Latest news with #TheIliad
Chicago Tribune
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Memorial Day is a time for reflection, not politics
Memorial Day, which was celebrated on May 26, is a cause for contemplation and also renewal. Parades featuring people in uniform — those currently serving, those who have served, and those who protect us — should always be welcome. Military uniforms at such ceremonies are important. Crude partisan declarations are completely out of place. From ancient times, parades have been vital to the reintegration of warriors into society. War is profoundly disruptive and disturbing, not to mention dangerous. Even the rare man or woman who finds combat invigorating and rewarding is in severe need of returning home after the killing ends. Homer, chronicler of the Trojan War, was extremely sensitive to this. His great classic is divided into two parts. 'The Iliad' focuses on the fighting and related associations involving Greeks and Trojans; 'The Odyssey' describes the very long voyage home of Greek leader Ulysses and his men. They traverse allegorical geography, struggling to put the horrors behind them. Gen. George S. Patton Jr., a very great American combat leader, was extremely mindful of this dimension. A special ceremony in the Los Angeles Coliseum after the surrender of Nazi Germany featured Patton and Gen. James Doolittle, who led the first air raid on Tokyo not long after Pearl Harbor. Patton celebrated the accomplishments of his Third Army in the victorious drive across Europe. In honoring his troops, he stressed in particular the 40,000 who lost their lives. Patton made such statements regularly in the few months remaining of his own life. In World War II, people liberated from Axis occupation welcomed Allied troops. Understandably, our media gave special emphasis to this dimension. The Korean War created very strong bonds between the U.S. and the people, as well as a very effective military of South Korea. The first Gulf War liberated an oppressed population. The Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars were different. During Vietnam, the Pentagon urged, sometimes ordered, personnel to practice public anonymity. Opposition to the war became hostility toward our own military. There was no collective welcome home. Many aging veterans of that war suffer without a Ulysses, troubled and troublesome, sometimes criminally. Afghanistan and Iraq war controversy did not target our military. Visits to Washington, D.C., provide reminders of the visibility of the uniformed military, especially on public transportation. President Richard Nixon's decisive end of the military draft was crucial in the change. However, the often-rapid rotation of personnel back to overseas missions is unfair, as well as counterproductive. Enormous psychological strains join physical danger, and families suffer heavily. The all-professional military is segregated from wider society. This, in turn, facilitates frequent personnel rotation overseas, a problem that developed destructively during the Clinton administration. The military remains a vital engine for equality and opportunity. Gen. Colin Powell and many others have demonstrated the point. Powell, from modest origins, achieved the most senior civilian and military posts in our government. Powell noted he experienced discrimination in the South, but never on post. Our military emphasizes merit. Memorial Day provides the opportunity to recognize a commitment to fairness. Encourage veterans to run for office. We won the Cold War in part because experienced veterans served in government. Every U.S. president from Harry Truman through George H.W. Bush was a veteran. Today, things are different. The all-volunteer military is not broadly representative. What we need above all is the sort of sensible realism that women and men who served bring to policy. Learn more: 'Patton – A Genius for War,' by Carlo D'Este, and the film 'Patton.'
