![]() But at the same time, it takes on an increasingly ambivalent aspect as the notion that thaumata can be fabricated by humans of their own accord, rather than being produced by and belonging to the natural world or divinely sanctioned by the gods, takes hold. On the one hand, thauma is increasingly seen to play a vital role within the realm of intellectual endeavour as a force which is able to highlight ignorance, provoke curiosity and act as a spur towards the acquisition of new or modified knowledge. By the end of the fifth century BCE the potential impact of the emotional and cognitive effects of thauma are subject to an increasing level of scrutiny. Not only is thauma consistently conceived of as an emotional reaction to the recognition that what was initially perceived to be radically ‘other’ is in some sense uncannily familiar, and vice versa it is also seen as a sort of catalyst which kickstarts the cognitive processes of realisation and learning which potentially ensue as a result of this recognition. Recognition ( anagnorisis) is configured from Homer onwards as producing an inherently astonishing effect on both an emotional and cognitive level. It is precisely the double-edged impact of thauma as both an emotional and cognitive response that this chapter explores in more detail. For wonder is also one of the predominant emotional responses which the young warrior and the old king feel in each other’s presence at the mutual recognition of the similarities which exist between them, as well as an effect of the cognitive realisation that their current situations are perhaps not as diametrically opposed as they might have appeared at first glance. ![]() Achilles first marvels at Priam’s sudden quasi-epiphanic appearance, but as the scene draws on it becomes clear that this is not the only aspect of their mutual wonder which these lines draw to our attention. Before pity is provoked by Priam’s supplicatory actions and words, it is wonder which is thrust to the forefront of our attention. Footnote 1 But pity is not the only emotional keynote which this scene explores. The emergence of pity as the foremost emotion aroused in Achilles, and by extension in us the audience, has been emphasised by recent critics as perhaps the most essential element in the success of book 24 as a fitting closure to the action of the Iliad as a whole. Wrath (μῆνις), the emotion which is held up in the poem’s first line as the essential motivation of the Iliad’s entire narrative, and which is at the forefront of Achilles’ mind from the moment he loses Briseis, finally gives way to pity over the course of this encounter. The climactic meeting of Achilles and Priam in the middle of the Iliad’s final book has long been considered one of the most moving episodes in the entire Greek literary tradition. And Priam entreated him, and said this to him: ‘Remember your father, godlike Achilles, of similar age to me, on the deadly threshold of old age’. ![]() And just as when suffocating madness has come over a man, who has killed someone in his own country and comes to the country of other people, to the house of a wealthy man, and wonder takes hold of those who look at him, in this way Achilles wondered seeing godlike Priam, and the others wondered as well, and looked at each other. Unnoticed by them great Priam came in, and then after standing next to him took Achilles’ knees in his hands and kissed his hands, the terrible man-slaying hands which had slaughtered many of his sons. And Achilles had just turned away from his food, from eating and drinking, and the table still lay beside him. He found him there, but his companions sat far off two of them alone, warrior Automedon and Alkimos, scion of Ares, were busily attending to him. ![]() And the old man went straight to the house where Achilles dear to Zeus was accustomed to sit.
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