City-ravaging Odysseus
The dark side of Odysseus, the luminous hero. Capable of such delicacy, sincerity, loyalty, he is also often merciless and...
Troy the spoiler
Agamemnon appealing to God with a sour grape Greek’s spitting contempt for the Trojans, like a school yard bully’s name-calling...
Hard-breathing horses
Caught up in the maelstrom of battle between the Greeks and Trojans, these horses have just seen their master massacred,...
Poikilometis
Nicolson refers to this word, used to describe Odysseus, and translates it as ‘dapple-skilled, with so much woven into him...
Hospitality protocol 101
Homer is awash with examples of great hospitality and generosity between hosts and guests, even uninvited ones washing up on...
Strategic consideration
The wild card of ancient Greek military planning was the existence and randomness of divine intervention. You never knew which...
Close as …
If you can withstand the shock of the thock of the arrow passing through eyes, the simile ‘as close as...
Like sun on tin
Logue is recreating the Bronze Age and in his version of the Iliad, metal gleams.
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Poems for my family 006 – Cavafy
This poem has been in my mental saddlebags for about a quarter of a century. I can't remember how I...
Crab-angled legs
Imperfect Hephaestus, ‘Vulcan’ to the Romans, blacksmith of the gods and semi-gods – Achilles’ incomparable armour is Hephaestus forged.
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A tongue twister triologism
I liked this punchy, tongue-twisting image of remote and mountainous Macedon.
‘He will get home. That is to say,...
Achilles’ face
This is an intriguing description of a face – I see a chalk-white face with a lion’s mane of golden...
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