Like Leaves on a Tree

A scene from Homer's Iliad

In a famous scene from Homer’s Iliad, two enemy warriors from the Greek and Trojan ranks meet on the battlefield at Troy. The Achaean hero Diomedes asks his impressive-looking opponent who he is. The Lycian Glaucus disdainfully replies “Why do you ask about my lineage?” He goes on:

                     "Just like the life of leaves is that of men:
                       The wind blows some to earth, but then again
                       in spring the forest blooms, and new leaves grow.
                       So, too, men’s generations come and go."

                    οἵη περ φύλλων γενεὴ τοίη δὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν.
                    φύλλα τὰ μέν τ᾽ ἄνεμος χαμάδις χέει, ἄλλα δέ θ᾽ ὕλη
                    τηλεθόωσα φύει, ἔαρος δ᾽ ἐπιγίγνεται ὥρη.
                    ὣς ἀνδρῶν γενεὴ ἣ μὲν φύει ἣ δ᾽ ἀπολήγει.
                                                                                                     Iliad 6.146-9

Glaucus’s noble words – or Homer’s – were quoted down the centuries. They encapsulate a sense of the transience of human life and endeavour. We live, we die, and others live in our place. Our individual identity is of little importance in the great scheme of time and nature.

Yet the irony is that in Homer’s epic the individual hero is all-important; and so it proves in this case. After Glaucus gives details of his background, Diomedes delightedly plants his spear in the earth and tells him that their families were friends of old: their grandfathers had met and gave each other valuable gifts, which were passed down. The warriors grasp hands and agree not to fight, and instead exchange armour as a pledge of their friendship. Homer can’t resist pointing out that Diomedes does better than Glaucus by the exchange, since his armour was made of bronze and Glaucus’s was made of gold – more than ten times as valuable.

Even if individual lives are unimportant in the end, every individual matters. One day human life on earth may disappear, but while human beings are around there will be nobility, tragedy, and humour.