10.6092/issn.1973-9494/1746
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1973-9494
1746
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Eleonora Cavallini
Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
Achilles in the age of steel: Greek Myth in modern popular music
Text.Serial.Journal
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/
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Articles
2010-03-01
2009-03-01
2015-11-02
113-141
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Eleonora Cavallini
2009
10.6092/issn.1973-9494/1746
113
1973-9494
en
141
Achilles in the age of steel: Greek Myth in modern popular music
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/article/download/1746/1127
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A
     CHILLES IN THE AGE OF STEEL:
     GREEK MYTH IN MODERN POPULAR MUSIC

Eleonora Cavallini ·
Dipartimento di Storie e Metodi per la Conservazione dei Beni Culturali
Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (sede di Ravenna)



Keywords: Achilles, mythology, music, Manowar




1. Introduction

     The presence of Greek Mythology in so called “popular” music is far more significant
and frequent than one could suppose. A few interesting examples of this phenomenon
can be found in some songs and ballads of the Sixties, albeit in that period the references
to Greek gods, heroes and heroines seem to be incidental, loose and sometimes even
ironical. As for instance, in Lee Hazlewood’s Some velvet morning (1967), the mention of
Phaedra is due more to the fascinating sound of the name itself than to the suggestion of
Euripides’ tragedy1. A very different case is Aphrodite Mass by The Fugs2, a humorous
                                                and intentionally provocative American band




                                                                                                    Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage, 9-I/2009
                                                formed in 1965 by the poets Ed Sanders and
                                                Tuli Kupferberg (Figure 1). The most surprising
                                                and amazing part of this bizarre song consists
                                                in a musical adaptation of Sappho’s Ode to
                                                Aphrodite: the lyrics faithfully reproduce the
                                                original Greek text, the words are spelled with
                                                a correct Erasmian pronunciation and the
                                                rhythm is the one of a Sapphic stanza: never-
                                                theless, the intent of the whole operation is
                                                openly desecrating and parodistic.
Figure 1. Proof for the cover of an                 In my opinion, a systematic investigation
album by the band “The Fugs”.                   about the echoes of Greek myth in today’s

·   Corresponding author: e-mail leon.cavallini@libero.it


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                                                                                   music is needed, as it probably would reveal some unexpected aspects of contemporary
                                                                                   life and culture. My work, however, will focus on the character of Achilles only who, in my
                                                                                   opinion, is the most representative specimen.

                                                                                   2. The Sixties and Seventies

                                                                                      Bob Dylan’s album Blonde on blonde (1966) contains the track Temporary like
                                                                                   Achilles, a sort of modern serenade, which a poor man in love sings outside the door of
                                                                                   his beloved one, with the only result of being unmercifully excluded by her. The song is
                                                                                   full of cunning puns (such as “Velvet door” and so on) and irony, which culminates in the
                                                                                   embarrassing description of Achilles as a rough, voracious energumen keeping guard in
                                                                                   front of the girl’s house:
                                                                                       Achilles is in your alleway,
                                                                                       He don’t want me here,
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                       He does brag.
                                                                                       He’s pointing to the sky
                                                                                       And he’s hungry, like a man in drag.
                                                                                       How come you get someone like him to be your guard?
                                                                                       You know I want your lovin’,
                                                                                       Honey, but you’re so hard.
                                                                                      Such treatment doubtless sounds disrespectful towards the most famous hero in
                                                                                   world Epics: but it is not that weird of peace-maker Dylan, who probably does not like the
                                                                                   character of the unbeatable Greek warrior. Nevertheless, Dylan is still far from reducing
                                                                                   Achilles to the emphatic, hateful caricature that, some years later, we will find in Christa
                                                                                   Wolf’s Cassandra (1983). Dylan (as well as all the artists that I’m going to mention below)
                                                                                   does not notice that Achilles is a “beatnik” ante litteram, a “rebel without a cause”, undis-
                                                                                   ciplined, unwilling to cut his hair, and, above all, that he is a musician, singing and play-
                                                                                   ing a lyre fitted with a silver bridge (Iliad 9.186-189). Only some decades after, the so-
                                                                                   called “popular” culture will get back to the original sources of Achilles’ character, that is
                                                                                   to say to the Greek myth and especially to the Iliad (whose controversial cinematic ren-
                                                                                   dition, Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy [2004], is the subject of a recent book edited by M.M.
                                                                                   Winkler [10]). As late as the Seventies, Homeric references in popular music are gener-
                                                                                   ally loose and elusive, as is well shown even by the most interesting rock song dedicat-
                                                                                   ed to Achilles during that period: Achilles Last Stand by Led Zeppelin (Presence, 1976).
                                                                                   Based upon guitarist Jimmy Page’s acrobatic skill and vocalist Robert Plant’s virtuosity,
                                                                                   the song is a melancholic reflection about the futility of war, a nostalgic yearning for