Scroll.in
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
Rethinking the classics: Homer's ‘The Iliad' is a rap battle
Homer's The Iliad is one of the foundational stories of European civilisation. The Iliad is a long poem – an epic – thought to have first been put down in writing in the eighth century BC, though the story is set several hundred years before, perhaps as early as the 12th or 13th century BC. It explores a few crucial violent weeks within a much longer war between an alliance of Greek city-states and the city of Troy over Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. In it, we find ancient Greek gods and humans sharing a common reality. They concurrently star as the central characters of both a mythological and an earthly dramatic encounter, on which the fate of a people rests. In his work, public philosopher Cornel West argues that there is a 'gangster' inside all of us. The challenge, West teaches, is to learn to keep these 'gangster elements' in check so that we can still live with decency and integrity in an often violent and unjust world. This struggle, I contend, is at the heart of both Homer's The Iliad and the art of battle rap. Battle rap is an art form where two or more MCs confront one another in a freestyle rap that includes boasts, insults, wordplay and disses (related to but not to be confused with rap beefs like the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud). The history of this kind of verbal jousting goes back at least to flyting – poetic duels usually involving rhyming insults, widespread in northern Europe in the late medieval era. (See Assassin's Creed Valhalla for its recent reimagining.) And it also has African roots. But its latest iteration is thought to have emerged in the hip-hop scene in New York in the 1980s. The 1981 Busy Bee versus Kool Moe Dee battle at the Harlem World club in New York is an important part of hip-hop lore. It was arguably the 2002 film 8 Mile, however, that starred real battle rap legend, Eminem, that made the art form well known beyond hardcore rap aficionados. Today it is a pop culture streaming event, with millions of followers and official leagues. The object of a battle rap is to display flow, braggadocio and quick wit. Humour is often a plus, but lyrically dexterous, rhythmic, creative 'burns' are the name of the game. So what do The Iliad and battle rap have in common? Both art forms encourage us, the listeners, to react, reflect and ultimately select with which speaker to side. We are thrust into the centre of the action without much of a narrator to explain things. Both The Iliad and rap battles are part of the oral poetic tradition, since we think The Iliad was orally recited for generations before it was put down in writing. They are therefore both addressed to a live audience. The Iliad is a story of war between Greeks and Trojans, but also of 'beefs'. Menelaus versus Paris over the hand of Helen. Achilles versus Agamemnon, the king of the Greeks who wrongs him by expropriating one of his slaves. And Achilles versus Hector, the Trojan prince who kills Patroclus, Achilles's closest friend. The high moment of the poem is arguably the encounter between Achilles and Hector. Before they battle to the death, Hector offers Achilles a deal: whoever wins won't disrespect the other's body. In response, Achilles belows: 'Curse you, Hector, and don't talk of oaths to me. Lions and men make no compacts, nor are wolves and lambs in sympathy: they are opposed, to the end. You and I are beyond friendship: nor will there be peace until one or the other dies.' Achilles is calling out Hector's attempt at showing nobility of character, because Hector tries to separate the duty to wage conflict from rage and disrespect of his enemy. Achilles flatly rejects the proposal. For him, the only reason to fight is to satiate his grief-induced rage and so no respect can be given even after death. Ultimately, Achilles kills Hector and desecrates his body, but Hector was clearly the better man. Two worldviews collide. Which one should we side with? In a battle rap, the question of how we judge which MC to be victorious is always at stake. Do we side with the MC who best 'rocks the mic' by pleasing the audience, or the one who more lyrically and intelligently cuts the opponent to the bone? Here are five more themes shared by The Iliad and battle rap. The pursuit of fame Battle rap has made gifted MCs into street rap legends. Long before record deals were the prize, MCs battled for respect and street fame. This pursuit of legendary status also lies at the very heart of The Iliad, as Achilles is warned by his mother, the goddess Thetis, that he will die if he fights in the Trojan war, but in return his 'glory never dies'. Communal belonging Battle rappers and the warriors in The Iliad act in their own name but they also represent wider groups heralding from different places. They all, in some way, carry responsibility for and aim to bring reflected fame to their respective communities. Displaying skill Most battle raps take the form of a take down of the opponent, but the real object is to demonstrate verbal prowess. Simply entertaining will not cut it. 'You now have to make sense of what you say, in order for us to give you the power,' summarises hip-hop legend KRS-One. The Iliad opens with a muse telling the audience that the epic will recount the 'wrath of Achilles', but in fact we find skilful interventions in speech that make us wonder whether the reasons for conflict can ever justify the grief it causes. An honour code What is truly worth living and dying for are central themes in The Iliad, as in battle rap. There we find talk of loyalty, honour, respect, courage, friendship and fame. The overt answers given can be taken as embraces of a certain kind of toxic masculinity where dominance, rage, cunning and violence are celebrated, but maybe these answers subtly point to their ultimate hollowness. Lurking behind the repeated injunction to 'be the best', battle rap and Homer's epic invite the question of what is truly worth admiring: skill, dominance, wealth, integrity, courage, beauty, truth, justice, love or glory? They provide no singular answer. Creativity and living within the 'funk' of life Instead, we are left to sit within what West calls the 'funk of life' – the mess of it all. From there, we can see that the stories we tell ourselves have the power to shape and define our actions and our very lives. So the main question becomes: at a time when simplistic stories of violence and domination are presented to us as easy answers to complex social realities, can we create new and richer stories of our own? Joshua Forstenzer, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Co-Director of the Centre for Engaged Philosophy, University of Sheffield.
