#alice oswald
When Achilles’ arms grew weary from the killing
he plucked out of the river ten young men alive
as blood payment for the killing of Patroklos,
Menoetius’ son. He led them up onto dry land
like stupefied fawns, tied their hands behind them
using belts they wore around their woven tunics
and gave them to his men to lead back to the ships.
Then he jumped in again, eager to keep killing.
Iliad XXI.32-46, trans. Ian Johnston
Like fawns running over a field
Suddenly give up and stand
Puzzled in their heavy coats.
Memorial, Alice Oswald
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Protesilaus Ebdoma
Prot-eh-sil-OW-us. EBB-do-mah. “Ebb” as in what the tide does. “Doma” as in “domain”.
NOTE: Protesilaus is the first hero to die at Troy. He is also the first man who dies as a result of the Lyctor Trials. “Johnny Quickdeath” would’ve also been a good pick.
—Tamsyn Muir, “A Little Explanation of Naming Sytems”, in Gideon the Ninth
The first to die was PROTESILAUS
A focused man who hurried to darkness
With forty black ships leaving the land behind
Men sailed with him from those flower-lit cliffs
Where the grass gives growth to everything
—Alice Oswald, Memorial (adapted from The Iliad)