Classics Corner: Bush/Atreus
Timothy Harris
łHero˛ in the same sentence, we at Classics Corner cannot help but be
struck by the many similarities between the House of Atreus and Americaąs
First Family.
As you recall, Agamemnon, the irresolute and doomed leader of the Trojan
War, faced a number of choices in his life and handled them all rather
badly. His brotherąs slutty wife runs off with some pretty boy and he
responds by organizing the testosterone-fest of all time. Then Artemis
gets all worked up over a dead pregnant hare and demands he kill his own
daughter. After a bit a hand wringing, the ambitious Agamemnon complies.
Then there was that whole Achilles thing, where his ego gets half the
Greek army killed.
After he wins the war, he again pisses off the gods by leveling Troy and
desecrating her temples, and then, to top it all off, he arrives home to
his already ticked off wife with a whore on his arm. The guy was a
walking disaster.
Agamemnon, we think, is a bit like Dubya himself: impulsive, warlike, not
terribly bright, and doomed by the family curse. Much of Agamemnonąs
behavior was, as we like to say, overdetermined. While he was free to do
as he liked, his family history limited his choices to the more or less
unattractive.
His father Atreus, you see, did something very terrible. He did not sell
drugs though the CIA to finance the Contras in Nicaragua. Nor did he wage
an unnecessary and genocidal war against the people of Iraq. No, he
butchered his brotherąs children and served them for dinner. This, we
think, really isnąt so bad when compared to the actions of George Senior,
but it was enough to ensure that his son would bear the curse and everyone
around him would pay the price.
But the family curse goes back even further. Pelops, the father of
Atreus, cheated in a chariot race by loosening the wheel of Oenomaus, thus
killing his opponent and incurring a terrible curse upon future
generations. And his father, Tantalus, tested the gods by serving Pelops
as a meal. Only Demeter, distracted by her grief for Persephone, took a
bite. She later replaced the shoulder of the resurrected Pelops with
ivory. The child-murdering proclivities of this family, however, would
continue to haunt them.
The earlier days of the Bush family are only slightly less colorful and
obscured by myth. George Sr.ąs maternal grandfather, George Herbert
łBert˛ Walker, was a powerful Wall Street financier and a major financial
backer of Hitlerąs infant Nazi Party. He, apparently, was related to
William Walker, the American Adventurer who set himself up as President of
Nicaragua in 1855, imposed slavery and declared English the official
language. While Walker planned to rule all of Central America, he was
instead executed in 1860. The Bushąs, however, reasserted themselves with
a Marine invasion in 1912.
At least the House of Atreus kept the family curse pretty much to
themselves. The Bushąs have shared theirs with the whole world.
Read more of the Perfessr at www.classicscorner.org
Friend of Sacred ILion
Thank You for this, it's very interesting. But firstly please may I draw
attention to two comments mentioned ?
They are I quote :..1) .'As you recall, Agamemnon, the irresolute and
doomed leader of the Trojan
War, faced a number of choices in his life and handled them all rather
And ...again in reference to Agamemnon .... 2) ': After he wins the war, he
again pisses off the gods by leveling Troy and
: desecrating her temples, and then, to top it all off, he arrives home to
End quotes.
Firstly I wonder about the assumption that Helen , (because of her taking
off with Alexandros or Paris.). was so much 'slutty' as simply just
falling for a man outside her marriage to Menelaos. Hardly a 'slutty' act.
Her case seems to reflect an uncomfortable attitude of society toward
women in those days. Because she fell for another man beyond her
relationship with Menelaos, this was seen in the light that no woman enjoyed
such freedoms. Women were mere chattels to be possessed , and in Helen's
case to be gone after and dragged back to their masters i.e. Menelaos.
Creating war in the process, as was the case, if necessary.
Women seemingly had two choices, be they slave -woman or the wives of
nobles and that was a). to' work the loom' among their own kith and kin
( and would be happy enough to do so) and b) 'work the loom ' of stranger
victors of war or subjugation of their homelands. .
You are right about Agamemnon though, driven by his hormonal
responses. In fact his attitude toward womankind in general stinks.
Alexandros (whatever else to his detriment) was willing to give Helen's
possessions back plus extras out of his own funds. He could be seen as a
more caring and progressive among the males of his days. he saw the person
in Helen and not the possessional side.
