The Iliad Mortality Quotes Page 4

Do you believe in ghosts? If you don't, that's OK; bear in mind that Patroklos's ghost only appears in a dream – so it could all be Achilleus's imagination. Whichever way you interpret it, though, what the ghost of Patroklos says is very relevant to the way we think about mortality today. Isn't Patroklos really asking for "closure," the same word we hear constantly these days on TV, the radio, in self-help books – basically anywhere people turn to get advice on dealing with grief? What do you think changes when, as here, these ideas are put in the mouth of a dead man, or (if you prefer) the image of a dead man?