Hi,
Achilles was about 14 to 16 when he was (a) considered the greatest warrior of the Achaeans and (b) the leader of the Myrmidons, the fiercest fighters among the Achaeans, and © killed by Paris. I doubt that he was considered a child by his contemporaries. And, yes, he's not exactly an historical figure, but the more the archaeologist dig, the more Homer seems to be vindicated.
How? The same as you would at any age. You see the violence, the death, the suffering and you turn away from it. At 8 or 10 or 15. If you do a search with bing on {"war zone" children refugee}, you'll get over 150,000 links. Pick them pretty much at random, and you find the recurring motif of children some quite young, abandoning everything to get out of their culture. My guess is that the hopelessness of thinking that there's nothing better probably keeps that large number from being enormous.
Yeah, I did. I didn't see much pertinent to this discussion or any surprise revelation. Children half his age all over the world have made it out of war zones to refuge camps. Many are orphans, but many are not and simply left their homes and villages to escape the violence.
As I said before, his prosecution bothers me because, as nominal defenders of rights and equality, we should have given him his fair and speedy trial with suitable representation some time ago. The way a large number of things were handled were unjust. However, that does not speak to his guilt or innocence nor to his responsibility for his actions.
--Pete
(11-12-2010, 02:06 AM)ShadowHM Wrote: Huh? When did Achilles fate become relevant to this discussion?
Achilles was about 14 to 16 when he was (a) considered the greatest warrior of the Achaeans and (b) the leader of the Myrmidons, the fiercest fighters among the Achaeans, and © killed by Paris. I doubt that he was considered a child by his contemporaries. And, yes, he's not exactly an historical figure, but the more the archaeologist dig, the more Homer seems to be vindicated.
(11-12-2010, 02:06 AM)ShadowHM Wrote: And just how, exactly, does one decide (before the age of 15) not to embrace the culture you were reared in? How are you supposed to even notice that there might be another one?
How? The same as you would at any age. You see the violence, the death, the suffering and you turn away from it. At 8 or 10 or 15. If you do a search with bing on {"war zone" children refugee}, you'll get over 150,000 links. Pick them pretty much at random, and you find the recurring motif of children some quite young, abandoning everything to get out of their culture. My guess is that the hopelessness of thinking that there's nothing better probably keeps that large number from being enormous.
(11-12-2010, 02:06 AM)ShadowHM Wrote: P.S. Did you even bother to read the time line I gave you?
Yeah, I did. I didn't see much pertinent to this discussion or any surprise revelation. Children half his age all over the world have made it out of war zones to refuge camps. Many are orphans, but many are not and simply left their homes and villages to escape the violence.
As I said before, his prosecution bothers me because, as nominal defenders of rights and equality, we should have given him his fair and speedy trial with suitable representation some time ago. The way a large number of things were handled were unjust. However, that does not speak to his guilt or innocence nor to his responsibility for his actions.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?