1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:07,600 We've read The Iliad and the Odyssey, so Homer becomes the 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:13,560 basis for Greek civilization, meaning that all educated 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:18,320 Greeks, they memorize the Iliad in the Odyssey. 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,040 They don't, they don't read them right now, at this point. 5 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:27,520 They speak and they listen in front of an audience. 6 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:35,920 And so Homer becomes basically the infrastructure of their 7 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:40,880 mental world view. And this leads to the greatest 8 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:47,120 civilization in human history. But eventually the Romans will 9 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,440 conquer the Greeks, the Romans will conquer the entire 10 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,560 Mediterranean, and they will create the Roman Empire. 11 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,120 The Romans are nothing like the Greeks. 12 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:02,920 The Greeks are very open, very curious. 13 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:11,480 They believe in the idea of irritate, sorry, irritate, and 14 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:20,440 eudaimonia. Irritate means excellence, to be 15 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,880 the best at what you can. Eudaimonia means flourishing. 16 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,800 You can only achieve human happiness if you achieve your 17 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,120 irritate, OK, you become your irritate. 18 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,960 So think of Odysseus, who is great speaker that is his 19 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:44,400 irritate and he uses his speech in order to fulfill his destiny 20 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,880 and to save his family, OK, And that achieves eudaimonia. 21 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,800 The Romans are very different. The Romans believe in the idea 22 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:59,160 of piety, OK, And piety just means obedience to your 23 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,720 father's, to history and to tradition. 24 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:09,960 And so the Romans are extremely conservative people, but they're 25 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,760 very good at fighting wars and that's why they become the 26 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,720 empire. But after the empire is 27 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,600 established, what the Romans recognize is that Greek culture 28 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:28,160 is vastly superior and many well educated Romans begin to drift 29 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:33,080 towards Greek culture, which in the Roman perspective leads to 30 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,680 the corruption of the Roman soul. 31 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:42,600 And so Augustus Caesar, who is really considered the first 32 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:49,200 emperor of Rome, he recognizes that in the long term, even 33 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,720 though the Romans have conquered the Greeks physically, 34 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,720 spiritually the Greeks will conquer the the Romans. 35 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:04,600 And the main issue is Homer. So his solution is to destroy 36 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,120 Homer. You can't burn books because 37 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,600 there there aren't many books and also people have memorized 38 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,840 Homer. So you need to corrupt Homer and 39 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:27,040 the solution that he devises is called the iniad and we can 40 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,840 consider the iniad as the anti Homer. 41 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:34,440 OK or the inversion of Homer taking the ideas of Homer and 42 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:41,760 inverting them. OK, so this becomes the Bible of 43 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,960 the Roman Empire, meaning that if you're a schoolboy, you have 44 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,480 to memorize the iniad. And this is the main way that 45 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:55,400 you learn Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire. 46 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:00,200 And so whereas Homer will give us Greek civilization and the 47 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:05,160 birth of Western civilization, the iniad will create the Dark 48 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:11,040 Ages about 1000 years when Western creativity ends. 49 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:18,640 And then someone will emerge who will recognize the evil that is 50 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,400 the in the AD. And he will create a anecdote to 51 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,400 the poison that is the in the AD. 52 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:26,600 And this person, of course, is called Dante. 53 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,160 OK? And So what we'll do is we will 54 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,840 read the iniad for next two weeks and understand how it 55 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,280 poisons and corrupts Homer. And then this will lead us to 56 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:42,040 the Divine Comedy, which is really the liberation of the 57 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,880 human soul from the poison that is the iniad. 58 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:50,840 OK All right, so some basic background about the iniad. 59 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:57,040 So the Iniad, what it does is it replicates both the Odyssey and 60 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,160 the Iliad. The Iniad is 24 books, the 1st 61 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:05,840 12 books models of the Odyssey, the last 12 books models of the 62 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:10,480 Iliad. So the story begins when Ineus, 63 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,680 he is one of the survivors of the fall of Troy. 64 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:21,880 Okay, and so he takes his father and his child to go off to the 65 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,320 Italian peninsula because the gods have told him that he he is 66 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,840 fated. He is destined to found the 67 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:31,400 Roman Empire and that's why the gods had to destroy Troy in 68 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:32,960 order to create the Roman Empire. 