Monday, December 4, 2006
The Iliad
Years ago I read an enthusiastic review of Robert Fagles' translation of The Iliad. I finally got around to taking a look, in the form of an audio reading of the epic by Derek Jacobi.
Like it all classics, The Iliad resonates in the ever-present. A brilliant piece by Bernard Knox, included as a booklet with the cassettes, is worth the price of admission. In the beginning of the poem the nobility of the warrior ethic is emphasized. It is made plain that Troy had grown fat and happy and ripe for the picking by a warrior culture of Achilles and his Achaean hordes; a society has to have toughness to survive.
Hector, the Trojans' great warrior, is a model of the communal ideal — father, member of his society, concerned and decent. But he is defeated by the greater still Achilles, who has an edge, because his rage knows no bounds — only warrior honor matters.
In the end Achilles' self-absorbed rage transforms into self-awareness, into humanity — but only shortly before his own death.
Even Achilles had his doubts about the worth of a life dedicated to martial glory:
“Cattle and fat sheep can all be had for the raiding,
tripods all for the trading, and tawny-headed stallions.
But a man's life breath cannot come back again —
no raiders in force, no trading brings it back,
once it slips through a man's clenched teeth.”
(9.493-97)
Also available on CD: The Iliad