RANSOM

Chapter 1:
 Achilles, greatest warrior of the Greeks stands next to the sea wile reminiscing of the past
 First passages back to a pre-existence, and awareness of the world and nature around him.
The connection between humans and gods
 Idea that life is just an intermediary stage, the 'earth' that creates life will return to being
earth. Impermanence.
 Life is shifting and insubstantial
 You are moving towards death and the battle associated
 His mother is Thetis, a sea goddess.
 Achilles longs for his mother's presence . It was a "hard condition" that Thetis will not be
around
 Idea of Duel-self is introduced. How you present yourself vs the inner turmoil, Man and father
vs King. ("He had grieved, but silently, never permitting himself to betray to others what he
felt"
 His mothers death meant he had "entered the rough world of men" where battles and wars
prevail, moral, and his father's son
 Idea of acts following him in the form of a story. The story that is told vs reality. Not from
within but external sources

 Background of war is delivered

 It is a time of idle tension. His is seemingly worse that the heat of battle itself
 Greece is under siege
 Greeks' frustration at inactivity
 Achilles' son is living with his grandfather
 Likening the Sea's path to life itself, "fixed, inevitable"

 Background of Patroclus, "soulmate and companion since childhood"

 He came to live with young Achilles after killing the son of a high official of the royal court due
to a "quarrel over a game of knucklebones". 'Low end' fight. Trying to establish the human
factor, seeing the human side of Achilles. Not present him as inhumane but two sides of the
story. Innocuous
 Image of children killing others paints the societal landscape towards conflict
 Patroclus' behaviour separates him from the companionship of men
 Patroclous was his adoptive brother, but not there as his own person

 Explanation of the background to the novel's events

 Hector is described in a barbaric way, "slaughtering on all sides"
 Petty vindictiveness in the Greek camp, it is written as tantrums such to underplay Greek
barbarity. They are level
 Achilles is resolute, resentful of being judged
 The lashing out between Achilles and Patroclus, playing to Achilles ego and vanity
 Achilles watching Patroclus in his armour die, like watching yourself die in slow motion

 Significant mourning for Patroclus

 "Wept without restraint", is this heroic behaviour. External vs Internal?
 A soul cannot be laid to rest until the period of mourning has stopped
 Patroclus is gone and Achilles cannot rest
  Hector is again presented as barbaric, wearing the armour of is victim
 Wearing the armour is a powerful image, and the sword connect them both
 There is a humanity brought to Achilles execution, establish him as a grief stricken friend
 "You will not outlive me": Idea of destiny and destinies being linked
 Revenge, and how it affects the soul. It is liberating and entrapping at the same time
 Achilles is under the control of a "darker agency"
 Grotesque spectacle of mutilating the body in front of the entire Trojan population
 He feels nothing, it does not help or do anything -> There is no value in revenge

 Achilles subjects "love him" but what they see "confounds them"
 They do not understand "what authority they are under". Who is their leader now?
 Sense of unrest, uneasiness and instability in the Greek camp
 The body is restored each day, irrational behaviour "Gods continue to defy him"
o The Gods do not endorse his behaviour
 He is stuck in a cycle of manic revenge and rage

Chapter 2:
 Change of scene to Troy, from the rugged beach to an urban existance
 Priam is overcome by grief, "wrestling with dark thoughts"
o For Hector, heir to the throne
o For the threat of the kingdom's extinction
o For his family
 All of Nature is grieving, out of order. The Gods aren't happy
 The city is at the breach of ruins because he can only provide 'weak protection"
 He is "obliged" to follow the god's message
o As a king
o Priam is a Man and King, where is the line?
o Living map = Representation of the country, their direction
 He is both an "actual and symbolic" role as king
o Ideal as a leader being aloof and separate
o Serving as an anchor and something to cling to
 Visitation from Iris
o She introduces the idea of 'chance'. This is a completely foreign idea
o Chance vs Preordinated or by decree?
o Amazed that chance is a factor in the events that have occurred in his life.
 What do you do/what do you turn to when the world has changed? New Land? Unchartered
waters?
 Hecuba defaults to revenge, whilst Priam for grief
 Priam is set on setting this through, definitive
 Priam needs to get Hecuba onside
o People in power seek to persuade, get people to follow them (charisma, logic, force of
character)

