Book 22. Il. 25-30

I simply chose this paragraph, because, I’m a runner. And I think that it very well describes the feeling/rush (if I may describe it as such) one gets when they get into a good running pace, then, it feels as though the drive is smooth and the stride flows as you glide along the surface. (This does not happen very often, because we’re injured most of the time. See below)
This, I imagine, is how Achilles, The Brilliant Runner, would run. Achilles himself is very popular in the running world, simply, because he was one of the first famous runners. He’s also fortunate enough to have a body part named after him. Ironically this body part is a very weak point for runners. Because it is very active during running. The famous injury called Achilles Heal is well known to runners and is often one of the most common running injuries.

More importantly, If Achilles would’ve made it to old age, he would’ve, no doubt, suffered from knee problems. No one strides like a champion stallion without paying the consequences. “Achilles hurtled on, driving legs and knees.” Maybe it wouldn’t of been so bad for him because he was running on a surface softer than asphalt. I could imagine though, when asked about his great Trojan war experience, Achilles would say something like, “I may have killed Hector and countless other Trojans, but my knees paid the price for it.” He would say this as he limped along on his cane, constantly complaining about his aching knees to anyone who cared to listen.

“Put me to bed quickly, Achilles, Prince. Time to rest, to enjoy the sweet relief of sleep. Not once have my eyes closed shut beneath my lids from the day my son went down beneath your hands…day and night I groan, brooding over the countless griefs, groveling in the dung that fills my walled in court. But now, at long last, I have tasted food again and let some glistening wine go down my throat. Before this hour I had tasted nothing.” (pg. 609)

While before this passage Homer makes it obvious how similar Achilles and Priam are in terms of losing their beloveds, I find this to be the best summary of these similarities. Like Achilles after the death of Patroclus, Praim has defiled his face in filth in grief. Also, like Achilles, Priam has neither slept nor eaten for days because of his son’s death. It is interesting to see these two characters, though on two different sides of a war, react the same way to the loss of a loved one.

This passage also shows a major theme within the poem, grief and sacrifice. Those reading this poem hundreds of years ago saw this poem as a guide to how to live life, an ancient Bible if you will. In reading these passages, the readers are told how to react to the death of a loved one: sacrifice your own well being for them. Do not eat, do not sleep, go through pain and suffering to fully comprehend the lose that has occurred.

But this passage also shows how kinships and friendship, especially between males, are imperative in living a proper life. To go into a frenzy of grief and sacrifice because of the death of a son or close friend shows how much the poem values friendships and kinships. This respect for those relationships are so strong, in fact, that it can surpass enemy lines, where a king can go into enemy territory alone and bargain with the man who killed his son.

Book 23, Iliad. 22-27

“Farewell, Patroclus, even there in the House of Death!

Look—all that I promised once I am performing now:

I’ve dragged Hector here for the dogs to rip him raw—

and here in front of your flaming pyre I’ll cut the throats

of a dozen sons of Troy in all their shining glory,

venting my rage on them for your destruction!”

Once again, Homers’ description in this passage shows us the importance of the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles. Not only he did not bury him before avenging his death, in addition, he made sure that his body was honored and buried as a hero.

What is interesting and what stands out here though, is the close relationship they have had. Until Patroclus was killed, Achilles had little impact on the war, but from that point, it became his war. The rage and fury he possessed, made him extremely determined to avenge Patroclus’ death.

The idea that Patroclus and Achilles were lovers is quite old. However, there is a lot of support for their relationship in the text of the Iliad itself, though Homer never makes it explicit. Yet, there are some people who reject the idea that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers. What is clear from the text, however, is that the two men loved each other deeply, and that they had been close since they were young. 

I believe, that the physical devastation Achilles had for Patroclus spoke deeply to me of a true intimacy between the two men.

“Come friend, you too must die. Why moan about it so? Even Patroclus died, a far, far better man than you. And look, you see how handsome and powerful I am? The son of a great man, the mother who gave me life a deathless goddess. But even for me, I tell you, death and the strong force of fate are waiting.”

This passage is extremely significant in the overall demise of Achilles. He mercilessly murders Lycaon here. He’s become nothing but vengeful since the Trojans killed Patroclus and he has no plan of sparring any Trojans now. He killed so many men, that after he threw each one in the river, the channels became clogged. In the beginning of the poem, Achilles was an astounding warrior, but also a relatively fair one. He was level headed, but at the same time would kill any man he needed to to protect himself. At this point in the poem, all of his senses have gone out the window. He’s thinking with his heart and not his head. His way of dealing with heartbreak is to kill every man that stands in his way, any man that presents themselves to him from the Trojan side.

