All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Greek Literature
Achilles wasn't brave but demigod
and 98% immune.
Was Thetis stupid to leave the heel un-wet
or was she just another blythe immortal,
caught up in the moment, ill-prepared
by birth to follow through the consequential
path from Illium to underworld?
So much for goddesses and gods, so much
for those Achaean heroes. We're a race
of braggarts, bullies, and butchers overseen
by narcissistic deities
gaming against the boredom of eternity.
Why worship and remember twits and thugs?
Only as a good excuse to sing
of Priam, Hector, and Odysseus
in contrast to the bloody lunatics
of Atreus- Agamemnon,
Menelaus, Clytemnestra. Hearth
and home - abiding curse and sweetest gift
among the mortal and immortal alike.
and 98% immune.
Was Thetis stupid to leave the heel un-wet
or was she just another blythe immortal,
caught up in the moment, ill-prepared
by birth to follow through the consequential
path from Illium to underworld?
So much for goddesses and gods, so much
for those Achaean heroes. We're a race
of braggarts, bullies, and butchers overseen
by narcissistic deities
gaming against the boredom of eternity.
Why worship and remember twits and thugs?
Only as a good excuse to sing
of Priam, Hector, and Odysseus
in contrast to the bloody lunatics
of Atreus- Agamemnon,
Menelaus, Clytemnestra. Hearth
and home - abiding curse and sweetest gift
among the mortal and immortal alike.
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A poem that mentions Hector always gets my vote.*
Great moment - "Why worship and remember twits and thugs?"
Good voice in this piece, Gary. I like.
Thanks, JP and Sam, for reading and commenting.
Interesting piece Gary. I recently revisited some of the Greek gods for a piece I was writing, because, much to my chagrin, I found that I was ignorant! The second stanza is particularly trenchant and the whole piece has a magical, if not somewhat tongue-twisting musicality. *
Thanks for your reading and comment, Michael.