Word: iliad
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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These people are not the same as those that inhabit the Iliad (so beloved of Cecelia's grandfather). They do not rise to the heroism of combat. Rather, heroism descends to the level of their everyday lives. The ordinary gestures of masculine courtesy take on a grand sweeping quality, and the banality of names take on an almost ritualistic significance when the men in the group have to change their to join a band of partisans. One young man, in memory of his stint as a choirboy, picks the name Requiem--a poignantly appropriate choice, as later events reveal...
...Christ." Well, obviously, it wasn't the biggest story since Roman times--but it might have been the biggest news story. News, after all, started out chronicling heroes. Homer and Vergil were only carrying on a tradition that started with cave paintings when they put the Odyssey and Iliad to verse. Praises of exceptional men were to be sung. News today may be little more than bookkeeping, closer to ledger accounting than anything else. But even now we respond, almost intuitively, to heroes. Maybe with a little mistrust, to be sure, but still intuitively. Even Fortune magazine profiles petroleum executives...
...spears, all facing each other in objective admiration. The ones in the center of the room are spotlit from the ceiling; their shadows make stars on the carpet. It is said that Alexander's real head slept with a dagger and a copy of the Iliad under the pillow. But what went on inside...