Erida

ER ree da

Εριδα

The Goddess, Hate

The wearisome goddess Erida can best be understood by reading the opening lines of Book 11 of The Iliad. After Eos (Dawn) sheds her gentle light on mortals and Immortals alike, Zeus sends Erida to the encampment of the Achaians (Achaeans). She stands on the centermost of the beached vessels and SCREAMS!!! The hearts of the soldiers are hardened as they awaken. They no longer remember their fathers or their wives and children. They rise from their beds with the screams of Hate ringing in their ears. In their hearts, they long for the sweetness of battle. Only blood will dispel the sanguine thrust that Erida has evoked.

Erida in The Iliad

(listed by book and line from four different translations)

Richmond Lattimore

• 11.004 - Zeus sent down in speed to the fast ships of the Achaians the wearisome goddess of Hate (Erida), holding the portent of battle in her hands

Loeb Classical Library

• 11.004 - Zeus sent Strife (Erida) to the swift ships of the Achaeans, gruesome Strife, holding in her hands a portent of war

Robert Fagles

• 11.003 - Zeus flung Strife (Erida) on Achaea' fast ships, the brutal goddess flaring his storm-shield, his monstrous sign of war in both her fists

Robert Fitzgerald

• 11.004 - Zeus commanded Strife (Erida) down to the beachhead, hard-bitten goddess, bearing in her hands the stormcloud sign of war