Bible and the Illiad
Introduction
Violence is a recurring theme throughout the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible through the opening chapters of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Samuel I and II, Kings, and Isaiah, is overflowing with texts of violence. This is mainly demonstrated in the actions of such major Old Testament figures as David, Saul, and Solomon who apply great degree of violence to keep the chosen people of Yahweh from the alien practices and beliefs of neighboring or indigenous peoples. In their quest for the Promised Land, following God’s command, the Hebrew rulers strived to have every enemy man, woman and child slain at the point of the sword (Niditch, 1993). The violence in the Hebrew Bible reads like a plagiarized version of Homer’s Iliad, an Greek epic that narrates the violent destruction of Troy city between 1250-1200 B.C. The Iliad is our ancient epic that celebrated heroic violence along with the glory of combat. With the help of a secret weapon that contained clandestine “special operations” troops, the coalition of Greek armies successfully brought down Troy following 10 years of bloody war.
Theme of violence
The theme of violence is well pronounced in both the Hebrew Bible and Homer’s Iliad. The description of the armor in 1 Samuel 17 is to a large extent similar to the Greek armor worn by warriors during the sixth century BC. Further, there are striking similarities in the narrative formulae of the two texts. For instance, the settling of battle through a single duel between champions in the Hebrew Bible is highly typical of the Homeric epics told in Homer’s Iliad. The biblical story of Goliath and David highly resembles the battle scene between young Nestor and the giant Ereuthalion in Homer’s Illiad (Niditch, 1993). Goliath weilds a massive bronze spear same as Ereuthalion’s iron club, and are both clad in armor challenging a whole army of the opponent’s army. Season warriors of the opponent are afraid to face the giants, and in each case the youngest members of their respective families (Nester the twelfth of Neleus and David the last of Jesse) step up to face violence head on (Jantzen, 2004). The young warriors defeat the giants, and their armies pursue their fleeing opponents to slaughter them and return home with their bodies. The Bible further recounts that David killed tens of thousands of adversaries.
Homer’s Iliad also both compares and contrast well with the Biblical figure David. Same as the Greek warrior Achilles, David was charismatic and had a massive troop of loyal soldiers as well as adoring women. The young godlike Achilles was a skilled warrior who killed many men, including Hector the prince of Troy during a climactic duel (Jantzen, 2004). In similar fashion, David first earned fame at age 17 when he became the slayer of the Philistine Terminator, Goliath. Also, the two historic warriors were skilled players of the lyre, which was a stringed musical instrument and this helped subdue the violent urges in either men. The same way Achilles’ best friend was his male cousin called Patroclus, Old Testament David had close friendship with King Saul’s son Jonathan. Patroclus would be killed in a violent battle, inspiring Achilles to assume an active role in the anti-Trojan coalition. Similarly, Jonathan was slain in battle, and the Bible recounts that David mourned the loss at length. On learning about the death of his comrade Patroclus, Achilles becomes violent and a slave of the great rage that builds up within him. Achilles’ exaction of revenge and wrath against the slayer of Patroclus, prince Hector of Tray, results in unprecedented turmoil (Jantzen, 2004). The slain prince’s body is found lying grossly exposed and mutilated in Achilles’ camp when King Priam comes to retrieve it. This serves as a candid testament to Achilles’ violent temper. Similarly, Achilles has a moment of vaunting before his fallen adversary in a famous passage where he taunts the beaten Lycaon who tries to offer ransom and beg for his dear life. Achilles shows no mercy and declares: “You too, my friend, must die. Why so sad?” (Niditch, 1993).
On the hand, however, the characters of Biblical David and Greek warrior Achilles have notable differences, which reflect the dichotomy between classic Hebrew and Greek perspectives of human behavior and the concept of violence. In Homer’s Iliad, it is declared that “…the will of Zeus will always overpower the will of men,” indicating the gods controlled his life, actions and consequences and thus Archilles could never escape his fate (Niditch, 1993). On the contrary, while the Hebrew Bible describes David’s own great military triumphs and religious poetry, his shortcomings such as many wives, concubines and disappointing rebellious children is not attributed to God or fate. Unlike Achilles, David shapes his own fate through his acts of bravery, beauty cruelty and callousness. When King David takes another man’s wife, Bethsheba, and impregnates her, he opts to legitimize the scandal by arranging for violent death of the husband. He orders his general Joab to place Uriah in an outright dangerous position in the battle field so that he can be violently killed by the enemy (Jantzen, 2004). Even after Uriah’s death, David shows no remorse by telling Joab, “Do not let this thing be evil in your eyes, for the sword devours now one and now another” (2 Sam. 11:25).
The final and defining moment of biblical legend Samson shows parallels with Homer’s Iliad. Samson’s violent murder of self and 1000 Philistines is most akin to the revenge of Achilles when his beloved cousin Patroklus is killed in battle by the Achaeans (Jantzen, 2004). In the same irrational way that Achilles goes about revenging Patroklus’ death, Samson (upon learning that his Philistine woman – Delilah – has been given out to another man) embarks on a destructive rampage, refuse to conduct himself rationally until he kills many Philistines (Niditch, 1993). This typically mirrors the aspects of a Homeric menis i.e. the affront, the dreadful consequences, as well as the indulgence of the rage only after the mad acts vengeance have occurred.
Conclusion
Homer’s Iliad and the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) have a recurring theme of violence. The main characters in the Iliad such as Achilles and Nestor portray violent tendencies the same as Biblical figures of David, Solomon, and Saul. The violence in the two ancient scripts has inspired violence in subsequent generations, particularly the Hebrew Bible which has been referred to justify the persecution, extermination, and subjugation of others beyond its own reality. As such, understanding the attitudes towards violence in the Hebrew Bible helps understand violence in general, its motivations, rationalization and justifications of the violence wages and related cultural and historical issues.
References:
Jantzen, G. (2004). Foundations of Violence, Volume 1. United Kingdom: Psychology Press.
Niditch, S. (1993). War in the Hebrew Bible: A study in the ethics of violence. New York: Oxford University Press.
