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9d • 📰 Newsletter
Reading the Iliad again; it got better!
(Caroline Alexander translation)
It's crazy how modern this book feels.
It doesn't read like some dusty old "classic", fit only for academics.
It is IMMERSIVE
You're in the mud, deafened by the clash of bronze on bronze.
You're in the mosh-pit as the Argives and Trojans tear each other apart over the dead bodies of their captains.
As the story kicks off, we see the pretty-boy Paris utterly fail in single combat against Menelaus, beloved of Ares.
Hector, elder brother of Paris reviles his cowardice and chastises him.
We feel pity for the Trojans and the Argives, as so many soldiers and their leaders are pulled into war by the feckless Paris.
We feel for Hector who has been working tirelessly for the safety of his city.
Even the common men and women of Troy have been trained up to be an effective militia.
All this, when Paris, beloved of Aphrodite makes love to an unwilling Helen.
And then the horrific scene outside the strong walls of Troy:
Brave Hector, hounded by swift-footed Achilles.
Unlike Paris before him, Hector does stand and fight - but he isn't just fighting Godlike Achilles.
Grey-eyed Athena casts illusions, ensnaring Hector in the fog of war;
as Achilles, drenched in blood, approaches. Inevitable and fated.
I cannot recommend reading this enough.
Lux in Tenebris,
KR
PS: Get the Audiobook
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Reading the Iliad again; it got better!
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