For centuries, poets have been addressing The Iliad as a source for inspiration. Through poems inspired by the events and characters of the ancient Greek work, they present the acute problems of their time. In the piece “Spoken by the Sentry at Achilles’s Tent”, Doug Anderson, by using situations and central figures of The Iliad, introduces an idea of a ruined life. The poet describes the war that brings grief, death, and sorrow to those who lose their loved ones or have to participate in the fight at a young age.
The poem “Spoken by the Sentry at Achilles’s Tent” preserves the mood of The Iliad. One detail of the modern piece that stands out and is similar to the ancient Greek poem is the portrayal of the weeping of Briseis over the body of Patroclus. In his work, the poet declares: “I watched her throw herself across the corpse and sob” (Anderson 9). At the same time, in The Iliad there is a line: “But when she saw Patroclus’ mangled body she threw herself upon him and wailed” (Homer 19:294-322). Both works mention Briseis’s devastation as she throws herself at the man who passed away and begins to cry.
Another important detail that Anderson’s poem and The Iliad share is the idea of Briseis’s sorrowful fate. The poet points out Briseis’s “ruined life” and tells how “she will serve whomever Achilles takes as a bride”, comparing the woman to “slaves” and “other concubines” (Anderson 13-17). In The Iliad, Briseis holds a monologue by Patroclus’ bed and says to the body that “… it is for me always, evil upon evil” (Homer 19:294-322). She also mentions that her father was “mangled with sharp bronze” and her brothers “all died that day” (Homer 19:294-322). Through the character of Briseis, the two pieces show the consequences of the war and the way it affects one’s life.
One significant feature that distinguishes Anderson’s poem from The Iliad is the fact that the situation is presented from the point of view of one of Achilles’s Myrmidons. The line “I Spiros, son of a sandalmaker…” at the end suggests that a man stands by the tent where Patroclus lies, and Briseis cries by his bed (Anderson 28). The usage of the first pronoun, the inner monologue, and rhetorical questions also display how the story is told in the voice of the soldier. In The Iliad, the narrator is ambiguous, as if a group of witnesses recounts the events of the night.
Another description that is different in Anderson’s work and The Iliad is the way the two pieces portray Patroclus and Briseis at the moment of sorrow. In “Spoken by the Sentry at Achilles’s Tent”, there is an emphasis on Patroclus. The poet pictures Patroclus as “the demi-god” with “his stiffening beauty stretched out on a cot” while depicting Briseis as the woman who “saw her own spoiled body lying there, her ruined life” (Anderson 8-13). In The Iliad, the situation is presented in the another way, and a more positive portrayal is given to Briseis. The ancient Greek poem characterizes the woman as a “golden Aphrodite” and “goddess” with “lovely face” (Homer 19:294-322). The same situation in both poems emphasizes different details and characters.
One of the most significant themes that persist in Anderson’s poem is grief. The poet uses words and phrases such as “weep”, “the demi-god insane with grief”, “sob”, and “even Achilles’s horses wept”, contributing to the idea of devastation and keeping the mood of deep sorrow (Anderson 1-10). In Anderson’s work, the idea of losing a loved one at the war is evident.
Death brought by the war is another prominent theme in “Spoken by the Sentry at Achilles’s Tent”. The life’s end is stated in the phrases “… the sea would not froth red with our cutthroats” and “… she saw Patroclus, dead, his stiffening beauty stretched out on a cot” (Anderson 5-8). The poet highlights how someone dying ruins the living of a person, and for Briseis, Patroclus was the only hope to see a better future with Achilles, which will never happen in the end.
The theme of war is the major one in Anderson’s poem, where it is defined as the state that brings death and grief to the living. The poet served in Vietnam in 1967, thus, some of his works relate to that year. It is known that men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six were forced to fight, and it was not a voluntary process (The American Soldier 5). In the poem, the poet explains that “Patroclus was seventeen” when he died, and Briseis was a “girl, sixteen”, suggesting that a lot of young people suffered from the consequences of the warfare (Anderson 11-21). Through these two characters, Anderson grieves over children who were deprived of normal life due to the armed conflict.
Another defining fact of the Vietnam War is the social status of the families of the men. The majority of the U.S. soldiers were 19-year old boys from poor households, and they had no chance of attending college due to lack of income (The American Soldier 8). The poem “Spoken by the Sentry at Achilles’s Tent” is written in the voice of a man Spiros, a “son of a sandalmaker” (Anderson 28). The poet speaks on this character’s behalf and states “I can keep my mouth shut, my feelings hid” (Anderson 26-27). With these lines, Anderson applies that the war enforces people of the lower social strata to fight without expressing emotions or opinions, to be robots who can participate in a battle and nothing more.
Anderson skillfully implements the characters from The Iliad into his poem to make a point vital for the time the poet lives in. Death, sorrow, grief, and, most importantly, war are the most significant problems that he raises in the frame of his work; and they are the main themes of the ancient Greek piece. Anderson uses the death of Patroclus to show the consequences of the war, and brings out the character of Briseis as the center of grief and ruined life, which are consequences of the armed conflict. These ideas intertwine in both poems, in “Spoken by the Sentry at Achilles’s Tent” and in The Iliad.
In “Spoken by the Sentry at Achilles’ Tent”, Doug Anderson addresses The Iliad and its characters to present the war as the source of troubles of various centuries. The poet shows how the state of a constant conflict turns young people into pawns, how it silences soldiers and makes choices for them. Death and grief caused by a battle in Anderson’s poem are inspired by the Vietnam War and are described through the characters of The Iliad to prove that these ancient problems remain today.
Works Cited
Anderson, Doug. “Spoken by the Sentry at Achilles’s Tent.” Poetry Foundation, 1994.
Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Robert Fagles, and Bernard Knox, Penguin Classics, 1998.
“The American Soldier in Vietnam.” Encyclopedia, 2020, Web.