Troy

[golfyball]

I'm sitting here watching the movie Troy. Even though it doesn't follow Homer's version exactly, I really like this movie a lot. And no, it's not because Brad Pitt stars. If I had to pick a star to watch the movie for I would totally pick Peter O'Tool who I'm pretty sure made the best Henry II ever in The Lion in Winter. But that's neither here nor

Comments

Achilles

[anam_cara3]

I'd guess it has something to do with the Eastern mind. Achilles had a fear of being forgotten by everyone, including the gods. He is a person, he feels that he has significance; he is worried that no one will appreciate and remember him.

In the Orthodox Church, we sing at memorial services, "May his (her) memory be eternal" and "Memory eternal." Even if man forgets, God does not! And that is true of the person who stays, marries, has children, and lives a "normal" life.

Achilles did not have that assurance. He was afraid that if he wasn't remembered, he would cease to exist in eternity. Poor, poor, silly Achilles. We might not be telling a story with him in it over and over over the millenia, but surely, God would not have forgotten him.

Achilles understood the concept of eternity, but he didn't know about eternal life. If he existed in real life, God is still remembering and sustaining him even now, giving him eternal life - we just don't know where he is spending that life.....

[arwenwhadhafang]

I think I understand it. Many people are driven their whole lives to "make a name for themselves". Most people want to know that they matter, that they are special, that all they've done in their lives will live on.

As a history major I've spent many lectures wondering WHY are we learning so much about person A, and little about anyone else around them. I love touring historic homes and hearing about the people they know through papers lived there. You find out all sorts of things that aren't in textbooks that way.