To Relate or to not relate.. That is all up to you.

Through my journey into reading The Tain, I found multiple situations in the story that were so similar to the previous stories read in this class that I couldn't help but to bring them all to your attention. It is always a fun little joy of mine to find things while reading that relate to another piece of literature or related to something in real life. Especially when they are such different pieces of work, like these.

To begin, the scene in which Ailill sends a "fool" to trick the opposing warriors into thinking it was him was unbelievably similar to Achilles's story with the death of Patroclus. I found myself with my mouth wide open at how funny it was to see the parallel to the stories. Of course these two scenes did have important differences though. For example, Patroclus stole Achilles's armor without him knowing and the fool was forced to dress up in the disguise by Ailill. Along with that, although they both died in the end, Patroclus successfully passed as Achilles and was killed because he was thought to be Achilles. The fool was killed because the plan failed and they knew that Ailill was trying to pull a fast one on them. Better luck next time Ailill.


Another parallel that I found from The Tain was with Inanna's Decent to the Underworld. In Inanna's story, we go through a long description of the stages Inanna took in order to enter the underworld. We followed her through every gate and watched her take off another piece of clothing or accessory. I see two scenes in The Tain that reminded me of that through description of Inanna's undressing. For example, we read a long and thorough section just devoted to Cuchulainn getting dressed for his battle. We know that Inanna's undressing was symbolic and important, that makes me wonder how important this preparation for battle was? The other scene that reminded me of Inanna was the death of Etarcomol. The author found it important to point out every little part of his death. First he cut off his clothes, then hair, then right in half. I think what makes me want to relate both these scenes back to Inanna is the attention to the small details. It makes me, and probably some of you, feel the need to pay attention because it seems so important.

My question for all of you would be, have you found anything in the story that can be related to another piece of writing you have ever read? Can you agree with my ideas or disagree?

To Trust or Not To Trust

After completing my latest discussion paper, I was left with an interesting question. I had spent the past hour and a half typing a paper that discussed the theme of loyalty in the Odyssey, but was that the only theme to discuss? After some reflection, I realized that it wasn't. The subject I would like to present to you deals with the concept of trust that finds its way into almost all of the stories we have read.

Trust is represented in many different lights throughout The Odyssey, The Illiad, and The Oresteia. The Odyssey offers two situations where trust plays an important role. The first being when King Agamemnon tells Odysseus not to trust his wife upon his return home. This then leads to Odysseus not immediately telling Penelope of his return as well as the tense situation when they finally do come face to face. The second occurs when Odysseus and his men spend time at Circe's abode. Although Odysseus made Circe take an oath that she would not harm him or his men, it still took a certain level of trust to remain there for such a long period of time. In the Illiad, The seer trusts that Apollo will avenge the great injustice pushed upon him by King Agamemnon and Achilles trusts his friend Patroclus to take his armor/sword into battle (something that was not taken lightly in that time period). In a sense, Achilles trusted Patroclus to represent him on the battlefield. Lastly, The Oresteia shows us how trust can be betrayed. Although you could argue that Clytemnestra's motives were justified, King Agamemnon still trusts her completely; until she wraps him up in a sheet and stabs him to death.

So, my question to you is this.  Do you think that the writers put these situations of trust in the story to teach a lesson ( almost like Aesop's Fables) or do you think they were put there simply to create plot points?

Achilles versus Hector: Who Really Wins?

Whenever you read and/or analyze The Iliad, one of the biggest and most prevalent points to talk about is the relationship formed between Achilles and Hector.  Though most would argue that Achilles is our hero and protagonist, I am here to ask the question: is he really?

When you look at these two characters, you will find that they have a lot more in common that what one would initially think.  They are both leaders, strong willed, and want to lead their armies to success. Though their differences are far more evident, they ultimately want the same things.  So what makes one a hero over the other?

Hector is far more mature than Achilles, and leads his men with a sharp mind.  He is courageous and has a lot at stake. He is not only fighting for his kingdom, but for his family and companions as well.  He seems to keep everyone in mind, and is far from egotistical.

Achilles, on the other hand, is a true man of war.  He has a lot of skills and really takes pleasure in watching his enemies suffer/die.  In addition to this, he gets away with a lot more with the gods. While the gods help out on both sides, it is obvious which “person” they favor.  Achilles only seems to car about himself, and his power truly does go to his head.

Ultimately, I find these characters to be fascinating, and I do think that Hector is more of a hero than Achilles.  These are just my surface-level thoughts regarding this issue, but I want to know what you guys think of this.

Here are my questions:

1.) Do you agree or disagree with my opinion?  Who would you deem as being the “hero” of the story?

2.) Is being a hero more based on strength and courage or wit and intellect?

3.) How do you think the gods influenced the path the story took?  Would there have been a different outcome if they had not been directly involved?

The Iliad

For my blog post I am going to be focusing on the last part that we read, which would be book 24.

We begin this book with Achilles crying over the loss of his friend. Achilles in in such a rage that he takes Hector's dead body and attaches it to the back of his chariot. Now not only does he attach Hector's body to his chariot, he proceeds to drag it around. To me that set off some red flags for me that he may be a little crazy. The gods were obviously very upset over this, so they put a spell like thing on his body so it would not be damaged during Achilles little outburst.

For me I think there is something wrong in the head with Achilles. I know we all get upset and grieve in our different ways when we lose someone close to us. I think what Achilles did was a bit extreme in my opinion. The fact that he attached a dead body to the back of a chariot just shows that obviously this guy has some mental Issues going on.

 I hope I am not the only one in this class that thinks something is wrong with him. Also I do not think that what he did was socially acceptable back then either, considering that the Gods were very upset with him trying to ruin Hector’s body.