Reading Notes: The Iliad, B

I wonder just how much I should change this story. It's possible I could base the story around the women with the men fighting consistently in the background, while the women work covertly behind the scenes to manipulate events. That would require an awful lot of rewriting though.

Part B continues with the killing of Patroclus, Achilles' chase and revenge on Hector, and Hector's funeral. Most of this may be irrelevant to the women's story but may be mentioned. All in all, perhaps the women are playing a chess game with the men as pawns. If their magic can influence the minds of men, and if they make pacts with the gods, they could control much of the rise and fall of this story.

The main characters of this would probably be Andromache, Helen, Cryse, and other currently unnamed women who quarrel with each other. Helen would be the most powerful sorceress on the Greek's side, having been kidnapped by Paris, she guides the Greeks to her rescue. Cryse and other women wrong by the Greeks would form the malicious witchcraft of opposition, wanting to punish them for their abuse, while Andromache might be the defensive witch of Troy, and the main reason the city was able to hold for 10 full years of siege before falling. Of course, she couldn't protect Hector, but maybe she had too much confidence in his abilities. Helen would be the most powerful witch involved in the conflict, hence why the Greeks win in the end.

(Image of Helen meeting Menelaus, photographer: Jastrow)

(Story Source: TThe Iliad, retold by Alfred J. Church)