[LoGH] "Patoroklos"
Lee Thompson (thompsonl@logh.net)
Fri, 16 Mar 2001 16:12:18 -0800
This may or may not have been discussed before but here goes:
It's actually "Patroklos". In LOGH, the "Patroklos" is the flagship of =
the
2nd Fleet in the Free Planets Alliance.
http://www.bartleby.com/166/38.html
>From HOMER=92S Iliad (E. H. Blakeney=92s translation):
THEN there came unto him the ghost of poor Patroklos, in all things like =
unto
the very man, in stature, and fair eyes, and voice; and he was arrayed in
vesture such as in life he wore. He stood above the hero=92s head and cha=
llenged
him.
=93Thou sleepest, Achilles, unmindful of me. Not in my lifetime wert th=
ou
neglectful, but in death. Bury me with all speed; let me pass the gates o=
f
Hades. Far off the souls, wraiths of the dead, keep me back, nor suffer m=
e yet
to join them beyond the river; forlorn I wander up and down the wide-door=
ed
house of Hades. And now give me thy hand, I entreat; for never more shall=
I
return from Hades, when once ye have given me my meed of fire. Nay, never=
more
shall we sit, at least in life, apart from our comrades, taking counsel
together; but upon me hateful doom hath gaped=97doom which was my portion=
even
at birth. Aye and to thee thyself also, Achilles, thou peer of the gods, =
it is
fated to perish beneath the wall of the wealthy Trojans. Another thing I =
will
tell thee, and will straitly charge thee, if peradventure thou wilt heark=
en:
lay not my bones apart from thine, Achilles, but side by side; for we wer=
e
brought up together in thy house, when Menoitios brought me, a child, fro=
m
Op=F6eis to thy father=92s house because of woeful bloodshed on the day w=
hen I
slew the son of Amphidamas, myself a child, unwittingly, but in wrath ove=
r our
games. Then did Peleus, the knight, take me into his home and rear me kin=
dly
and name me thy squire. So let one urn also hide the bones of us both.=94=
=20
And swift-footed Achilles answered him and said:
=93Why, dearest and best-beloved, hast thou come hither to lay upon me =
these
thy several behests? Of a truth I will accomplish all, and bow to thy com=
mand.
But stand nearer, I pray; for a little space let us cast our arms about e=
ach
other, and take our fill of dire sorrow.=94 =20
With these words he stretched forth his hands to clasp him, but could n=
ot;
for, like a smoke, the spirit vanished earthward with a wailing cry. Amaz=
ed,
Achilles sprang up, and smote his hands together, and spake a piteous wor=
d:
=93O ye heavens! surely, even among the dead, the soul and wraith are
something (yet is there no life therein at all). For all night long the s=
oul
of poor Patroklos stood beside me, crying and making lamentation, and bad=
e me
do his will; it was the perfect image of himself.=94 =20
So he spake, and in the hearts of them all roused desire for lamentatio=
n;
and while they yet were mourning about the pitiful corpse appeared
rosy-fingered dawn.=20
--=20
Lee Thompson
thompsonl@logh.net
