“It is to the strength of this amazing invention we are to attribute that unequalled fire and rapture, which is so forcible in Homer, that no man of a true poetical spirit is master of himself while he reads him.” -Alexander Pope
The opening lines talk about "countless" Achaeans dying for the sake of Achilles' anger. This is an expression of aristocratic morality in which the quantity of individuals does NOT matter but only the quality of the individuals involved. As you rightly say, the notion that one man could be worth more than thousands is very difficult for most to even consider.
Thanks for inspiring me to reread the Iliad. But as I recall, wasn't one of the central points of dispute between Agamemnon and Achilles over the apportioning of women captives as spoils of war? And Achilles was certainly placing his own interests first in refusing to fight because of the affront he suffered. Wasn't that point of honor also a quarrel over loot?
Subscribed, and looking forward to more such interesting pieces.
OR read Nietzsche to prime yourself for Gilgamesh to prime yourself for Homer to prime yourself for the Mahabharata, followed by the Volsunga Saga and then the Beowulf to prime yourself for the Kalevala (you know, just in case some Indo-European archaism survived in Finno-Ugric Oral Tradition)
The opening lines talk about "countless" Achaeans dying for the sake of Achilles' anger. This is an expression of aristocratic morality in which the quantity of individuals does NOT matter but only the quality of the individuals involved. As you rightly say, the notion that one man could be worth more than thousands is very difficult for most to even consider.
Thanks for inspiring me to reread the Iliad. But as I recall, wasn't one of the central points of dispute between Agamemnon and Achilles over the apportioning of women captives as spoils of war? And Achilles was certainly placing his own interests first in refusing to fight because of the affront he suffered. Wasn't that point of honor also a quarrel over loot?
Subscribed, and looking forward to more such interesting pieces.
Gilgamesh is great, but it’s separate from the Iliad.
I think Homer’s Contest by Nietzsche is good intro to the Greks.
For me, BAM helped me understand it more as well.
OR read Nietzsche to prime yourself for Gilgamesh to prime yourself for Homer to prime yourself for the Mahabharata, followed by the Volsunga Saga and then the Beowulf to prime yourself for the Kalevala (you know, just in case some Indo-European archaism survived in Finno-Ugric Oral Tradition)
yes I like Gilgamesh but don’t know much about the translations