 Hecuba suffers from a cold and is sleep deprived, distraught that she cannot properely grief
because of Achilles disrespect for Hector's body
 Priam implores that their inactivity and idleness is not of any benefit
 Disconnect is evident between the activities of women and men ('not in his sphere')
 Priam says he is never been a warrior and likewise had Idaeus to speak on his behalf; he is
expected to be more than human.
 He explains the vision, and is admant to see it through. Going to Achilles and pleeding, not as a
King, but an ordinary father for the body of his son. Hecuba meets it with derision, blindingly
perverse view of Achilles who won't accept
 He believes that "the thing that is needed to cut this knot" is something "impossible" and
"new"
 What will happen when Priam is gone? Hecuba is scared of the responsibility (Hector, heir, is
dead)
 He mentions chance again, completely foreign. It is taboo
 Priam reveals a past Hecuba was never privy to
o First introduced to "the smell of another order of human beings"
o His father promised his sister to a great hero, Heracles. After breaking this promise,
Priam's father and brothers were killed bar him, who was sold to slavery. His sister saved
him from the awful situation, in return for become a 'prize of war'
o He will now be known as Priam, "the price paid" as a reminder of his sister's sacrifice. It
hangs about him like a smell
o Is this the Gods at work? "the gods had relented"
o Heracles placed Priam on the throne of Troy, Priam is now living as the dead prince
 Priam will be ransomed a second time since the king will be exposed to Achilles and all his
men, unprotected and "stripped of all glittering distractions and disguises"

 Whole family is assembled to hear the proposition

 Typical 'royal family scandal', "court politics" "rivalry of wifes"
 They stir in protest, arguing that Priam is a king and not merely any ordinary human as he
wishes to portray himself in front of Achilles
 Deiphobus: Concerned about Priam's health and safety in Achilles hands. Do what a king does.
o Priam: It is no longer the time to remove "kingly distance"
 Polydamas: Beyond the "limit of what we have a right to ask", the gods can't ask that of you. It
is an unnecessary task
o Priam: The Gods made him King, yes, but also "man and mortal". He is interested in a
legacy. It doesn't matter what we were when we die, all equal
 He is determined and the family cannot stop him

 Priam is ready to leave

 He is dressed in "plain white robes" and two princes have gone to fetch a cart, both akin with
dream
 Priam is mad when they return with a regal chariot ("carnival wagon") and Idaeus. It must
adhere to the dream
 He wishes to dismantle himself upon the pride and distinction as king to simply a plain man in
a plain cart
 Somax surprised how old he looks -> Shows the distanced nature of the king
 Awkwardness between the two men, they don't know how to act. A lot of assumed disdain,
"taking a whiff". Shows the social divide in Troy
 Priam is trying to not be peremptory
 Priam insists Somax be called Idaeous, "accustomed" to it. This is problematic, it seems to
block ability to put the 'king' aside, he struggles to let go of the ceremonial customs that he
wishes to be ridden of. Shows the size of Priam's ambitions. Somax is perturbed but this new
designation
 As they pull away, Jove's emblem hovers above the crowds "celestial attention and concern".
Idea that the Gods are accompanying them, but Somax is more cynical which shows that the
Gods are mainly observed by High class/royal family
  The population of the city are confused and assume the worst

