On Achilles (and the nature of men)
Today in my Ancient History class we discussed an old painting depicting Julius Caesar after he had been killed. He was surrounded by, in the words of my Prof, several “women who were lamenting his death” in front of Rome. For a minute, I wanted to be Caesar.
But Caesar wanted to be Alexander the Great. On one of his expeditions Caesar was marching with his army when they came upon an old, enormous, statue of Alexander the Great. Caesar broke away from his troops, stopped to study the statue, and fell to his knees. He remained there staring at Alexander while his troops marched forward. A concerned general came over to make sure Caesar was all right. Caesar was weeping before the statue, saying he had done nothing with his life.
But Alexander the Great wanted to be Achilles. Throughout his many travels Alexander always kept a copy of The Iliad with him. He reportedly told his friends that his only regret was that there wasn’t a poet like Homer who could immortalize him, the way Homer had done for Achilles.But Achilles? No. Achilles wished to be NO-ONE ELSE.
