Misprison in the Para-Narratives of Iliad 9

Maureen Alden's recent book, Homer Beside Himself, explores Phoenix's para-narratives from Iliad 9. However, different emphases in Phoenix's biography, the "Ainos of the Litai" and the paradeigma of Meleager challenge some of Alden's readings. The biography illustrates and validates Achilles' option to return home rather than demeaning the choice of a long and obscure life. The "Ainos of the Litai" suggests why Achilles could (not should) accept Agamemnon's gifts from the embassy without expecting Agamemnon's personal capitulation or even hiketeia. Finally, the paradeigma of Meleager entails Achilles' distortion of Phoenix's argument in favor of accepting the gifts. This episode functions as dramatic irony: Homer's audience understands that Meleager's wife "Cleopatra" represents Patroclus, but the characters in the world of the epic have no such understanding.