著者

古澤 香乃

出版者

日本西洋古典学会

雑誌

西洋古典学研究 (ISSN:04479114)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.60, pp.1-13, 2012

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Achilles, returning to the battlefield, begins with a duel against Aeneas in book 20. Subsequently he fights his first duel with Hector in the same book. These two scenes are similar in structure and in elements which may be said to form doublets. They have four components in common: 1. an intervention by Apollo; 2. a dialogue and a duel proper; 3. divine rescue of an opponent; 4. Achilles' slaying of a series of minor warriors. The aim of this paper is to show how the two duels function as doublets in book 20, and in the whole battle of Achilles ranging from book 20 to book 22. First, despite their similarities, these two duels are different in detail, length, and elaboration. 1. Apollo's instruction to Aeneas/Hector and their reactions to him are in contradiction with each other. 2. The dialogues and the duels are contrasted in the space devoted to them and in their content. Achilles urges Aeneas to withdraw and has a long verbal exchange with him; however, in the case of Hector, Achilles demands that he come closer and they finish their conversation promptly. 3. Aeneas/Hector is rescued by Poseidon/Apollo. But Achilles complains about Hector's disappearance much more. 4. Achilles ferociously kills more than twice the number of minor warriors after the duel with Hector compared to the duel with Aeneas. The poet must have intended to depict the increase in Achilles' rage and the fierceness of his battle by contrasting the two duels. It still remains to address the subject of fate itself with relevance to the above contrast. The different fates of three antagonists in these duels are related from the viewpoint of the gods; Aeneas' survival after the Trojan War, Hector's death and the fall of Troy, and Achilles' death after Hector's, and therefore all three characters' fates are mutually contrasted. It is obvious that the doublets are composed so as to reflect the opposite fates of Aeneas and Hector, which together prepare for the climax in book 22. The two duels function not just as a preparation, but as important structural elements of the whole battle of Achilles. The duel of Achilles and Aeneas includes the episode of Aeneas' past duel with Achilles and his rescue at Zeus' hands. Then the actual duel is interrupted during the dialogue between the gods, who grant him his salvation and he is rescued again by a god, Poseidon. It turns out that Aeneas is depicted as the one who survives the past, the present, and the future (that is, the fall of Troy). On the other hand, Hector is saved by Apollo as Aeneas has been saved by a god. Nevertheless everyone must expect Hector to be killed in the near future since his death has been predicted. Indeed, his salvation is rejected in the dialogue between the gods in book 22, and accordingly Apollo leaves him to his death. The poet, incorporating the past and future aspects into the doublets, constructs the multilayered narrative structure in the whole battle of Achilles where the scenes are closely linked to each other through these divine motifs. Accordingly, the poet at once prepares for the climax in book 22 by the doublets in book 20 and depicts the climax as contrasting to the fate of Aeneas mentioned in the duel in book 20. Furthermore the fact that such duels are set out in the earlier battle scene of Achilles hints at the fact that he is approaching his own death because he is doomed to die shortly after Hector's death. Therefore the two duels seen as doublets ultimately permit us to foresee the outcome of "the wrath of Achilles".