Epic Pursuits
Back in the mists of time
Were stories sung
Where minds in thrall by minstrels
Were held
With tales revealing
Viscerality and viciousness
The currency of glory and shame.
Who does not marvel at
Achilles's pride
A ruthless killing machine
Unforgiving
In his revenge
For his beloved Patroclus
And shrink
At the terrible price paid
By brave Hector
Before the sorrowing eyes
Of his aged parents
Therein we see the splendour
As well as the grimness
When foes collide
With his wiles does daredevil Odysseus
Charm us
And inventive ruses.
Yet what horrors,hardship
And heartache
Were his
As homecoming was in his heart
With Poseidon vowing vengeance
Pain,pleasure and punishment
He met
In equal measure
Before rescuing
His priceless pearl
Penelope
From the rapacity and greed
Of the craven suitors.
These were the gifts
To posterity
Handed down
By Homer.
From these twin tales
There grew
The exploits of pius Aeneas
Driven from his homeland
War stricken
Driven by destiny
To seek a new home.
At the behest of Caesar
Did Virgil fashion his verse
Plundering Homer
That his hero
Would personal glory
and pleasure abjure
In a self -denying ordinance
To meet duty's demands.
Such self-denial cost him
Dido
Deserted and distraught
And brought him
Into the depths of Hades
From where he rose
A new man
With a deeper mission
To grace the world
With its master race,
That destiny ordained from above.
And we as readers must choose
The tale that to our soul sings
Touching our humanity
Both starkly
And with the tight tenderness
Of truth.
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