The Wine of Agamemnon
John McKiernan
- The
- Tale
- of
- Troy
- was
- not
- Homer's
- alone.
- Even
- before
- he
- sang
- of
- the
- Wrath
- of
- Achilles
- and
- the
- Return
- of
- Odysseus,
- many
- other
- poets
- had
- recounted
- the
- acts
- of
- gods
- and
- men
- at
- Troy.
- Over
- many
- years
- the
- tale
- was
- reworked
- and
- grew
- and
- changed,
- until
- the
- truth
- of
- the
- real
- war
- was
- almost
- lost.
- But
- through
- those
- long
- years
- the
- voice
- of
- one
- man
- was
- silent.
- And
- that
- man
- knew
- the
- tale
- complete
- and
- unadorned,
- for
- he
- was
- there.In
- his
- palace
- on
- Ithaka,
- many
- years
- after
- the
- fall
- of
- Troy,
- Odysseus
- is
- old
- and
- near
- death.
- But
- he
- has
- one
- last
- task
- to
- perform:
- to
- tell
- his
- story
- of
- the
- Trojan
- War.
- In
- order
- to
- counter
- the
- romances
- and
- distortions
- of
- the
- harpers,
- Odysseus
- wants
- his
- story
- to
- be
- written
- down,
- that
- it
- may
- be
- remembered
- as
- it
- truly
- was.
- He
- chooses
- a
- scribe
- of
- his
- household,
- and
- over
- the
- weeks
- the
- young
- slave
- listens,
- a
- friendship
- grows
- between
- Lord
- and
- servant
- and
- the
- great
- tale
- unfolds.The
- tale
- Odysseus
- tells
- is
- familiar,
- yet
- strange.
- In
- his
- telling
- the
- gods
- do
- not
- walk
- among
- heroes,
- nor
- do
- they
- fight
- alongside
- them.
But
- he
- does
- explain
- many
- things
- which
- the
- poets
- did
- not:
Why
- it
- was
- so
- important
- to
- Agamemnon
- that
- there
- be
- a
- war
- against
- Troy.
The
- true
- cause
- of
- the
- ill
- feeling
- between
- Achilles
- and
- Agamemnon.
How
- Troy
- was
- finally
- taken
- and
- what
- the
- Horse
- really
- was.
Why
- the
- Greeks'
- Grand
- Alliance
- was
- broken
- at
- the
- moment
- of
- their
- triumph
- over
- Troy.
Why
- Agamemnon
- died
- by
- his
- wife's
- hand,
- and
- why,
- in
- her
- eyes,
- it
- was
- not
- murder.
And
- perhaps
- most
- important
- of
- all.
Who
- the
- monsters
- that
- Odysseus
- met
- really were.
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