I had a moment with the Iliad
yesterday when I read this, “I lay no blame upon you, it is the
gods, not you who are to blame.” It was Priam talking to Helen.
Really? She isn't to blame?
I find this kind of thing a lot in the
Iliad and the Odyssey. The gods made this guy do that, or some other
guy do something else. No one ever has an idea without a god coming
and giving it to him, like when Agamemnon encourages his people to
fight Troy, not because he thinks it's a good idea and they have the
advantage, but because a god gave him a dream. Even the heroes are
only doing what they can against whatever odds the gods have laid
down for them.
Do we have new gods to blame in our
stories? Do we do things in the name of happiness, money, or our
circumstances? Or do we believe we make the best choices we could at
the time we made them?
I believe we make choices and we have
to live with the results of those choices once we make them...or do
I? Bad things do happen to good people all the time. Maybe it's more
about what we do with what is dealt us, like Achilles and his short
life.
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