Raiders of Troy is an attempt to examine the characters and players in the Trojan War. The story made famous by the Illiad has many background scenes and histories that are exciting, depressing,happy and sad; that were not examined by Homers epic in my view. More of an accompaniment than a substitute to 'The Illiad'.Raiders of Troy may not have the classical form Homer and many views may be tainted with my own. but thousands of years after the event these things should be considered natural. If even one person shows an interest and reads the Illiad because of Raiders of Troy, the job is done.
1.Odysseus
Petulantly, the lipless one broods by the shore
staring into the beaks of a thousand ships
Myrmidons surround him, respectfully restless
but his gaze fixed on the horizon that birthed them,
the sea that tested them, churned them and
spat them on the cursed shores of Troy
while the battles rage, he waits
all know the foretold, and none rush it
Die here Achilles will,
gloriously, in youth,
on these shores,
in the city made by gods
the Last Hero will die,
they dont know how,
they dont know when,
none want to be reminded,
destiny can wait,
while the lipless one broods
the priestess was his,
the blasphemous reward
earning the wrath of Apollo
then unjustly, publicly
taken away by a lesser man
of higher rank
who deserves to
suffer Hector's marauding rage.
The righteous Hector the lion of a man
how kingly a demeanour
but son loving Priam is Troy's king
Hector wants Helen gone I know,
but the host could not ask
Lovely fickle Helen
wicked Aphrodite incarnate
soothing Paris this moment
pining for Menelaus the other
her beauty corrputs realms
beauty that blinds the mind
brings destruction to the towers of impregnable cities
a thousand ships clamour in her name
she must be thrilled
o why couldn't you be like Penelope
unsure tentative yet steadfast.
Is it our pride, is it the oath we took
to aid Helen's husband as one
to right a wrong, with a greater one?
I wonder how our leader feels,
wise, cunning, capricious, avaricious
the only one who could lead us
his lying got us to the ships
kings some warriors all
rotten his leading is
the titular status taken seriously
makes slight an easy offence
happy he must be, though
chosen to follow Heracles' footsteps
happier to die here outside the gates of Illium
than return to Athens empty, but he's no Hero
I wonder how my son looks now
Telemachus would have grown so
ten years my heart's dull thudding yearning
for the rocky outcrops of Ithaca's shore
Soon it will be time, not mine, not Achilles's,
Not Hector's, not Agamemnon's,
Not Helen's not Menelaus's,
not Paris's,
it will soon be time,
to have a story end,
so that others can begin,
heroes end, so men can begin
I just lay back at the end of this summers finest day
fighting for the day is done
and these thoughts seep from me
like blood from my wounds
2.Paris
Am i to grieve for the city at war
everyday my countrymen and allies die
in my name, on my blame
their blood flows
curse me all
little they know
but my fate is theirs
the gods have willed it
branded without a chance
you Helen hear my tale
and then judge who is wronged
They would have killed me before i was born
but Priam loved Hecuba's womb
i was to come to this world
but when i did, it was in silence
no pomp greeted this prince of Troy
no herald sounded my name
ignominy was laid on my head at birth
The seer said 'kill him, he is the ruin of Troy'
Priam the father, the king scared, gutless he agreed
but charged his shepherd to slay me
Troy was gutless from king to shepherd,
and no one could kill a baby
so a beast's meal i was made
placed at the mouth of a bear's cave
but the bear became my mother
she-bear was my first nurse
fed me her beast's milk
and i took it all in
ran it through my heart and veins
the shepherd when he returned
astounded, repentant ,
made me his own son
reared me to fatten sheep
and lead bulls to jousts
here too i won easily
but just and fair is me
more then Zeus,
more than Athene
i corwned Ares with gold
when he bested my bull but
it took a god to beat Paris's bull
Zues the Olympian had more plans
for me a shepherd of the Trojan hills
he sends Hermes with Athene,
Hera and Aphrodite. Why?
i tried to hide in vain, they found me
I the shepherd was to judge between them
O you paragon of deceit, you coward Zeus
your godhead built on mortal pains
you send three immortals to tempt and rage
the prize they sought, made mine to give.
but just to one among three
many a gift was promised me.
But I choose one and the other two
will destroy me and all dear to me
Vengance is the nature of gods
Hera promised me Asia
Athene wisdom promised to give
Aphrodite promised me you
with each promise came a dire threat
fool was i to think the one i chose
would refuge me from the others wrath
i know now the plans Zeus laid that day
its the plague Troy suffers today
prince am i, wiser than most
but first a lover, mortal in body
I chose you Helen,
and gave the apple to Aphrodite,
the apple that bore 'to the fairest of all'
such a wicked game Eries played, Zeus played
i the mortal fool was the harp
they played to break.
