The fighting that began in Book V continues in Book VI. In the overall structure of the epic, this fighting involves three large movements between the ships and the city. These movements end in Books XV, XVI, and XVII when the Trojans fire the Greek ships, Patroklos is killed, and Achilles decides to re-enter the battle.
Within Book VI a distinctive movement from cold-heartedness to tenderness, from barbarity to honor occurs. The opening savagery is represented by Agamemnon, who forces Menelaos to kill the prisoner Adrestus, saying, "No baby boy, still in his mother's belly,/not even he escape." For Agamemnon, there can be no human feelings for the enemy in war.
Agamemnon's brutality is immediately contrasted with the kinship discovered by Glaukos and Diomedes. The two warriors discover that they have ties because of their forebears. They not only pledge friendship but exchange armor as well. The exchange of armor is especially significant because armor was associated with identity, and the exchange is a symbolic exchange of character. In this example, Homer shows that war can entail more than carnage, and that bonds of friendship can be established.
An interesting sideline in this scene is Glaukos' mention of symbols inscribed "on a folded tablet." This example is the only reference to writing in the Iliad.
