The War That Killed Achilles - Caroline Alexander
The War That Killed Achilles - Caroline Alexander
Non-Fiction
Pages: 320
This is not a book about the Trojan War, per se. It is not a history book; it doesn't aim to compare legend to fact, to seek out traces of the historical Troy in the archaeological record. What it does is explore what The Iliad says about war, the position it takes, the speeches put into the mouths of the great heroes about war and conflict and death and glory.
As Caroline Alexander points out, it is perhaps the greatest of all literary ironies that The Iliad is best remembered as a martial epic, when it is in fact a deep subversion of the very genre it is held to epitomise. There are no winners in Homer's Trojan War - he depicts the conflict as equally tragic for both sides, nothing but waste and stupidity. Troy is destroyed, its people slaughtered and enslaved, but the victors are exiled from their homes for ten years and few return to happiness and long life. Achilles himself is deeply aware that he is fighting in a meaningless war that will only bring him loss, grief and death, and it is only to avenge Patrocles that he fights in the end, not for honour or glory, knowing full well it will mean his doom. Achilles is an intensely anti-authoritarian figure throughout the poem, repeatedly challenging his 'commander-in-chief' Agamemnon and emphasizing that he does not believe war or glory is worth his life.
Despite my familiarity with the story of the Trojan War, Caroline Alexander succeeded in making me see it in a new light. I feel I've misread Achilles all these years - whilst Homer may not have taken sides, I was definitely always with Hector and the Trojans, believing Achilles to be little more than a vainglorious, bloodthirsty bully. I think I'm going to go back to The Iliad now, and read it again with fresh new insight, thanks to this book.
Non-Fiction
Pages: 320
This is not a book about the Trojan War, per se. It is not a history book; it doesn't aim to compare legend to fact, to seek out traces of the historical Troy in the archaeological record. What it does is explore what The Iliad says about war, the position it takes, the speeches put into the mouths of the great heroes about war and conflict and death and glory.
As Caroline Alexander points out, it is perhaps the greatest of all literary ironies that The Iliad is best remembered as a martial epic, when it is in fact a deep subversion of the very genre it is held to epitomise. There are no winners in Homer's Trojan War - he depicts the conflict as equally tragic for both sides, nothing but waste and stupidity. Troy is destroyed, its people slaughtered and enslaved, but the victors are exiled from their homes for ten years and few return to happiness and long life. Achilles himself is deeply aware that he is fighting in a meaningless war that will only bring him loss, grief and death, and it is only to avenge Patrocles that he fights in the end, not for honour or glory, knowing full well it will mean his doom. Achilles is an intensely anti-authoritarian figure throughout the poem, repeatedly challenging his 'commander-in-chief' Agamemnon and emphasizing that he does not believe war or glory is worth his life.
Despite my familiarity with the story of the Trojan War, Caroline Alexander succeeded in making me see it in a new light. I feel I've misread Achilles all these years - whilst Homer may not have taken sides, I was definitely always with Hector and the Trojans, believing Achilles to be little more than a vainglorious, bloodthirsty bully. I think I'm going to go back to The Iliad now, and read it again with fresh new insight, thanks to this book.