MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts: Let's talk about The Iliad

issybird · 01-18-2012, 07:01 PM

I think people have gotten bogged down in the battles! So I'm going to offer a gross generalization about the action in the first six books as opposed to the second. (And I did say gross; I know there are exceptions.)

For me, the first six books were about the stalemate. Greeks and Trojans have been fighting for nine years with an advantage to neither side. All of the major players have survived until this point. This literally could go on forever.

But the gods have decided to get serious, and fate finally kicks in. Several of the majors know how it will play out. And we start to get the long view; I love the passage about the eradication over time of the Achaean's trench.

For me, these six books were largely (another gross generalization) characterized by the need to get the action going. The first six books were the set-up. Nothing of the end-game, despite the bloodbaths, has happened yet. So I regret that while I was reading rapicly last week, because I didn't have much free time, I didn't stop to note specific examples of the beautiful use of language and simile, which to me was the most salient aspect of these books. The funny bits, too. Amid the carnage, I was laughing.

01-18-2012, 07:01 PM	#108
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,405 Karma: 235678911 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	I think people have gotten bogged down in the battles! So I'm going to offer a gross generalization about the action in the first six books as opposed to the second. (And I did say gross; I know there are exceptions.) For me, the first six books were about the stalemate. Greeks and Trojans have been fighting for nine years with an advantage to neither side. All of the major players have survived until this point. This literally could go on forever. But the gods have decided to get serious, and fate finally kicks in. Several of the majors know how it will play out. And we start to get the long view; I love the passage about the eradication over time of the Achaean's trench. For me, these six books were largely (another gross generalization) characterized by the need to get the action going. The first six books were the set-up. Nothing of the end-game, despite the bloodbaths, has happened yet. So I regret that while I was reading rapicly last week, because I didn't have much free time, I didn't stop to note specific examples of the beautiful use of language and simile, which to me was the most salient aspect of these books. The funny bits, too. Amid the carnage, I was laughing.