Now coming to your second comment, i.e. your comment quote ...' :
After he wins the war, he again pisses off the gods by leveling Troy and
: desecrating her temples, and then, to top it all off, he arrives home to
Cassandra, Hektor's sister, forced to be taken off, as a mere plaything and
for slavery for Agamemnon, he whose side had not won the war by honourable
or valiant means ( despite Achilleus prestige) but by deviousness and
treachery. Surely a 'war crime' and certainly not an honourable thing to
have done in the culture of those days. No wonder the act had Odysseus
reduced to lamenting tears at the palace of the Phaiakians some ten years
later. Cassandra was hardly a 'whore' least she wasn't one by her own
choosing. Agamemnon's whinges in Hades when Odysseus goes to visit him are
not justified, it would seem he received his just deserts.
Now I shall go off and read the rest of your message here, which
please may I say at a cursory glance so far looks fascinating !. . Thank
You .
Kindest Regards
friend
friend_of_s...@btopenworld.com
"Timothy Harris" <rch...@speakeasy.org> wrote in message
news:rchange-2509...@term4-216-231-033-183.speakeasy.net...
: Loath though we must the occurrence of the words łG. Dubya Bush˛ and
Edwin Menes
follow Euripides' Helen, she never went to Troy in the first place. In
short, for some of the best known ancient stories, there is no canonical
version.
o8TY
sitting beside his Ionic-columned fire place.
--
o8TY
"Timothy Harris" <rch...@speakeasy.org> wrote in message
news:rchange-2509...@term4-216-231-033-183.speakeasy.net...
Friend of Sacred ILion
"o8TY" <o8...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:GMEk9.9285$Sr6.3...@ozemail.com.au...
An even bigger joke, yet to be realised by the masses, is little Bush
sitting beside his Ionic-columned fire place.
--
o8TY
"Timothy Harris" <rch...@speakeasy.org> wrote in message
news:rchange-2509...@term4-216-231-033-183.speakeasy.net...
> Loath though we must the occurrence of the words ³G. Dubya Bush² and
> ³Hero² in the same sentence, we at Classics Corner cannot help but be
> struck by the many similarities between the House of Atreus and America¹s
> First Family.
>
> As you recall, Agamemnon, the irresolute and doomed leader of the Trojan
> War, faced a number of choices in his life and handled them all rather
> badly. His brother¹s slutty wife runs off with some pretty boy and he
> responds by organizing the testosterone-fest of all time. Then Artemis
> gets all worked up over a dead pregnant hare and demands he kill his own
> daughter. After a bit a hand wringing, the ambitious Agamemnon complies.
> Then there was that whole Achilles thing, where his ego gets half the
> Greek army killed.
>
> After he wins the war, he again pisses off the gods by leveling Troy and
> desecrating her temples, and then, to top it all off, he arrives home to
> his already ticked off wife with a whore on his arm. The guy was a
> walking disaster.
>
> Agamemnon, we think, is a bit like Dubya himself: impulsive, warlike, not
> terribly bright, and doomed by the family curse. Much of Agamemnon¹s
> behavior was, as we like to say, overdetermined. While he was free to do
> as he liked, his family history limited his choices to the more or less
> unattractive.
>
> His father Atreus, you see, did something very terrible. He did not sell
> drugs though the CIA to finance the Contras in Nicaragua. Nor did he wage
> an unnecessary and genocidal war against the people of Iraq. No, he
> butchered his brother¹s children and served them for dinner. This, we
> think, really isn¹t so bad when compared to the actions of George Senior,
> but it was enough to ensure that his son would bear the curse and everyone
> around him would pay the price.
>
> But the family curse goes back even further. Pelops, the father of
> Atreus, cheated in a chariot race by loosening the wheel of Oenomaus, thus
> killing his opponent and incurring a terrible curse upon future
> generations. And his father, Tantalus, tested the gods by serving Pelops
> as a meal. Only Demeter, distracted by her grief for Persephone, took a
> bite. She later replaced the shoulder of the resurrected Pelops with
> ivory. The child-murdering proclivities of this family, however, would
> continue to haunt them.
>
> The earlier days of the Bush family are only slightly less colorful and
> obscured by myth. George Sr.¹s maternal grandfather, George Herbert
> ³Bert² Walker, was a powerful Wall Street financier and a major financial
> backer of Hitler¹s infant Nazi Party. He, apparently, was related to
> William Walker, the American Adventurer who set himself up as President of
> Nicaragua in 1855, imposed slavery and declared English the official
> language. While Walker planned to rule all of Central America, he was
> instead executed in 1860. The Bush¹s, however, reasserted themselves with
> a Marine invasion in 1912.
>
> At least the House of Atreus kept the family curse pretty much to
> themselves. The Bush¹s have shared theirs with the whole world.