Book 7
It's interesting to see what grief can do to characters. This entire war has been about getting Helen back from Paris and has lasted almost a decade. When it is announced that the war will finally be settled by having the strongest warriors from both sides face each other, all of the Achaians are terrified to fight because they know that they are no match for Hektor. And while everyone is afraid, it is Menelaus who challenges him. Even Achilles who is stronger than Menelaus wouldn't dare go up against him as it is a certain death. But Menelaus fears nothing. He's been fighting for so long that he just wants this whole thing to be over. His grief has given him a fool's courage. There's no way he could've beat Hektor but because there is so much anger and sorrow within him, it makes him impulsively act upon his feelings. If Agamemnon hadn't talked some sense into him, he would've been mad enough to actually go through with it.
And then all it took was Nestor scolding them to step up one by one to battle. Nestor told them tales of ‘well, back in my day…’ and inferred that is was pathetic that the bravest of all the Achaians wouldn’t go against Hektor, snapping them out of their grief.
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating to see how long this war lasted, it is like a never ending thing. I think at this point, Menelaus is so over the war that he is not afraid whether or not he is going to be killed and just fight to get it over with.
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