Aphrodite, the most beautiful wretch
she promised me a woman already married
and when the shepherd presented
the King with his son
again a prince of Troy was i
she made me dream of you
sailed me to Sparta to lay with you
guiled me and you into eloping
bringing this terror to Troy
I would have died in the duel
and the matter settled
had Menelaus run his sword through me
Troy would be peaceful,
the raiders returned to their ships
sailing home, their shame washed away
by the blood of a prince
but he was yet goading me with taunts
and Wretched Aphrodite spirited me away
robbed me of an honourable death
forced me to lie with you again
i could feel her hand pound me then
this is a God I've sacrificed to
so I am better a mortal
so, tell me Helen of Troy
am I the careless carefree man
who lives this mountain of blame
or a plaything of the gods
Oneone loathes me now,
the plains and mountains of Troy loathe me
Hector loathes me,
feeble, forced and quivering Priam
never did anyone loathe a father so
if it was i, the baby would be dead
as he was born
but fair Helen, stay your judgement
in your hearts innermost chamber
i cannot bear to hear it
and on this summers finest day
there is more i have to say
Should i in some battle fall
grieve me but then get another husband else
Troy's women will tear you apart
but Hector worships Andromache
so Deiphobus it must be
No, don't say a word
its how it must be
come now lay with me wife
my city is paying the price
3.Agamemnon
When will you fall fabled Troy?
When will I be heralded as the greatest of Achean kings?
Hear it from me that fall you will
Poseidon the Earth Shaker himself cannot prevent it
Such is the promise Zues has made to me
But that dawn is yet far away
Woe is my companion
Strife is my lot
I am no stranger to either
They are not rid of me or I of them
From birth they are my burden
And they force me on when I tire
And what do I say to the face that haunts me, warns me in Mycenae
and here outside Illium's very walls
In my sleep and wake she whispers
Cassandra has already told me
what she will tell Priam
That Troy must fall and then she will be with me
And when she is mine she will fortell
That what I am fated for
What does it take to be king of kings?
To be born in a cursed line
Without a fate besides what I make
There's no bed that can rest me well
No its not the Furies for I have done less
than many that sleep well at nights
My father he did sleep after feeding the children to their father, his brother Thyestes
Atreus a great king a greater monster
That father of mine he slept well at nights
He took the throne from Thyestes
And yet the Furies did not bother him
For retribution was swifter.
Thyestes fulfilling sired Aegisthius with his own daughter,
Who with his father grandfather
did Atreus away and usurped my throne
Forced to flee it was Sparta that gave us refuge and wives
Clytmenestra for me and Helen for Menaleus
Princesses of great beauty and wives of fickle fidelty
One hides behind your walls and the other sleeps alone in my bed perhaps
Yet worth it or not
Why do I not get the respect that others
Lessers in every way
Get without demand without effort
Did I and Menelaus not take back Mycaenae
Did I not expand its realm till it became the largest in Argos
Brave Menelaus powerful Agamemnon, the best of mortals
My brother is king of Sparta
The land of the most ferocious warriors and the most beautiful women
I do not dwell my sight on Helen for if I do my heart will want and a brother will die
Menelaus or me it doesn't matter
If either dies both of us will
So my dream is bigger than my lust and I dream of Troy not Helen
Troy Troy Troy Troy!
In my dreams I see you before me
With you I see the east before me
Kneeling supplicant broken bowed
But what price will you extract?
From the princes of Greece
All or some
Maimed or disfigured
Sons never to see fathers
Or fathers never to know sons
A princess already felled by your lust
She comes to me in the cold nights
Asking why? Father why?
Did your daughter mean so little to you?
Or was I Iphignea just an animal
another white bull to appease Artemis
Her mother did not speak to me
Orestes her brother my son
Fury in his eyes
Fists clenched said nothing and yet
The ultimate sacrifice was made
For you Troy
And I will not go back I have vowed
Give us victory Zues
And make it speedy
The death of an old man
I do not want
One who is mocked jeered
'There he goes Agmemnon
the failure!'
Let me die here instead
But in a fight with my friends and captains around me
While I still have respect
Except Achilles who knows
Nothing of what the word means
Of what is due to a king
Even from a prince
Swift runner and killer he may be
He will join battle
A fighter cannot sit by forever
Stubborn he may be
But Zues make it sooner!