Chapter 3
 Priam is determined to stay in the cart, doesn't want to leave the imagined body of Hector
 New and Awkward experience for both of them. A very stagnant and formal relationship.
Priam is unaccustomed to Somax's touch as he has been surrounded by royalty his entire life.
 Somax advises Priam to dabble his feet in the stream as refreshment. Priam is perplexed by
this even, is "uncertain"
 Priam is working out how to operate in the real world
o Mandela seems full of reverence, but was a man of the world and understood ways to
deal with others
o Priam = Ceremonial and Separateness
o Mandela = Personal and great with people
 Somax brings out griddlecakes (talks about how his late son developed a cooking method) and
Priam enjoys them. Priam realises he has never thought about how the servants prepare his
food. He wants to know more, he experiences "curiosity"
o Priam = inward, "fixed on [himself] that was central"
 Priam realises that he is "exposing himself to things he had not previously encountered" and
this is the "price of the new", and that he actually enjoys it. Their conversation "had no point
or use", but did no harm to his dignity. What he had no interest for previously now interests
him. Broaden his horizon. Makes a decision to want more
o He finds the royal world cold.
 Somax has been "blessed and unblessed" with sons, only has a daughter-in-law now.
Granddaughter is at home sick with a fever, and he holds much despair in her condition. He is
so attached to his children, but has a fatalistic approach. Shit happens, we don't "lie down and
die". Somax is a man who has gone through significant hardship, has lost seven children
 Priam clearly awkward, "but he is no longer living you say"
 Somax reminiscently declares he misses everything about his children, even that bad things.
 He reveals that he once struck one of his sons and instantly regretted it
 Priam had lost sons, including Hector, but he has not been as attached to his sons like his
companion. He buried them "as custom and the law demands", but never as "full of emotion"
as Somax. Their relationship was "formal and symbolic". More like an "ally". Somax shared a
close, loving bond with his children
 Priam didn't play a father role, not there in childhood. He reflects on what it is to be a father
 Priam is sad to return to the cart, has enjoyed his time at the stream

 There is a young man sitting at the cart, with the treasure. Orchilus (brings back purpose of the
narrative)
 Pronounces that he is not stealing the treasure, but is an escort sent from Achilles
 They are distrusting, but continue.
 Pass through 2 channels, cart stuggles to resist the current of the stream. Strangely, Orchilus is
not wet.
 Entering the Greek camp, a "landscape…of utter devasation"
 Somax becomes very perturbed by the fact that Orchilus knows about his granddaughter, as
well as "low gossip" about him
 Orchilus reveals himself as Hermes.
 He reveals that he was sent by the gods to guide the travelers to safely reach Achilles camp

Chapter 4:
 Achilles continues to exist in a state of grievance
  Automedon is Achilles' squire, however he resents him since he represents the tragic events.
Resentful that Automedon is nthere and not Patroclus
 We are again drawn into the mind of Achilles, sense that he knows he is behaving badly but is
trapped
 He sees a figure advancing towards him, which he believes is his father (he almost hopes so
much that his father is around to help him)
 It is Priam, who gladly asserts that he is there to "ransom and bring …home" his son. Tells how
he was guided by Hermes. Somax is fetched, confirming the incentive
 Achilles is surprised and bemused at the presence of Somax. His differences to Priam become
clear to the reader
 Somax is taken to be fed, leaving the two rivals alone
 Priam presents his case, appealing to their common sense of humanity and "moral[ity]", that
they should "pity for one another's losses". He comes as Hector's father to oversee the return
of his son.
 Achilles is taken aback, and in the "aftermath of Priam's words" he sees Neoptolumous killing
the king
 Achilles grants Priam what he desires.

 Achilles goes down to prepare Hector's body, and spends some time alone with the
slaughtered prince
 There is a moment between them, and Achilles feels a sense of catharsis. In releasing the body
back to Priam, he feels the release that he tried to beat out of him by mutilating the body.
Revenge is quenched by forgiveness
 Clearly Achilles still has the rivalry at the front of his mind

 Achilles and Priam hold a ceremony for Hector.

