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woodfaceBefore I go take a bath here's a summary of chapter one:
It starts in the middle of the Trojan war. The troops are plagued by the black death and people fear Apollo is against them. Achilles begs for someone to tell them what they have done wrong so they can make up for it and Nestor, a seeer, stands up. He says he knows why Apollo is vexed but fears for his life if he speaks out loud. Achilles promises Nestor that he will protect him and let no man harm him.
So Calchas explains that Agamemnon holds a young girl captive as prize from a battle but this girl is the daughter of a priest of Apollo. Her father had begged the king to return his daughter to him and offered him a nice ransom in return but Agamemnon turned the man away. The priest was so furious that he begged Apollo to pester the greeks until his daughter was returned. So they should send the girl back to her father together with gifts for Apollo in order to apeace him.
At this Agamemnon is furious as he doesn't want to give up his prize. But he has no other choice so he agrees but promises that he will take the girl, Briseis, who wa given by the army to Achilles in return. Achilles looses it and insults the king, saying he has no right right to take the one thing that has been given him. He fought with the men and received the girl as a gift while Agamemnon stood and watched the battle. He is about to draw his sword and kill Agamemnon when Athena interrupts and forbids him to strike. Achilles tells Agamemnon that he will withdraw from battle, which suits Agamemnon fine. Nestor tries to settle the fight between the two and begs Agamemnon not to take Briseis and asks Achilles to continues fighting. They both ignore him though and Achilles swears that he will not try to prevent anyone from taking Briseis as it has been decided here but if anyone tries to take anything else, he will kill them.
Agamemnon lets Oddyseus take the girl back to her father while he sends two of his men to get Briseis. Achilles keeps his word and tells the men he will not harm them as they are merely doing as they are ordered. Briseis is deeply unhappy to be taken away from Achilles and the two men are reluctant to fulfil their task but they do so anyway. Achilles is left alone and starts to weep. He calls upon his mother Thetis, a goddess, and tells her of how Agamemnon dishonoured him. He begs her to ask to Zeus kill all the Greeks unless he gets his honour (Briseis) back. Thetis agrees, knowing that her sons days are numbered and that this little joy has been taken from him wrongly. She goes talk to Zeus and he agrees. Which causes a fight between him and his wife Hera but at the bidding of their son, Hera accepts Zeus' decision.
My thoughts about this chapter in relation to the movie: we see here a very different Achilles. I can hardly see this man destroying a temple of Apollo and he really isn't as disbelieving as he is in the movie. The relationship with Briseis is just suggested but dude; he's crying over her! I'm glad they decided to keep the gods out of the movie. It would have made the story too other worldly. It's strange even reading it but of course it's part of the mindset of the Greeks. I just don't think this kind of story telling would have made the movie accessible.
It starts in the middle of the Trojan war. The troops are plagued by the black death and people fear Apollo is against them. Achilles begs for someone to tell them what they have done wrong so they can make up for it and Nestor, a seeer, stands up. He says he knows why Apollo is vexed but fears for his life if he speaks out loud. Achilles promises Nestor that he will protect him and let no man harm him.
So Calchas explains that Agamemnon holds a young girl captive as prize from a battle but this girl is the daughter of a priest of Apollo. Her father had begged the king to return his daughter to him and offered him a nice ransom in return but Agamemnon turned the man away. The priest was so furious that he begged Apollo to pester the greeks until his daughter was returned. So they should send the girl back to her father together with gifts for Apollo in order to apeace him.
At this Agamemnon is furious as he doesn't want to give up his prize. But he has no other choice so he agrees but promises that he will take the girl, Briseis, who wa given by the army to Achilles in return. Achilles looses it and insults the king, saying he has no right right to take the one thing that has been given him. He fought with the men and received the girl as a gift while Agamemnon stood and watched the battle. He is about to draw his sword and kill Agamemnon when Athena interrupts and forbids him to strike. Achilles tells Agamemnon that he will withdraw from battle, which suits Agamemnon fine. Nestor tries to settle the fight between the two and begs Agamemnon not to take Briseis and asks Achilles to continues fighting. They both ignore him though and Achilles swears that he will not try to prevent anyone from taking Briseis as it has been decided here but if anyone tries to take anything else, he will kill them.
Agamemnon lets Oddyseus take the girl back to her father while he sends two of his men to get Briseis. Achilles keeps his word and tells the men he will not harm them as they are merely doing as they are ordered. Briseis is deeply unhappy to be taken away from Achilles and the two men are reluctant to fulfil their task but they do so anyway. Achilles is left alone and starts to weep. He calls upon his mother Thetis, a goddess, and tells her of how Agamemnon dishonoured him. He begs her to ask to Zeus kill all the Greeks unless he gets his honour (Briseis) back. Thetis agrees, knowing that her sons days are numbered and that this little joy has been taken from him wrongly. She goes talk to Zeus and he agrees. Which causes a fight between him and his wife Hera but at the bidding of their son, Hera accepts Zeus' decision.
My thoughts about this chapter in relation to the movie: we see here a very different Achilles. I can hardly see this man destroying a temple of Apollo and he really isn't as disbelieving as he is in the movie. The relationship with Briseis is just suggested but dude; he's crying over her! I'm glad they decided to keep the gods out of the movie. It would have made the story too other worldly. It's strange even reading it but of course it's part of the mindset of the Greeks. I just don't think this kind of story telling would have made the movie accessible.
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Date: 2004-05-23 11:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-23 11:54 am (UTC)