Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad, Part A

I didn't have the patience to get through the archaic language of the Biblical units, so I decided to go with something Classical. I'd already done a story from Ovid, so that left the Greek units, if I wanted to diversify at all (and I did).

This week I've decided to focus on setting, so I thought it would be cool to try and transfer a story involving battles into a new and interesting location and/or time. The Iliad doesn't feature many descriptions of scenery, but the overall situation is both political and action-oriented. My first thought when trying to figure out how I could rewrite the story was that there were several similarities to Skyrim (a popular RPG game), mostly in that the gameplay is Skyrim is rooted in both action and political intrigue. In Skyrim, there are two opposing sides, the Empire and Stormcloaks, and while their battle is over territorial occupation, and the Stormcloaks are viewed as rebels, I could definitely, with a few alterations, transpose the general narrative of the Iliad into that world.

Ulfric, leader of the Stormcloaks. Source.

During the writing process, I'll probably lay out a general version of events as they would play out in Skyrim for myself to reference, and then pick a specific section from the unit to zoom in on. I'd like to stick with the Iliad's method of showing both the Greek and Trojan sides of the conflict, especially because in Skyrim joining one side prevents you from playing through the other's storyline. However, I'd maybe add my own twist by taking the perspective of a Greybeard (a relatively neutral monk of sorts) telling the story to someone, or potentially a dragon. Alternately, I could write through the eyes of the player-character (probably one of my own characters), either as part of the action or perhaps listening to the story be told by one of the aforementioned possibilities. I think the use of a Greybeard to tell the story could be really useful in grounding the reader in the setting as well as paying homage to the oral tradition of Homer. If I do that, I'll probably choose a more political scene, whereas if I put the player-character in a battle, I'll probably choose one of the Patroclus scenes.

The Iliad by Homer, translated by J Alfred Church. Source.