 'Women' do a lot of work that is "uncomfortable" to men

 Priam is given quarters to sleep in, however in the morning Achilles watches him stir.
 The trepardation is still there, but Priam observes how this period of indifference has an
"enlivening" effect"
 Priam battles with thoughts:
o He has curiosity
o He is stuck between a reaction to find out information about Achilles and the Greeks to
use it against them
 They arrange a truce, however the war will resume 12 days subsequent

 Priam prepares to go
 Achilles invites Priam to call on him if Troy were in trouble, and Priam is surprised. He replies
with a barbed comment of what if Achilles is already "in the shades"

Chapter 5
 Somax and Priam journey back through war-torn Greece. Priam stops to grieve over Hector
 Somax reflects that this experience is almost over, imagining how he will soon be reunited
with his granddaughter, and reenter his old life
 Somax sees it as a "provisional triumph", whilst Priam is extremely pleased with his efforts and
is a "man remade"
 Priam reminisces the new experiences with both Achilles and Somax
  Achilles is also pleased, to be "visited by a lightness". But, the end has not been "miraculously
suspended"
 Neoptolemus is destined to avenge his father's death, however he "botch[es]" it

 Somax returns to Troy, excited about the story he has to tell, however this becomes "the stuff
of legend" and "an old man's empty bragging". They do not believe him

QUOTES
Character:
 Achilles
o "moral"
o "resentment of being judged"
o "his pride was touched"
o "too proud"
o "fouled" (by revenge)
o "His runners spirit has deserted him"
o "Noble bully"
o "the great Achilles"
 Priam
o Has "pious trepidation"
o "A child with seventy year on his back"
o "The price paid" "the gift given to buy your brother back from the dead" "I was restored"
o "imposing figure"
o "at the limit of his strength"

 Somax
o "a plain workman"
o "no experience of Princes"
o "quite out of his depth"
o "rough fellow"
o "pleasant and persuasive"
o "rough looking fellow"
o "simple workman"

 Patroclus
o "Soulmate and companion since childhood" (to Achilles)
o "quarrel over a game of Knuckle bones"
o "two lives collided, irrevocably changed"
o "outcast seeking asylum"
o "fate is suspended"
o "no man's land to be readmitted to the companionship of men"
o "all pride" and "could not easily be assuaged"
o "they were mated" (Achilles and Patroclus)
 Hector
o "implacable enemy" (to Achilles)
o "mock him" (Achilles by wearing the armour)
o "dear kinsmen"
o "slayer of his friend"
Duel-self and Interior/Exterior
 "he had grieved… but silently, never permitting himself to betray to others what he felt"
(Achilles)

Grief
 "feeling hollow himself" (also that Achilles 'died' because it was his armour"
 "Wept without restraint"
 "weight of sorrow"
 "reminder and a rebuke" (is Automedon's presence)
 "does not let the hurt he feels affect the attention he gives" (Automedon)

Revenge
 "Felt his soul change colour" (by Achilles killing Hector)
 "darker agency" (under the control of)
 "felt nothing"
 Though it would "assuage his grief"
 "barbaric spectacle" (mutilation of Hector)
 Despite the people "love him", but "what they see confounds them" (in his behaviour).
Question "what authority they are under"
 "Half blind with rage"
 "it is for Patroclus"
 "that is what torments him" (Achilles that it is never enough)
 Achilles becomes "fouled"
 Hecuba: "not of grief.. But anger"
 "self-consuming rage"
 "but what would have been the good of that? It wouldn't have brought him back"
 "smoky poison" (Achilles)
 "nothing here has gone cleanly or as he wished, all botched"

Something New/Breaking the Cycle

 Of Revenge (Achilles)
o "break .. The self-consuming rage that drives him and wastes his spirit in despair"
o "something new and unimaginable" can break it (harked back to later)
o Feels "a perfect order" when Hector is to be ransomed
o "the one he has come all this way to find"
o "lightness that is both new and a return"
 Of Troy vs Greek (Priam)
o "all this … is unprecedented"
o "new and unheard of"
o "Whatever it was … has just begun"
o "for a heartbeat there is a panic in their gaze"
o "enlivening effect"
o "in the light of this otherwise"
o "kind of intimacy"
o "call on me, Priam"
 Of Social Isolation (Priam)
o "exposing himself to things he had not previously encountered", "it was the price of
something new"
o "everything was just itself, that was what seemed new"
o "did little harm" (chatting with Somax)
 o "was of no importance, it was full of…interest"
o "curiosity"
o "warm in his memory" (Priam's)

