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Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs's Reviews > The Iliad of Homer
The Iliad of Homer
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Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs's review
bookshelves: currently-reading
Oct 03, 2017
bookshelves: currently-reading
Reading for the 2nd time. Most recently started December 17, 2023.
When I was just 2 years old, my grandmother sent me (from Utah to Central Canada), an LP of Prokofiev - against a storytime backdrop of The Trojan Horse - from the Iliad.
The Trojan Horse comes at the conclusion of Homer's epic.
Everyone knows the Iliad. And everyone talks about it here. But here, I only want to discuss one forgotten element of it. An element ESSENTIAL to constructing a valid modern worldview - for EACH of us.
I always avoided applying this element to my daily life. But I was wrong - so wrong.
Rei Pasa! Those two words sum it all up.
They were written by a Greek gentleman who was roughly the contemporary of Homer - Heraclitus, the ancient pre-Socratic philosopher.
Rei pasa - everything changes.
Inevitably.
As Heraclitus explains elsewhere, “You can’t step into the same river twice!� EVERYTHING is in movement.
So it is with Homer. In this epic, everything takes place In Medias Res - right, smack dab in the middle of the chaos of everyday life.
That’s where we all start in our OWN lives. And finish.
And that’s the ONLY place we’ll ever find Peace.
Now, that seems odd, doesn’t it?
And it seemed that way for me, too...
Back in 1985 I was harried to the Max by my new furiously high-powered career. I couldn’t find any place of peace in my life. That’s the year I started to find solace in Eastern philosophy and New Age Music.
Hey, with this stuff you could get blissed-out in no time! So I weakly thought.
But then the frenetic pace of the workplace sped up. And kept accelerating - all the way to retirement. I felt trapped.
By 1999 I was burning out. I was frazzled. Fried. But on an April day exactly twenty years ago I realized I had no choice but to let it all go - and give it to God.
That was Lev Chestov's response to the aporia of all Milennials, too: the impossible Leap of Faith.
So THAT was when I really knew what In Medias Res REALLY meant.
It’s not OUR world. It’s His! Let Him do what He wants for a change - and sit back for the RIDE OF YOUR LIFE.
You’ll never experience the eternal mutability of life until you get to that point.
There’s just NO WAY - because otherwise YOU, solid, ‘unchanging� you, are always center stage!
You have to let it go - and give it away.
Just like Achilles loses it - and becomes his Fate.
And that’s why Homer is so colossal.
There’s just no other way to peace -
At the Eye of the Storm!
The Trojan Horse comes at the conclusion of Homer's epic.
Everyone knows the Iliad. And everyone talks about it here. But here, I only want to discuss one forgotten element of it. An element ESSENTIAL to constructing a valid modern worldview - for EACH of us.
I always avoided applying this element to my daily life. But I was wrong - so wrong.
Rei Pasa! Those two words sum it all up.
They were written by a Greek gentleman who was roughly the contemporary of Homer - Heraclitus, the ancient pre-Socratic philosopher.
Rei pasa - everything changes.
Inevitably.
As Heraclitus explains elsewhere, “You can’t step into the same river twice!� EVERYTHING is in movement.
So it is with Homer. In this epic, everything takes place In Medias Res - right, smack dab in the middle of the chaos of everyday life.
That’s where we all start in our OWN lives. And finish.
And that’s the ONLY place we’ll ever find Peace.
Now, that seems odd, doesn’t it?
And it seemed that way for me, too...
Back in 1985 I was harried to the Max by my new furiously high-powered career. I couldn’t find any place of peace in my life. That’s the year I started to find solace in Eastern philosophy and New Age Music.
Hey, with this stuff you could get blissed-out in no time! So I weakly thought.
But then the frenetic pace of the workplace sped up. And kept accelerating - all the way to retirement. I felt trapped.
By 1999 I was burning out. I was frazzled. Fried. But on an April day exactly twenty years ago I realized I had no choice but to let it all go - and give it to God.
That was Lev Chestov's response to the aporia of all Milennials, too: the impossible Leap of Faith.
So THAT was when I really knew what In Medias Res REALLY meant.
It’s not OUR world. It’s His! Let Him do what He wants for a change - and sit back for the RIDE OF YOUR LIFE.
You’ll never experience the eternal mutability of life until you get to that point.
There’s just NO WAY - because otherwise YOU, solid, ‘unchanging� you, are always center stage!
You have to let it go - and give it away.
