Troy: The Siege of Try Retold (Stephen Fry, 2020)

Homer’s marvelous Iliad covers approximately six weeks in year 10 of the 10-year war, and ends with Hector’s funeral - does not go to the end of the war.

Fry gives a lot of pre-Iliad backstory - founding of Troy and its ups and downs; romance of Paris and Helen; the Greeks deciding to take action after Helen’s abduction; the launch of their boats; developments in first nine years of the war.

Then he covers many of the scenes familiar from the Iliad. Key figures include Agamemnon, Odysseus, Menelaus, Achilles, Ajax, Hector, Priam and many more.  

Then Fry goes beyond the time frame of Homer’s Iliad to describe the Trojan horse, destruction of Troy, fates of survivors.

The roles of the various intervening gods throughout this entire arc.

[Laocoon and the serpents.  I had completely forgotten this occurred as part of the Trojan war.]

Very enjoyable style - witty, conversational. 

Afterword provides more context for Homer, helps me understand what a groundbreaking literary work this was. No matter who wrote it or how it was passed along enroute to being put into writing.

Not a substitute for reading the original, but I rate it as a "can't miss" accompaniment. 

The Monastic World - a 1,200 Year History (Andrew Jotischky, 2024)

I liked this a lot though a few sections dragged. 

Palestine, Egypt, East - early days - mentor/initiate relationships. A lot of freelancing away from episcopal control. Some supported by local populations (the Stylite). The desert as a place of cleansing and retreat - echoing Jesus’s 40 day trial.

Western Europe comes later - quickly evolves into more of a relationship with aristocracy (most of the monks are from the aristocracy) and royalty. Sons or daughters without another place to go. A way to retain control over assets (principally land) that otherwise might well revert to the king. Quickly evolves to control by the bishops and/or the king (these also were tied together).  Adept abbots might be able to play off bishops, king, aristocracy and retain control.

As Western Europe evolves, huge chunk of recruits come as “oblates” - they never knew any other life than the monastery. 

Benedict, Monte Cassino, his Rule.  A major and enduring set of reforms, widely adopted and more or less followed.

Ireland - never in the Roman Empire. Yet lots of monks and they filter back to Western Europe.

Waves of reform over the centuries as folks perceive the monasteries get too wealthy and worldly.  Francis of Assisi and mendicant orders - more urban.

I kept thinking there are similarities between monasteries and today's NGO's. Public/private, a way for the wealthy to squirrel away funds and control, a way for the rulers to share in the same, all while appearing to support worthy causes. Jobs for members of the granting family and/or the royal family were common. Including control. Tax advantaged. Reformers would show up to purify things, but reversion followed inevitably. The larger the monastery, the more potential for material gain, the greater likelihood of people seeking it.

But that’s not to say there weren’t a lot of folks seeking a genuinely ascetic, prayerful lifestyle.

The ideal of the monk-as-laborer, perhaps even self-sufficient - didn’t work well and monasteries typically had enough lay “brothers” to do the actual work. Choir monks were freed up for their work of prayer and worship, plus (often coming from aristocracy) they often weren’t suited to labor anyway. 

Vikings, Magyars, other raiders as threats. Monasteries typically near coast or river and had portable valuables.  Favorite targets, rough years for the monks.

Other forms of raiders emerge post-Reformation and later - England closes down/seizes all monasteries. French Revolution. Russian Revolution.

Cluny 

Cistercians 

Bernard of Clairvaux

Heloise and Abelard

Because of the need to own land to pay the monastery bills, management needed to be basically professional in nature, yet the abbot often was someone promoted from within (sometimes an oblate - meaning someone raised from childhood in the monastery) with pretty much zero relevant experience.

There was violence depicted in Eco's “The Name of the Rose” - this book describes that there plenty of violent incidents in the monasteries.  Strong opinions in close quarters; valuable assets and a leading or at least important role in the larger community; incidents not common but not unheard of. 

This focuses on Christianity though other religions have monks. Christian monastaries not prominent but not dead. We visit one outside Magog in Quebec province.