Story: Illiad of a Home

Fight!

Photo by Aislinn Ritchie. Flickr

There were once four brothers named Parker, Jimmy, Peter, and Michael. Parker was the oldest and biggest of the four. Jimmy was the next oldest and bigger than Peter and Michael. Peter was the third child who was definitely the quiet peacemaker of the four. Michael was the poor little brother who the others always picked on.

 One day, it was raining outside, so Peter, Jimmy, and Michael were forced to stay inside all day while Parker was at work. After a while, Jimmy and Peter started to get bored and antsy. Boredom usually led to fights, and fights usually led to punishment and intervention by their parents. Michael was playing with his Gameboy in the playroom. Peter was also in the playroom but he was sitting quietly on the couch watching television. All was going well when suddenly Jimmy burst into the room. He immediately locked his eyes onto Michael’s Gameboy. Michael was the only brother with a Gameboy. Naturally, on a rainy day, Jimmy decided he would entertain himself with Michael’s Gameboy, even though Michael was using it. He stealthily walked over and snatched the Gameboy from Michael’s hands. Michael jumped up and tried to take it back. Jimmy, with one arm, shoved Michael down. Michael, crying, ran downstairs to their father and complained. Their father was tired of all the fighting, so he sent everyone to their rooms.

Peter, having done nothing wrong, tried to get Jimmy to apologize and return the Gameboy so that they would be free from their rooms. When Jimmy refused, Peter threatened to take it from him by force. Jimmy laughed off this threat because he was bigger, and, in the world of brothers, the oldest and biggest is in charge. When Peter charged at Jimmy, their father grabbed Peter and told him not to fight. Peter decided to just go to his room and let go of the fight. After about two hours in their respective rooms, their oldest brother, Parker, got home from work. Peter decided to explain the situation to see if Parker could get the Gameboy back and get Jimmy to apologize.

Peter talked to Parker, and he agreed. He went to Jimmy’s room to fetch the Gameboy. Jimmy returned it without a fight but refused to apologize. When Parker handed Michael his Gameboy, he pleaded with his father to stop the punishment. Their father released Michael from his room, but kept the other brothers in their room for fighting. Now that Michael had his Gameboy again, Peter decided it was time to try convince his father to release him from his room. He asked his mother if she could reason with their father. His mother knew that his father had been stressed out and was tired of all the fighting at home between the kids. She reluctantly decided to talk to their father. Their father decided to release them from their rooms on one condition. That condition was that Jimmy apologized to Michael. He decided to send their mother to Jimmy’s room to deliver this message. After their mother talked to Jimmy, he went to Michael and apologized. This released them from their rooms.

Author's Note: This week I read Homer's Iliad. This was a story that involved Greek Princes becoming bored during a siege of Troy. This boredom drove them to invade the city, stealing things including a priest's daughter, Chryseis. Agamemnon refused to return the daughter at the priest’s request. The priest then prayed to Apollo to punish them. Apollo did so, and so Achilles, an ally of Agamemnon, pleaded with Agamemnon to return the daughter. He refused, so Achilles began to attack Agamemnon. Athene, a goddess, stopped Achilles from harming Agamemnon. Achilles stormed off and sent some heralds to get the girl back. It worked but Agamemnon, the king of Greece, basically dishonored Achilles. Achilles then prayed to his mother, a goddess, to help. She went to Zeus and convinced him to trick Agamemnon into attacking Troy so that he would lose. This would then make Agamemnon's people want Achilles back to help them win, effectively getting Achilles' honor back. My story reflects this story because it has children fighting with each other. Then the parents and older brothers have to come break up fights like the gods do with the humans.

Bibliography: The Iliad retold by Alfred J. Church (1907). Link