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Book 8, lines 245-253 in a Greek manuscript of the late fifth or early sixth century AD Picture source Generations of men are like the leaves. In winter, winds blow them down to earth, but then, when spring season comes again, the budding wood grows more. And so with men— one generation grows, another dies […]
This is a partial review of Alessandro Baricco’s An Iliad (translated by Ann Goldstein)—partial because I could not finish it. The book does raise interesting questions (more about his choices, but some about the original work). I’ll outline Baricco’s introduction and end note (in slightly different order than he presented them) and then go into […]
Andromache mourning Hector Jacques-Louis David “Revere the gods, Achilles! Pity me in my own right, Remember your own father! I deserve more pity… I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before— I put to my lips the hands of the man who killed my son.” Book XXIV, lines 588 – 591 […]
Automedon with the Horses of Achilles by Henri Regnault And Iris racing the wind went veering off as Achilles, Zeus’ favorite fighter, rose up now and over his powerful shoulder Pallas slung the shield, the tremendous storm-shield with all its tassels flaring— and crowning his head the goddess swept a golden cloud and from it […]
Menelaus and Meriones lifting Patroclus’ body on a cartPicture source Book XIII continues the battle among the ships. The Achaeans are now fighting a defensive battle, trying to protect their only way home. The ebb and flow of the battle changes as the gods participate. Zeus has instructed no interference from other gods, but Poseidon […]
The Ambassadors to Agamemnon Visiting Achilles Jean Auguste-Dominique IngresBook IX begins with Agamemnon declaring that Zeus has tricked him and he is planning on going home. Unlike Book II’s ruse, this time he seems to mean it. This is an interesting time for him to feel that way. Things have gone badly during the recent […]
Aphrodite Wounded by Diomedes Jean Auguste-Dominique IngresBook V belongs to Diomedes despite Zeus’ agreement allowing the Trojans temporary ascendancy on the battlefield. I find the interplay between gods and humans fascinating, the gods protecting or abandoning people at the god’s whim. The battles that the gods wage against each other, using humans as intermediaries, must […]
The beginning of The Iliad Picture source Sing, Goddess, sing of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus— that murderous anger which condemned Achaeans to countless agonies and threw many warrior souls deep into Hades, leaving their dead bodies carrion food for dogs and birds— all in fulfilment of the will of Zeus. Start at […]
Homer invoking the muse Illustration by John Flaxman, engraving by William Blake Picture sourceEnter The Iliad on a search engine and you will get close to one million matches. I only went through the first few pages of results and found the following links helpful: Various versions of the text at Project Gutenberg and at […]
Picture source From the Kafka Project: The cover illustration is a lithograph by Ottomar Starke. When Kafka learned that Starke was to do an illustration, he wrote: “The insect itself must not be illustrated by a drawing. It cannot be shown at all, not even from a distance”. Online resources for Franz Kafka and The […]