The Role of the Plague in the "Iliad" Author(s): Daniel R. Blickman Source: Classical Antiquity, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Apr., 1987), pp. 1-10 Published by: University of California Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25010855 . Accessed: 05/10/2014 18:07 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. University of California Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Classical Antiquity. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 76.72.144.32 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 18:07:50 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions DANIEL R. BLICKMAN The Role of the Plague in the Iliad IN HIS FAMOUSstudy of image and symbol in the Aeneid, Viktor P6schl remarks thatHomer does not use the plague motif to set themood of the Iliad in the same way that Virgil does through the opening storm at sea.1Homeric scholars have concurred insofar as the episode of the plague is discussed mainly as the occasion of Agamemnon and Achilles' quarrel.2Yet this drama should not blind us to the role of the plague in setting the tone for what follows, nor, more importantly, in providing an ethical pattern which lies near the heart of the story.