I am just and fair
Brisies is of royal blood
And such captives are the leaders by right
And I cannot capitulate
A matter of right and fair
Now neither will go back
I know this
So how will you make him join us again and when
Tell me O Zues tell me this
And tell me what Orestes will be like
when I meet him
If I return
Tell me Zues what does a king do
When his army is tiring and wives
Back home getting restive
And as I lay down in this finest summers night
I cannot sleep
It is better that I stay awake
Aegisthius, Thyestes, Cassandra and Iphignea
Take turns to twist the torments in my head when I sleep
1.Odysseus
Petulantly, the lipless one broods by the shore
staring into the beaks of a thousand ships
Myrmidons surround him, respectfully restless
but his gaze fixed on the horizon that birthed them,
the sea that tested them, churned them and
spat them on the cursed shores of Troy
while the battles rage, he waits
all know the foretold, and none rush it
Die here Achilles will,
gloriously, in youth,
on these shores,
in the city made by gods
the Last Hero will die,
they dont know how,
they dont know when,
none want to be reminded,
destiny can wait,
while the lipless one broods
the priestess was his,
the blasphemous reward
earning the wrath of Apollo
then unjustly, publicly
taken away by a lesser man
of higher rank
who deserves to
suffer Hector's marauding rage.
The righteous Hector the lion of a man
how kingly a demeanour
but son loving Priam is Troy's king
Hector wants Helen gone I know,
but the host could not ask
Lovely fickle Helen
wicked Aphrodite incarnate
soothing Paris this moment
pining for Menelaus the other
her beauty corrputs realms
beauty that blinds the mind
brings destruction to the towers of impregnable cities
a thousand ships clamour in her name
she must be thrilled
o why couldn't you be like Penelope
unsure tentative yet steadfast.
Is it our pride, is it the oath we took
to aid Helen's husband as one
to right a wrong, with a greater one?
I wonder how our leader feels,
wise, cunning, capricious, avaricious
the only one who could lead us
his lying got us to the ships
kings some warriors all
rotten his leading is
the titular status taken seriously
makes slight an easy offence
happy he must be, though
chosen to follow Heracles' footsteps
happier to die here outside the gates of Illium
than return to Athens empty, but he's no Hero
I wonder how my son looks now
Telemachus would have grown so
ten years my heart's dull thudding yearning
for the rocky outcrops of Ithaca's shore
Soon it will be time, not mine, not Achilles's,
Not Hector's, not Agamemnon's,
Not Helen's not Menelaus's,
not Paris's,
it will soon be time,
to have a story end,
so that others can begin,
heroes end, so men can begin
I just lay back at the end of this summers finest day
fighting for the day is done
and these thoughts seep from me
like blood from my wounds
2.Paris
Am i to grieve for the city at war
everyday my countrymen and allies die
in my name, on my blame
their blood flows
curse me all
little they know
but my fate is theirs
the gods have willed it
branded without a chance
you Helen hear my tale
and then judge who is wronged
They would have killed me before i was born
but Priam loved Hecuba's womb
i was to come to this world
but when i did, it was in silence
no pomp greeted this prince of Troy
no herald sounded my name
ignominy was laid on my head at birth
The seer said 'kill him, he is the ruin of Troy'
Priam the father, the king scared, gutless he agreed
but charged his shepherd to slay me
Troy was gutless from king to shepherd,
and no one could kill a baby
so a beast's meal i was made
placed at the mouth of a bear's cave
but the bear became my mother
she-bear was my first nurse
fed me her beast's milk
and i took it all in
ran it through my heart and veins
the shepherd when he returned
astounded, repentant ,
made me his own son
reared me to fatten sheep
and lead bulls to jousts
here too i won easily
but just and fair is me
more then Zeus,
more than Athene
i corwned Ares with gold
when he bested my bull but
it took a god to beat Paris's bull
Zues the Olympian had more plans
for me a shepherd of the Trojan hills
he sends Hermes with Athene,
Hera and Aphrodite. Why?
i tried to hide in vain, they found me
I the shepherd was to judge between them
O you paragon of deceit, you coward Zeus
your godhead built on mortal pains
you send three immortals to tempt and rage
the prize they sought, made mine to give.
but just to one among three
many a gift was promised me.
But I choose one and the other two
will destroy me and all dear to me
Vengance is the nature of gods
Hera promised me Asia
Athene wisdom promised to give
Aphrodite promised me you
with each promise came a dire threat
fool was i to think the one i chose
would refuge me from the others wrath
i know now the plans Zeus laid that day
its the plague Troy suffers today
prince am i, wiser than most
but first a lover, mortal in body
I chose you Helen,
and gave the apple to Aphrodite,
the apple that bore 'to the fairest of all'
such a wicked game Eries played, Zeus played
i the mortal fool was the harp
they played to break.
