Athena's Web Weekly Column
Week of December 12th - December 18th, 2003
Chapter IX
The Spirit of Fire
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The Sun continues its journey through Sagittarius, the 9th sign of the zodiac. The Lord of this mutable fire sign is Jupiter, known to the Greeks as Zeus. Astrologically, this theme deals with connections to morality, spirituality, foreign peoples and lands, and those we send to deal with foreigners, such as ambassadors and emissaries.
If our hypothesis is correct that the Iliad was written with astrological design in mind, then the 9th book of this work should correspond to the 9th sign of the zodiac. In this chapter we would expect Sagittarian themes to be laid out, with illustrations about how the energy translates into life. Because Sagittarius is a mutable fire sign, it's energy can burn hot, but vacillates in it's intensity and longevity. There is great enthusiasm, but it is generally short lived. We hear this theme being woven into the design as Diomedes admonishes Agamemnon about his 'power' from Zeus, "In your case, honored by all men, but no staying power- the greatest gift of all." The flip side to fire's spirituality is it's vanity, when people misinterpret divine design as their own doing. Diomedes again tells the assembly, speaking of Achilles, he is a proud man; now you have pushed him far deeper into his vanity and pride. By god, let us have done with him- whether he goes or stays! He'll fight again when the time comes, whenever his blood is up or the god rouses him." We can see fire's enthusiasm for action. The Greeks troops in this chapter are surrounded by a thousand Trojan watchfires, and Nestor wonders, "What Akhaian (Greek) Fire is used to frame Patroklos in a spiritual light,
made the hearth blaze up. When the leaping flame had ebbed and died away, he raked the coals and in the flow extended spits of meat, lifting these at time from the firestones..." Throughout this chapter, an emphasis is placed upon prayer, and how to pray to the gods, "Burnt offerings, Aside from all these references, the entire book is devoted to sending emissaries to Achilles in an attempt to win him back into the battle.
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