Ep. 81 Homer's "Iliad" Book 23

After our antepenultimate Iliad episode comes... the penultimate episode! In Book 23, Hector is dead, and Achilles mourns Patroclus, who comes to Achilles in a dream and demands a funeral. So Achilles organizes funeral games: chariot and foot races, boxing and wrestling, and more. The Argives compete, and contend over the justice of their competition. We ask: why does Homer's description of the chariot race take up half of the book? Does Achilles do a good job of managing this race and judging its outcome? Join Brian, Shilo, and Jeff as they discuss the "domestic policy" of the post-wrath, or dead, Achilles. Does he now permit pity and skill to come to the fore, and is this a sign of growth or decline? Is the world of pity and skill a world where one person can be good at everything?

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