The stunning Jodie Turner-Smith, playing “Queen”, was sitting on her car probably somewhere in Florida when the timeless question was brought up. Dusty lighting behind, the two actors discussed the conundrum which ambitious world changers have asked from the beginning of civilization.
I was thrilled to find such an excellent ancient philosophical discussion in such an excellent modern movie!
You see, just this week I was watching Queen & Slim, self referenced as a Black Bonnie & Clyde movie. Clearly drawing on modern events, the plot follows a tinder date that goes horribly wrong when, after a traffic stop results in the self-defense shooting of a cop, the couple find themselves on the run and hotly pursued. As they flee, their fame (and dash cam footage) goes viral, turning them into icons of resistance.
The protagonists eventually face a modern version of the ancient dilemma, the very same one presented to Achilles in Homer’s great epic the Iliad.
While the ancient Greek hero’s options were presented to him from the gods and didn’t involve a prison sentence, at its heart it is the same issue: one of self sacrifice versus comfort. Ego versus stability.
And interestingly, the great blind bard doesn’t give us a definitive answer either… Because while Achilles chooses one answer in the Iliad, he presents the opposite view in the Odyssey.
So this week, I’ll ask you dear reader:
Is it better to die young and famous (achieving a form of immortality)… or live long and unknown?
And, perhaps to highlight the issue more clearly, would your answer be the same during extreme times, such as in War or Resistance?
As always, you can comment below or write me directly at [email protected].
One comment
I also wrote about this in my book L’ASTUTO OMERO ( The Cunning Homer https://classicalwisdom.com/mythology/homer/the-cunning-homer-a-new-look-at-the-odyssey/ ). Here we are at the episode in which Ulysses descends into the underworld and meets the souls of the dead: “And just to finish the tour in the afterlife, here are another clue. Achilles appears, initially complaining of his dead condition, albeit very honored, and then is reassured to learn that his son Neoptolemus is doing honor as a warrior. The similarities with the characters of Ulysses and Telemachus are evident. Much has been said about this declaration of Achilles, who responds to Ulysses who praises his glory and prestige even among the souls of the afterlife:
‘Let me hear no smooth talk
of death from you, Odysseus, light of councils.
Better, I say, to break sod as a farm hand
for some poor country man, on iron rations,
than lord it over all the exhausted dead. (XI, 488-492)
This is a very strong clue in favor of Homer’s “modernity”, who is rather skeptical of ancient beliefs and superstitions, even though he makes use of them. Or perhaps this too could be a “warning” to unfaithful servants that they were tempted not to submit to the new master?”
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