69 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:38,920 But as he sails to an Italian peninsula, there's a shipwreck 70 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,600 and he lands in Carthage. OK Carthage. 71 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:45,520 And there he meets the Queen Dill. 72 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:52,160 And the Carthaginians and Ditto are extremely hospitable to NES. 73 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,240 And so they have this huge banquet. 74 00:05:55,240 --> 00:06:00,520 And NES is telling her of the story of the fall of Troy, how 75 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:02,920 Troy fell. Remember, Remember that Homer 76 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,680 doesn't actually discuss the fall of Troy, but NES will 77 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,560 discuss the fall of Troy. And by discussing the four of 78 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:16,360 toy, his main purpose is to show how duplicitous, manipulative, 79 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,360 deceptive the Greeks are. OK, he's he's also going to tell 80 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:31,640 us why the values of Homer are evil, why love is evil, why love 81 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:37,120 will lead you into tragedy. And then by telling the story, 82 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:42,080 what will happen is that Inez will seduce Ditto. 83 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,800 Ditto will fall in love with him, not because not only is he 84 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,080 brave and handsome, but he's also a great poet. 85 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,080 He's able to tell the story in a beautiful manner. 86 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,160 And so they fall in love. OK, All right, So this is the 87 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:02,520 beginning of the in the act. And So what we're going to read 88 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:06,280 first is, and it's a story of the fall of Troy. 89 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,120 It begins when the Greeks pretend to leave the beaches of 90 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:14,360 Troy, and they leave behind a wooden horse, OK? 91 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,920 And there's a huge debate among the Trojans as to what to do 92 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:24,080 with this horse. And they decide, basically, you 93 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,120 know, we can't take a risk. Let's just destroy this horse, 94 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:31,760 throw it into the sea. And then what happens is that a 95 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:34,920 Greek soldier emerges and he's a prisoner. 96 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,280 He's he was caught by some shepherds. 97 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,960 And he tells the story of the children's horse and why it's 98 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,320 really not a threat to the Trojans. 99 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,240 In fact, it's a gift from the Greeks to the gods. 100 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,680 So because it's a gift to the gods, you cannot destroy it 101 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:52,440 because then you piss off the gods. 102 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,400 OK. And what this is going to show 103 00:07:55,400 --> 00:08:02,080 us is that the Greek culture, philosophy, theater, rhetoric, 104 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:07,840 it's all one of deception. The real children horse is Greek 105 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,280 culture. You cannot let Greek culture 106 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:16,360 into Rome because then it will corrupt and poison the empire 107 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,000 from within. OK, so that that. 108 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,360 So again, this is propaganda. So it's very blatant what 109 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,120 they're doing. OK, It's very blatant what 110 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:28,440 Virgil is doing. And OK, something I I need to 111 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:33,320 explain is like virtual is considered the poet who composed 112 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:37,240 this in the ad, but it was actually Augustus Caesar who 113 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:39,280 wrote this. Basically, Augustus Caesar was 114 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,280 one who provided Virgil with a framework and then Virgil 115 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:51,800 composed it into Latin poetry. And actually, at the end of his 116 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:55,920 life, Virgil actually want to burn this down, burn this. 117 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,400 And the reason why is that if you're a poet, what you believe 118 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:01,760 is that your gift comes from the gods. 119 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,400 And so you represent the gods. But if you actually work for the 120 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:11,200 empire, if you actually use your gift for the emperor, then maybe 121 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,440 the gods will punish you, right? So Virgil Virgil was very much 122 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:20,920 afraid and wanted to like burn the in the end, but Augustus 123 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,560 Caesar would not let him. And so this became the Bible of 124 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:29,880 the Roman Empire. It is a evil, evil piece of 125 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,760 work. OK, and it is the anti Homer. 