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The Iliad is a story at the heart of western culture, a sprawling epic filled with goddesses, magic, and epic battles which asks crucial questions about fate, free will, and (of course!) the power of love.
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We begin with a Titan chained to a rock at the top of the world; we begin with a wedding between the families of gods and humans that brings the entire world into harmony...at least until the golden apple arrives.
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What do you desire most: power, wisdom, or love? That's the question this story asks of us, even as it raises the possibility that we might have less of a choice than we realize.ts That
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When a statue of Athena falls out of the sky, what do you do next? Found a city, of course, and if a sea-dragon, a wandering prince, and a pair of disgruntled gods come knocking at your gate they will only add to the many stories of this city of all cities known as Troy.
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A goddess descends to the underworld, and a Trojan prince is blown by a storm across the sea...but who is that smashing glasses in the palace, and laughing madly in the firelight?
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When Helen, the daughter of Zeus, decides that it is time for her to seek a husband, all the most powerful, beautiful and magical men of Greece come running-- but such a choice must involve not only Helen but Poseidon, the god of both horses and the sea.
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When Calchas the seer tells the Greek army that doom is certain unless Achilles joins them, Agamemnon sends Odysseus to the island of Skyros to discover where he might be hiding.
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The Greek army arrives at Troy, only to meet an indestructible man and to wrestle with the prophecy of Calchas, who declares that the first to set foot on the Trojan shore shall be the first to die.
photo by t. valilas
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After nine years of intermittent fighting a mysterious old man arrives in the Greek camp, bearing a staff with golden ribbons. Who could guess that his arrival would change everything?
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Desperate bargainings in a tent beside the roaring sea, with the gods and goddesses looking on and Helen high in her tower in Troy, weaving every event into her cloth.
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The Greeks are pushed to their limit as Hector leads the Trojans in an attack which forces all involved to make some hard choices.
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Philip Rundell, Shield of Achilles (detail) 1822
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As Achilles prepares to enter the fight, his mother the goddess Thetis journeys to Olympus, where Hephaestus will craft a shield decorated with all the life of the world. Soon after the battle will begin, rivers will speak and Hector and Achilles will face each other before the gates of Troy.
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Desna river, Ukraine, by George Chernilevsky
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Hector, the protector of the city of Troy, at last faces Achilles, the semi-divine warrior hungry for glory. Yet beyond this conflict there is another story, a tale of darkness and descent in which Priam travels a road of sorrow towards healing and true peace.
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