Irish Daily Star
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Star
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey will be partially filmed in Ireland
The explosive new epic film from award-winning director Christopher Nolan will be partially filmed on Irish soil, according to new reports. The Odyssey, is a classic piece of literature by Homer and is divided between 24 different books. Preceded by The Iliad, it tells the 10-year journey story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, as he travels home after the Trojan War. The Odyssey has remained one of the most studied and adapted stories ever, but Nolan's production promises to bring the action to the screen like never before. Creating the perfect backdrop for the story will take the production to different parts of Europe, and Ireland is on the list. Read More Related Articles Melania Trump shows true colors with 3-word command to Donald at Pope's funeral Read More Related Articles Donald Trump 'overwhelmed and distracted' as crippling exhaustion takes control after 100 days Universal Pictures recently announced that The Odyssey will be 'shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology.' Nolan's work has become synonymous with Imax as Oppenheimer, Dunkirk, and Interstellar - which was recently removed from Netflix - were all shot with Imax cameras. Variety exclusively reported that The Odyssey will be partially filmed in Sicily, which is known for being a location where Odyssey roamed in the epic story. Shooting here is expected to begin as soon as this spring. Christopher Nolan has maintained a close working relationship with Cillian Murphy over the years and said he was the first choice to play Oppenheimer However Ireland, Scotland and the UK are also named as locations for shooting. There has been little information released about what exact locations in each country will be used for filming or what scenes will be shot on Irish soil. Ireland is known for its dramatic landscapes, making it a top choice for many filmmakers. Some of the most successful films shot in Ireland include Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, and two installments of the Star Wars franchise, The Force Awakens and the Last Jedi. Christopher Nolan has a long-standing relationship with Irish actor Cillian Murphy , who became the first Irish person to win an Oscar for Best Actor following his role as Robert J Oppenheimer. Nolan previously said that he loves working with Irish actors, saying that there are many he hasn't had the chance to work with yet . It remains unclear at this point whether Irish actors will have the chance to nab roles as extras in the Odyssey. It has been revealed that Matt Damon will take the lead role in the project. Elliot Page and Mia Goth have been named as cast members, as well as Zendaya and Tom Holland. For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here .
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Big Tech's free use of copyrighted work to train AI devalues creators, crowns a new techno-elite
Of all the lawsuits that continue to snap at Meta's heels today, the most interesting one concerns how the tech giant used millions of pirated books to train its LLAMA algorithms . #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack India pulled the plug on IWT when Pakistanis are fighting over water What makes this India-Pakistan standoff more dangerous than past ones The problem of Pakistan couldn't have come at a worse time for D-St Plaintiffs in 'Richard Kadrey et al v. Meta' have filed a motion, accusing the company of having used 'millions of books and other copyrighted works... for free and without consent from the rightsholders because it does not want to pay for them'. Even more interesting than the charge, however, is how Meta has sought to defend itself through sundry confidential internal exchanges that have been released to the public domain: it has accepted culpability but denied liability for copyright infringement, claiming that the 7 mn books used to train its LLM constituted ' fair use ' of already-compromised material. Fair use of intellectual work is not new. In ancient India, the Vedas were considered shruti (that which is heard) and apauruseya (not of any man, impersonal), because it was more important to ensure the unbroken continuation of an oral - and later written - tradition, whose authorship was less important than its preservation. It was the same elsewhere, though sometimes works such as The Iliad and The Odyssey were loosely ascribed to a poet named Homer. