The Logos of Achilles

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Sun, 08/05/2018 - 8:25am

My lovers dead or taken as secondary prizes,
And what am I given to slate my rage?
I am not to fight against those that have done me harm
instead I am to strike the enemy of my tormentor.

With shield forged for sole purpose of ensuring
that I struck deadly upon the honorable protector
And in return I would suffer no wound to still the blood
no mark of spear to end my struggle. No pain to satisfy

the thirst of Ares for ever more glory.
So I sought to inflict such wounds upon the enemy
to end the battle terrible, to show its depravity
What was war, but to be dragged by a chariot.

Over the bumps and stones that the driver ignores
The very earth grinding the body into gobbets.
The arms and armor heaped as prizes to be squandered
among laughing audience that claims domain.

I am Achilles, the greatest warrior who ever lived.
None shall ever match my glory in song or in deed.
Kings claim tribute, but all pay homage to me
in their very being. I am the wall unbreakable.

I am the swift hunter who strikes the fleeing deer,
I am the bellow of the men as they stand
thicketed spears ready to receive the arrogant charge
that thinks to shatter the city into disarray.

I am Achilles. You know it to be true and that all
in their secret dreams wish to be me or my lover.
I am strong, I am beautiful, I am graceful.
And I am dead. Stuck from behind by the coward.

But even that minor inconvenience is a trifle,
as I sit in my tent upon the fair fields, admiring.
The constant praise that drips into my cup.
Food of the gods indeed. Enjoyed by one who serves them.

Of course the odd curse must be plucked from the drink,
for one cannot sup upon godly pleasures purely,
bitter fruit will always find a way to slip into the press.
I laugh as I fling the squirming nymph to the ground

Blame, Hah. I freely give that to those who gave the orders.
They have earned it, for it was their will that brought me.
Their tricks that forced me into battle. Their misdeeds that
brought my rage and my vengeance. I am without fault.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKybJlt9ExI]

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Comments

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Sun, 08/05/2018 - 8:29am

Ok, Achilles marks a major tone shift in the piece.

Because this is about Iraq. Not going to even sugar coat this a little.

This portion of the narrative will be rife with self-justification, blame shifting, sadness, and a LOT of railing at war. The second act, to be frankly honest, hurts to write.

But it needs to be written. Thanks to Achilles for his words. Thanks to the muses for letting him speak. I think I understand him a little better. I don't agree with him, but I get it.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 08/05/2018 - 9:24am

Paris avenges Hector

...and Achilles pays the price. War horrible then, horrible now.

Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan hero Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him in the heel with an arrow. Later legends (beginning with a poem by Statius in the 1st century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel because, when his mother Thetis dipped him in the river Styx as an infant, she held him by one of his heels. Alluding to these legends, the term "Achilles heel" has come to mean a point of weakness, especially in someone or something with an otherwise strong constitution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles

Congrats on the new hero act...
220px-Closeup_of_Achilles_thniskon_in_Corfu_Achilleion_autocorrected.JPG

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Sun, 08/05/2018 - 9:35am

I admit that Achilles speech is a bit...

@Lookout of a "I was just following orders".

However, at the same time, his actions throughout the war suggest that he was reluctant to fight against the Trojans, for reason that I suspect are pretty obvious. I think a few of the Muses have hinted and the gods address such things directly.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Sun, 08/05/2018 - 11:40am

Spelling?

And what am I given to slate my rage?

slake rather than slake? Or is that a new (to me) usage of slate?

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Sun, 08/05/2018 - 11:53am

No worries, I deliberately misstated a common poetic phrase.

@The Voice In the Wilderness "Slaking of" whatever emotion, thinking of it like a thirst. So instead of just going with that I wanted to try another concept.

One meaning that I was going with was when someone is "Slated" to play a role, it means that they're scheduled to perform. So I was going with the idea that Achilles' rage was to be addressed at a specified time and place. It wasn't at his direction.

Edit: Clarified my point a bit. And added edit tag.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 08/05/2018 - 8:30pm

Thanks, detroit, on to the next phase.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Sun, 08/05/2018 - 8:48pm

Thanks for sticking with me.

@enhydra lutris The other 2 acts were much more pleasant, and I admit this one is going to go some places that may be uncomfortable.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Tue, 08/07/2018 - 10:25am

With all respect to FDR

@enhydra lutris That is the definition of dictatorship, not fascism. Fascism according to its founders was the merger of corporate and state interests. Sound familiar?

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.