Hair pulling in ancient literature - Part Two: Homer's Iliad

Hair pulling behaviour is frequently manifested by characters in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, particularly at times of great emotional stress.  In this blog page we look at hair pulling in The Iliad.

The Iliad (800 B.C.)
In Book X  line 15, Agamemnon pulls out his hair in desperation at the plight he faces.  Unable to sleep, his mind is in torment.  He is caught between dishonourable retreat to Greece, where he will face shame and ignimony, and staying to fight to almost certain death against the Trojans:

"When he looked upon the plain of Troy he marvelled at the many watchfires burning in front of Ilius, and at the sound of pipes and flutes and of the hum of men, but when presently he turned towards the ships and hosts of the Achaeans, he tore his hair by handfuls before Jove on high, and groaned aloud for the very disquietness of his soul."

Preceding the hair pulling, Agamemnon realises that Jove has favoured his foes' sacrifices to the gods over his own. Sleep alludes him as he experiences restlessness and anxiety. In other words, the transition to a sleep state has been disrupted by an internal conflict from which Agamemnon can find neither escape (into unconsciousness) nor a resolution (cognitive dissonance).  Hair pulling appears to constitute some mode of an outlet where no other seems possible.

  
In Book XVIII Achilles responds to news of Patroclus's death, his great comrade in arms, with an extreme display of grief :        

"A dark cloud of grief fell upon Achilles as he listened. He filled both hands with dust from off the ground,  and poured it over his head, disfiguring his comely face, and letting the refuse settle over his shirt so fair  and new. He flung himself down all huge and hugely at full length, and tore his hair with his hands. "

Unlike with Ezra of the Old Testament, hair pulling here is preceded by a ritual of pouring of dirt and dust over his head, face and clothing.  It appears that Achilles is acting in obeyance with a funereal tradition whereby hair is shorn in respect for the dead.  Hair tearing was a formal component of mourning in classical Greece and was often accompanied by head beating.  (Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History By Victoria Sherrow, p.277 2006)  Since a loud display of grief was deemed respectful to the departed, it is likely that hair pulling was painful enough to facilitate the required audible wailing and groaning effects.  It also the case that a dishevelled appearance of ruffled or unkempt hair was an outward sign of loss and grief so that pulling hair or lowering one's hair were both practised in ancient Rome also.  Later in Book XXIII, Patroclus' comrades cover him with locks of their hair after which Achilles cuts a lock of his own hair and places it in the hand of the dead Patroclus as he lays on his funeral pyre.
    In Book XXII Hector's parents tear their hair.  Priam does so when beseeching his son to withdraw from a confrontion with Achilles, whose mother is a water nymph, and who is divinely protected as a consequence.  The pulling is a sincerity signal intended to publically communicate the severity of distress.  

"The old man tore his grey hair as he spoke, but he moved not the heart of Hector."

As expected Achilles defeats Hector and in revenge for the loss of his dear comrade Patroclus, proceeds to disrespect the body by dragging it behind his chariot:

"Thus was the head of Hector being dishonoured in the dust. His mother tore her hair, and flung her veil from her with a loud cry as shelooked upon her son. His father made piteous moan, and throughout the city the people fell to weeping and wailing."

It is notable that this behaviour is not copied by Priam, her husband, following Hector's death, suggesting that public displays of hair pulling was predominantly a mode of female grief expression.  Finally in Book XXIV the body of Hector is restored to Troy after Achilles relents in his anger and accepts ransom for the body.  As it enters the city gate the womenfolk again demonstrate hair tearing, signalling themselves as chief mouners through this and, no doubt, the intensity of their wailing above all other mourners present:

"Clasping Hector’s head, they wailed and tore their hair, while the great host of people wept."

     So, we can infer a number of things from these passages. Firstly, hair pulling was a ritual that marked great public displays of grief and served as a sincerity signal to all those watching on - for who would pull out their hair unless their emotion and feeling were genuine?.  But hair pulling also occurs when people are caught in two minds - or between two states of being and can find no easy resolution to their internal state of struggle.  I find these references incredible because they reveal a side of human psychology and behaviour that modern life has forgotten.  Perhaps people who pull out their hair are expressing behaviours that would once have been more naturally perceived and have been more publically acceptable in years gone by.