Aphrodite, the most beautiful wretch
she promised me a woman already married
and when the shepherd presented
the King with his son
again a prince of Troy was i
she made me dream of you
sailed me to Sparta to lay with you
guiled me and you into eloping
bringing this terror to Troy
I would have died in the duel
and the matter settled
had Menelaus run his sword through me
Troy would be peaceful,
the raiders returned to their ships
sailing home, their shame washed away
by the blood of a prince
but he was yet goading me with taunts
and Wretched Aphrodite spirited me away
robbed me of an honourable death
forced me to lie with you again
i could feel her hand pound me then
this is a God I've sacrificed to
so I am better a mortal
so, tell me Helen of Troy
am I the careless carefree man
who lives this mountain of blame
or a plaything of the gods
Oneone loathes me now,
the plains and mountains of Troy loathe me
Hector loathes me,
feeble, forced and quivering Priam
never did anyone loathe a father so
if it was i, the baby would be dead
as he was born
but fair Helen, stay your judgement
in your hearts innermost chamber
i cannot bear to hear it
and on this summers finest day
there is more i have to say
Should i in some battle fall
grieve me but then get another husband else
Troy's women will tear you apart
but Hector worships Andromache
so Deiphobus it must be
No, don't say a word
its how it must be
come now lay with me wife
my city is paying the price
3.Agamemnon
When will you fall fabled Troy?
When will I be heralded as the greatest of Achean kings?
Hear it from me that fall you will
Poseidon the Earth Shaker himself cannot prevent it
Such is the promise Zues has made to me
But that dawn is yet far away
Woe is my companion
Strife is my lot
I am no stranger to either
They are not rid of me or I of them
From birth they are my burden
And they force me on when I tire
And what do I say to the face that haunts me, warns me in Mycenae
and here outside Illium's very walls
In my sleep and wake she whispers
Cassandra has already told me
what she will tell Priam
That Troy must fall and then she will be with me
And when she is mine she will fortell
That what I am fated for
What does it take to be king of kings?
To be born in a cursed line
Without a fate besides what I make
There's no bed that can rest me well
No its not the Furies for I have done less
than many that sleep well at nights
My father he did sleep after feeding the children to their father, his brother Thyestes
Atreus a great king a greater monster
That father of mine he slept well at nights
He took the throne from Thyestes
And yet the Furies did not bother him
For retribution was swifter.
Thyestes fulfilling sired Aegisthius with his own daughter,
Who with his father grandfather
did Atreus away and usurped my throne
Forced to flee it was Sparta that gave us refuge and wives
Clytmenestra for me and Helen for Menaleus
Princesses of great beauty and wives of fickle fidelty
One hides behind your walls and the other sleeps alone in my bed perhaps
Yet worth it or not
Why do I not get the respect that others
Lessers in every way
Get without demand without effort
Did I and Menelaus not take back Mycaenae
Did I not expand its realm till it became the largest in Argos
Brave Menelaus powerful Agamemnon, the best of mortals
My brother is king of Sparta
The land of the most ferocious warriors and the most beautiful women
I do not dwell my sight on Helen for if I do my heart will want and a brother will die
Menelaus or me it doesn't matter
If either dies both of us will
So my dream is bigger than my lust and I dream of Troy not Helen
Troy Troy Troy Troy!
In my dreams I see you before me
With you I see the east before me
Kneeling supplicant broken bowed
But what price will you extract?
From the princes of Greece
All or some
Maimed or disfigured
Sons never to see fathers
Or fathers never to know sons
A princess already felled by your lust
She comes to me in the cold nights
Asking why? Father why?
Did your daughter mean so little to you?
Or was I Iphignea just an animal
another white bull to appease Artemis
Her mother did not speak to me
Orestes her brother my son
Fury in his eyes
Fists clenched said nothing and yet
The ultimate sacrifice was made
For you Troy
And I will not go back I have vowed
Give us victory Zues
And make it speedy
The death of an old man
I do not want
One who is mocked jeered
'There he goes Agmemnon
the failure!'
Let me die here instead
But in a fight with my friends and captains around me
While I still have respect
Except Achilles who knows
Nothing of what the word means
Of what is due to a king
Even from a prince
Swift runner and killer he may be
He will join battle
A fighter cannot sit by forever
Stubborn he may be
But Zues make it sooner!
I am just and fair
Brisies is of royal blood
And such captives are the leaders by right
And I cannot capitulate
A matter of right and fair
Now neither will go back
I know this
So how will you make him join us again and when
Tell me O Zues tell me this
And tell me what Orestes will be like
when I meet him
If I return
Tell me Zues what does a king do
When his army is tiring and wives
Back home getting restive
And as I lay down in this finest summers night
I cannot sleep
It is better that I stay awake
Aegisthius, Thyestes, Cassandra and Iphignea
Take turns to twist the torments in my head when I sleep
