19. In Book 1 of "The Iliad", a god has sent a pestilence to the Greek army and must be propitiated by hecatombs. Which god, who is known to bring sudden death, is this bringer of plague?
From Quiz A Prayer to the Immortals
Answer:
Apollo
This episode is fraught with consequences, because it triggers the wrath of Achilles and his subsequent withdrawal from battle.
Chriseis, the daughter of a priest of Apollo, Chrises, is a captive of Agamemnon, who won't release her or let her be ransomed. "I have set my heart on keeping her in my own house, for I love her better even than my own wife Clytemnestra, whose peer she is alike in form and feature, in understanding and accomplishments. Still I will give her up if I must, for I would have the people live, not die; but you must find me a prize instead, or I alone among the Argives shall be without one. This is not well; for you behold, all of you, that my prize is to go elsewhither." (Translated by S. Butler) It is primarily a matter of honour: King Agamemnon refuses to be slighted. Achilles must be slighted instead, because Agamemnon seizes his own favourite captive, Briseis. The plague is averted, but the Greeks' best warrior retires in his tent and won't come out until the death of Patroclus.
Apollo and his sister Artemis are both archers and bringers of disease, especially sudden death and plague. People are stricken quickly and die, as a sign of divine punition, as if struck by arrows. In the Middle Ages, a correlation was still seen between the plague and arrows, because Saint Sebastian, a protector of plague victims, was depicted as pierced by arrows.
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