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April 3 through April 9:
Book 11 through book 13: pages 296 - 368 (72 pages)

Book 11: Agamemnon's Day of Glory
Book 12: The Trojans Storm the Rampart
Book 13: Battling for the Ships

This is slow going. Exactly as I remember it. There are moments which stand out but without a storyline/plot the battle scenes just string together. I have to wonder where the detail comes from. I mean the wound be wound detail. Pierced Throat. Thigh. Liver. Was this the fabrication of generations of storytellers trying to keep things unique? Or perhaps originated in tales around the campfire after battle? As with war reports. Perhaps you told every detail you saw in hopes of getting glory for your comrades.

The descriptions around the campfire... that's actually a very interesting observation, and probably very accurate. Yes, there are some long tedious sections with way too many descriptions of body parts.... but, I guess, that's war.

Renee wrote: "This is slow going. Exactly as I remember it. There are moments which stand out but without a storyline/plot the battle scenes just string together. I have to wonder where the detail comes from. I ..."

It's not, I think, so much about the wounds as the warriors who are inflicting and receiving them. I could be wrong, but I don't recall any passages where people are wounded without our knowing the name of the person who shot the arrow or threw the spear or whatever. It's about what this person and that person has done bravely (or has suffered bravely or not so bravely.)

It emphasizes the immediate and personal nature of the conflict, something that has been lost in warfare since I think the invention of the gun, and certainly since the invention of the cannon and bomb. Does anybody who fought in World War 1 know the name of the person they killed, or know the details of what wounds they inflicted? But the Greeks and Trojans knew -- and sometimes they even wait to fight until they've found out who it is they're about to fight. It's not generic fighting, it's direct me against you and may the best man live to fight another day.

I bet young boys were listening open mouthed to these bards as they toldof the deeds of heroes the young boys couldn't wait to grow up and emulate. And I'm betting that as the bard goes from town to town singing his epics, the heroes from that town get special mention for their brave deeds, just as today we follow the fortunes of baseball or football players from our town or schools who are "making it" in the NFL or MLB.