Unit 2

English 201:    Masterpieces of Western Literature

Background:

Political Authority:our text has a couple of pages from Book 12 featuring the speech by the Trojan who is second only to HK, Sarpedon, the son of Zeus.  Remember that honor is our theme in this unit.  Sarpedon asks:
12.349    What is the point of being honored so
              with precedence at table . . . & brimming cups . . . ?
              & why have lands been granted you & me . . . ?

Sarpedon & his cousin-comrade, Glaukos, are honored because of their leadership.  Why are they leaders?  Because they were born aristocrats?  Realistically, that is a prerequisite.  If he were born a peasant to labor in the field, Sarpedon would not have been trained to be a military officer.  But not every aristocratic boy becomes a leader.  In the blaze of battle, fearing death, when we stand immobile, frozen in panic, the leader responds with courageous daring, saving not only himself, but the rest of us as well.  These men stand out:
12.359   They are no common men, our lords who rule
              in Lykia.
              . . . The main thing is
              their fighting power, when they lead in combat!

When they lead in combat they literally save us.  Especially for the Greeks (us Westerners), life itself is combat, a battle.  At times in our lives most of us fall into a funk & become immobile, not knowing what to do.  How comforting to follow a real leader.  Sarpedon continues:

 12.363   Ah, cousin, could we but survive this war
              to live forever deathless, without age,
              I would never go again to battle
              nor would I send you there for honor's sake!
              But now a thousand shapes of death surround us,
              & no man can escape them, or be safe.

So what should we do?  Despair of life?  Whine & complain about our lot?  Beg God for a different, better fate?  Sarpedon's counsel is:
12.369    Let us attack--whether to give some fellow
              glory or to win it

Attack our troubles & possibly win glory & honor.  These are the kind of leaders we want.  Leaders to inspire us to live deeper, more meaningful & even heroic lives.

The Meaning of Life: no one escapes from death.  No one passes through life without wounds.
16.295    Zeus who views the wide world
16.298    . . . would not let him come
              unscathed from battle.

The great Christian theologian Paul Tillich wrote a book titled, The Courage to Be.  Naturally he finds Christian sources for courage.  The title also applies to Homer.  Life is a call to glory requiring courage, even though it ends tragically (for the Greeks).  Accomplish something that you will be proud of.  What else do you have to do in this life?  Whine?  Complain?  Wish things were easier?  Let us attack our troubles.
 
 

Bk. 9: A Visit of Emissaries (left panel)

Bk. 9: A Visit of Emissaries (right panel): Akhilleus seated

Click on the next section: Explication above.