thecompletetriad
thatanytriadcan be leftunaccomplished,
notes,however,
thelastelement
is an ideal formnot alwaysrealizedand closed. Furthermore,
elementofanothertriad:thusthelastelement
of one triadcan becomethefirst
I commettre/malfaissance/mdfait
commis"maybe thesame
in thetriad"mdfait
eventas thefirstelementin thetriad"faithr~tribuer/processus
r~tributeur/fait
of kerneleventscan producecomplex
The linkingand subordination
r~tribuC."
in practice
hasbeendemonstrated
The powerofthisanalytical
structures.
system
the
fundamental
of
Bremond's
in
modification
Thomas
Pavel's
Pavel;
system,
by
unitis the"move,"whichis composedofonlytwoparts,the"problem"
narrative
in orderto
and the "solution";in addition,a movemayincludean "auxiliary"
reachitssolution(Pavel1985: 17-18).
In theseterms,the storyof the Iliad beginswithChryses'problem:his
daughterhas been takenby Agamemnon.Chrysestriesto solvehis problem
throughsupplication,but his supplicationfails,and this failurebecomesa
to solve
Chrysesattempts
problemin itsownright,an actofevilto be revenged.
thisnewproblemthroughappealto Apollo,whichsucceeds,and thissuccessis
in theformoftheplague.The plagueitselfis a problemfor
theact of revenge,
is
theAchaeans,but(aftersomeotherevents)itis eliminated:
Chryses'daughter
oftheAchaians.
to himand he praysto Apolloto relievethesuffering
returned
of the problemwhichis theplaguehas
But in the meantime,the elimination
andAchilles,andAchilles'
another
the
produced
problem: quarrelofAgamemnon
the
wholeplotoftheIliad
withdrawal.
It
would
be
to
chart
possible
subsequent
thecomplexity
of
in thisway,and althoughsuchan analysis
woulddemonstrate
of
move
in
it
not
clear
that
a
the
thenarrative
is
structure,
completeanalysis every
plotwouldrepaytheeffort.
whichis retainedbyPavelis thatall
A notablefeatureof Bremond'ssystem
no sequenceis marked
at
the
same
level
ofanalysis:
are
theelementary
sequences
in
of
theplotas a whole.
formation
in thetheoryas particularly
the
important
It seemsclear,however,thatnot all eventsin a plot are on an equal footing.5
FollowingEugene Dorfman,we maydividethe incidentsof a storyintotwo
4Bremond'ssystem
an attempt
canbe considered
likemostmodernplottheory,
ofplotanalysis,
but ratherenigmaticremark(Poet.7) thata plot musthavea
fundamental
to elucidateAristotle's
a middle,and an end.
beginning,
to
thanothers;itwouldbe difficult
aremoreimportant
someincidents
5"In anygivennarrative,
ofthe
inwhicheveryhappening
carriedequalweightin thedevelopment
narrative
imaginean artistic
(Dorfman1969:5).
story"
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4
PHOENIX
classes:"central
orcoreincidents,
is to serveas thecentral
whosefunction
focusofa
whichclusteraroundthecore,supporting
incidents,
largerepisode,and marginal
it and fillingout the episode"(Dorfman1969: 5).6 It is not necessary
hereto
detailtheresultsof Dorfman'sstudy,whichis restricted
to a particular
classof
medievalromanceepic,buthis generalconclusionis quiterelevant
to
narrative,
ourtopic.In Dorfman'sanalysis,
thecoreincidents
ofmedievalromanceepicfall
intoa sequenceoffourtypes:Quarrel,Motive,Act,and Result.Each ofthesehas
thus,theQuarrelmaybe Family,Dynastic,Lovers',orLovers'-triangle;
subtypes;
theMotivemaybe Insult,Killing,Inheritance,
orMaritalbreak;theAct maybe
or Prowess;and theResultmaybe Punishment
or Reward(Dorfman
Treachery
1969: 71).
Dorfman'sschemacan be simplified,
I believe,leavingonlytwotypesofcore
incidents:theMotive,whichis forthemostpartsomekindof Insult,and the
or Reconciliation;
theQuarrelis really
Result,whichmaybe eitherPunishment
identicalto theInsultor thesettingforit,whiletheAct is reallythemeansby
whichthe Resultis broughtabout. This simplification
assimilates
Dorfman's
to Pavel'ssystem
ofProblemandSolution,butwiththecrucialstipulation
system
thattwo incidents,one at the beginningand one at the end, have a special
in thearchitecture
oftheplot.
importance
it is not,therefore,
reasonable,
trivial,
Althoughthissystemseemsintuitively
especiallysince onlya veryfewkindsof incidentseem to fall in thesetwo
positions.In the narratives
analyzedby Dorfman,the crucialincidentat the
beginningof the storyis almostalwayssomekindof Insult,whilethe crucial
incidentat theendis eitherPunishment
orReconciliation.
