Friday, November 6, 2009

A Warrior's Honor

In Book II of Vergil's epic poem, the Aeneid, King Priam of Troy says to Pyrrhus, who has just slaughtered Priam's son before his very eyes in front of an altar, "You lie when you say that Achilles was your father, for Achilles was never an enemy like this."

He is, of course, referring to Achilles, the great hero of Homer's epic poem, the Iliad. Achilles was many things, but there was no question of his honor as a warrior. It is important for us to see the tragedy at Ft. Hood in its starkest light. The madman coward who murdered his brothers-in-arms was no Achilles. He lacked all honor. To read more in this vein, see my post "A Warrior's Rage" at Bedlam or Parnassus.

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