(no subject)
So I actually finished a thing! not, like, you know, a paper, though I have one of those due in 20 hours, that is not close to being started, but my Epic Iliad AU. Book VI is, I admit, not very good, and really exists because I wanted to have a multiple of six books. If you want to write long papers on how the author really intended for book V to be the ultimate end and book VI is a later addition, go ahead. Plus some speculation on how the Epic Cycle would have gone with all the Greeks dead
BOOK VI
Thus they took Achilles to Troy. And the princes, wondering,
Touched the armor and the man-slaying hands,
Now still; the shaggy chest did not rise, nor the swift feet
Run, now that his soul had passed the barrier of his teeth.
And mourning for he who had been harm and help
They passed the Skaian Gates and entered the city.
But Priam came, and Helen, who had watched,
Fearful, from the high walls, and greeted the men,
And neat-ankled Andromache, too, with Astyanax,
And all the women of Troy came wailing,
Mourning the swift-footed son of Peleus.
Then the king Priam addressed horse-breaking Hector:
“O my son, my heart in my breast rejoices
To see you safe again, returned to Andromache and to Troy.
And even so my heart sorrows for god-like Achilles,
Who fought for us and died far from his home,
And whose good homecoming was destroyed.
Come, you youths and maidens of Troy,
Take up the son of Peleus in your arms, come with flowers,
And all the diminished riches of our city,
That we may bury he who saved us with great honor.
And when he is buried, let us then rejoice,
Thanking all the gods, and most of all Apollo and Zeus,
Who are ever kindly to Troy and the Trojans.”
Thus spoke Priam. And the Trojans applauded him,
And all the maidens and youths carried Achilles,
Setting him down to rest in the middle of the city.
That night the Trojans slept, man with wife,
And slept without fear, now the Achaeans were gone.
But Argive Helen lay alone, her heart hard,
And she was sleepless, mourning so many heroes
Dead for her sake, Odysseus and Achilles
And the two Atreides, shepherds of the people.
She pondered these things and sorrowed,
Wondering whether to take the sharp sword
And pierce her white breast, or else to leap
From the topless towers of Troy. Then to her
So lying awake came a maid, speaking soft words:
“O Argive Helen, daughter of a noble house,
Do not destroy yourself, going to the house of Hades;
They fought for your sake, it is true - but you came
To high-towered Troy led by a goddess,
Not with your will. But come, forsake beauty,
And forget the fleet of the Achaeans, destroyed for you;
In the temple of Hestia will you find peace.”
Then she raised herself on her lovely arm,
And spoke, recognizing the goddess:
“O goddess, indeed I will follow you, and may you
Instill your peace in my heart. No more will I
Be proud, or like Aphrodite wear trailing gowns;
But remembering you, o goddess, who are calm itself,
I shall work beside the hearth and love peace.”
Thus she spoke, and the goddess touched her forehead,
And sweet sleep took her, and smiling she slept.
But when rosy-fingered dawn came, the Trojans
Prepared a pyre for swift-footed Achilles,
Man-high, and made of many rare woods,
And perfumed with spices from far-off lands.
Then they lit it with fire as the dawn rose from the sea,
And mourning, watched the pyre of godlike Achilles burn.
But when the fire had done its work, they quenched it
With sweet wine, and took up the white bones,
And placed them in a great golden urn,
Well-worked and fair, which Hephaestus had made,
And covered the urn with purple robes.
Then they placed it in a hollow grave,
And covered it over with stones, to mark the place
Where the godlike son of Peleus lay.
And they heaped earth over the stones, and then went home,
To feast the son of Laomedon, Priam the king.
Thus they buried Achilles, like unto the gods.
AFTERWARD
I am highly aware that this has destroyed most of the Epic Cycle, and that’s very sad. Clearly there’s no Odyssey if Odysseus is dead, and Orestes can’t really complain about Aegisthus if his father is actually dead. But there could be Trojan legends: for one thing, Astyanax becomes king and rules LONG and HAPPILY. I can’t really see Aeneas leaving Troy voluntarily, but other Trojan colonists could go found Rome, perhaps led by the seer Helenus. Not all the Greeks died, though, so they could still do whatever. There’s also Telemachus, who could end up going on an ultimately fruitless journey. But to be honest, there’s not all that much after the Trojan War to ruin. I don’t think this would change people’s desire to be descended from the Trojans; especially without Achilles, the Greeks are sort of unpleasant.
