For those bored with the thought of Greek Mythology you’ll be glad to hear that I’m nearing the end of the Iliad. My next project will be the Selected Poems of Carl Sandburg.
I did a cursory study of ancient Greek History over 40 years ago so my understanding of the Ancient Greek city-states, their rivalries and strife’s is rudimentary. Whether or not they ever managed to suppress their internal bickering to amass a grand armada to journey 300 miles by water to attack Troy I couldn’t say. What I do find fascinating is the degree to which the various combatants are familiar with one another. Not just their temporary allies but the names of the enemies they meet on the field of battle, their antecedents and ancestry, and even intimate details of their lives. I realize this is a bardic device used by the declaimer of this epic but the suspension of disbelief called for here is immense, particularly since these two peoples probably didn’t even speak the same language. There were numerous dialects even among the Greek Islands and city states; the Trojans would have spoken an ancient form of Turkish.
The weatherman seems to determined to keep things wet around Southern Ontario; I suppose we can just be thankful were not in the path of Hurricanes churning their traditional path up the Eastern Seaboard—Ernesto was quite enough for me.
Today I’ll pick up a copy of Smallville and catch up on last season’s happenings. If anyone can enlighten me as to why Everwood has not put in an appearance on DVD after the first season I’d appreciate an update.
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