A broaderselection
of
forexample,novels,wouldalso discoverBirthand Death,
narratives,
including,
withsome
MeetingandMarriage,ArrivalandDeparture,
DepartureandReturn,
variations
andcombinations
ofthesepairs;although
otherpairsoccur,theseseem
to accountfora verylargenumberof narratives,
like nine
perhapssomething
out of ten.7This system,
whichdistinguishes
a structural
ofincidents
hierarchy
and whichalso specifiesthatonlycertainkindsof incidents
occurin
ordinarily
thecrucialstructural
is morepowerful
thanearliermodelsofnarrative
positions,
construction.
Some narratives
fittheschemaI haveproposedquiteeasily.The Argonautica,
forexample,is fundamentally
a plotofDeparture
andReturn,
a Meeting
although
and Marriageplotis embeddedin thelargerstory.The firstpartof theAeneid
is fundamentally
a plotof Arrivaland Departure,withan embeddedMeeting,
6Note herethatthisdistinction
betweencoreand marginal
incidents
is notthesameas Barthes's
betweenkernalsand catalysts;
distinction
bothcoreand marginal
incidents
arekernels.
is notto saythattheother
havea particular
structural
importance
7To saythatsomeincidents
areunimportant:
"The superstructure,
incidents
of incidents
definedhereas thetotalinventory
that
occurfromthebeginning
to theend ofthestory,
is notto be considered
a minoror inferior
aspect
to be analyzed,butsimplya functionally
of thenarrative
different
kindof structure
fromthatof the
narremic
core"(Dorfman1969: 6).
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THE CONCEPT OF PLOT AND THE PLOT OF THE ILIAD
5
doesnotoccur,exceptin themindof
Marriagenotably
thoughthecorresponding
Dido. Thereis no requirement,
thatthefitbe easy,and difficult
cases
however,
thesystem
ifthesystem
can showhowandwhythedifficulties
do notinvalidate
offitmaybe significant
rather
thanfaulty.
occur;a failure
In the termsof the schemawhichI havederivedfromDorfman'smodelof
ofAgamemnon,
whichwe haveseento be botha
narrative,
Chryses'supplication
toWhitman(1965: 131) is
speechactand an actionofplot,andwhichaccording
be a subordinate
thegermoftheplot,mustnevertheless
element,at leastin the
ofcourse,doesnotdeprive
ofthenarrative;
itsstructural
structure
subordination,
The crucialincidentat thebeginning
of thepoem
it of thematicsignificance.
andAchillesandtheresulting
Insult:
mustbe theQuarrelbetweenAgamemnon
idE o 'AXthiio;...
ictc,
CivtyvO&,
c,
o~ ti t pp&
o
oa6tuaitrlv Apic~avt
06 rt
z
&v6povKcL\
Sio; 'AxtdX6c.
'Atpe'&qS;
vat
(1.1, 6-7)
Sing,goddess,thewrathofAkhiles,Peleus'son...
Fromthetimewhenfirst
theystoodapartin contention,
ThesonofAtreus,
Akhilleus.
kingofmen,andbrilliant
crucialincidentcanvary:it cancomedirectly
ofthefirst
at the
The placement
ofthestory
oritcanfollowa fewotherincidents
whichleadtoit.In the
beginning
theargument
crucialelement,
betweenAchillesandAgamemnon,
Iliad,thefirst
of Chryses.If a largenumber
followsthe "germ"of theplot,thesupplication
of incidentsprecedethefirstcrucialincident,theymaybe heldoffand toldin
These choicesarenotsimplya matterofconvenience.
