Mark wrote
> Achilles is religiously conservative, a representative of the
matriarchal religion. Compare this to Odysseus, the
most 'patriarchal' of the heros at Troy (Penelope moved to HIS home).
Agamemmnon and Menelaus are midway, they being kings because of their
wives but otherwise every inch the warmongering patriarch.
>
> Patroclus, and later Achilles, though, receive a funeral that
echoes the kurgans of the Steppe. Achilles is a composite character.
It is interesting that despite his "patriarchal" nature, Odysseus
still has Athena as his constant companion and guide (and is attacked
by Poseidon - the old Poseidon-Athena antagonism again). Odysseus
rules, not by right of inheritance from his father but by right of
his marriage to Penelope - who in an almost Celtic fashion
represents "sovereignty". This is the whole point of the suitors, as
by their marriage to Penelope they can become kings, just as Odysseus
can only resume kingship by claiming his marriage to be still valid.
Jean Houston's "The Hero and the Goddess" is an excellent work for
anyone who wants to understand how this mythos stands on the gateway
turning from Martifocal to Patriachal concepts of Power.
The Funeral of Patroclus and Achiles is interesting as funeral pyres
are not found in Mycenean Greece, but they were the common form of
funeral throughout the Hittte realm. Pyres only became fashionable
in Greece AFTER the Trojan War. It would appear that during their
stay at Troy the Greeks adopted the funeral customs of the people
they vanquished. Otto Gurney in the Hittites has a good comparison
of Hittite funeral ritual and that given in the Illiad that I can
copy if anyone is interested.
Regards
John