Achilles was the man who would cause his father to outlive him. Everything else follows from that. Thetis knew first. Her son faced what the Greeks called a dilemma. A long life without a name, or a short life the singers would not let die. Both draw blood.[1] She had been bound to that. WrestledContinue reading “Achilles”
Tag Archives: Odysseus
Prometheus
Before Zeus ruled, there were Titans. Prometheus belongs to that earlier generation, a survivor of the war that placed Zeus on the throne. When the Olympians overthrow Cronos and the Titans in the Titanomachy, Prometheus does something unusual: he aids Zeus (Hesiod, Theogony 617–720). At first glance the decision appears pragmatic. The new regime isContinue reading “Prometheus”
Troy
Troy is not the beginning of the heroic age. It is the point where the heroic age destroys itself. The Greeks understood this. Their myths do not describe a long golden era stretching indefinitely backward into legend. The heroic age is startlingly brief. From the first monster-slayers to the sack of Troy spans only aContinue reading “Troy”
Protective Arts 