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home, unusually expressed by means of a powerful sound and of a hammering use of
drums:
   It was an April morning when they told us we should go
   As I turn to you, you smiled at me
   How could we say no?
   With all the fun to have, to live the dreams we always had
   Oh, the songs to sing, when we at last return again
   Sending off a glancing kiss, to those who claim they know
   Below the streets that steam and hiss,
   The devil’s in his hole
   Oh to sail away, to sandy lands and other days
   Oh to touch the dream, hides inside and never seen.
   Into the sun the south the north, at last the birds have flown
   The shackles of commitment fell, in pieces on the ground
   Oh to ride the wind, to tread the air above the din
   Oh to laugh aloud, dancing as we fought the crowd
   To seek the man whose pointing hand, the giant step unfolds
   With guidance from the curving path, that churns up into stone
   If one bell should ring, in celebration for a king
   So fast the heart should beat, as proud the head with heavy feet.
   Days went by when you and I, bathed in eternal summers glow
   As far away and distant, our mutual child did grow
   Oh the sweet refrain, soothes the soul and calms the pain
   Oh Albion remains, sleeping now to rise again
   Wandering & wandering, what place to rest the search                                          Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
   The mighty arms of Atlas, hold the heavens from the earth etc.
   Described as simple-minded teenagers overwhelmed by the demon of war, that is to
say of legalized destruction disguised under fictitious values [5], the young heroes leav-
ing for Troy daydream of adventures in remote countries, of “riding the wind” across the
sea, and expect a return crowned by glorious victory songs. As if we were in a backwards-
moving Odyssey, the journey fills up with fabulous visions, but the yearned return will not
happen. Achilles’ last thoughts are for his little son who grows in a distant land (is he
Neoptolemus?), for the child’s mother (but this detail would suit Odysseus better than
Achilles) and for his native country: which, surprisingly, is neither Phthia nor Greece, but
“Albion”. This unexpected hint about the British band’s true nationality distracts the lis-

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                                                                                   tener’s attention from the mythic reverie and brings him back to the reality of present time,
                                                                                   maybe in order to warn him against the tragic eventuality of new wars and bloodshed.

