On Agamemnon

(The screwed up family tree of a screwed up man)

Okay, he's my friend. And I do get the fact that he is in an unenviable position, what with having to sacrifice his daughter and having an idiot for a brother whose wife ran off with a man prettier than she was (and yes that is saying something).

But gods be good, every time things look a little grim does he have to start whinging about going back to Greece? I didn't much want to be here--I have a wonderful wife and a son who is practically a man now that I haven't seen since he was a scrap. Yes, I tried to get out of it. But since then I haven't complained. Ajax is still out there busting skulls. Diomedes still out giving that war cry of his--enough to turn my hair as white as Nestor's, and he's on our side! We're all here fighting and bleeding and thumping Trojans to the best of our ability, and he starts in on the "Wanna go back to Greece" bit. This makes, what, three times now?

I admit, I lost it a bit at him this time. But in my defense, I'd taken a hell of a good thumping (to the tune of Big A having to carry me off the battlefield) and had pretty much reached the end of my tether. Called him a coward (among other things) and that he should be leading some small cut rate army and not the best of the Greeks. Apparently some of my tirade hit home, because he actually said that my words had cut him to the heart. I was somewhat mollified but still wouldn't have minded cutting him a few other places, when he has the nerve to say that it's just what the other Greeks want, and to ask anyone. Fortunately Diomedes stepped in and suggested that we attend to the lines and hold to our cause, effectively cutting off Agamemnon's protests. He even went into battle himself for a change.

That is not to say, however, that the fighting went well. In fact, it was pretty bloody disasterous. Most of our best were wounded and all Ajax wanted to do was get another swipe at Hector. That man is like Cerberus with souls in his teeth, he just will not give up. Somewhere though the Trojans were gathering a third wind, and it soon became apparent where they were gathering it from when bloody Apollo comes charging down with them and they beat us all the way back to the ships, tramping down barrier walls and anything else in their way. Big Ajax got to dust it up with Hector again. Trojans nearly made it into the camp, too, but for this archer kid named Teucer who was picking off Trojans like /he's/ Apollo of the golden bow. But, worse luck, his string pops and no more lucky arrows go flying. Damn it all, just when we could have used one in Hector's eye too; that Trojan son of a bitch got close enough to grab the stern of a ship and wouldn't let it go. This gets uglier by the hour.

(And despite what Agamemnon says, I would not have been dead if he hadn't stepped between Ajax and myself.)