On Fri 21 Sep 2007, Carrol Cox wrote:
> Accepting (provisionally) your use of "civilized" as a positive, the
> high point of civilization to date is Book 24 of the Iliad. Dante &
> Shakespeare don't come even close to equalling it.
Just out of curiosity, Carrol, could you elaborate? I just happen to be re-reading some Shakespeare, and loving it, and I have to say, the text of the Iliad has never blown me away in quite the same way. It hasn't even struck me as the greatest piece of ancient Greek literature, when placed next to the great Greek tragedies. Does it have a much greater effect in the original -- one which is inaccessible otherwise? Or maybe there's a great translation I haven't read (I'm certainly no expert)? Or were you remarking about the content of the last book of the Iliad, the way the Greeks, in their central myth, unlike virtually anyone who comes after, portray their own side as being responsible for the worst conceivable atrocities (sacrereligious ones) in time of victory? Or is it something else that makes it the pinacle that overreaches the rest?
I'm asking purely out of curiosity and a desire to learn; this is not a combative leading question.
Michael