                                                                                   3. From Hard Rock to Epic Metal

                                                                                      As war – despite the efforts of pacifist movements – seems unavoidable, one may as
                                                                                   well exorcize it by emphasizing its most gruesome and appalling aspects (just like W.S.
                                                                                   Burroughs, already in the Sixties, had done in some important writings, which I’m going
                                                                                   to quote below). Beginning from the Seventies, war, death and destruction become fre-
                                                                                   quent themes in the musical genre that is (broadly speaking) called heavy metal. So, it is
                                                                                   certainly significant that the heavy metal genre is particularly interested in the character
                                                                                   of Achilles. As a demigod, undefeatable, glamorous and terrible in his flashing weapons,
                                                                                   which terrify the Trojans even from a great distance (Iliad 22.25-32); as a man, extreme
                                                                                   in generosity, loyalty and friendship, but also in cruelty and wrath, Achilles appears to be
                                                                                   close to the imagery of metal, or at least of the part of it that is called epic metal and, even
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                   if mostly inspired by Norse mythology, sometimes pays attention also to Greek myth. With
                                                                                   regard to this, it is especially worthwhile to mention The Odyssey by Symphony X
                                                                                   (2002)3, particularly noticeable for its outstanding instrumental arrangements, and the
                                                                                   refined concept album The House of Atreus (1999-2000), by Virgin Steele, which is based
                                                                                   on Aeschylus’ Oresteia: a very complex work, which contains some accurate references
                                                                                   to the ancient tragic poet, mixed with some attempts to interpret the Aeschylean saga
                                                                                   from a modern point of view.
                                                                                      Censored by many governments worldwide because of its provocative and irreverent
                                                                                   attitude, often derided and despised with no convincing arguments (or with no arguments
                                                                                   at all), heavy metal remains still difficult to define and classify. There is still some doubt
                                                                                   even about the origin of the expression heavy metal, or, better, of the peculiar semantic
                                                                                   alteration it is subjected to in the passage from the language of chemistry and metallurgy
                                                                                   (where heavy metal means a metal with a specific gravity greater than about 5.0, especially
                                                                                   one that is poisonous, such as lead or mercury: see Oxford English Dictionary s.v.) to the
                                                                                   musical one. It is interesting to see that one of the earliest metaphoric uses of the expres-
                                                                                   sion heavy metal appears in W.S. Burroughs’s writings, with reference to the existential dis-
                                                                                   comfort of his generation. In The Soft Machine (1962), Burroughs creates the character of
                                                                                   “Uranian Willy, the heavy metal kid”. In the following novel Nova Express (1964), Burroughs
                                                                                   develops the theme, by interpreting heavy metal as a metaphor for addiction:
                                                                                        pp. 56-58 [Chapt. “Uranian Willy”] e. 62-63 [Chapt.”Towers Open Fire”] Uranian
                                                                                        Willy the Heavy Metal Kid. Also known as Willy The Rat. He wised up the marks.

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[...] THIS IS WAR TO EXTERMINATION. FIGHT CELL BY CELL THROUGH
BODIES AND MIND SCREENS OF THE EARTH. SOULS ROTTEN FROM THE
ORGASM DRUG, FLESH SHUDDERING FROM THE OVENS, PRISONERS
OF THE EARTH COME OUT. STORM THE STUDIO [...] Burnt metal smell of
interplanetary war in the raw noon streets swept by screaming glass blizzards of
enemy flak. [...]
“Shift linguals – Free doorways – Cut word lines – Photo falling – Word falling –
Break Through in Grey Room – Use partisans of all nations – Towers, open fire
– “ [...]
“Partisans of all nations, open fire – tilt – blast – pound – stab – strafe – kill”
“Pilot K9, you are cut off – back. Back. Back before the whole fucking shit house
goes up – Return to base immediately – Ride music beam back to base – Stay
out of that time flak – All pilots ride Pan Pipes back to base –”
The Technician mixed a bicarbonate of soda surveying the havoc on his view
screen – It was impossible to estimate the damage – Anything put out up till now
is like pulling a figure out of the air – [Enemy] installations shattered – Personnel
decimated – Board Books destroyed – Electric waves of resistance sweeping
through mind screens of the earth – The Message of Total Resistance on short
wave of the world – This is war to extermination – Shift linguals – Cut word lines
– Vibrate tourists – Free doorways - Photo falling – Word falling – Break through
in grey room – Calling Partisans of all nations – Towers, open fire –”
p. 67 [Crab nebula] They walked on into an area of tattoo booths and sex parlors
– A music like wind through fine metal wires bringing a measure of relief from the
terrible dry heat – Black beetle musicians saw this music out of the air swept by
continual hot winds from plains that surround the city – The plains are dotted with       Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage

