Rage! (Iliad I)
Table of Contents
Recap and Status 1. "Epic Hotness Countdown" 2. "To the Victor Go the Spoils" 3. "The Concubine and the Prince" 4. "Don't Smite the Messenger" 5. "Patron of the Mice" 6. "In the Beard of Agamemnon" 7. "The Routine" 8. "Men Are Such Fools" 9. "Achaeans, Assemble!" 10. "Agamemnon Himself" 11. "Something Happened" 12. "Alternate Plans" 13. "Errand-Girl" 14. "Speaking with Authority" 15. "That Time I Spoke and Everyone Ignored Me" 16. "To Olympus by Chariot" 17. "Nostos" 18. "The View from a Distance" 19. "The Water Bearers" 20. “Here Today, Here Tomorrow” 21. ”Strategic Thinking” 22. "Embers of the Mind" 23. “How the Evergreen Lost Its Leaves” 24. “Tears of Strength and Resilience” 25. “The Strong Man and the King” 26. “The Aether Speaks” 27. “Something Holy and Immortal” Weekly Chapters Every Sunday8. "Men Are Such Fools"
Centering Calchas,
Seer to Agamemnon:
The curse of the seer
is to believe other men to be fools.
They must know things,
even without Apollo's gifts of vision,
yet still,
they ask:
"Calchas,
what cause has this plague?"
"Calchas,
who could have so upset the Lord of Disease?"
"Calchas,
who among us needs to repent to Apollo?"
I wander the camp,
weaving among the funeral pyres
widdershins by night,
deosil by day,
safely indoors at dusk and dawn.
I watch the birds,
counting doves and crows,
white and black,
black and black,
black and black and black and white,
which is altogether too many crows,
as any fool could see.
Those who follow me at a distance
couldn't miss the signs:
priestly footprints in the mud,
the anger-shreds of ribbon,
the rock where an enslaved daughter
sits
and looks out at the sea
toward her island home.
Surely they see all this,
and still,
they ask,
"Why?"
Or perhaps they do see
all too clearly.
They mean for Calchas to be the one
to say what all men know,
to confront the one responsible,
to bear his wrath,
and certainly,
to die
for asking Agamemnon to accept the dishonor of blame.
"Calchas,
what do you see?"
Now this is a question I can answer,
if I look into the sea-storm eyes
of the man who asks,
and if I couch my words with the skill of a seer:
"I see a man
who stands up for truth-tellers,
and protects them
from those
who may dislike bad news.
I see a man
anguished
by the unvalorous deaths
of pale husks of men
on their death-pallets.
I see a man
who is willing to accept the consequences
of standing up to power.
I see Achilles,
who can stop this plague,
but only
at a great cost to himself
and those he loves."
This is what I tell him
each day
for nine days of sickness and death.
And on the tenth day,
Achilles makes a choice.
Author Commentary:
An author commentary for this installment is available to subscribers of the free Mythoversal Newsletter.
EPIC CYCLE ROADMAP:
* The Kypria* The Iliad
* The Posthomerica
* Tales of Nostos
* The Odyssey
* The Telegony
* The Aeneid
Rage is the first book of the Iliad. Amazons is the first book of the Posthomerica.
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