NAMES
by C. A. Trypanis
Now whom did Hector and Ares kill first and whom last?
—Iliad, V. 700
Now whom did Hector and Ares kill first,
Whom last? Teuthros, Orestes, Techos,
Oenomanos, Helenos, Oresbios . . . names,
Are we supposed to remember them all?
Names, many names, quantity, that is what matters;
It advertises the splendour of the cause.
As for the common soldier all that counts
Is if he managed to die in a manner
His generation approved. If he stumbled
Against their decorum, he will never be forgiven
By no matter how broadminded a posterity.
The side on which he fought? After a war
Who cares? It all builds up to the pride of the winner.
Wars cry out for memorials, and memorials for names:
Teuthros, Helenos, Oresbios, Techos, Orestes. . . .
If you ever died at Troy, then you were lucky.
Can anyone think of a greater memorial
—Even for a passing name—that the Iliad?
And so many better men will never figure there.
[from Grooves in the Wind]
* * *
Constantine Athanasius Trypanis, poet and classical scholar, was born at Chios on 22 January 1909, Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature Oxford University 1947- 68, Fellow Exeter College Oxford 1947-68 (Emeritus), Professor of Classics Chicago University 1968- 74 (Emeritus), Minister of Culture and Science Greece 1974-77, Secretary General Academy of Athens 1981-85, President 1986, died Athens 18 January 1993.
Serendipity introduced me to Trypanis at a used book sale, and while he wasn’t by any means a great poet, his dry wit and love of Ancient Greek literature resulted in quite a few charming, intelligent poems. Peter Levi wrote a generous obituary when Trypanis died, ending with this observation: “He was a man whose life was in some ways difficult, and who was sometimes misunderstood, but from beginning to end there runs through it a strain of decency and even of nobility.” Read the entire obit here.