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10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS STREET MYTH A breakdown of Homer's The Iliad Not being a lover of Classical Literature, I found it hard to read The Iliad. My saving grace is that as a grandson of George Glenn Cameron, a former archaeologist and History teacher, I followed in his footsteps as a student of anthropology at Eastern Michigan University. My understanding of the Iliad is due to the writing style of Homer, and my being a student of Hermetic and Ceremonial Magic, and a lover of the mysteries of the gods/goddesses. And that Homer begins his book not as a dry run of the history of the Trojan War, but as dialogue between man and the divine. Homer's books “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” are required reading in many programs of Great Books, one of which, from beginning to end, "St. John's College, the Freshman level of Great Books," I am determined to finish in my spare time. All of us have at our disposal time to read ten pages a day of a particular book, in a form of self sacrifice of what else we may do with that amount of time on a daily basis. This tale covers the Trojan War in prose style of classical literature. Not being an avid fan of history but rather religion and the anthropology of religion no less, it is fortuitous that the story begins as a dialogue between Man and his Divine source. Great heroes of the time are included in this tale. The Trojans and the Achaeans are both covered in this battle. I must admit it took more than just the text in an English translation from Classical Greek, supplemented by Spark Notes and Cliffs Notes for me to comprehend the book. How does this relate to homelessness and economic struggles in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti? A fair question. It is because we all have inner battles and wars, sometimes spilling out into the physical realm — as within so without, as without, so within. In understanding a ship’s crew in waters unknown, seeking dry land on which to dock and pursue unknown treasure, we can find that literature is a great treasure, helping us to understand life and death itself. Is death always easier than life?If we think so we are sadly mistaken, as it (Death) is our greatest foe we all must face, and we can choose to enter into it in the role of Coward or Hero. This is not to say that Death is easy, nay, very much the opposite. The best we can do is to live a virtuous life and enter into the great unknown as a courageous hero, having fought our wars in life itself before meeting our ultimate end, seeking perhaps the very hand of Helen, Hera or the hand of Jove. Our next foe of life is that of ignorance. To this end I seek to aid you, my dear reader, with a condensed underJAMIE CAMERON Groundcover vendor No. 612 by the gods, and Agamemnon powerful himself as captain of the fleet and king of Mycenae. The Acheans (Greeks) sought to make war with the Trojans due to the lying spirit sent by Jove in the dream of Agamemnon. It was stated in the dream that they, the Acheans, would fight the Trojans and take the city of Troy. I am currently on the second book of The Iliad, so forgive my ignorance in writing this before finishing the book itself. A parallel to what is occurring in this standing of The Iliad. We can find in this story (and perhaps why Virgil and Shakespeare appear in my mind as I read this great tale) the Trickster God, or a god in his malicious role. In the form of a dream, the God Jove sent this lying spirit to the captain of the fleet. Many of us may view Jove, or Jupiter, as not only a father of gods and goddesses, but as the very source itself, both in roles of the trickster and a non-trickster. If we view life as a potential of a trickster as well as reality, a dream or in our waking up to reality from a world of dream, we may see a parallel, and that is what I seek to leave you with. We in this world may not be unarmed, but none of us can afford to stroll down the street armed with spears and swords and shields. Nay, this would immediately put us in bonds. So I implore you to consider the times in which this tale took place. We now have the benefit of entire libraries at our disposal, a benefit of our times, despite those who seek to burn or ban books. Ignorance is our greatest foe. May libraries become your — our — sanctuary, with a common theme as we seek to learn and understand, not just use it as a warming or cooling center as we go about our days and nights. Nay, make much use of these centers of learning. If the internet fails to work on a given day, there are still words on paper from which we can extract an education. With that, I invite you to join me in the quest to understand the point of The Iliad and its characters, and perhaps see in our modern times the parallels to being homeless. As you read this, we are seeing multiple wars across the globe, which in itself seek natural resources and people to exploit, and to seek treasures in the form of human and political power, money a bonus. Achilles is not just a Greek restaurant, but a great man of renown, a hero. In Book One of The Iliad, Homer presents a quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, with Achilles aided world is a competition between two parties seeking to take control of the United States, one as just another leader, while one wants to be not just a man but a king and God. You feel me on this point? If not, here is the spoiler — Harris and Trump. Where this intersects with the homeless is by which social programs or policies one or the other seeks to exploit, corrupt or completely take away. Let us view Troy as the United States, and the treasures sought as the money behind the social programs and domestic and foreign policies. Troy was set up to fall, aided by the gods, the hand of Helen as the prize to gain in a major war between the Acheans and the Trojans. Helen may very well be the voting process, our democracy, as opposed to a monarchy that one party seeks. This will affect each and every one of us, in high places and low. So who are the Acheans and who are the Trojans? And of what shall be the fate of Troy? What gods shall we appease with burnt offerings? Where is the hand of Jove or Zeus himself in all of this? This may be viewed on the global theater: in Venezuela a tied election for or against the people; Ukraine, if victorious, will prevent a dictator from taking other countries at will. Should Ukraine fail to be aided by the gods, let us hope the hand of Zeus and AUGUST 9, 2024 Hera be with us all. Let us set up altars for our household gods and goddesses, with regular offerings and praise. In the end, let us hope our democracy stays and stands through our Heroine, rather than the man who wants to be King and a God himself. Let the trickle-down effect be seen, heard and felt in favor of the common (wo)man of this city of Troy (the United States). Let the Olympics not be a distraction in all of this. Let Olympus’s gods and goddesses reign, and not man. Let the treasure (our election process) remain safe and guarded in the open, along with its trickle-down programs and policies. -

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