Achilles is absolutely terrifying in this passage, speaking down to Lycaon like he was a murderor, teasing him about the fact that he was about to die, and that Achilles had all of the control. He’s dark and This rage that we see within Achilles shows truly how distraught he is over the death of Patroclus. The two of them must have been very passionate lovers, because Achilles doesn’t break easily. And with this passage, it is clear that Achilles is broken.

This week, we’ll be finishing The Iliad. We’ll have our last in-class discussion of the poem on Tuesday. We’ll also be spending a good part of Tuesday’s class talking about your essay drafts. Remember, the draft factors into your final grade for the paper, so please do put a lot of time into it! It need not be perfect, but you’ll want to submit a draft that looks more or less like a complete essay (with a clear argument or thesis statement that is supported with evidence from the poem).

Because we have so much material to cover this week, we’re going to try something different. I’m dividing the class up into four small groups. Each group will then be responsible for commenting on ONE of the four remaining books of The Iliad (21, 22, 23, 24) on our blog.

Here is your assignment (due, as always, by 11:59 pm on Sunday night): choose a short passage from the book your group has been assigned, which you would like us to talk about in class. (A short passage can be anything from a few lines up to a whole page.) Give us the relevant Book and line numbers, which you should write at the top of your post like this: Book 21, ll. 310-325. Then, in 250-300 words, answer the following questions: What about this passage seems interesting or significant to you? Why does it stand out? How does it relate to some of the larger themes in the poem?

Here are the groups:

Book 21

Hazara Ali

Charlotte Berger

Andrew Camarda

Kyle Cayemittes

Tat Chan

Jun Chen

Book 22

Quincy Clay

Naeem Coleman

Shmuel Gross

Matias Hernandez

Gramercy Liew

Leandre Ligan

Book 23

Chaofan Lin

Kim Lin

Linus Ling

Alfons Marku

Vasil Papadhimitri

Yesol Park

Book 24

Sandra Przebieglec

Ivonne Puente

James Smith

Ryan Smith

Eridania Suarez

Emely Vargas

Weifeng Zheng

Jessica Zukhovich

“My condolences to the man dress
for a funeral, sitting bored
on a gray folding chair, the zero

of his mouth widening in a yawn.
No doubt he’s pictured himself inside
a painting or two around his station,

stealing a plump green grape
from the cluster hanging above
the corkscrew locks of Dionysus.

or shooting arrows at rosy-cheeked cherubs
hiding behind a woolly cloud.
With time limping along

like a Bruegel beggar, no doubt
he’s even seen himself taking the place
of the one crucified: the black spike

of the minute hand piercing his left palm,
the hour hand penetrating the right,
nailed forever to one spot.”

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/museum-guard

The poem “Museum Guard” by David Hernandez is a poem describing a museum guard on duty from the third point of view. It begins with clear and simple short stanzas. An image has popped up right after I finish the first two stanza as described. A man is on duty, at a disinterested and unchallenged position yawning, which he’s possibly imagining himself acting and living in several classic works of art. He may be picturing himself stealing grapes from Dionysus, shooting arrows at cherubs, or even being crucified like drawn in the work of art. In these several stanzas, the guard’s imagination is illustrative and specific. In addition to the images brought vivid by words, it is the feeling being felt as I was reading until the last word, and especially the last stanza of this poem. His hands were “nailed forever to one spot,” penetrating the main idea of this poem just like the title “Museum Guard,” not exactly an active, moving and exciting job, it is the opposite.

I consider this as a ekphrasis work because of two reasons. First, it is a poem. Poem is a part of literature. (Literature is works of words, writings.) Secondly, this poem is also describing the museum guard’s imagination visually. It matches the definition of ekphrasis based on our assignment, “a description, in a work of literature, of a piece of visual art.” If I’m understanding correctly, then I believe it is easy to find ekphrasis in any sort of contemporary works, like newspapers, poems, short stories, and etc. Or, even more common than we realize. Almost every sort of literature need to “describe” something, therefore, it shouldn’t be difficult to see in any contemporary works.

The most enjoyable part of reading literature is being able to visualize and depict the story being told. When discovering this weeks theme I was very excited to start my assignment. I choose to do my assignment on ” War Photograph” by Kate Daniels. As a whole this poem is the perfect example of ekphrasis. This was an easy pick for me, being that I am very interested and have done a large amount of research on the topic.