126 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:37,000 So we're going to study it because it's in a shape 127 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,880 westernization throughout the Middle Ages until the coming of 128 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,120 Dante. OK, so all right, so Ivory, can 129 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,520 you read please? Yeah, suddenly, in the thick of 130 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,960 it all, a young soldier, hands shackled behind his back with 131 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,680 much shouting, Trojan shepherds were hauling him toward the 132 00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:55,320 king. He'd come on demand by chance, a 133 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,840 total stranger. He'd given himself up with one 134 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,360 goal in mind, to open Troy to the Greeks and lay her waist. 135 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:06,920 He trusted to courage nerved for either end, to weave his lies or 136 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,400 face a certain death. Young Trojan recruits, keen to 137 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:14,080 have a look, came scurrying up from all sides, crowding round, 138 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:16,880 outdoing each other to make a mockery of the captive. 139 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,960 Now hear the treachery of the Greeks, and learn from a single 140 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:25,440 crime the nature of the beast. Haggard, helpless there in our 141 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,000 midst he stood, all eyes revision on him now, and turning 142 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,880 a weary glance at the lines of the of Trojan troops, he groaned 143 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,480 and spoke. Where can I find some refuge? 144 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,800 We're on land, on sea. What's left for me now, a man of 145 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,880 so much misery? Nothing among the Greeks, no 146 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:45,720 place at all. And worse, I see my Trojan 147 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:50,080 enemies crying for my blood, His groans convince us, cutting all 148 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,920 our show of violence short. OK, so this time in history and 149 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:58,920 this this about about 30 BCE, Greek theatre is very, very 150 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,680 popular. The women's love Greek theatre, 151 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:06,240 and Greek theatre is really the very paragon of Greek 152 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:08,600 civilization. And what this is telling us is 153 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:14,720 that no Greek theater is evil. It's meant to deceive us. 154 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,840 OK, so this soldier, this Greek soldier, he is trained in 155 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,320 theater. He's trained in philosophy, he's 156 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,920 trained in rhetoric. And he's using all his craft, 157 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:29,520 all his skills in order to ultimately deceive the good but 158 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,960 naive Trojans. OK, All right. 159 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:39,160 So he tells the story of how he came to be left behind in Troy. 160 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,720 And the story is that he pissed off Odysseus. 161 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,200 This is plotted against him. So. 162 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,320 So when it came time for the Greeks to leave Troy and sell 163 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:49,760 home, they need they need to sacrifice a person. 164 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,200 And that person was this guy. But somehow this guy ran off. 165 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:53,920 OK. OK. 166 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:58,160 Can you read Ivory? The day of infamy soon came. 167 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,240 The sacred rites were all performed for the victim, the 168 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,040 salted meals strewn, the bands tied around my head. 169 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:06,920 But I broke free of death, I tell you. 170 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,680 Burst my shackles, yes, and hid all night in the wreaths of a 171 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:14,560 marshy lake, waiting for them to sail, if only they would sail 172 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,640 well. No hope now of seeing the land 173 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,240 where I was born, or my sweet children, the father I longed 174 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,760 for all these years. Maybe they'll reign from them 175 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:28,560 the price of for my escape. Avenge my guilt with my loved 176 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:29,360 ones. Blood. 177 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:31,360 Poor things. I beg. 178 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:36,560 I beg you, King, by the powers who know the truth, by any trust 179 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:38,480 still uncorrupt in the world of men. 180 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,000 Pity a man whose torment knows no bounds. 181 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,520 Pity me in my pain. I know in my soul I don't 182 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,960 deserve to suffer. He wept and won his life. 183 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,000 Our pity, too. Priam takes command, has him 184 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,400 freed from the ropes and chains that bind him fast, and hails 185 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,800 him warmly. Whoever you are, from now on 186 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,560 you've lost the Greeks. Put them out of your mind and 187 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:04,560 you'll be one of us. But answer my questions. 188 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:08,080 Tell me the whole truth. Why did they raise up this giant 189 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:10,680 monstrous horse? Who conceived it? 190 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:12,960 What's it for? It's purpose? 191 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:15,800 A gift to the gods? A great engine of battle. 192 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:21,280 OK, so again, this reminds us of the Iliad, where Priam, the king 193 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,160 of the Trojans, is known for being a very generous, 194 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:31,600 magnificent, sorry, benevolent, open person. 