HenryJames
retrospect.8
Hudsonthat"Really,universally,
relationsstop
notedin his prefaceto Roderick
but to draw,by a
nowhere,and the exquisiteproblemof the artistis eternally
ofhis own,thecirclewithinwhichtheyshallhappilyappearto do so"
geometry
(James1934: 5). However,some authors-Balzacis a good example-liketo
betweentheeventswhichlie withinthecircleofthe
emphasizetherelationship
storyand thosewhichlie outsideit,and thuswe oftenfinda longand leisurely
crucialincident.
accountoftheeventswhichprecedethefirst
The epic storiesarenotjustlikenovels.The epicpoetcouldnotsimplydraw
a circlearoundhis story,evenifhe wantedto, and pretendthattherestof the
did not exist.The epic cycleis largerthananyepic'snarrative
tradition
circle.
incidents
withinthe
Of coursethepoetcan emphasize,alter,or omitparticular
in
thedeathof Iphigeneia,forexample,is neverexplicitly
mentioned
tradition:
ofDavid
theIliad.9But thetradition
as a wholecannotbe omitted;thenarrator
knowsnothingaboutOliverTwist,butthenarrator
oftheHomeric
Copperfield
epicsknowsaboutHeraklesandNiobe andJason-and so on.
in Book One, butBooksTwo andThreeare
81ntheAeneid,forexample,theArrivalis narrated
occursin theOdyssey,
and even
A morecomplicated
ofthesamestructure
retrospective.
deployment
withtheCatalogueand theTeichoskopia.
in theIliad we see tracesofa retrospect
9ButI arguein Clark1998 thatthisincidentmaybe impliedin BookOne.
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6
PHOENIX
Even so, thepoethas someconsiderable
powerto deploytheelementsofhis
ofthefirst
crucialevent,theQuarrel,aftera
story.The deployment
particularly
numberof otherincidentssuggeststhattheQuarrelis partof a largerworld,a
likeChrysesandhisdaughter,
whomayplayno
worldwhichcontainscharacters
butwhoexistin theepicworldnonetheless.
rolein thestory,
further
withtheQuarrelandtheInsult?Analysis
Could theIliad havebegundirectly
in the Homericpoemssuggeststhatthe sortof massive
of timerelationships
was not a featureof the
dislocationsof time commonin modernnarratives
do occur(Richardson1990:
and flashbacks
Homericstyle,but somesummaries
of theeventsleadingup to theQuarrel,
we havea summary
89-108). In effect
in Achilles'reportto Thetis(II. 1.366-392). What abouta plotwhichwould
leaveouttheChrysesepisode,whichwouldbegin,say,withAgamemnon's
taking
BriseisfromAchillesjust becausehe wantsto and becausehe can enforcehis
fromtheeffect
of
of sucha plotwouldsurelybe verydifferent
will?The effect
to construct
theIliad; it is notourtask,however,
other,inferior
poems,butto
analyzethepoemwhichwe have.
and
The episodeof Chrysesis in itselfa littleepic of Insult,Punishment,
Reconciliation.10
Moreover,the episodeof Chrysesdoes not so muchlead to
crucial
theQuarrel,sincetheplotsarenotchainedend-to-end.Rather,thefirst
incidentof the Iliad properis containedwithinthe littleepic of Chryses.In
Pavel's system,thisfirstcrucialincidentis embeddedand subordinate-even
though,as we haveseen,in Dorfman'smodel,it is theepisodeofChryseswhich
to thelargerplot:thetwomodelsgivetwodifferent
accountsofa
is subordinate
one problemleadsto another
complexplot. In theworldof Homericnarrative,
withinthefirst,
thesecondproblemis contained
andyetthat
problem;moreover,
whichis containedis largerthanits container.The storyof Chrysesis settled
whichit producedgrowsbeyondits
by the end of Book One, but the conflict
boundaries.
the same structure
continuesin thelargerstoryof thepoem. In
Essentially
Book Nineteen,as we haveseen,theissueof theQuarrelhas been settledand
in theranksof theAchaianshas beenachieved.
somemeasureof reconciliation
ButnowAchillesis consumed
thestory
ofthedeathofPatroklos,
byanother
story,
withintheQuarrel,butwhichis largerthantheQuarrel.
whichhas itsbeginning
Thus themicrocosmic
structure
oftheChrysesepisodeis mirrored
in theplotof
thewholepoem.
The deathofPatroklosis thusan unforeseen
oftheinitialplotof
consequence
Insultand Reconciliation,
whichbeginsin Book One and whichendsin Book
Nineteen,and whichitselfwas the consequenceof anotherstory,the storyof
1 For a similaranalysisof theplaceof thefirstincidentin theIliad, see Lord 1960: 188: "The
eventsleadingup to thewrathof Achillesin Book I followa patternsimilarto thatof the poem
therepeatedplotstructures;
thevocabulary
itself."Lord'sanalysisoftheplotof theIliad recognizes
accountofhowthesepatterns
providedbyBremond,Pavel,and Dorfmanallowsfora morespecific
fittogether.
