The Iliad, Notes 2 and 3

Great Books Notes

Elitism

"Sirrah, hold your peace, and listen to better men than yourself...we cannot all be kings; it is not well that there should be many masters; one man must be supreme -- one king to whom the son of scheming Saturn has given the scepter of sovereignty over you all."

The Iliad, GB4, 12a, 2

This is a very explicit statement of hierarchy and of divinely ordained kingship. People are not equal, in the speaker's worldview. The gods have chosen masters and servants. It is the nature of things that one man must be supreme and it would cause problems if there were too many masters.

The Syntopicon doesn't contain a listing for [[Hierarchy]], but it probably should. It does contain one for [[Divine Right of Kings]] and for [[Sovereignty]].

Age and Wisdom

"Young men's minds are light as air, but when an old man comes he looks before and after, deeming that which shall be fairest upon both sides."

The Iliad, GB4, 20a, 3

Menelaus supports bringing King Priam to negotiate on behalf of the Trojans rather than his sons, whom he says are "high-handed and ill to trust". This may be based on sincere respect for age and wisdom or from an expectation of a better outcome negotiating with an aged king rather than his warrior sons. Whatever Menelaus' motives, his justification probably represents widely-held beliefs about the ability of older people to judge more calmly and justly.

[[WISDOM]] and [[JUSTICE]] are both Great Ideas in The Syntopicon and [[Age]] is in the keywords index.