Previously Balladeer’s Blog examined Cypria and Aethiopis, two of the neglected Greek epics. Cypria recounted the events leading into The Iliad while Aethiopis picked up the tale of the Trojan War after the death and funeral of Hector at the end of The Iliad. The neglected epic I’m examining today is Iliad Minor, the next in line chronologically. The author is speculated to have been either Lesches, Thestorides, Diodoros, Kinaithon or even Homer himself.
ILIAD MINOR – Also called Iliad Mikra and The Little Iliad this neglected epic opens up with the
casting of lots between Odysseus and Aias (Ajax), the two heroes who recovered the corpse of Achilles to prevent it from being desecrated by the Trojans at the end of Aethiopis. The prize they are gambling for is the armor of the late Achilles.
Odysseus wins due to the secret interference of the goddess Athena, as always an admirer of Odysseus’ shrewd and resourceful nature. Aias, in the level-headed way of people in ancient myths goes insane from losing the armor and sabotages his own people’s war effort by poisoning the cattle the Greeks have been raising to help feed the massive army besieging Troy. Next Aias kills himself and, because of his act of sabotage Agamemnon denies him the funeral honors of a hero. Therefore, he is buried instead of cremated on a pyre.
Calchas, the Greek seer, foretells that in order to win the war the Greeks must sail to Lemnos and recover Philoctetes, the archer who wields the arrows of Herakles. Continue reading
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