Recently I was saddened by the
news of a horse who dropped dead from exhaustion in Chile. Yet those news of a
horse reaching the end of his strength reminded me of a beautiful story in the
Iliad of a pair of noble horses who at the limit of their effort cried
abundant tears. Although I am not an ancient scholar, I would say this is the oldest text I know of in defense of animal feelings.
In Iliad’s book 17 Homer sings
how the two immortal horses of Achilles cried for the death of Patroclus, his
corpse covered in dust and blood. The horses detained their race and looked down upon their fallen master, so young and beautiful. Just a few moments before he was full of life and the two animals remembered his fond caresses and love tenderly. Automedon, companion of Patroclus and the
rider of the horse carriage, tries to push the exhausted animals, mixing pleas
and lashes. Yet the horses do not move, unable to raise their eyes from the sad
body of their beautiful young master lain on the ground, immobile just as equine statues over a tomb. They cry
ardent tears from their black eyes, disconsolately shaking their long manes. Zeus
from his heavenly throne looks upon the suffering animals “Unhappy pair, why
did we give you, ageless and immortal, to that mortal king, Peleus? Did we mean
you to sorrow with these wretched men? For what is there more miserable than
man, among all the things that move and breathe on earth?” The 20th
century poet Cavafy in his short poem “The horses of Achilles” follows Homer’s
poem almost line by line and yet he adds a surprising twist! For those horses
were far more sensitive and human than the great Zeus imagined – they cried not just for the gentle Patroclus, but also for all the endless deaths of
war:
At that instant Homer relates the
two animals recovered strength, shook the dust from their dark fur and took
Automedon far from the murderous battle, so that at least one of their masters
survived the horror. To me this is one of the most
moving scenes of European literature and one that shows that Homer, even
without a sophisticated literary technique, was able to depict beautiful images
in its war epic. I do not feel it was a mere coincidence that the epic poet
dedicated some of his most beautiful phrases to two horses, for he wanted to
show how heartfelt and noble the feelings in animals were. Some of the great
kings and royal kin in the Iliad fail to show such depth of emotion.
However, Homer did not just write
about the nobility of animals and went on to do something even more original by
scripting the first environmental defense! On book 21 of the Iliad, the warrior
Achilles wishes to avenge his friend Patroclus and kills all the enemies he
can, throwing their corpses to the river Xanthus. The river Xanthus stinks with
the pestilence of rotten bodies and its waters run full of blood and flesh. The
great river god asks Achilles to stop contaminating its waters, formerly clean
and crystalline. Achilles replies that he will throw whatever he wants wherever
he so chooses! The great river god then raises himself, pounding with turbulent
waters and tides upon Achilles who begins to drown. Achilles is only saved
thanks to the help of the god Vulcan who burns the river with fire.
These are two beautiful and
entirely original scenes in Homer, ones of which we do not find of a similar
kind in all of Greek mythology. This leads me to believe that doubtless Homer
was an animal rights and environmental activist, the first one in history! The
images show the horses of Achilles mourning for Patroclus, Automedon attempting
to control the horses, and Achilles drowning in the river Xanthus. A friend of
mine also reminded me that the great philosopher Nietzche suffered an emotional
collapse after witnessing a horse being flogged, the first event of a prolonged
sickness that led to his death.
