Pyrrhiad

by Peter Saint-Andre

2024-07-09

For some time now I've toyed with the idea of writing a novel (provisionally entitled Gods Among Men) about Alexander the Great and the founder of philosophical skepticism, Pyrrho. Having recently re-read both the Iliad and the Odyssey, I'm wondering if I could structure the story as an epic poem, almost as if it were translated from the work of an ancient Greek poet deeply influenced by Homer. Here's a draft of the standard invocation of the muse to start things off:

Sing me, muse, of two men who lived as gods.
So many were the lands through which they passed,
So many were the minds from which they learned
While, by the one man seeking to rule all
And by the other reaching out to know,
They travelled far from Greece to India.
First Alexander, King of Makedōn,
Whose fame will last as long as men shall live:
Just as a huge wave crashes on the shore
And smashes all before it when the earth
Afar is shaken by Poseidon's rage,
So Alexander broke upon the East,
Forever changing all within his wake.
Then second, sing me, too, of one who lived
Unknown, yet rivalled Zeus for happiness:
Although he conquered nothing in his path,
His path led him to conquering within,
To mastery of no one but himself;
For wisdom brought him deep serenity.
From Elis, the Epeians' land, he came;
Son of Pleistarchos, Pyrrho was his name.

O muse, come be my ally, for I doubt
The texture of the tale I dare to tell:
Its warp and woof are lost within the past,
Beyond recovery, uncertain, dim;
At this late date the details cannot be
Defined with clarity; so, uninclined
To this interpretation or to that,
I flow within the stream of what has been
And joy to tell the story of a world
That had such giants in it, long ago.
Dread goddess, Zeus' daughter, let us start
When Pyrrho in his youth took mind to heart...

(Cross-posted at philosopher.coach.)

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