195 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:36,440 But this will lead to the doom of Choi. 196 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:40,080 So remember, in the Iliad, it is because of Prime's generosity, 197 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:45,720 his ability to forgive Achilles, that leads to the great 198 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:47,960 friendship between Prime and Achilles. 199 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,240 OK. And again, Virgil's trying to 200 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:54,160 reverse this, and he's trying to show us that no, you think that 201 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:56,600 generosity will lead to goodness. 202 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:58,920 No, generosity will lead to evil. 203 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,760 You see how Prime is too trusting, too generous. 204 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:07,440 And so he believes this Greek soldier. 205 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:12,880 And then he will allow the Trojans to bring the horse into 206 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:16,120 Troy. And at night, the Greek soldiers 207 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,560 will escape from the horse, open the gates of Troy. 208 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,640 And now the Greeks are rushing in to kill everyone, OK. 209 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:29,680 And Ineos hears this slaughter, and he tries to save as many 210 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:33,200 people as he can. And his first thought is, where 211 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:34,720 is my king? How do I save my king? 212 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,600 OK, so as the Greeks are ravaging the city, killing as 213 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:41,480 many people as they can, Indians is rushing to save his king 214 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:44,200 prior. All right, all right. 215 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:49,240 So can you read Ivory? Perhaps you wonder how prayer 216 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:52,920 met his end when he saw his city, stormed and seized his 217 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,560 gates, wrenched apart the enemy, camped in his Palestinians. 218 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,560 The old man donned his armour, long unused. 219 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:03,120 He clamps it round his shoulders, shaking with age and 220 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,040 all for nothing, straps his useless sword to his hip, then 221 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,760 makes for the thick of battle out to meet his death. 222 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,880 At the heart of the house, an ample altar stood naked under 223 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,880 the skies, an ancient Laurel bending over the shrine, 224 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:19,360 embracing our household gods within the shade. 225 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,480 Here, flocking the altar, Hakuba and her daughters huddled, blown 226 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,520 headlong down like doves by a black storm, clutching all for 227 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:30,440 nothing, the figures of their gods. 228 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,160 Same preem, decked in the arms he'd warn as a young man. 229 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:36,880 Are you insane? He, she cries. 230 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,920 Poor husband. What impels you to strap that 231 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,280 sword on now? Where are you rushing? 232 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:44,960 Too late for such defense, such help. 233 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,040 Not even to my for my own. Not even my own Hector, if he 234 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,920 came to the rescue. Now come to me, Priam. 235 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,240 This altar will shield us all, or else you'll die with us. 236 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:58,120 With those wars. Drawing him towards her, there 237 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,280 she made a place for the old man beside the holy shrine. 238 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:06,640 OK, let's continue. Suddenly look, a son of Priam 239 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,800 Polities just just escaped from Slaughter at Pyrus's hands. 240 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:15,640 So Pyrus is a son of Achilles. OK, so this is a rewriting of 241 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:22,160 the ending of the Iliad where Priam and Achilles have this 242 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,920 great emotional battle where they forgive each other and 243 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,960 Prime's love for Hector and Achilles love for his father 244 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,720 unifies their soul. OK, this is going to be a 245 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:40,160 rewriting of that battle. So Achilles is dead and now his 246 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,960 son is seeking to kill Priam. Come on away. 247 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,480 Comes racing through spheres, through enemy fighters, fleeing 248 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,560 down the long arcades and deserted hallways, badly 249 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:55,640 wounded, Paris hot on his heels, a weapon poised for the kill, 250 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,280 about to seize him, about to run him through and pressing home as 251 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,920 politics reaches his parents and collapses, vomiting out his 252 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,359 lifeblood before their eyes. And that. 253 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:08,640 So again, this is a rewriting of the iliac where now Politis 254 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,520 becomes Hector, right? Please remember Achilles kills 255 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:19,400 Hector at the gates of Troy and prime Hegibah are on the walls 256 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:24,440 watching this. And then Achilles commits a war 257 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,560 crime by basically tying Hector to his church. 258 00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:33,120 And then dragging Hector all around the the wasatch. 259 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,960 OK, so this is what we reimagining of that scene. 