War Story: The Iliad

I chose the Robert Fagles translation of The Iliad because of his choice for the very first word of the work: "Rage." That says it all. This is what the whole thing is about. It is Achilles' rage at Agamemnon that stops him from fighting with the Greeks throughout most of the poem. It costs the Greeks many lives and much frustration. It also costs us, the readers, time and effort as we wait and wait for Achilles to join the fight and get the damn thing going for real. 

In the meantime, there is gore. For example:

                           Eurypylus, chasing Hypsenor fleeing on before him,

                           flailed with a sword, slashed the Trojan's shoulder

and lopped away the massive bulk of Hypsenor's arm...

the bloody arm dropped to the earth, and red death

came plunging down  his eyes.... [Bk. 5, 88-92]

...Straight into Agamemnon's spearhead ramming sharp -

the rim of the bronze helmet could not hold it,

clean through heavy metal and bone the point burst

and the brains splattered all inside the casque.  [Bk. 11,110-114]

Diomedes struck him square across the neck -

a flashing hack of the sword - both tendons snapped

and the shrieking head went tumbling in the dust. [Bk. 10, 525-527]

Good heavens. I keep telling myself that this is oral tradition, it was poetry performed out loud in taverns and bars for drunken sailors and fishermen; it was basically the equivalent of an action movie. There are a few lovely exchanges between heroes and their wives, and a few funny moments among gods (as when Ares, god of war, is wounded and basically turns into a crybaby and scoots back up to Olympus). Still - I think I'll be done with war stories for awhile when I'm done with this. 

Meanwhile, I'm somewhere in Book 17 and still waiting for Achilles to show up.