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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Foreshadowing
Explanation and Analysis—Patroclus's Death:
Book 16 of the Iliad contains a significant amount of foreshadowing, dramatic irony, and situational irony, as Patroclus is sent off to fight in Achilles's armor. In addition to offering the reader details about what will take place, Homer also stages an asymmetry of knowledge between the various characters. In the end, Patroclus's participation in battle makes Achilles rejoin the fighting—but it also brings consequences that none of the characters foresaw.
Related Themes:
Foreshadowing
Explanation and Analysis—Fall of Troy:
The Iliad is a retrospective narrative—not only does the narrator know how things will turn out, he also often explicitly mentions events to come. Because of omens and prophecies, the characters themselves even have a certain awareness of both their personal fates and the war's larger outcome. As a result, the poem is marked by continuous foreshadowing, both on the narrative level and in the dialogue between the characters. Homer doesn't actually depict the fall of Troy in the Iliad, but the narrative is driven by the narrator's and characters' sense that it will soon take place.
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Related Themes:
Book 2
Explanation and Analysis—Bird Signs:
Throughout the Iliad, the mortals interpret the movement of birds as omens from Zeus. These omens—one of which appears in a flashback—serve to foreshadow the end of the narrative and the outcome of the war. Through the motif of bird signs, Homer emphasizes the mortal characters' powerlessness over their fates.
In Book 2, Odysseus looks back on one of the days before they set out towards Troy. He describes the Achaean forces "milling round" and making sacrifices, "when a great omen appeared." Odysseus develops the flashback in great detail: first, a snake slides up a tree and gulps up eight baby sparrows and their mother; then, the snake turns to stone. According to Odysseus, it was Zeus who "sent the serpent forth" and "turned him into a sign." He then goes on to quote Calchas's interpretation of the omen:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As the snake devoured the sparrow with her brood,
eight and the mother made the ninth, she’d borne them all,
so we will fight in Troy that many years and then,
then in the tenth we’ll take her broad streets.’
Related Themes:
Book 12
Explanation and Analysis—Bird Signs:
Throughout the Iliad, the mortals interpret the movement of birds as omens from Zeus. These omens—one of which appears in a flashback—serve to foreshadow the end of the narrative and the outcome of the war. Through the motif of bird signs, Homer emphasizes the mortal characters' powerlessness over their fates.
In Book 2, Odysseus looks back on one of the days before they set out towards Troy. He describes the Achaean forces "milling round" and making sacrifices, "when a great omen appeared." Odysseus develops the flashback in great detail: first, a snake slides up a tree and gulps up eight baby sparrows and their mother; then, the snake turns to stone. According to Odysseus, it was Zeus who "sent the serpent forth" and "turned him into a sign." He then goes on to quote Calchas's interpretation of the omen:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As the snake devoured the sparrow with her brood,
eight and the mother made the ninth, she’d borne them all,
so we will fight in Troy that many years and then,
then in the tenth we’ll take her broad streets.’
Related Themes:
