'Swords Against Death!', Or, 'Humanities Against the Academy!'

I don't know if they read Fritz Leiber in the English Department, but he was one of the better writers of the last century -- if you like writers who spin a good tale, have deep roots in classical and romantic material, and can build worlds and images that you will not forget. Perhaps it is better if they don't, the Wall Street Journal suggests.
Every other academic subject requires specialized knowledge and a mastery of skills and methods. Literature requires only that you be human. It does not have to be taught any more than dreaming has to be taught. Why does Hector's infant son, Astyanax, cry when he sees his father put on his helmet? All you need to understand that is a heart.

So you see, I am not making a brief against reading the classics of Western literature. Far from it.
Why does Hector's son cry?

9 comments:

DL Sly said...

Probably because that meany beany Cassandra was teasing him again.
0>;~}

Grim said...

So that's one point in favor of having this discussion in the academy... ;)

DL Sly said...

Make sure the trivet and stuffed marmoset shields are in full repair. She may come armed, yanno.
0>;~}

Grim said...

She probably should have gone armed to Agamemnon's house. Well, in a way she did: she was armed with the power to curse.

Still, is there an answer to the question? Why does Hector's son cry?

Texan99 said...

I remember this Fritz Lieber short story from when I was a kid:

http://www.amazon.com/Mariana-ebook/dp/B0053KG0GU/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374026265&sr=1-1-fkmr1&keywords=mariana+fritz+lieber

raven said...

I always liked the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories- although I think Fritz Lieber started spinning out on the last ones. Mom raised me on Kenneth Roberts and Heinlein- American History and sci-fi. I just read somewhere that Roberts books were back in paperback editions. His stories were guaranteed to hold the interest of a boy!
Last night at the library I met a lovely woman in the used book sale room. We were discussing books and somehow the subject turned to the French Canadien voyagers- I was startled to find out she knew the standard load for one man on portage! and, "do you have any Kenneth Roberts?"-"We may have a copy of Arundel , let me look". It felt like a refuge from the insanity that surrounds us.

douglas said...

To an infant, we are our faces, and the type of helm Hector was likely to have been donning had portions that covered the face, and framed it, as well as the large plume, making his father's face appear different to him. Different face, different person. 'Where did Daddy go? What did you do to him, big, mean looking fellow?'

At least, I think that's why Astyanax cried. Dogs sometimes react similarly, even sometimes to large hats.

Now I suppose someone could try to read into that passage something about the grimness of preparing to go to war as well, or perhaps that it might be meant to reinforce the understanding of why men go to war.

Grim said...

So that's right, Douglas. And I think that's the author's point -- you can get that without doing any more than reading the book.

I raise the question because there's a counterargument, though, which is that there are several deeper levels going on in this scene that you will probably miss if you don't study it formally.

There's something really interesting going on with war-gear and the relationship between men and gods. Hector has just come from battle, and is going back out again. He is in his armor, and spattered with blood. Just before this scene, he refused to give a sacrifice to Zeus because he felt afraid to do it while so dressed, unwashed and unclean.

And yet it is when he is in this appearance, fully armed, that he is described time and again as 'godlike' or 'like a god.' Specifically he is like Ares, because he has taken on the aspect of war. It is Ares who will fight with him in an important part of the work to come; but after that, Apollo helps Hector kill Patroklos, Achilles' friend, who is said to be 'equal to Ares.' Patroklos achieves this same status by putting on armor, Achilles' armor; and when Hector puts on that same armor after killing Patroklos, again the armor brings the attention of the divine to him (Zeus in this case), who again -- like Patroklos -- raises Hector to new heights before allowing him to be overwhelmed and killed by a divinely-aided Achilles.

So it is in taking on the armor of war that these men leave the world of men, and become like the gods. But in becoming like they gods, the men are themselves destroyed. And in death, when cults are founded to them, they become even more godlike -- indeed, the heroes of the hero cults were often said to be theos, or gods themselves.

So why is the baby crying? For just the reason you said. And yet Homer intends to raise another whole set of resonances with the image, which requires deeper study to appreciate.

By the way, go back and look at Hector's prayer for his son right after he takes off the helmet. It doesn't get answered, but it's interesting what he wants his boy to achieve.

douglas said...

Well, he seems to want what is natural for a man to wish of his son- that he take up the family business and be more successful than he.
You point out another issue with the child's reaction- that perhaps it's a reminder that the armor is not Hectors originally- but in Achilles' armor Hector is in some way Achilles, and not Hector?

I'd agree with you, but do you need literature classes to engage in 'formal study' as you put it? I do think it's wise to discuss with those who you think wise on the subject to gain deeper insights, but that needn't necessarily happen in a school.

It's an interesting question to me, as I'm not sure I want to keep teaching, and I'm questioning the relevance of Architectural theory as it's viewed today.