Merriam-Webster defines a multitude as “the state of being many” or “a great number” or “a great number of people”. In the case of the Iliad, I think the definition that is most appropriate is “a great number of people”. Because there are a lot of people mentioned in this particular book.
So. Many. Names. A multitude of names if you will.
This chapter starts off with what I suspect will continue to be a staple in The Iliad – a god scheming and lying. This time it is Zeus who sends a “deadly dream” to Agamemnon telling him to continue the war against the Trojans. Athena is also a intervening factor in this book, she seems to play the role of messenger a lot so far.
Other than that, the only remaining interesting things of note in this book – Odysseus is an asshole to the soldiers and maybe just in general. The Trojan war has been going on for nine years; the soldiers want to go home but because Agamemnon got a lie of a dream from Zeus, the tenth year is going to be the year they win. Obviously. Ah, the dramatic irony.
The rest of the ship is a roll call of every ship in the fleet and their respective commanders and where they are from. A lot of names. This is apparently known as the Catalogue of Ships and there is some debate as to whether this was originally present in the poem or something that was added on later. Suffice to say, I certainly won’t be remembering most if not all these names and I will have to come back to this book for reference.
That’s all I’ve got for this book. Here’s hoping the next one is more interesting!