--- Michael Robison wrote:
> I guess that forming an opinion of it before
I'm
> through is premature, but something I can't
help
> doing. I've been reading mythology and
myth-related
> literature for about 6 months now, and I'm making
an
> effort to appreciate it all within context. I
even
> did some background work on the mythology of
the
> Trojan War which is left out of Homer's ILIAD.
But
> consider the parts of THE ILIAD that I've read.
The
> book starts with Agememnon and Achilles having
a
> whine-fest about returning women that they've
gotten
> as spoils of war. Then a big showdown is
set
> between
> Menelaus and Paris over another stolen babe,
Helen.
> This is purported to be the big wrestling match
that
> will settle the Trojan War, and it ends
> inconclusively
> when Paris is spirited away by a goddess,
and
> nothing
> more comes of it.
>
> From what little history I've read I know
that
> Homer's
> ILIAD was a cornerstone of Greek education. I
guess
> I
> expected a noble story of brave deeds and maybe
a
> few
> stuffy platitudes about honor. But bravery
and
> skill
> doesn't seem to weigh very heavy. A god tells
a
> character to kick some butt and he goes for it.
The
> motivations of Achilles and Paris and Hector
and
> Agememnon seem petty and sniveling, and they
appear
> to
> be mostly just pawns to the gods. I understand
the
> Greek emphasis placed on the god's influence but
I
> thought THE ILIAD was more about human
heroes.
>
> I'll read more.
Sounds like you've entered the right paradigm Mike. One thing
that I find very useful as a key to unlockinbg the different
heroic dynamic of both the Iliad and the Odyssey is to
remember that the ancient Greeks didn't have a Christian
guilt complex overlayed by a "moral / immoral" behavioral
code. Moral behavior for the Ancient Greeks is successful
behavior. Witness Odysseus tricking the Trojans with the
wooden horse: The lesson we learn from it is "beware of
Greeks bearing gifts", simple and uninteresting except for a
minor caveat emptor lesson. But for the Greeks especially
exemplified by the Spartans the lesson is quite different,
trickery if successful is very moral. For the modern paradigm
it is considered immoral or at least shady, hence our the CIA
"the dirty tricks squad", for us, well at least many of us, a
dirty trick is an evil, even if it is a necessary evil. Good
and evil are not terms Greeks would be well aquainted with,
at least the way we think abou them. If a Greek were evil or
good, from our persepective it doesnt matter to them in terms
of eternal reward or eternal damnation, all the dead Greeks
go to the same place when they die, regardless of their
morality, they all go to Hades. To live, to survive to
out-trick your opponent is the only good for them, thus
Odysseus is the most "heroic" of all the Greeks of the two
epics, surviving the long journey home even though he is the
most underhanded and trickiest sonofabitch of them all! I
think that's one of the reasons its so good.
Jesse
P.S. if you still aren't enjoying it, try a different
translation, that may help.
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