Homer's (the blind man's) poetry XXII as seen by the waiter

"Iliad I - Iliad II - Iliad III - Iliad IV - Iliad V - Iliad VI - Iliad VII - Iliad IIX - Iliad IX - Iliad X - Iliad XI - Iliad XII - Iliad XIII - Iliad IV - Iliad XV - Iliad XVI - Iliad XVII - Iliad XIIX - Iliad XIX - Iliad XX - Iliad XXI - Iliad XXII - Iliad XXIII - Iliad XXIV"

"Iliad XXII"
 

  XXII

book twenty-two

  God Apollo cautions Achilles

"Why do you hurry now,

the Trojan troops are all inside the city's walls,

except a few, led by Hector!"

Achilles in his rage tells god Apollo

to get out of his way or be cut down too.

Gently but firm Apollo reminds him,

"You can't kill me, I can never die it's not my fate!"

Achilles on his chariot goes with the traffic's flow,

on a freeway-off-ramp to heaven giving Apollo the finger,

as he is closing in on Hector in a hurry.

The swift racer Achilles like the god of  fight

is chasing Hector several times around

and around the walls of Troy, just for the fun of it,

getting a kick out of having the victorious Hector on the run.

And Hector knows,

he can not return behind these strong walls,

he has to stop cowardly running from the Greek fighter.

Yet he knows that Achilles is godlike and cannot be killed

unless he hits Achilles' heel.

Achilles gives him not the slightest chance

and as Hector lays in his blood

and Achilles is hacking limbs off him,

the dying Hector pleads for his body to be returned

to his people so he might be buried in style fit a King.

Yet Achilles seeing the limbless body

of his friend Patroclus in his mind

shows no mercy

promising

Hector's

flesh stripped

from the bones to be

dinner for the dogs of the

underworld. Now somewhat satisfied

Achilles is ready to give a funeral to what is left

of his good friend, waiting near the boats, is the body

of his ship's captain. Just one more atrocious act is Achilles' dragging

what is left of Hector behind his car for miles around and around

the city of Troy to shame Priam's son still further.

The Trojan women shear tears for they know

it had been he the great warrior, he alone

who had been shielding them walls,

them towers, them gates and all

of them in Troy. And the

women weep for

there had

never

been a better

Trojan than Hector.      

...on the desk top...

"Iliad I - Iliad II - Iliad III - Iliad IV - Iliad V - Iliad VI - Iliad VII - Iliad IIX - Iliad IX - Iliad X - Iliad XI - Iliad XII - Iliad XIII - Iliad IV - Iliad XV - Iliad XVI - Iliad XVII - Iliad XIIX - Iliad XIX - Iliad XX - Iliad XXI - Iliad XXII - Iliad XXIII - Iliad XXIV"