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas In Dubai | Search Ads View Deals This continued until only a few hundred years ago, when authorship and intellectual ownership became things of worth. Not the least of these reasons was the need to establish authenticity, ownership and factual origin. Not the most significant (or perhaps the most significant) was the fact that intellectual output attracted a monetary value, irrevocably dwarfing that associated with manual and martial labour. Since that time, works of intelligence and creativity have only gained currency. Today, when success often hinges on ideas, innovation, entrepreneurship and opinions, the protection of intellectual copyright is more critical than ever before. Live Events Two questions, therefore, arise: Why does Meta want to upend the status quo? How does Meta believe it can get away with this? The first question is easy enough to answer. It has declared that LLAMA is 'highly transformative... and the use of copyrighted materials is vital to the development of the company's open-source AI models '. And, yet, the Association of American Publishers claims that 'the systematic copying of textual works, word by word, into an LLM' - without, among others, critical commentary, search functionality and digital interoperability - cannot be considered 'transformative under fair use precedents'. The veracity of this last statement is easily established by examining the way in which Meta seeks to commodify these works. Meta is not interested in making its AI tool a ready-reference library for the sake of access and preservation. Instead, as recently uncovered written communication between researchers has shown, the use of pirated texts, especially works of modern fiction, was 'easy to parse' for LLM training. However, where things could take a bizarre turn, according to several lawyers and former employees, is when original works are used to produce new output IOD (instantly on demand), including unlicensed sequels, derivative literature, wholly fallacious background material, and even entirely new work in the style of other published work - all of which would result in transforming creative output into a cheap asset, trivialising individual authorship, and making authentic and original intellectual pursuit superfluous in the long run. Which begs an answer to the second question, to which Meta has responded: by not paying for it. After initially investigating the possibility of entering into licence fee agreements with authors and publishers, it abandoned this endeavour because of cost, time and resource considerations. Subsequently, it has not only sought refuge in diverting liability for copyright infringement to those involved in book piracy but has also invoked the power of mathematics - reluctant arbiter of truth - to show that an individual work, however large or illustrious, could never enhance an LLM's performance by more than 0.06%, 'a meaningless change no different from noise'. Thus, Meta sees no reason to pay individuals, since they have little of value to exchange with the company - a superb piece of casuistry that would have cheated Shakespeare out of royalties accruing from his 37 plays and 154 sonnets, because they are statistically insignificant. Ultimately, this may be a case of history defending its right to repeat itself. At some point, the Vedic system of open-source education based on ability gave way to a more stratified hierarchy, where merit was sacrificed to birthright because Brahmins wished to retain the prestige and wealth associated with acquired knowledge for themselves. As the caste system took hold, the jealously guarded ritual was elevated at the expense of more equitable learning. Today, Meta and others - OpenAI has even asked Donald Trump to allow intellectual theft to stop China from stealing a march on America - seek to use copyrighted material without compensation to build future go-to knowledge resources, from which they hope to capture unimaginable wealth and power. Authentic and creative work will, thus, be made redundant and worthless, to credit and aggrandise a new techno-hierarchy. Let us pray that the courts prevail, and history fails in its defence.
See - Sada Elbalad
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Everything We Know So Far about Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey"
Yara Sameh As casting announcements continue to roll in, speculation and excitement have only grown surrounding Christopher Nolan's follow-up to his critical and box office hit 'Oppenheimer,' which won him the Academy Award for best director. 'The Odyssey' is a classic piece of literature by Homer that is divided into 24 different books, preceded by 'The Iliad.' It tells the 10-year journey story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, as he travels home after the Trojan War. Along the way, he encounters multiple perils and discovers the death of his crewmates. Telemachus (Odysseus' son), Penelope (Odysseus' wife), Athena, Circe, Poseidon, and Zeus are all major characters. Historians and scholars date 'The Odyssey' to sometime between 750-650 BC. The first printed Greek version became available in 1488. In the centuries since, it has remained one of the most studied, adapted, and parodied stories ever, with adaptations including the 1911 silent film by Giuseppe de Liguoro, 1954's 'Ulysses' with Kirk Douglas, and the 2000 Coen brothers comedy 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' With a new adaptation on the horizon, here is everything we know so far about Nolan's take on 'The Odyssey.' Have any photos been released from the film? Universal shared