Just like Achilles loses it - and becomes his Fate.
And that’s why Homer is so colossal.
There’s just no other way to peace -
At the Eye of the Storm!
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Reading Progress
October 3, 2017
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Started Reading
October 3, 2017
– Shelved
October 3, 2017
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Finished Reading
December 17, 2023
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Started Reading
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David
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Apr 08, 2019 12:40PM
"You can't step into the same river twice." I like that one! Thanks, Fergus!
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And Heraclitus has a whole suitcase full of good one-liners in the fragments of his thoughts that survive! And they’re all Public Domain, natch. All on the Web!
Thanks a lot, Jane - that ‘middle-of-things� bit really hit me, when reading it at 18. But I never figured out WHY - until now!
Thank you for making it relevant for our day to day life. I'll have to read the Iliad this summer!
Nice review Fergus -- I haven't read this since college. Time to take another look
Finn & Jim: glad it seemed to work for you both, and led you back to this colossal book! It’s tough but it’s good.
Peace in the eye of the storm. I like that, Fergus. Glad you found the still center.
Thanks, Laysee! Growing old for some has real advantages - though they’re not apparent to the young. Tranquility is one of them.!
You nailed it again, my friend.
I, too, liked this version of the Iliad, Fergus.
Thanks so much, folks! I know it’s offbeat, but it describes my inner feelings.
Wonderful and honest review, Fergus. I am on a Homer quest!
You know, Barbara, it’s really quite extraordinary to read this - and to see to what a huge extent we’ve nowadays INTERNALIZED the world in comparison to the Greeks. And another really striking point is that in the midst of battle, the sense of the SACRED never left them! They teach us so much.
Thank you for highlighting Rei Pasa again, Thanks for the review.
You’re quite welcome, Mark! My “little knowledge� of Latin “and less� of Greek, as Sam Johnson put it, has paid off a bit!
This is brilliant, Fergus. I definitely needed to hear this. Wonderful review.
Thanks so much, gentlemen! This was one of those irksome books for me, where you keep getting sucked into the vortex of private memories - in my case, the lisping and a bit fuddy-duddy classics prof who kept prodding us kids with a Latin slogan, in medias res. One morning it hit me - eureka! He turned out to have been, of course, an great prof with an ingenious idea.
Beautiful thought out review, Fergus. You’re so wise and have been through the ropes of life. We are all slaves to the carrot being held out in front of us... when will it ever be enough to be comfortable living? Thank you for sharing your world with us while reading some in-depth stuff.
Your words touch me deeply as always, wonderful friend. So nice to hear from you! Keep smiling - and keep SHINING.
That book is so old, but so good. This is such a wonderful read and as good and part of life as it was so many thousand years ago. Just like Aesops fables which I read when I was a child.
My thanks to you both, and my regrets for my tardy reply. I was rather dumb back then - I couldn’t see the link between Heraclitus and Homer. Maybe if I’d paid attention in Classics..!
I often find that nearly every criticism of this great book focuses either on its historical accuracy or depth of its literary beauty. But we so often get swayed away by the superficiality of this 'art of critiquing' that we tend to forget the basic premise behind every great piece of art (which is to enrich the life).Yours is a lovely review, in that, it's the first life-affirmative review of this great epic that i 've come across. Thank you!
I should read the Iliad again. Read it and talked about it in school, but that was a long time ago. I am now reading "The Plague," by Camas. Another classic, but not near as old as "The Iliad."
Thanks so much, folks! Yes, Mudaser, War is hell, but insight redeems: thanks very much for your kind words. And Josephine, so glad you’re reading Camus� The Plague! I read it when I was 21, and it was a game-changer.
It's been such a long time since I have even heard of the Iliad. A very old, old story, but still around. So many other writings are long gone. Yes, this is very good and not as famous now or well read as it should be.
Thank you for this thoughtful review! I particularly liked how you incorporated the ideas of Heraclitus. BTW, if you've not already read it, there's a very fine Penguin Classics edition of Heraclitus' Fragments, in both English and Classical Greek. Many thanks once again!
Thanks, Paul, and you have reminded me that I must update my budget-priced edition of Heraclitus. In fact, over time, I want to upgrade my entire electronic classical library!
It was mandatory reading in Jr. High School.
Very profound and deep review! I loved it, because all that you mention is so true!
Oh, Maddy, you're quite welcome! I must admit I had an advantage - I was graced with a humble polymathic Classics prof who wanted to share the fruits of his musings.
