Xenia

The golden armor Glaucos gave in trade,
sealed obligations to his dad's friend's son.
Where no constabulary renders aid,
through kinship ties, the Grecian works was run.
Absconding with the Spartan's lovely queen,
the Trojan's faux pas couldn't be ignored.
Such damage to the cuckold's self-esteem,
would doom the whole Aegean world to war.
While Priam got no succor from his liege
to drive marauders from his city gate,
the ad hoc coalition laying siege,
had not yet dreamt that Greeks might form a State.
To Homer, social mores don't exclude
those Asians Greeks had sailed so far to fight.
To stint on hospitality's just rude,
and worthy adversaries do what's right.
Outstanding in the company of kings
our Diomedes rocks the brightest bling.

impertinence

Sweet Aphrodite did fair Helen dirt;
her chosen marriage never earned this test.
Before it's over, everyone gets hurt;
unsparing of the meanest, or the best.
Great Hector calls his brother out by name
an emissary mustn't play the hick
no son of Priam can deflect such blame;
disaster follows thinking with one's dick.
To reprimand a goddess took real grit;
the other Greeks were far more circumspect.
But they're not bartered like some gambler's chit
no knowing in whose bed they'll end up next.
The wall that Plato drew between two worlds,

meant nothing to this Mycenaean girl.

on Excellence

the subtlety that Agamemnon lacked,
Odysseus brought to the camp, in spades.
One bore the scepter, but can't stop an ax;
his wife took care that old accounts get paid.
For Trojans, leadership's more unified;
their project isn't subject to debate.
Great Hector isn't blinded by his pride;
Achaeans face his unitary State.
The largest fleet might be the biggest thing
that set Atreides above the rest.
A scant foundation to proclaim him'King',
when all acclaimed Peleides the best.
Before Athenians defined who's"free",
blind Homer saw the faults of monarchy.

protoDualism

When Agamemnon starts to think he's Zeus
there's Klytemnestra with her subtle net.
Where Hera must endure her Lord's abuse
this mortal won't forgive, and won't forget.
Aegysthos frolicked in his cousin's bed,
while better Greeks probed Troy's high walls for cracks.
but it's the Queen who claimed the cuckold's head.
His glory proved no proof against her ax.
Penelope with Pallas shares the bond;
one step behind, she won't--quite--touch her foe.
Two realms, untouching somehow correspond;
the script on High is played out here, Below.
What's platonists would later formalize
was clear enough to sightless Homer's eyes.

Wanax

The maiden glowed to think she'd be the bride
to great Achilles, though he's overseas.
Too soon, she'll learn that Agamemnon lied;
he'd sold his daughter for a friendly breeze.
At Aulis, there's no swag to pay the fleet;
the great adventure's looking like a bust.
To salvage honor through this rank deceit,
his marriage foundered on a dearth of trust.
His Klytemnestra's not one to forget.
A war to get his brother's woman back,
entangled him in his own wife's silk net.
The victor's victim to her gleaming ax.
Since Tantalus, this dynasty's been cursed;
each generation seems to wear it worse.

Marry well

Her sister'd maddened half the men of Greece,
but Klytemnestra's no great prize to wed.
Her husband won at war, but died in peace;
that garland's useless when you've lost your head.
Twin Tyndarids proved equally unchaste;
One ran off with a pretty Asian lad.
To marry for a famously fair face,
to Homer's mind, is bound to turn out bad.
Odysseus brought home the best of wives,
Penelope, who matched his famous wit.
While other paid for glory with their lives,
the man of many ways proved the most fit.
When we recall the Mycenaean world
the tales turn on Tyndareus' girls.

the Agamemnon

Her sentinels report: the watchfires flare;
king Agamemnon's coming home from war!
Aegysthos, who had shirked his duty there,
starts planning to slink out the postern door.
It's Klytemnestra lays the bolder plan:
she'll lay the crimson carpet for his tread,
surpassing Helen to betray her man;
she'll take not just his honor, but his head.
Cassandra's prophecy's a waste of breath;
they put no credence in such future facts.
She's heard the swirling blood; she's smelled the death
She's seen the subtle net, the gleaming ax.
Peleides died young, but won renown;
Odysseus pushed through to win long life.
But Atreus' heir just gets hewn down
mere barnyard livestock to his fancy wife.
The meta-narrative can criticize
heroic figures, painting them life-sized.