Hera and Sphinx / achilles

Jeff Wilson · 03 Apr 2006, 23:39 · from 2006-April.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:39:05 -0500
Subject: (urth) Hera and Sphinx / achilles
In-Reply-To: <20060403040245.JSAJ3131.fed1rmmtao07.cox.net@[172.18.180.8]>
References: <20060403040245.JSAJ3131.fed1rmmtao07.cox.net@[172.18.180.8]>
Message-ID: <4431B219.5070606 at io.com>

aramini1 at cox.net wrote:
>>From: "Chris" <rasputin_ at hotmail.com>
>>
>>True to an extent, but it really sounds more like Athena's kind of warfare 
>>than that of Ares; and we know that sometimes she can beat him in the open 
>>field.
>>
>>Jeff said:
>>
>>>It's still a lesson in conflict, and allowing the other man to win is a
>>>lesson in sacrifice and deception, both principles of warfare easily as
>>>important as skill with arms.
>>
> 
> I never understood the importance of Latro throwing the match.  Maybe it does have some thematic importance in terms of Latro's development: going from a bloodthirsty mercenary to someone who knows when it is acceptable to fight well without destroying your enemy (something the spartans don't understand, and something that disgusts Latro so much that he becomes suicidal).  
> 
> Or, as I said before, maybe it is an important lesson for the war god to learn: sometimes you must lose and NOT use your full power to avoid greater destruction. (which is what I believe the significance of the poem Latro quotes when entering the Olympics: "Ares quits the spear proud throng".  Remember that Latro wins the boxing and Pankration events, even though they occur off screen, because they expect him to win the chariot races, too.)

I'm really not sure it's in keeping with the character of the gods for 
them to learn such life lessons. Since they embody natural forces and 
human psychology, a god leearning a new behavior would literally be a 
world-changing event, or signal a change in human nature.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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