Priam's Vision
 "not something desperate and wild", but "consideration and careful thought"
 "not as a king but as an ordinary man"
 "a father"
 "touching pantomime" (?)
 "The thing that is needed to cut this knot"
 "something impossible" "something new"
 "Has never been done" "is just what makes me believe it should be attemped"
 "if I do not succeed in this, and am lost, then all is lost"
 "by going to Achilles, not in a ceremonial way, as my symbolic self, but stripped of all glittering
distractions and disguised as I am"
 "Contradicts everything that have ever known" (of Priam)
 He is "man and mortal"
 "plain white robe of his vision"
 "immediately in a rage"
 "odd wishes"

Priam's Appeal to a Shared Sense of Humanity

 "man to man, as a father"
 "to ransom and bring him home"
 "undefended"
 "as one poor motal to another"
 "we are men…not ravening beasts"
 "we are mortals, not gods"
 "death is in our nature" "fee paid in advance"
 "pity for one another's loses"
 "strip himself of all ornaments of power"
 "do what is most human"
 "annihilating revelation"

Change/Success
 "provisional triumph"
 "man remade"
 "He wants to shout, I am still here, but the I is different"
 "hero of the deed that till now was never attempted"
 "state of exultant wellbeing"

Legacy
 "the image I mean to leave is a living one"
 "of something new and unheard of that when men speak my name it will stand forever as
proof of what I was
 "has done something for which he will be remembered for as long as such stories are told"
Father/Son Relationship
 "softened by fellow-feeling" (Priam)
 "blessed and then unblessed"
 "so dear to him - or so he had told himself"
 "all as custom and the law demands" (Priam's ceremonial relationship with sons)
 "formal and symbolic"
 Somax was "full of emotion"
 "formal"
 "father's soft affections"

Hope
 "Filled now with the hope that comes from wishing"
Bond Between Patroclus and Achilles
 "Old deep affection for one another"

Connection with Nature

 "child of earth" (Achilles)

War and Men

 "Rough world of men"
 "an endless interim" (between Trojans and Greeks)
 "war should be practiced swiftly, decisively"
 Trojans vs Greeks
o "kingdom ravaged and threatened with extinction" (Troy)
o "weak protection" (Priam's)

Being a King and A Hero

 "a hero's death" (Achilles)

Role of the King

 "their living map"
 "stand still at the centre, both actual and symbolic"
 "Never was a warrior"
 "ceremonial stilleness"
 "let others be my arm"
 "to be seen as a man like other men … would have suggested that I was impermanent and
weak"
 "unchangable, therefore unchanged" (Priam as kIng, but can be extrapolated to society itself)
 "lighter bond of being simply a man"
 "merely human" (going in such a way)
 "splendour and limitations of what it is to be a king"
 "kingly disance from the human"
 "might just as well be of stone or wood
 "fixed mark to which everything else in my kingdom refers"
 "fountain head of all that keeps Troy civil and Just"
 "A proper kingliness of spirit and presence is all that they, or we, can require of you"
 Has no "fillet on his brown, no staff in his hand"
 "do not know how to react"
 Isolation
 o "They were not in the royal sphere"
 "fixed always on what was central, himself"
 "he was symbolically at the centre"
 "the realm of the royal was representational, idea"

Fate and Gods' Interference

 "That is fixed, inevitable" (like the waves hitting the shore"
 "higher agency"
 "high-handed indifference"
 "infinte power over the world of conjunction and accident"
 "gods continue to defy him" (don't endorse the barbaric spectacle)
 "also subject to chance" (God in his vision)
 "do not expect it … I believe it is possible"
 "whole life has been guided by what is established and conventional"
 "We must leave that to the gods or to chance"
 "the gods had relented" (Priam saved from Slavery)
 "high-handed, self-interested way"
 "patient"
 "gods are not to be trusted"

Mixing of Social Class

 "the smell of another other of beings" (Priam's childhood)
 "unaccustomed touch" (Priam at Somax's)
 "some affront to the king's sacred person"
 "who belong to such different worlds"

Describing
 "Three hand-spans of tempered bronze" (connection in execution)
 "unanointed" (Hector is left)
 ""restored and ransomed"
 "ordinary mule cart"