260 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,920 OK, keep, keep on going. At that, Priam, trapped in the 261 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:44,080 grip, grip of death, not holding back, not checking his words, 262 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:46,800 his rage. You, he cries. 263 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:51,080 You and your vicious crimes. If any power on Heil recoils as 264 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,320 such an outrage, let the gods repay you for all your reckless 265 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:58,720 work, grant you the things the rich reward you the the ritual 266 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,920 reward you've earned. You've made me see my son's 267 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,000 death with my own eyes defiled the father's sight with his 268 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,520 son's lifeblood. You say you're Achilles, the 269 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,000 son. You lie. 270 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:13,520 Achilles never treated his enemy pre and so no, he honored us 271 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,400 appliances, right? He blessed to betray my my 272 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,600 trust. He restored my Hector's 273 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,760 bloodless corpse for for burial, sent me safely home to the land 274 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,360 I rule. OK, so again, he is reminding us 275 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:32,120 of the ending of the Iliac, where in this Great War, peace 276 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:38,880 and love comes to universe when Achilles and Priam are able to 277 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:41,080 become friends. OK. 278 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:46,840 And he's saying your father, you've you've destroyed the 279 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,400 legacy of your father. You've destroyed the friendship 280 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,960 between us. OK, All right, keep on reading. 281 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:57,920 With that, and with all his might, the old man flings his 282 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,880 spear, but too important now to Pierce, it merely grazes Pyrus's 283 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,560 brazen shield that blocks his way and cleans their dangling 284 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:07,520 limb from the boss. All for nothing? 285 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:11,640 Pyrus shouts back. Well then, down you go, A 286 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,000 messenger to my father Peleus's son. 287 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:19,600 Tell him about my vicious work. How Neil niab Tolemus degrades 288 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,880 his. Neo Tolemus is actually another 289 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:24,640 name for pirates. OK, the same person. 290 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,600 Keep on going. Degrades his father's name. 291 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:31,880 Don't you forget. Now die that side. 292 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,880 He drags the old man straight to the altar, quaking Slytherin on 293 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,880 through slicks of his son's blood and twisting preempts his 294 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,520 hair in his left hand, his right hand sweeping forth his sword. 295 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,800 A flash of steel. He buries his hilt deep in the 296 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:49,640 King's flank. Such was the fate of of Priam, 297 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:53,560 his death, his law on earth. With Troy blazing before his 298 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:57,360 eyes, her ramparts down the monarch who once had ruled in 299 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:01,120 all his glory the many lands of Asia, Asia's many tribes. 300 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,400 A powerful trunk is lying on the shore, the head wrenched from 301 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,560 the shoulders. A corpse without a name. 302 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:12,400 OK, so this is the difference between the Greeks and the 303 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:14,800 Romans, OK? The Greeks very cultured people. 304 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:19,040 They enjoy going to theatre and watching a tragedy and crying 305 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,360 together to rejuvenate their sense of humanity. 306 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:26,800 OK, that was a Greek culture. The Romans go to the Colosseum 307 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,960 and watch gladiator fights, OK? They like blood, they like 308 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:35,640 violence. And so the iniad is an extremely 309 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:42,040 violent poetry. In fact, you can say it's almost 310 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:47,520 pornographic in the violence that it depicts, all right. 311 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:52,560 And the Romans just love this because they are a bloodthirsty 312 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:59,120 people, all right, All right, So prime is dead. 313 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:05,480 And with its death, what it is doing is negating the more or 314 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,440 lesson of the Iliac to forgive one's enemy. 315 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,960 OK, so the Romans read this and they remember reading the e-mail 316 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,080 and saying, Oh my God, I was wrong to think that Prime was 317 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,920 heroic in forgiving Achilles. What I should be really thinking 318 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:26,160 is what a foolish old man who deserves to die for thinking 319 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,560 that his enemy should be forgiven. 320 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,920 That for thinking that his enemy has a good soul in him. 321 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:37,000 OK, so again, this is negating the Iliad. 322 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,520 It's actually poisoning and corrupting the Iliad. 323 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:48,600 All right, so now Elias is talking about his reaction, 324 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:53,920 watching his king die. OK, keep on reading, Ivory. 325 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,480 Then, for the first time, the full horror came home, and came 326 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,200 home to me at last. I froze, the thought of my own 327 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,720 dear father filled filled my mind when I saw the old king 328 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,520 gasping out his life with that rot wound. 329 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:13,760 Both men were the same age and the thought of my Crusa alone 330 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:18,280 abandoned our house, plundered our little Elias's fate. 331 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,720 I look back, what forces still stood by me? 332 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,480 None totally spent in war. They'd all deserted down from 333 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,840 the roofs, they flung themselves to earth or hold their broken 334 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:34,280 bodies in the flames. So at just that moment I was the 335 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:36,960 one man left. And then I saw her, clinging to 336 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,400 Vestas threshold, hiding in silence, tucked away. 337 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,480 Helen of Argos glare of the fires lit my view as I looked 338 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:46,760 down, scanning the city left and right. 339 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,280 And there she was, Terrified of the Trojans hate. 340 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,280 Now Troy was overpowered, terrified of the Greeks revenge, 341 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:58,600 her deserted husband's rage. That universal fury accursed 342 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,680 Troy and her native land, and here she lurked, skulking a 343 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,600 thing of of loathing, cowering at the altar. 344 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:10,720 Helen, out it flared the fire inside my soul, my rage of blaze 345 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:12,960 to avenge our, our fallen country. 346 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,240 Pay Helen back. Crime for crime. 347 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:21,120 OK, so Inez is watching his entire civilization being 348 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:25,080 destroyed, and he knows that his family will be destroyed as 349 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:29,800 well. And he is taken aback. 350 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,760 He's sort of like paralysed by his anger and his hatred and his 351 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,320 fear. And then he sees Helen and he's 352 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:42,880 like, this is her fault, OK? This is why we are we are 353 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:47,320 destroying the civilization because of this whore, OK? 354 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:51,720 And so this is telling us what the lesson from this is, that 355 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:56,040 love is a source of evil in the world. 356 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,760 OK, Love is a source of evil in this world. 357 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:12,320 Remember the Odyssey, what is the what is the main lesson of 358 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,080 the Odyssey? Love is the redemptive force of 359 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,520 the world, right? If you are shattered as a 360 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,880 person, it is love that will lead you home and heal you as a 361 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,360 person. And what the Ineat is saying 362 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:27,400 instead is that love is what destroys civilization. 363 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:33,680 Love is what corrupts you. Love is what leads you to hell. 364 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:39,520 OK, All right, so he wants to kill Helen as revenge for the 365 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:41,880 destruction of Troy. But then what happens is that 366 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:47,840 Ineos's mother, Venus. OK so Venus is his mother, steps 367 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,840 in, appears before him, says no, you can't do this, you have to 368 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:55,760 go home and save your wife and your child. 369 00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:01,200 OK so Alias goes home and what he does is he say he takes his 370 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:05,240 family and takes them to the ship to escape Troy. 371 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:15,200 But as they are running through the streets of Troy, what in his 372 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,880 does is he puts his father on his back, OK, And he holds his 373 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:26,320 son, his young son Elias, and the and creates the wife has to 374 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,560 follow them. OK, So that that's a Roman 375 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,080 priority, OK. The most important person in the 376 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:36,960 family is the patriarch. The father then is the son who 377 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,320 inherits. And the wife is just someone who 378 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:44,560 follows, OK, but her job is to serve rather than being equal in 379 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:46,240 the relationship. And this is, again, it's very 380 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,520 different from the Odyssey, where in many ways Penelope and 381 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,720 audiences are equal to each other. 382 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,880 OK, All right. So what happens is that Inez 383 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,720 gets to the ship and he and he puts his father and his son on 384 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:03,240 the ship, ready to escape. But he recognizes at the at the 385 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,120 very last minute his wife is missing. 386 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:13,160 So he goes back and tries to save his wife, but his wife is 387 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:14,880 dead. And why is she dead? 388 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,440 Because she killed herself. Why does she kill herself? 389 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,400 She killed herself because it is her duty not to burden her 390 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,520 husband, because her husband is destined for great things. 391 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,320 He's destined to found an empire. 392 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:31,720 So he must marry into a new lineage, a new old family. 393 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:35,320 And therefore she has to kill herself to free him. 394 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:39,040 But knowing that but if she were to become a slave to the Greeks, 395 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:42,880 it would cost him embarrassment for the rest of his life, right? 396 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:49,640 OK, so that is the woman perception of a wifely duty. 397 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,760 OK, If you're not useful to your husband, just kill yourself. 398 00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:58,200 OK? Can you read? 399 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:01,000 Creusa. Nothing. 400 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:05,000 No reply. And again Creusa, but then as I 401 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,680 madly rushed from house to house, no one insight. 402 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,920 Abruptly, right before my eyes, I saw her stricken ghost. 403 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:15,160 My own crew says his shade but larger than life, the life I 404 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,520 known so well. I froze, my hackles bristled, 405 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:22,360 voice choked in my throat, and my wife spoke out to ease me of 406 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:26,280 my anguish. My dear husband, why so eager to 407 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:30,080 give yourselves to such mad flights of grief is not without 408 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,520 the will of the gods. These things have come to pass, 409 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,800 but the gods forbid you to take Creusa with you bound from Troy 410 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:39,560 together. The king of lofty Olympus won't 411 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,480 allow it along. Exile is your fate. 412 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,160 The vast plains of the sea are yours to plow when you reach 413 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,640 Hesperian land, where Lydian Tiber flows with a smooth March 414 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,680 through rich and loamy fields. A land of Hardy people. 415 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,760 Their Greyjoy and the Kingdom are yours to claim, and the 416 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:01,600 queen to make your wife. Dispel your tears for Creusa, 417 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,480 whom you loved. I will never behold the high and 418 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:08,760 mighty pride of their palaces, the Murmidons, the Dilopians, or 419 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,720 go as a slave to some Greek matron. 420 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:16,480 No, not I, daughter of Dardanus, that I am the wife of Venus's 421 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:20,120 son, The great Mother of God detains me on these shores. 422 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,480 And now farewell hold you, the son we share, we love together. 423 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,320 Again, this is very different from the Odyssey where the 424 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:32,160 Aussie is really about a journey of two people, Penelope and 425 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,520 artists is to find each other again because love is the 426 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,280 greatest force in the universe, OK? 427 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:43,960 Love is what compels the two to reunite and define each other 428 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,160 amidst all the chaos surrounding them. 429 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,560 In the in the ad, the idea is that love is hell. 430 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,520 So what is heaven? OK is love is hell? 431 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:00,640 What is heaven? Heaven is piety. 432 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:07,800 Piety just means obedience to the prophecy of the gods, right? 433 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,400 It is still with the gods that Troy be destroyed so that Rome 434 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,200 can be created. It's a it is the prophecy of the 435 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:20,680 gods that Ineos will be the one to lead the Trojans to found 436 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,320 this Rome. And therefore, what is good, 437 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:29,120 what is divine, is obedience to this prophecy. 438 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,480 OK? So Allah acts out. 439 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:38,480 Is your fate all right? The king of lofty Olympus won't 440 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:42,880 allow Zeus or Jupiter demands this of us. 441 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:47,520 If Jupiter demands us to sacrifice ourselves, then we 442 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:49,240 must do so. OK. 443 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:56,320 And so this reverses the Odyssey, right? 444 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:03,000 Where the gods willeth that Penelope and Odysseus reunite, 445 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:10,600 but here the gods willeth that Krissa and it is separate. 446 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:20,440 All right, OK, so from our eyes, this doesn't sound that 447 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:22,880 influential. But the reality is, remember, 448 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:28,080 this becomes a basis of Roman civilization, All right? 449 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:32,480 And what is civilization but a set of values, a set of ideas 450 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:37,120 that guide you in your life, OK. And what this is doing is 451 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,560 inverting Homer, poisoning, corrupting Homer. 452 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:42,800 All right. OK, any questions, guys? 453 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:47,240 OK. So we'll we'll continue this 454 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:47,880 next week, OK.