On Homer's Side.

I have always believed that the story of the Trojan War was one of the seminal stories in the history of literature. It was told by Homer in The Illiad and The Odyssey, by Virgil in The Aeneid, and by Aeschylus in his play, Agamemnon. It tells of the glory of battle, the heartbreak of loss, of nobility as well as cowardice, of pig-headedness and of inspiration, and of just pure stupidity. It speaks of the most noble and ignoble in the human character.

It is said that Homer wrote about this war to warn his fellow Greeks that war was not the way to settle disputes, that there was an inherent tragedy in war that far outweighed its benefits.

In the following sonnet, I weigh in on this topic. On Homer's side.

Sonnet 20
Christopher Bogart

Just like the topless towers of ancient Troy
That, through Aegean mists, came into view
To satisfy a blood lust to destroy
And from its ancient rubble, build anew.
So history’s replete with tall tales told
Of warrior kings, whose armies rush to fight
In feckless feuds where moral ground is sold
To those who honor might far more than right.
And when the fog flees from these battlefields
And old men analyze the final cost,
Their faded pages still refuse to yield
What really has been won. What has been lost.
So rare is found within these tortured tomes
The honor that leeches still from Hector’s bones.