extraction.iliad_pope.apollo_plague_divine_vengeance
---
record_id: extraction.iliad_pope.apollo_plague_divine_vengeance
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK I, The Contention of Achilles and Agamemnon
start: Achilles wrath, to Greece the direful spring
end: Phbus dart his burning shafts no more.
translation: The Iliad of Homer, translated by Alexander Pope
notes: Opening plague sequence following Agamemnon's rejection of Chryses.
canonical_text:
summary: After Agamemnon rejects Chryses, the priest prays to Apollo, who descends
from Olympus and sends a plague through the Greek camp until Achilles calls for
inquiry into Apollo's anger.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Chryses comes as a suppliant with Apollo's sacred signs and asks for his daughter
to be returned.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Agamemnon refuses the request and dismisses the priest.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Chryses prays to Apollo for vengeance against the Greeks.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Apollo descends from Olympus and sends fatal arrows into the Greek camp.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Achilles calls for a prophet or sacred sage to explain the cause of Apollo's
rage and how to remove it.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Apollo / Phbus
description: The god who answers Chryses' prayer and sends the plague through the
Greek camp.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Chryses
description: Priest and father who supplicates the Greek kings and prays to Apollo
after being refused.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Agamemnon / Atrides
description: The king whose refusal of the priest is linked to Apollo's plague.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Achilles
description: The Greek chief who convenes the assembly and asks how Apollo's anger
may be explained and appeased.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: avenging deity
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Apollo hears Chryses and sends fatal shafts into the Greek camp.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: dishonored priest-suppliant
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Chryses approaches with sacred signs and later prays for Apollo to avenge
him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: offending king
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The poem explicitly ties the people's deaths to the king's offence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: crisis convener
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Achilles calls the Greeks together and asks for prophetic diagnosis of Apollo's
rage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: laurel crown and golden rod
literal_form: Apollo's ensigns carried by Chryses
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: silver bow
literal_form: Apollo's bow and arrows
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: plague pyres
literal_form: nine nights of funeral pyres
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Rejected supplication
summary: Chryses approaches the Greek kings with Apollo's signs and ransom gifts,
but Agamemnon dismisses him.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Apollo's plague
summary: Chryses prays for vengeance, Apollo descends from Olympus, and his arrows
bring death to the camp.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Search for cause and appeasement
summary: Achilles convenes the Greeks and calls for a prophet or sacred sage to
identify Apollo's rage and how it may be removed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine_intervention
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Apollo personally answers a priest's prayer and intervenes in the war through
plague-arrows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: No exact divine_intervention taxonomy family exists; label is local and
descriptive.
- id: motif:2
label: divine_judgment
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Apollo's destructive response is linked to Agamemnon's offence against his
priest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage frames vengeance and appeasement rather than a moral court
or universal judgment.
- id: motif:3
label: plague_as_sacred_retribution
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The plague is explained as Apollo's rage and may be removed through ritual
diagnosis and appeasement.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a local motif candidate and should be checked against Greek epic
scholarship.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage is a candidate divine-intervention and sacred-retribution scene
in which a dishonored priest's prayer brings destructive god-sent consequences
on a whole army.
claim_level: same_function
target: pattern atlas divine intervention and divine judgment records
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: Corpus-internal comparison only; the record does not claim equivalence
with monotheistic judgment or later plague traditions.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: BOOK I
quote_or_summary: Chryses stands as a suppliant with Apollo's ensigns and asks the
Greek kings to release his captive daughter.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: BOOK I
quote_or_summary: Agamemnon rejects Chryses, and the poem says that for the king's
offence the people died.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: BOOK I
quote_or_summary: God of the silver bow! thy shafts employ, Avenge thy servant,
and the Greeks destroy.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: BOOK I
quote_or_summary: Apollo descends from Olympus, his arrows strike animals and then
men, and the funeral pyres burn for nine nights.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: BOOK I
quote_or_summary: Achilles asks for a prophet or sacred sage to explore Apollo's
rage and learn how the vengeance may be removed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: low
notes: Passage-level extraction from Pope's public-domain translation; needs Greek
epic review.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
notes: Draft extraction for cross-cultural motif indexing.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Created under Worker B scope for The Iliad (Pope).