Hector kills Patroclus who is wearing Achilles’ armor. Hector takes the armor as a spoil. Thetis, Achilles’ mother, pleads with Hephaestus to make her son new armor worthy of him to wear when he returns to battle. The smithy god agrees and Homer spends many lines describing the newly forged armor. Each piece is gravenContinue reading “Crime and Natural Rights”
Tag Archives: Illiad
Elite Competition
Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage,Black and murderous, that cost the GreeksIncalculable pain, pitched countless soulsOf heroes into Hades’ dark,And left their bodies to rot as feastsFor dogs and birds, as Zeus’ will was done. Begin with the clash between Agamemnon–The Greek warlord–and godlike Achilles. So opens the Illiad. Homer focuses our attention on the combatants: this isContinue reading “Elite Competition”
The Western Canon
It all started with an apple. Overlooked and uninvited to the wedding, Eris hand-grenaded a golden apple labeled “For the fairest” among the goddesses, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Each thought it was intended for her and, ever-competitive, they all demanded a judgement for the apple to be awarded.[1] Zeus, in his wisdom, was not aboutContinue reading “The Western Canon”