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adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay. I think this book made me go through every emotion possible. God I hated it so much. At one point it just became misery upon misery. So, now it is my favorite book of all time – it even surpassed my love for The portrait of Dorian Gray, which I thought was something impossible. Damn, Homer. You did that.
I had read most of the Iliad 5 years ago for a class, but it did not do much for me. I liked it; did not think much about it further than that. I read a french translation at the time, so I think it might have changed the experience a lot. I was curious, after all these years, to finally read the Iliad properly, and researched for hours which translation would be the best experience. I ended up picking Wilson's, because it appealed to me. Boy, how glad am I. It was everything I’d wanted and even more.
I have so many things to say but too few words to explain everything.
But I do want to say that the comedic aspect is far underrated. I know many of those are funny to me because of the fact that the cultures are completely different –but still. So here’s my list of the many things that made me crack up:
- Achilles crying to his mom after his fight with Agamemnon. Just a momma’s boy. He’s like 28 btw.
- Odysseus the smart and cunning man suddenly beating the shit out of Thersites and telling him to shut up
- When all the ships are listed Achilles is said to be the best of the warriors. Then it says that he is laying down while his men throw spears to occupy themselves and enjoy the respite. Yk, just the best warrior crying and pouting on the floor amidst his men. Once again he’s like 28
- Hector insulting the hell out of Paris and basically saying ‘thank god you’re pretty because that's all you’ve got for yourself’ + and i quote, ‘the Trojans all detested Paris’. The way they were all ready to let him die LMFAO
- Athena granting Diomedes the power to distinguish gods from mortals and forbiding him from hurting any god EXCEPT if it’s Aphrodite ‘let her catch these hands’
- Diomedes and Glaucus on the brink of battle yapping for pages about their ancestry and discovering their fathers knew each other – then immediately becoming bffs and sparing each other
- More Paris slander from Hector who wishes he were dead (me too) and then from Helen too, saying that he’s a moron and that he sucks
- Menelaus wants to fight Hector (the only one) but his brother calls him washed up in front of everybody LMAO
- Zeus: If any of you keep interfering with the war I will inflict the worst punishments ever
Athena: sorry dad :(
Zeus: not you my darling child i love you so much
- Achilles and Patroclus sleep together but dw it’s not gay because there’s women too
- tfw your husband lists you all the women he’s cheated on you with and thinks it’s a compliment
- Achilles: Patroclus, why do you cry like a little girl begging to her mom?
Also Achilles, crying: MOOOM AGAMEMNON TOOK WHAT'S MINE
- Patroclus kills a guy and then laughs about how ridiculous his death is
- Achilles says that the death of Patroclus is worse than the death of his father and son. Ungrateful child, deadbeat father, and gay. pick a struggle
- A horse tells Achilles his fate and the latter is very disturbed about it and tells him to shut up. me too buddy
- Aeneas yapping about his ancestry to Achilles when nobody asked him to and he was supposed to duel him. Then he says they shouldn't be yapping "like women" after two pages of him ranting. I read the Aeneid btw. He’s so unserious
- Tmw you have to fight a river, because, what the hell, sure
In the gods tv reality show:
- Zeus laughing his ass off watching the gods fight
- Athena just decking Aphrodite and Poseidon immediately wanting to fight with Apollo bc he did not want to look like a loser
- Hera beating the fuck out of Artemis with her own bow until she cried and ran to her father. Hermes not wanting to be beaten down either so telling Leto to boast to everyone that she had beaten him
- Antilochus calling Odysseus old, from a bygone era
Alright. Also the rest of the book was just me crying. On a more serious note, it’s a devastating book and my heart was shattered multiple times. From book 18 until the last one I kept being beaten down again and again just like Artemis. I had to stare at the ceiling a few times. Seriously, what a phenomenal book on grief and love (in all its forms). I know those are not the only themes, but these really got me. Fuck.
I will just conclude by saying that I’ve never read anything gayer than Achilles wishing that all the Greeks would die just so that he and Patroclus alone could conquer Troy, together. Okay buddy, sure. I guess it could maybe rival the time he said that he’d know Patroclus even in Hades’ house. Perhaps.
The Iliad, or the book where a grown ass man cries and pouts the whole time, but he somehow isn't the most insufferable character.