Ransom for Desire in the Iliad: Hector and Patroclus
The Iliad dwells on the wrath felt over an act of transgression. The backdrop for the story is the legend about the abduction of Helen by Paris while a guest at the palace of her husband Menelaos. Violation of the guest-host relationship starts the Trojan War. Yet the Iliad itself starts with Achill...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2023
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| In: |
Anthropoetics
Year: 2023, Volume: 29, Issue: 1 |
| Further subjects: | B
Ate
B Briseis B contract law B Hector B Patroclus B proper consideration B Helen B mimetic double bind B Litai |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The Iliad dwells on the wrath felt over an act of transgression. The backdrop for the story is the legend about the abduction of Helen by Paris while a guest at the palace of her husband Menelaos. Violation of the guest-host relationship starts the Trojan War. Yet the Iliad itself starts with Achilles’ wrath over Agamemnon’s taking of the young warrior’s companion, Briseis, while the Greeks have Troy under siege. Just as Helen is the disputed object of desire between Menelaos and Paris, Briseis is the disputed object of desire between Achilles and Agamemnon. We can project a fourth element to both love triangles to assess the loss caused by the mimetic rivalry. Hector and Patroclus represent the measure of loss in the two quadrangular relationships. We should ponder over how the quest for appeasement in a war epic results in a peaceful ending. |
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| Physical Description: | 17 |
| ISSN: | 1083-7264 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Anthropoetics
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