My letter to the editor from 5 February 2008 (4th continuation):

In Galilee Mark compares Jesus to Achill, the strongest hero of the Greeks. Just as Achill only intervenes in the fighting after the death of his friend Patroclus, Jesus only begins the proclamation when his forerunner John the Baptist is imprisoned.

In Jerusalem Mark draws Jesus after Hector, the greatest hero of the Trojans. As long as Pilate stays out of the quarrel, Jesus can press his enemies in the scene of the temple cleansing on their own terrain, in the strongly fortified temple – just as Hector penetrates into the fortified camp of the Greeks in Iliad XII, who have to fight without Achill.

The nocturnal betrayal scene with Judas is modelled on the Dolonie in Iliad X.

Jesus dies at the end of the gospel of Mark, his death points to the announced downfall of Jerusalem – just as Hector’s death at the end of the Iliad points to the impending destruction of Troy.