Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad, Part B

"Achilles Sarcophagus, the Frieze VI"

Egisto Sani. Web Source: Flickr

    Similarly to how I did my last post about Part A of the reading, I want to use this post as a chance to really think about and develop ideas on the characters and how I would retell this story.

    The first thing that hit me really hard was thinking about the horses and how they mourned Patroclus. Grief is such a normal part of the human existence that, while I always do my best to show extra love and support to my friends when they grieve, it feels natural. All lives must end, be they human or animal, and we are left to miss what we had and wish for it to come back. But thinking of an animal being sentient and having to experience that pain really hurts. I know that the horses are immortal, but it just then feels even more wrong, because then there is no hope for them. They will be forced to outlive their companions each and every time. That feels cruel and wrong. I just hate having to imagine a world where an animal feels pain and is forced to grieve. That being said, despite how heart breaking it is, I think it would be fascinating to then see this story from the perspective of the horses. I feel bad for Achilles, but my pity for him really isn't the same. Yes, he was scorned, but he could have prevented his best friend's death. And I know that the point is then for him to be processing that emotion, as that is the source of his pain. But he's also arrogant and obnoxious. And he then goes on to force King Priam to experience his pain and loss by literally dragging around the dead body of Hector. But it would be interesting to see how the tables would turn on my own emotions if I made myself consider another perspective.

    Another thought that I had while reading this was how child-like the gods are. The games that Apollo and Zeus and Athene all play with each other really seem like siblings playing with action figures and arguing over the plot while their imaginary characters fight to the death. That gives me a bit of an idea, either for my story for this week or for my storybook. What would it be like if the "war" was really just a game between the gods? They already treat humans like toys anyway, it doesn't seem like much of a stretch of the imagination to then portray them as children.

    Lastly, and continuing in my theme of caring more about the side characters than the main ones, my heart broke for Andromache and King Priam. Both of them loved Hector so much, to then lose him for such a silly reason. The whole fundamental cause of the feud was that Paris "couldn't control himself" when it came to Helen. But Hector was the one that had to die from it. It was Hector that had to pay the ultimate price, leaving his parents and wife mourning and his son fatherless. I also wonder what Paris was thinking during all of this. Did he feel bad that his brother had died? Or was Hector's death merely a price that had to be paid because of his lust over Helen? I wish we got to explore a little bit more about Paris, especially in this moment. He strikes me as the selfish younger brother type, but then I wonder if that's just a facade he puts on to hide his emotions (and/or his cowardice).

    I really enjoyed this week's readings, and I think I have a lot of ideas, both for my storybook and for the story that I'll be writing this week!

Bibliography: Homer's The Iliad, retold by A.J. Church.