Irony in The Iliad

In The Iliad, Homer uses irony and prophecy to stir up the emotions of his reader. Particularly Homer uses dramatic irony for the purpose of causing the reader to become sympathetic toward the characters. Dramatic irony is used so that the reader is aware of something that the character is not. During the scene where Achilles is in a never ending chase after Hector, Zeus and Athena converse allowing only the reader to know the fate of the two men. The reader is aware that Athena has tricked Hector into fighting Achilles by pretending to be his brother, Diephobus. When Achilles first misses Hector, Hector believes that the gods are on his side as they once were and he proclaims it to Achilles. However, the reader already knows that soon Hector will be the one who is killed. Such irony intrigues a reader and causes him to fear for Hector. Once Hector sadly realizes he has been tricked by Athena he says, “Death is coming close and there is no escape, Zeus and Apollo must have chosen this long ago, even though they used to be on my side”. Homer is successful in the use of irony to keep his reader engaged in the battles in The Iliad.