BOOK VI
Thus they took Achilles to Troy. And the princes, wondering,
Touched the armor and the man-slaying hands,
Now still; the shaggy chest did not rise, nor the swift feet
Run, now that his soul had passed the barrier of his teeth.
And mourning for he who had been harm and help
They passed the Skaian Gates and entered the city.
But Priam came, and Helen, who had watched,
Fearful, from the high walls, and greeted the men,
And neat-ankled Andromache, too, with Astyanax,
And all the women of Troy came wailing,
Mourning the swift-footed son of Peleus.
Then the king Priam addressed horse-breaking Hector:
“O my son, my heart in my breast rejoices
To see you safe again, returned to Andromache and to Troy.
And even so my heart sorrows for god-like Achilles,
Who fought for us and died far from his home,
And whose good homecoming was destroyed.
Come, you youths and maidens of Troy,
Take up the son of Peleus in your arms, come with flowers,
And all the diminished riches of our city,
That we may bury he who saved us with great honor.
And when he is buried, let us then rejoice,
Thanking all the gods, and most of all Apollo and Zeus,
Who are ever kindly to Troy and the Trojans.”
Thus spoke Priam. And the Trojans applauded him,
And all the maidens and youths carried Achilles,
Setting him down to rest in the middle of the city.
That night the Trojans slept, man with wife,
And slept without fear, now the Achaeans were gone.
But Argive Helen lay alone, her heart hard,
And she was sleepless, mourning so many heroes
Dead for her sake, Odysseus and Achilles
And the two Atreides, shepherds of the people.
She pondered these things and sorrowed,
Wondering whether to take the sharp sword
And pierce her white breast, or else to leap
From the topless towers of Troy. Then to her
So lying awake came a maid, speaking soft words:
“O Argive Helen, daughter of a noble house,
Do not destroy yourself, going to the house of Hades;
They fought for your sake, it is true - but you came
To high-towered Troy led by a goddess,
Not with your will. But come, forsake beauty,
And forget the fleet of the Achaeans, destroyed for you;
In the temple of Hestia will you find peace.”
Then she raised herself on her lovely arm,
And spoke, recognizing the goddess:
“O goddess, indeed I will follow you, and may you
Instill your peace in my heart. No more will I
Be proud, or like Aphrodite wear trailing gowns;
But remembering you, o goddess, who are calm itself,
I shall work beside the hearth and love peace.”
Thus she spoke, and the goddess touched her forehead,
And sweet sleep took her, and smiling she slept.
But when rosy-fingered dawn came, the Trojans
Prepared a pyre for swift-footed Achilles,
Man-high, and made of many rare woods,
And perfumed with spices from far-off lands.
Then they lit it with fire as the dawn rose from the sea,
And mourning, watched the pyre of godlike Achilles burn.
But when the fire had done its work, they quenched it
With sweet wine, and took up the white bones,
And placed them in a great golden urn,
Well-worked and fair, which Hephaestus had made,
And covered the urn with purple robes.
Then they placed it in a hollow grave,
And covered it over with stones, to mark the place
Where the godlike son of Peleus lay.
And they heaped earth over the stones, and then went home,
To feast the son of Laomedon, Priam the king.
Thus they buried Achilles, like unto the gods.
AFTERWARD
I am highly aware that this has destroyed most of the Epic Cycle, and that’s very sad. Clearly there’s no Odyssey if Odysseus is dead, and Orestes can’t really complain about Aegisthus if his father is actually dead. But there could be Trojan legends: for one thing, Astyanax becomes king and rules LONG and HAPPILY. I can’t really see Aeneas leaving Troy voluntarily, but other Trojan colonists could go found Rome, perhaps led by the seer Helenus. Not all the Greeks died, though, so they could still do whatever. There’s also Telemachus, who could end up going on an ultimately fruitless journey. But to be honest, there’s not all that much after the Trojan War to ruin. I don’t think this would change people’s desire to be descended from the Trojans; especially without Achilles, the Greeks are sort of unpleasant.