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chas on Jul 20th 2009 at 8:03 am Paganism

The "Third Man" and the Gods

Blogger Richard Fernandez discusses the “Third Man” phenomenon, when people under great stress feel that someone is with them or helping them.

The post made me think of the Iliad, when fighters are shielded by one god(dess) or another. (One of the commenters had a similar reaction.)

For instance, in Book 20, Poseidon whisks the Trogan fighter Aeneus away when invincible Achilles is about finish him off — that sort of thing.

I was raised Christian and heard Bible stories every Sunday. There was never any doubt whose side Yahweh was on in the wars of the Hebrews.

Consequently, it was a little strange at first to encounter the polytheistic world of the Iliad, in which the gods take sides. Unfair! Which is the “right” side?

But yet is not the Iliad a truer picture of the world we live in?

PS: The best cover design for the Iliad ever published is this one.

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18 responses so far

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Hylomorphic Hylomorphic

    Come on, when have you ever seen Chas Clifton make a long post? Be nice to the guest bloggers.

  • Arkady Rose

    It would have been nice if he could have made an effort for once then.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Nope Nope

    Good grief, what a bunch of pissybritches. The boy stepped in, and gave you a point to ponder. Does he need to spoon feed you those ponderings?

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Hylomorphic Hylomorphic

    Maybe, but that doesn't mean its length is grounds for criticism.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/chuck_cosimano chuck_cosimano

    If you can't say it in three paragraphs it is probably not worth the trouble of saying.

  • http://abbadie.livejournal.com/ Luis Abbadie

    (Also, I apologize for the shoddy typing; having lunch with my little son is a bad time for posting).

  • http://robslg.bravejournal.com/ Rob Henderson

    My only disappointment is that after seeing the title, I thought this would have something to do with Orson Welles!

  • http://quakerpagan.blogspot.com/ Cat Chapin-Bishop

    Vermillion–yep. The professional writers do more with less. You are not wrong to notice!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/chuck_cosimano chuck_cosimano

    I learned to write doing blurbs for a radio station. We had about ten seconds to get an idea across.

  • Robert

    No one's forcing you to commit "feedback," are they?

  • Souris Optique

    I quite enjoy you both, at any length.

  • http://executivepagan.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/how-do-i-blog-thee/ How do I blog thee? « Executive Pagan

    [...] 21, 2009 Reading through the frequently myopic comments on Chas Clifton’s guest post over at The Wild Hunt set me to thinking about how I write here, and what I write about. Much was made of the brevity of [...]

  • http://www.openbuddha.com Al Billings

    No, no, Arkady, tell us what you REALLY think…

    Would you like some cheese with your whine?

  • http://abbadie.livejournal.com/ Luis Abbadie

    Darn. Here I was starting to feel all special-like!

  • Bookhousegal

    "But yet is not the Iliad a truer picture of the world we live in?"

    I'll say. Who threw that golden apple?

  • http://abbadie.livejournal.com/ Luis Abbadie

    Chas did? :-D

  • Promethean

    At the same time, he is a guest blogger. This isn't his blog so he might try to consider who *this* audience is, and what they want.

  • Robert

    And guess his thrown apple hit some people right in the head. Or in other more sensitive places…