the first official image from the film on X, with the caption reading: 'Matt Damon is Odysseus. A film by Christopher Nolan, #TheOdysseyMovie is in theaters July 17, 2026.' The post confirms that Matt Damon will play the lead role of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Who are the latest additions to the cast? Elliot Page ('Inception'), Himesh Patel ('Tenet'), Bill Irwin ('Interstellar') and Samantha Morton ('Minority Report') are the latest additions to 'The Odyssey' cast, joining Mia Goth, John Leguizamo, Rafi Gavron and Shiloh Fernandez, among many others. Goth is known for her recent scream queen roles in 'MaXXXine' and 'Pearl,' along with Luca Guadagnino's 'Suspiria,' 'Infinity Pool' and 'A Cure for Wellness.' Leguizamo has acted for multiple decades, earning Emmy nods for 'When They See Us' and 'Waco' and also appearing in 'Encanto,' 'Romeo + Juliet,' 'John Wick,' and 'The Menu.' Gavron was in 'A Star is Born' opposite Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. He got his breakout in Anthony Minghella's film 'Breaking and Entering' alongside Jude Law and Juliette Binoche. Meanwhile, Fernandez is known for roles in 'Evil Dead,' 'Euphoria' and 'United States of Tara.' Who else is cast in the film and have they worked with Nolan before? Like the all-star cast that was assembled for 'Oppenheimer' (and resulted in a best ensemble win at the Screen Actors Guild awards), 'The Odyssey' is already filled with major talent in Hollywood. In addition to the newest additions, confirmed names include Damon, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie and Jon Bernthal. However, aside from Damon, it remains unclear who will play which role, leaving it up to fans to speculate at the moment. New additions Page, Patel and Irwin have all worked with Nolan before — notably, Irwin voiced TARS the robot in 'Interstellar.' Damon most recently appeared in 'Oppenheimer' as Lt. General Leslie Groves after his under-the-radar appearance in 'Interstellar.' Pattinson appeared in 'Tenet' as Neil, alongside John David Washington and Elizabeth Debicki. Going back a little farther, Hathaway had a supporting role as an astronaut in 'Interstellar' and Catwoman in 'The Dark Knight Rises,' marking just over 10 years since her last time working with Nolan. For Holland, Zendaya, Nyong'o and Theron, 'The Odyssey' marks their first time collaborating with Nolan. Holland and Zendaya, who are a real-life couple, will reunite on screen after the Marvel 'Spider-Man' films. Has any footage from the film been revealed? Not yet, although Universal's distribution chief Jim Orr, teased the film at CinemaCon. He told attendees that the film will be 'a visionary, once-in-a-generation cinematic masterpiece that Homer himself would quite likely be proud of.' He described it as 'propulsive' and 'modern' with an 'out of this world twist.' A few actors have spoken out about the film, too, including cast member Leguizamo, who said that Nolan has made the production feel independent. 'Dude, you know the thing is, okay he's got a crazy budget, it's not small, but he runs [it] like an indie film because he's not doing it by committee, he's not doing it by what the studio says,' Leguizamo said in a recent interview on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' How will the film be shot? According to a social media post from Universal Pictures, 'The Odyssey' will be 'shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology.' Nolan's craft has become synonymous with Imax as 'Oppenheimer,' 'Dunkirk,' 'Tenet' and 'Interstellar,' the latter of which was re-released to much success for its 10th anniversary, were all shot with Imax cameras. Where will the film be shot? As Variety exclusively reported, the film will be partly filmed in Sicily, which is notable for being a location for Odysseus' wanderings in the epic. Shooting there is expected to begin in spring 2025 on the island of Favignana, considered the 'goat island,' which many believe to be the place where Homer visualized Odysseus landing with his crew. As Nolan has built a fanbase with his care for practical effects and sets, it's no surprise that sources have confirmed that the film is likely using some of its budget for shooting on the Sicily islands. Other announced locations for the film include the U.K., Morocco, Scotland, and Ireland, making 'The Odyssey' a global shoot. Who else is creatively involved? Nolan is also writing and producing the film, reuniting with his longtime producing and life partner Emma Thomas, who won the Best Picture Oscar for 'Oppenheimer' alongside Nolan. Italy's Wildside, a Fremantle company, is servicing the Sicily portion of the filming. How faithful will this adaptation be to 'The Odyssey'? It remains unclear how closely Nolan intends on following Homer's famous story, although the social media post from Universal Pictures teases 'a mythic action epic shot across the world.' When is the film set to be released? The film is set to release worldwide on July 17, 2026 in theaters after a 2025 production start date. 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