mythology

troy brings to mind a whole load of memories.

years of being addicted to the "age of empires" and " age of mythology" have made the Greek seem less Greek...lol

i like the entire pantheon of gods and goddesses. from Hera, Athena to Aphrodite ( whose name has lent English a most interesting word...lol) to Apollo. atlas (a.k.a sheshnag :-) ) is equally adorable for keeping our planet high and dry from the black waters of space, besides fulfilling the vehicular needs of millions of Indians....lol

but my personal favourite is the half god half mortal, Achilles.
the liking has more to do with the fact that brad Pitt essayed the role in the movie "troy"...lol
(Jennifer aniston fans please excuse, i have seen a few thousand "Rachel" dreams myself..lol)

Achilles the character, has that kind of confidence, that superb poise and an amazing surety of action. no odds are too heavy ,no battle are too difficult. i guess we all have an Achilles inside us, but rationality and caution prevent him from taking control of our endeavours , in effect separating our thought and action.this chasm, appears narrow from a overview.
but deep down, this very crack widens into the difference between man and god.

its a somewhat surprising and even illogical bargain. life, is the price to pay for immortality.
thankfully enough of us chicken out. leaving enough space atop mount Olympus, or Indra's court if you prefer..lol

in a sense, Achilles is the perfect randian hero, the ancient day Howard roark.
their is a very delightful aspect about a randian hero. even when they eventually fall down, unlike Icarus's fall its not a dead fall. the fall in itself has more life than what an assortment of hackneyed lives have.

the analogy between homer and Ayn rand also shows how civilizational progress is never an exercise in vacuum. ideas are age old. the only thing that's new is the position of the society on a debate point and the color and the intensity of arguments.

change in the only constant in this world. contradictions galore..lol...probably it displays my true inside world.he he

closer home, if there is one mythological figure who epitomizes change it's lord Krishna.
lord Rama may be the perfect Indian ego ideal, but his qualities border on being a sum total of moral, spiritual aspirations rather than being an actual implementable code of conduct.

in the same way the latter day epic Mahabharata,is a story much more suited to our times than Ramayana.besides being on a much broader canvass it essays the entire gamut of human emotions with justifying any of them, naked and open to scrutiny.

it drives home the idea of imperfect , fallible heroes.

heroes in Mahabharata have feet of clay.
they change stances according to the shifting sands of time.
they make mistakes, conspire, plot, avenge injustice are jealous and lustful.

their fights are for petty selfish interests often keeping at bay the larger goals of the nation.

we surely can identify :-)