Has not that cloud on the horizon the shape of a sail? The old songs tell of proud Ulysses offending Neptune, the god associated with earthquakes, the sea, and horses. Recent archeology may have identified the site of a ruined city in Turkey as ancient Troy, its fortifications breached by earthquake. The song of the seige of Troy in the film interweaves with Penelope protecting her land and her son's life from the menace of foreign princes. What keeps Ulysses from his duties?
Cherchez la femme. If one cannot blame god, one blames the witches. Young men like Telemachus, settting aside the father quest motive, may leave home in search of adventure. Ulysses is no longer a youth in search of adventure, but a king in flight from his responsabilites. This is the original midlife crisis, sirens in place of young bimbos, a ship in place of today's red Ferrari.
"Do you not know Ithaka?" the Phoenician princess asks amnesiac Kirk Douglas. She gives him a youth ointment. He needs it. This stranger winning the wrestling match recalls to the mind of an elder the great, mythic Ulysses: "This guy was not bad but he does not compare with real heroes." We may never measure up to our myths, least of all if we shirk, or forget. Rememberance may be the main purpose of the old songs, and of some films.
Cherchez la femme. If one cannot blame god, one blames the witches. Young men like Telemachus, settting aside the father quest motive, may leave home in search of adventure. Ulysses is no longer a youth in search of adventure, but a king in flight from his responsabilites. This is the original midlife crisis, sirens in place of young bimbos, a ship in place of today's red Ferrari.
"Do you not know Ithaka?" the Phoenician princess asks amnesiac Kirk Douglas. She gives him a youth ointment. He needs it. This stranger winning the wrestling match recalls to the mind of an elder the great, mythic Ulysses: "This guy was not bad but he does not compare with real heroes." We may never measure up to our myths, least of all if we shirk, or forget. Rememberance may be the main purpose of the old songs, and of some films.
No comments:
Post a Comment