Hiketeia, or ritual supplication, is when an individual clasps the knees another person to ask for a favor. The Iliad uses hiketeia to establish a sense of authority for characters such as Zeus and Achilles by creating a feeling of indebtedness through the “generosity”. Thetis, Priam and Achilles are given power in the Book One passages as well as the Book Twenty-Four passages by granting their hiketeia request.
Thetis is an immortal god who performed hiketeia on Zeus in Book One. She holds him with both hands by his knees and face. Thetis pleads with him to honor her son after Agamemnon humiliated him before his troops. Zeus grants the Trojans their victory while Agamemnon is desperate for Achilles return to fight. The request can’t be refused casually because hiketeia, a sacred moment of subjection and submission to the gods, is a sacred event. When a baiter receives hiketeia from someone, he is indebted. Zeus, in spite of the death of thousands of people and the punishments of his wife, agrees with this request because Thetis has saved him from Olympians. Hera could be here.
I will make sure that this happens. I will make it happen.
You can have my head.
It is important to remember that mortals have their own gods.
The most authentic and strongest sign I can provide is “I am here”.
Nothing can be taken back from me.
No treachery or unfinished business
Homer (94): Once I bow my neck to say, it is done.
Zeus’s decision is seen by the gods as generous, so Zeus gains a lot of power over Thetis. Zeus has gained a great deal of power over Thetis because she knows that Zeus is going to anger Hera and other gods if he grants her wish.
Zeus utilizes the power he had over Thetis from Book One. Achilles kills Hector and drags his corpse around the city in a chariot to humiliate him for killing Patroclus. Achilles makes the gods angry. Zeus tells Thetis that Achilles must return Hector’s corpse to Hector’s relatives. Thetis obeys Zeus and knows this even before she is told what he wants.
What is the Great God’s desire for me?
I can’t stand to be with immortals.
Oh the torment–never-ending heartbreak!
I will go. I will go.
It must not be a waste of time–whatever the command (Homer, 591).
Zeus sends Iris a message for Priam to Hector’s Father. Iris orders Priam go to Achilles’ camp and pay a bribe for Hector. Hermes protects Priam as he travels to Achilles’ camp. Priam performed hiketeia as soon as he saw Achilles. Achilles weepingly embraces his knees, kissing both hands, and begs to understand that this is the father of fifty sons all of whom have died in war. Achilles’ guilt at thinking of his father overwhelms him and he agrees to give back Hector’s body. Achilles does not give in because of guilt. Zeus’s (via Thetis), order for him to return Thetis’s body is already in his hands. This is also a great opportunity for him. Achilles gains power over Priam by granting his request. This also makes him appear as a compromising ruler who is generous and fair.
Achilles blames fate for what happened and expresses “sorrow” at the outcome. Achilles is angry with Priam when he demands to see Hector in his own presence. Achilles’ guards collect the ransom and use capes on Hector to make him look more presentable. He knows Priam will be angry if Priam sees the corpse of his son. So he kills Priam. Zeus would be angry if Priam killed him, because it was an abomination. Achilles insults Priam even more by telling to eat together and stay overnight before he sees Hector’s corpse, because Niobe too “turned to food her thoughts” after her children had been killed. Achilles advances his secret agenda of power by offering Priam greater generosity. He delays the war to allow time for Hector’s burial. Achilles tries to disguise the fact that this war-delay was likely a custom.
In these two passages, hiketeia confers power to Zeus and Achilles over the solicitor. Zeus, infinitely stronger than Achilles and other gods, can settle an old deb with Thetis by granting hiketeia. This allows him to control her in the future. Zeus grants Thetis’s wish without any thought. He knows that even though Hera will be angry, he can still gain control over his wife by threatening her. Thetis knows that Zeus will suffer if she does not perform the ritual.
Achilles, on the other hand, is forced by Zeus to perform hiketeia. He does so in order to gain more power within the mortal realm. Achilles hears from Thetis, who is Zeus, that Zeus is angry and wants him to return Hector’s body. When Priam gives hiketeia he sees how obeying Zeus the right way can give him power and an edge over Agamemnon. Priam rewards Achilles for returning Hector’s corpse with the clothing and treasures that an emperor would have. Agamemnon is not in possession of these symbols. In a show of “generosity”, he offers Priam a war delay to bury Priam, but this may be merely based on social custom. After his mutiny, Achilles shows his Achaeans his mercy by allowing Hector to be buried. Agamemnon did not do this and let thousands of troops die, because he was unwilling to compromise. Achilles uses the indebtedness of gift-giving in order to satisfy his own ego and finally avenge his rivalry between Agamemnon.
Zeus, like Achilles, grants hiketeia in order to advance their own self-interests. Hiketeia is a way to gain power over another while seeming merciful and compromising–characteristics which neither Zeus nor Achilles actually possess. Zeus & Achilles both took advantage of the opportunity to show their authority by granting requests in influential positions, gifting and showing generosity. The passages in Book One and Book Twenty Four demonstrate how much power can be gained by “generously” giving hiketeia.
