POLL: Two Books; Two Views of Life And Human Nature

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In honor of Grey Magistrate, and his thread on death and violence in RPGs, I thought that we could dig a little deeper into this topic with a poll on two books, which are said, by some critics to be the cornerstones of Western Literature - The Iliad and the Odyssey.

As most everyone knows both books are attributed to the same author, Homer, who really may or may not have ever existed at all, according to some. Nevertheless, the books are said to be representative of two views: Life as a war, and life as a journey. Certainly, the Iliad is the epitome of war and violence. The text raises death to a strange, otherworldly beauty in the face of utter carnage, ruin and destruction. On the other hand there is the Odyssey, with its fantastic journey, as the struggle of men fighting the “wine-colored sea,” fantastic creatures, and the Gods, in a heroic effort to return to their home. It is a story of restoration (Ulysses as rightful king) and love and renewal (the marriage covenant with Penelope). It is as life-affirming, as the Iliad is the exact dark opposite. I should point out that some critics have said that this approach to the two stories is not realistic because it “paints them with too broad a brush.” But I disagree – there is that wonderful scene in the center of the Odyssey, when Odysseus meets Achilles in Hades, and Homer appears to reject death over all else; Achilles, the greatest of all heroes, says: “Let me hear no smooth talk of death from you Odysseus, light of councils. Better, I say, to break sod as a farm hand for some poor country man, on iron rations, than lord it over all the exhausted dead.” Agreed? Or is Life only a hopeless struggle and its meaning is in how well one fights and ultimately meets his end?

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 11 user(s) have voted.
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Poll Results: Two Books; Two Views of Life And Human Nature (11 votes.)

Two Books; Two Views of Life And Human Nature (Choose 1)
* The Iliad: Life is a Heroic Struggle with Death as the Ultimate Reward - 18% (2)
* The Odyssey: Life is a Journey with the Hope of Renewal and Restoration - 64% (7)
* Homer was Wrong. Neither of these Describes Life in a Meaningful Way - 18% (2)

 

Wow! A poll in my honor! Now I know that I've arrived.

Well, I voted for #2. I was quite disappointed that Dante assigned role-model Odysseus to a hellish circle instead of safety with the virtuous pagans. Go Odysseus!

But...I would add that another cornerstone of Western Literature is the Bible. (You don't have to be Christian to recognize that - none of us worship the Greek or Trojan gods, either.) The Bible seems to combine both war and renewal together. It's chock-full of militaristic history and imagery - even the supposedly "kinder and gentler" New Testament compares Christians to soldiers and has a penultimate cataclysm deadly enough to inspire insipid a "Left Behind" series. And its message is one of renewal for men and the earth - but at the cost of God's death. Again, you don't have to be Christian to see that this is a very different "solution" to the problems recognized by Homer.

Joseph de Maistre had an interesting observation during the French Revolution. De Maistre, adding his own "smooth talk of death", claimed that man was made for war and death, not peace and life. Compare the soldier and the executioner, he said. The soldier is held in high honor for courageously killing the enemy's anonymous conscripts - the more the better. But the executioner is held in revulsion, even though he kills only a few who have been specifically selected for death, presumably for just reasons. De Maistre thought there was a kind of ennobling glory in the heroic slaughters when men pour all their lifeblood, creativity, and force into combat - but the executioner faces no risk and thus wields no courage or glory. Think, too, of Gandalf's admonition to Frodo to spare the murderous Gollum - and Gandalf's simultaneous support for pitched battles that lead to tens of thousands of deaths. Thus, justice is subordinate to the glory of death on death.

Frankly, de Maistre is crazy. But I think his observation speaks to the same thing Homer recognized - that man craves not only renewal and life, but also war and death. The Bible would say that this is because man is both noble and fallen - created in the divine image, but broken beyond self-repair. But Homer seems to suggest that man can turn away from death-lust and find renewal through struggle, love, and home.

One final Iliadic possibility. We see lots of terrorism today - it didn't start with 9/11 (look at the Zealots two thousand years ago!), and it continues yet. Is it possible that we are trying too hard to find rationality and purpose behind these attacks? Is it possible that maybe this is just another stage in man's death-lust, and Islamic fundamentalism is only the latest pretext to justify martyrdom and murder?