“She is running from the smoke and the soldiers, from the bodies of her mother and little sister thrown down into a ditch, from the blown-up bamboo hut from the melted pots and pans. And she is also running from the gods who have changed the sky to fire and puddled the earth with skin and blood”

I choose this excerpt from Daniel’s poem because of the effect it had on my imagination. I wanted to read this poem over and over to bring out the visualization of Daniel’s thoughts. This poem had dual effect on my mind, not only on my imagination but also on my emotions. In this poem Daniel’s is describing what she is seeing in the photograph. Daniel’s poem is based on a picture taken during the Vietnam war. Not only does Daniel’s describe what she sees but also the meaning behind it. The poem starts off with a child running naked from the negative effects of war. Daniel’s paints a vivid description of what she could imagine is going on in this child’s life as well as why the child looks so sad. My favorite example of ekphrasis is in the first stanza “A naked child is running along the path toward us, her arms stretched out, her mouth open, the world turned to trash behind her” Because it describes the exact image of the photograph in short deatail. When trying to critque visiual arts through literature, it is crucial to get a basis of what the author is trying to discribe. In the second stanza of the poem Daniel’s is describing the meaning of what she sees in the photograph. From Daniel’s poem we assume the child has lost not only his family but his home. Daniel’s say’s the running child is running from the Gods, which I can assume to be the government or the political forces behind it.

http://m.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/war-photograph

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/family-photograph

This poem The Family Photograph by Vona Groarke is one of the ekphrastic poems I found interesting. I think this poem is ekphrastic because it indirectly tells us what are in the family photograph. Even though the poet did not directly describe the family photograph, we, as a reader, could imagine that her father-in-law with a beard, her husband, and herself carrying a crying baby in her arm are standing in front of her house. There are whitened railings, crystal glasshouse, and fresh gravel on the avenue. She also tells us the time when the photograph is taken, that it is in a summer and it’s her son’s first birthday. Not only the poem include vision, but also there are senses of hearing (the baby cries), touching (warm), and smelling (pleasantly surprised air). In the poem, Groarke writes, “you have stepped out/ to make sure that everything/is in its proper place”. The poet spent her whole day preparing and making sure everything is perfect, but all the sudden, the baby cries during the picture. The photograph symbolizes that we are trying to make everything perfect during our lifetime, but there are always imperfections. The poet later writes, “You stand, a well-appointed group/with an air of being pleasantly surprised./ You will come to love this photograph”.  Here, she is telling us that we must accept the problems in our lives and the imperfection could be much valuable than the perfect one. The photograph is certainly an art for me.

Hunters in the Snow, William Carlos Williams  (1962)

The over-all picture is winter
icy mountains
in the background the return

from the hunt it is toward evening
from the left
sturdy hunters lead in

their pack the inn-sign
hanging from a
broken hinge is a stag a crucifix

between his antlers the cold
inn yard is
deserted but for a huge bonfire

that flares wind-driven tended by
women who cluster
about it to the right beyond

the hill is a pattern of skaters
Brueghel the painter
concerned with it all has chosen

a winter-struck bush for his
foreground to
complete the picture

http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/williams/13468 (poem)

http://www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/yuletide-scenes-5-hunters-snow (painting)

This poem describes a painting called “Hunters in the snow” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. I found this to have Ekphrasis since it is explains the setting and the actions in the poem. The Art piece shows a town and some huge mountains far back. The poet William Carlos Explains that it is winter near icy mountains and there are hunters who are bringing meat and any food they can find. The poet explains how the Inn sign is crooked hanging from a broken hinge and how the Inn is cold and deserted because everyone is” between his antlers” at the huge bonfire. By this he means outside the Inn towards the middle of outside the store which you can clearly see the bonfire and people around it. The flares are blown by the wind towards the left and women who are clustering to the left to keep warm and out of the way from the roaring fire. This painting and poem stuck out to me since we are also in winter storms all the time in New York and although we might not have the same needs as looking for food and trying to keep warm with bonfires we have our own struggles in the crazy snow storms that New York throws at us.

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/picture-little-t-c-prospect-flowers

While I’m reading this poem, I was trying to imagine what the author was trying to say from the poem. And it was easier for imagining the story of the poem so, I chose this as ekphrastic. Ekphrastic means of used the words to make visuals and “talk about the moment in the poem.” When I’m reading the poem, I felt like this poems was sad stories because when I found “me” in the poem, it was the author himself and this phrases mood was sad. He described as his feelings as “parley with those conquering eyes, / Ere they have tried their force to wound; / In triumph over hearts that strive, / And them that yield but more despise:” I could imagine how author’s mood and one of the important girl from him died. The author was imagining how the girl was like when she was alive. The author described as himself as depressing like a man lost everything and the girl was describing as precious and compare with the flowers.

Ekphrastic was little different than regular old poem. Regular old poem was used to imply the story of the poem and make reader to solve the meaning of the words and make them imaginary themselves. However, in ekphrastic poems, it makes a reader to imagine more clearly and clearly understands what is going on without guessing the mean of the words.