The heart of the Ancients
The Ancients, people like the Romans, had a close connection to the soul according to Jeffrey. “How I love the Ancient Romans”, Jeffrey would say. “The Ancient Romans said what they meant. …The Ancient Romans spoke from the heart. …How I miss —the Ancient Romans”.
Jeffrey admired the ancients as he saw the people of Antiquity in stark contrast to the media hype buzz of our time. He had to admit that the freer ways of living, seemingly closer to human nature, held a strong appeal to him. When we look at the literature of the ancient peoples, in traditional heroic lays, we see common themes which he knew and liked.
Homer’s Iliad has two themes:
(1) kleos -imperishable fame, what the warrior earned and merited.
and (2) asbestos gelas -inextinguishable laughter, the laughter, loud and unquenchable, of the gods at one another.
These themes -laughter and fame- appealed to the personality of the Ancients. Passages of the Iliad compare with scenes from the Old Norse heroic sagas of Wodan the shamanic storm-god, and Thor the weather-god, in the Icelandic Edda. Wodan changes shape at will and Thor fights the Frost Giants, for which on one occasion Thor even dressed in disguise.
In Homer, horses play a grand role in the battles between warriors and in saving the heroes from death. The horses themselves were valued so far that Achilles’ horses, which he inherited from Peleus, his father, are said to be “divine” and “immortal”, a gift of the gods to men. Achilles is also called Aiakides, he of the seed of Aiakos. Humour comes up unexpectedly too. The Iliad of Homer -done into English prose, by Andrew Lang, Walter Leaf, and Ernest Myers. London: MacMillan and Co, Limited, The Globe Edition, 1949 is cited here.
Book 1, 599. Homer mentions the gods’ laughter: “Then he poured wine to all the other gods from right to left, ladling the sweet nectar from the bowl. And laughter unquenchable arose amid the blessed gods to see Hephaistos [the lame god] bustling through the palace.”
Book 9, 413-416. Homer has Achilles say about fame: “If I abide here and besiege the Trojans’ city, then my returning home is taken from me, but, my fame shall be imperishable; but if I go home to my dear native land, my high fame is taken from me.”
Book 9. 525-526. Homer has Nestor say to Achilles about reputation: “We heard the fame of those heroes that were of old, as oft as furious anger came on any; they might be won by gifts and prevailed upon by speech.”
Book 16. Homer draws upon a battle scene: “But he [the dead hero Kebriones] in the whirl of dust lay mighty and mightily fallen, forgetful of his chivalry.”
Book 16. Homer credits magnificent horses for saving the heroes: “And straightaway with the spear he [Hektor] went after Automedon, the godlike squire of the swift-footed Aiakides [Achilles], for he was eager to smite him; but his swift-footed immortal horses bare him out of the battle, horses that the gods gave to Peleus [the father of Achilles], a splendid gift.”