VogueVixen on Nostr: Ultimately, the Iliad is a story about warfare: its glory, its pain, its stupidity. ...

Ultimately, the Iliad is a story about warfare: its glory, its pain, its stupidity. By relating to Achilles, the reader is forced to confront the question of whether killing others is a meaningful form of existence, and what is truly worth fighting and dying for. In Book 9 of the Iliad, Achilles notes that no thanks are given to the man who is always fighting, and that death comes with equal honor to both hero and coward. In Book 22, he is willing to sacrifice himself to avenge the death of his beloved friend.
The Iliad is a search for the meaning of life in a world plagued by war.

quoting nevent1q…djs5

Once upon a time the sea goddess Thetis was forced to marry the mortal King Peleus.
They had the wedding of the century, and all the Greek deities were invited except Eris, the goddess of strife. Insulted, Eris crashed the wedding and tossed onto the dance floor a golden apple inscribed "For the Most Beautiful." Three goddesses immediately demanded the apple-Hera (wife of Zeus), Athena (goddess of warfare and wisdom), and Aphrodite (goddess of love and beauty). None of the gods wanted to arbitrate that dispute (being immortal, they would literally never hear the end of it), so they asked the Trojan prince Paris to serve as the judge. All three goddesses tried to bribe him —Hera with kingship over Asia, Athena with outstanding wisdom, and Aphrodite with the most beautiful woman in the world as his bedmate. Paris chose Aphrodite, and got in exchange Helen of Sparta. Problem was, Helen was already married to Menelaos, king of Sparta and brother of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae.
So when Paris seduced Helen and brought her back to Troy, it started an international incident. For ten years the Greeks tried using diplomacy to get Helen returned. Then they went to war, which lasted another ten years.