The Poptart Manifesto by Rick Gualtieri

Author:Rick Gualtieri [Gualtieri, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Freewill Press
Published: 2013-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Ajax: Slayer of Trojans, Destroyer of Grease Stains

It’s always nice to go back and re-read the classics, well some classics at least. You couldn’t pay me to slog through A Tale of Two Cities again. Anyway, I love to go back and revisit the days of high adventure. It’s kind of like seeing an old friend again...assuming that old friend carried a sword and battled monsters in his spare time. Now that I think about it, an old friend like that would be a hell of a lot cooler then the old friends I actually have. That aside, reliving some grand adventure is a great way to kill some hours. The problem, though, is the more you read the same tale over again, the more you step outside of the main story and notice the details. Sometimes those details get you thinking.

Fairly recently, I was rereading the epic classics of the Iliad and the Odyssey. This time, one odd little detail stuck with me after I was done. There are two Greek warriors named Ajax. Homer differentiates between the two by referring to them as Ajax the greater and Ajax the lesser. I guess last names hadn’t yet caught on in those days and the only way to tell people apart was in relation to each other. Thus you wouldn’t be Bob Johnson and Bob Smith. You’d be ‘Bob the Mighty Ogre Slayer’ and ‘Bob the Much Less Cool then the Ogre Slaying One’. Not a bad deal if you were top Bob in those days. Much less fun if you happened to be a normal schlub just trying to feed your family and live your life, while avoiding any ogres that happened to be running around.

The Ajax of legend (the greater) is one of the true badasses of the Iliad. He's pretty much top dog after Achilles, and neck and neck with Odysseus. Truth be told, Ajax the lesser really isn't a slouch either. Apparently he was fast on his feet and pretty deadly with a spear. Still, I have to imagine it really sucked to be him on a day-to-day basis as his very name implied he was always going to play second fiddle to the other guy. Imagine being a production assistant named John Wayne on the set of The Searchers. Yeah your name is really John Wayne, not just a pseudonym used by an actor. Heck, you might even be good at your job and overall a pretty cool dude. The problem is that other guy casts a long shadow. One which you aren’t getting out from under, no matter how hard you try...

Agamemnon: Lord of the Greeks: “Summon mighty Ajax for this new assault against the Trojans! We will need his strength and skill to send these dogs to Hades!”

Ajax the lesser: “I am here to serve, my lord!”

Agamemnon: “Not you, loser!”

Later on in the overall story (after the Iliad is over) things take a turn for the better for our lesser Ajax. Ajax the greater goes batshit insane and kills himself.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.