“Rage—Sing, Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed, sing of the rage that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down into Hades’ Dark House so many sturdy souls, great fighters’ souls, heroes’ souls, but also made their bodies carrion, feasts for the dogs and birds, even as Zeus’s will was done. Begin, O Muse, when the two first argued and clashed, the Greek king Agamemnon, lord of men, and the brilliant, godlike Achilles…”
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Jean-Daniel Breque for his permission to use the details of one of his favorite walks down the avenue Daumesnil and the rest of that Promenade Plantée. A full description of this delightful walk can be found in Jean-Daniel’s essay “Green Tracks” in the Time Out Book of Paris Walks, published by Penguin.
I also would like to thank Professor Keith Nightenhelser for his suggestion of the Renoir-as-Creator quote from The Guermantes Way.
Finally, I would like to thank Jane Kathryn Simmons for permission to reprint her poem “Still Born” as it appears on p. 571.
About the Author
DAN SIMMONS is the author of the critically acclaimed suspense novel The Crook Factory, as well as the award-winning Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, their sequel, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion. He is also the author of Song of Kali, Carrion Comfort, Fires of Eden, and several other respected works. A former teacher, Mr. Simmons makes his home in Colorado.
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