Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. What else is there?
The Donald is revving for a fight against his niece, against
Bolton, against anyone. How marvelous! The man doesn’t understand that things
have moved beyond even his control, he is already being judged, and woe betide
(him), if he is going to be found wanting – the elections-2020 are almost upon
the U.S. What next?
It is hard to say. People are claiming that an especially
virulent and violent version of the fire ant has appeared in North America,
after the giant hornet (and the giant hogweed). I admit I have no idea what to
say specifically – the term ‘fire ant’ describes several ant species from the
genus Solenopsis, which includes more than 200 species of ants
worldwide; maybe those ‘volcano ant’ are just a different species from the ‘regular’
fire ant…
Of course, the term ‘regular fire ant’ is a misnomer – those
particular ants are introduced species in North America, (especially in the
U.S. – they don’t appear to thrive in the Canadian winters at all, period), and
as such, while they are able to establish colonies of their own in the U.S.
regularly enough, they’re also exterminated regularly enough, without anyone
regretting about them. Invasive ants do not have any sympathizers, it seems.
What next?
Well, someone on the net had suggested that part of Odysseus’
– and we are talking the original character of Homer’s epics – tribulations have
come from his marriage and the relationship to the house of Atreus.
Here is how the thing went. The children of Atreus,
Agamemnon and Menelaus, married daughters of Leda, Helen and Clytemnestra, (who
were either children of Leda’s mortal husband, of Zeus, or of both – take your
pick). Odysseus’ wife Penelope was the cousin of the abovementioned duo, not to
mention that the entire marriage of Menelaus to Helen happened with Odysseus’
help.
Then, Helen ran away with Paris to Troy, (rather than to
Paris, say). Menelaus and Agamemnon began to assemble their posse. Re-enter
Odysseus. Why? Because the entire fraternity/order/agreement that all the
failed grooms of Helen help the lucky bastard who married Helen was his idea,
and without his presence, this document wasn’t worth the paper it was written
upon.
…The Greeks’ assembly and journey to Troy was very slow and hard, possibly because no one but
Menelaus and Agamemnon wanted to go there initially; Odysseus himself, in
particular, pretended to be insane once Agamemnon’s representatives arrived on
Ithaca, and came there only after one of them – a certain Palamedes – called his
bluff. (This did not go well for Palamedes – Odysseus set him up to be killed
by the Greeks themselves after they arrived at Troy). So what?
Well, according to my friend’s theory, Odysseus began to
reign on Ithaca as an ally of Menelaus and Agamemnon, who were the most
powerful kings of Ancient Greece at that time, not quite a vassal, but something
similar. Keep in mind, that the ‘Odyssey’ shows that Odysseus and his family were
not too popular on Ithaca, so if Agamemnon especially were to withdraw his
support from Odysseus, the man would not last for too long. Ergo, to keep
Agamemnon’s favor, Odysseus had to
come to Troy, because he had no better alternative, and if he were to betray
Agamemnon, (and Menelaus), he would quickly reap some bad karmic comeback; at
least, that what he thought and didn’t want to risk it – for good reasons.
…And then the Trojan War ended, Agamemnon came home and was
murdered by his wife and her new lover, while Menelaus and Helen were lost at
sea. Having lost his support from the sons of Atreus, Odysseus had to lie low;
his wife, who was a blood relative of Helen, Clytemnestra, and their earthly
relatives, was more confident and entertained the suitors, or rather – they entertained
her, you can see traces of that even in the canon.
Finally, Menelaus (and Helen) returned to Sparta and
restored their rule. Telemachus visited them – in the canon, to learn news of
the Odysseus; in this theory – to restore the political relationship between
them and his father’s dynasty, and once that happened and Odysseus got his
assurances, he came back, killed all the suitors, and restored his rule. The
end.
…Or not quite. There’s a version of Odysseus’ story where
Circe, (yes, the witch-goddess that turned men to pigs and pegs to men), had a
son by Odysseus, and the latter, when he grew up, went to Ithaca, killed
Odysseus, and became the ruler of Ithaca, and Penelope’s husband. Telemachus,
meanwhile, married Circe instead and took over Aeaea, (Circe’s home island). Considering
that we never know for sure if Odysseus and his family existed for real, this
theory – that Odysseus was a vassal of Agamemnon and Menelaus, not a very
likable man, and was killed by his sons, (or one of them, at least) – makes as
much sense as anything else does. What do you think?
…For now, though, this is it. See you all soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment