The Art Of The Greeks

Paris rises and places himself on Troilus' side. Hector is not convinced. He says his two younger brothers argue: … but superficially: not much Unlike young men, whom Aristotle thought Unfit to hear moral philosophy.   —Act II, scene ii, lines 165-67 This is, actually, one of the most amusing anachronisms in Shakespeare. The dramatist forgets, for the moment, that he is discussing a war that took place in 1200 b.c., and has Hector refer to a philosopher who died in 322 b.c.-rune centuries later. And yet, although Hector denigrates the arguments of Troilus and Paris, he cannot manage to stand against the kind of arguments that refer to such abstractions as honor, glory, and patriotism. It is decided (as in the Iliad) to keep Helen and let the war go on. … thy caduceus… The scene shifts back to the Greek camp, where Thersites, standing outside Achilles' tent, is brooding over his recent beating by Ajax. He inveighs against the stupidity of both heroes, Achilles as well as Ajax, and invokes the vengeance of the gods upon them, saying: O thou great thunder-darter of Olympus, forget that thou art Jove, the king of gods; and, Mercury, lose all the serpentine craft of thy caduceus, if ye take not that little, little, less than little wit from them that they have;   —Act II, scene iii, lines 10-14 Jupiter (Zeus) was, in all likelihood, a storm god originally ...»