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THE CONCEPT OF PLOT AND THE PLOT OF THE ILIAD
7
The narrative
problemcreatedbythedeathof Patroklos
Chryses'supplication.
withthedeathofHektor;buteveniftheplotmaybe satisfied,
shouldbe satisfied
of the herothusfailsto matchthe shape of
Achillesis not. The psychology
withintheboundariesofheroic
theplot:Achillescan no longerfitcomfortably
Formis essentialto art,butthisearliestworkofthewesterntradition
narrative.
to formal
a slavishadherence
showstheartofrejecting
principles.
to defileHektor'sbodyarefrustrated
Achilles'attempts
bythegods,butit is
Achilles'angerwouldbe appeased.
hardto imaginethatiftheyweresuccessful
ofa newplot,
The psychological
endingofthisplotmustawaitthedevelopment
shiftsto theotherside of
initiatedbythedeathof Hektor.This plot,however,
whichfacedChrysesinBook One.11
thewar:Priam'sproblemis liketheproblem
Like Chryses,he daresto approachtheenemycampto makehis supplication,
ofBooksOne
he has divinehelp.In thechiasticstructure
and,alsolikeChryses,
butbefore
comesafterChryses'supplication,
divineassistance
andTwenty-Four,
Priam's.ThetiscomestoAchilleswitha messagefromZeus,andAchillesagrees,
to releaseHektor'sbody;perhapshe nowrealizesthatthereis
withno argument,
hisanger.
nothingmorehe cando to satisfy
ofthecrucialQuarrel,witha hint
Justas thestorybeganbeforethebeginning
theresolution
of
endsafter
ofa largerworldinwhichthestory
occurs,so thestory
ofAchillesandPriam,withthereturn
thefinalproblem,afterthereconciliation
ofHektor'sbodytoTroy,withthelamentsofAndromache,
Hekabe,andHelen,
and withHektor'sfuneral.In fact,the tradition
suppliedtwo endingsforthe
line:
poem.The textwhichwe usuallyreadendswitha summary
&Gjoi' y'
"
isnrov td6ov "E'Ktopogiriro6dpoto.
(II. 24.804)
ofhorses.
thetamer
totheburial
ofHektor,
attended
So they
a different
Butthescholiaoffer
ending:
Ac
oi y'y"&4ECov
"Apoc.
jX098' 'Apdwov
T6.ov "'EKTopoo.
....
&v~po)6voto
Ouydrilp
psyatitopo;
totheburial
ofHektor.
AndtheAmazoncame,
So they
attended
ofgreat-hearted
thedaughter
Ares,theslayerofmen....
thebucolicdiaeresisand beginsthere
This versiondropstheadjectivefollowing
thenext partof theepic
intotheAithiopis,
a new sentencewhichleads directly
cycle.12Althoughthe textwe read endswithHektor'sfuneral,the tradition
to otherpartsofthecycle.
allowedan endingwhichlooksforward
notonlyintheovertmeaning
is displayed
ofa workofliterature
The mentality
butalsointheshapeand
whichitmaydeploy,
ofitswords,noreveninthesymbols
11The parallelbetweenthe beginningof the Iliad and the end has oftenbeen noted: see, for
example,Whitman1965:257-260; Lohmann1970: 169; MacLeod 1982:32-34.
of adjectivesafterthe bucolicdiaeresis,see Bassett1905. A different
12Forthis treatment
1993: 361.
A.D.manuscript:
see Richardson
is foundin one first-century
continuation
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8
PHOENIX
In theworldoftheIliad,storiesarenotindependent
ofitsnarrative.
and
structure
a worldwhichexistsbefore
divisible;theyconnectto a largerworldofnarrative,
and aftertheparticular
Moreover,
storywhichhas been selectedfornarration.
oftheselectedstory,
beforeone problemis resolved,
evenwithintheboundaries
withno visionof
a newproblembegins.This is a worldofconstantdisruption,
anyfinalresolution.
DivisioN OF HUMANITIES/
IN CLASSICALSTUDIES
PROGRAMME
YORKUNIVERSITY
ONTARIO
TORONTO,
M3J 1P3
[email protected]
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