The collection of stories Lady Reason tells to Christine is revolutionary. The women in her tales aren’t portrayed as deceptive and manipulative, good for playing house, making babies, and being shown as trophies. They are noble, strong, and wise while still maintain elegance and charm.

Furthermore, while male characters (so far) have been portrayed as having either valor or wisdom, many of the female characters are well-rounded. Not only do they command respect and authority, they also use their intelligence to guide their power more effectively. Queen Thamaris is described on pg. 792 as “noble” and “as brave as she was wise”. The hot-headed, rash decisions we see in male-dominated epics are not to be found here.

Even the female “wisemen” aren’t limited to one skill. Nicostrata was gifted in divine inspiration and prophesy, laid the foundations of Rome and had the mental prowess to consolidate a language (Latin) with its grammer and syntax that was used as the foundation for many of the popular languages today. (pg 798-799) It seems that women, when they put their minds to good, can have the best of both worlds. Their intelligence guides their power leading to less pride-spurred or rash decisions that they would later regret. This leads, ultimately, to the female heroes having a longer life, greater accomplishments and grander legacy. It’s a shame the legacy is stifled by men too intimidated to uphold it.

Achilles, while grumpy and argumentative, seems to be a man ahead of his time. He portrays a strong sense of social order as his though process transcends the common heroic code. As admirable as these qualities may be, the question remains of whether they served him well in the long-run.

His desire for social order is apparent in the beginning when he takes it upon himself to discover the reasons behind the plague and disorder in the Achaian camp. Disregarding protocol, he calls an assembly and discovers that Agamemnon is responsible for the havoc. Achilles confronts his leader and, in his naggy style, finally convinces him to return the woman he had stole to her father, the priest. When Agamemnon decided to take Achilles’ woman as compensation, Achilles throws a justice hissy fit and withdraws from battle completely. Further on in the story, when he is begged to return and his spoils to be returned to him many times over, Achilles is unable to see past his self-pity to come to the aid of his comrades. He compares his predicament to that of Menelaos and Helen.

While I understand that Achilles’ decisions and offense are both spurred on for his desire for justice, his inability to see past his righteousness and pride (so far) have led to greater problems than solutions. The question is: “Is it more important to follow your loyalties and sacrifice moral justice, or is the bigger picture more important than your reputation and the lives of your comrade?”