SYNOPSIS

The Iliad is so called not because it is an account of the long seige on Ilios, but because it is a description of the many goings to and fro between invading Danaans and defending Troes over the marshy plains (Slv. ilo = "mud") of Glibusa ("muddy") and Hutovo Blato ("swampy") which flank Ilios to the east and west. See TROY.

The forces under A gamemnon have now been on Trojan soil for 9 years, ready to board their ships, round the tip of Neriton which has kept them hidden from Trojan view, and launch a final assault on the Trojan mainland. It is easy to see the symbolism of a 9-month pregnancy and subsequent birth in the landing of a myriad men on the Skamandros delta, a territory once occupied by the Pygmies, but now held by the Ari(e)moi (a Trojan tribe).

The events which follow last 36 months. Thus, the Iliad occupies a period of 12 months, from the beginning to the end, a nice number for having a self-evident association with the 12 houses of the Zodiac. This time-line seems of little relevance until it is compared with that of the Odyssey. See: TIME-LINE.

The Iliad treats of many events in the remote past. However, as regards the present, the Trojan War, the diverse dieties (which interfere in the affairs of us mortals) ought be understood as allusions to the planets. Therefore, the narration, from the beginning, is a detailed ephemerides of celestial configurations: all the men and women of the narration possess the totemic identity of some creature of the animal kingdom (that is not mankind itself). It is for this reason that Danaans and Trojans alike are wanting in free will, and, like all creatures of the animal kingdom (with the exception of humans), obey to the invisible forces of nature which are manifest at different periods throughout the year, year after year, ad perpetuam*.