villages of conical paper-thin metal houses where a patient gentle crab people
live unmolested in the hottest region of the planet. [...] The SOS addicts had
sucked up all the silence in the area were now sitting around in blue blocks of
heavy metal the earth ‘s crust buckling ominously under their weight [...] p. 109
[SOS] The Blue Heavy Metal People of Uranus [...]
p. 111 [Short Count] The Heavy Metal Kid returned from a short blue holiday on
Uranus [...] p. 112 Green People in limestone calm – Remote green contempt for
all feelings and proclivities of the animal host they had invaded with inexorable
moves of Time-Virus-Birth-Death – With their diseases and orgasm drugs and
their sexless parasite life forms – Heavy Metal People of Uranus wrapped in cool

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                                                                                                                          blue mist of vaporized bank notes – And The
                                                                                                                          Insect People of Minraud with metal music –
                                                                                                                          Cold insect brains and their agents like white
                                                                                                                          hot buzz saws sharpened in the Ovens [...]
                                                                                                                             Burroughs’s text, with its painful and lacerating
                                                                                                                          tone, somehow preludes some of the favorite
                                                                                                                          sceneries of heavy metal: alienating and claustro-
                                                                                                                          phobic atmospheres, instinct of rebellion against a
                                                                                                                          materialist and inhuman society, obsession for war
                                                                                                                          (which Burroughs emphasizes so much as to
                                                                                                                          transform it into a pure apocalycptic vision, devoid
                                                                                                                          of any realistic element). It is worthwhile to notice
                                                                                                                          that   Burroughs
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                                                          was      strongly
                                                                                   Figure 2. Poster of C. Rooks’s         interested in the
                                                                                   movie “Chappaqua” (1966).              alternative   and
                                                                                   underground music of his era: after acting in Conrad
                                                                                   Rooks’s movie Chappaqua (1966) together with Ravi
                                                                                   Shankar and with the above mentioned band The Fugs
                                                                                   (Figure 2), in the last years of his long life Burroughs
                                                                                   showed a significant interest towards one of the most
                                                                                   adored icons of the Sixties music, Jim Morrison (Stoned     Figure 3. Cover of the record
                                                                                   Immacolate: the Music of the Doors, 2000), and record-      “The Priest They Called Him”
                                                                                                                                               by W. S. Burroughs and K.
                                                                                   ed readings from his own texts in collaboration with the    Cobain (1990).
                                                                                   industrial metal group Ministry (Just one Fix) and with
                                                                                   Kurt Cobain (The Priest they called him, 1992) (Figures
                                                                                   3-4). Some years later than Burroughs’ novel Nova
                                                                                   Express, the phrase “heavy metal thunder” was insert-
                                                                                   ed in the lyrics of Steppenwolf’s song Born to be wild
                                                                                   (1968), and the names of two “heavy metals”, iron and
                                                                                   le(a)d, entered the oxymoric denominations of two of
                                                                                   the most important rock bands of the period going from
                                                                                   the end of the Sixties to the beginning of the Seventies:
                                                                                   Iron Butterfly and the above-mentioned Led Zeppelin.
                                                                                      In the Seventies, however, heavy metal becomes a         Figure 4. W.S. Burroughs.

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specific denomination for an aggressive type of music, characterized by a powerful sound
and a strong rhythm, which are obtained by using drums in a hammering way, by ampli-
fying and intentionally “distorting” the sound of guitars and basses and, in some cases,
by altering the voices (the so-called “growl’). Formerly, “distortion” had been occasional-
ly used by some historical bands of the Sixties (including the Beatles in Helter Skelter) to
alter the timbres of the strings, in order to achieve strident effects, which, according to
some observers of the phenomenon, could also involve some psychotropic implications4.
Afterwards, “distortion” will be largely employed by heavy metal, to express anger and
discomfort, to convey oneiric suggestions, sometimes even to evoke gloomy, Gothic
atmospheres.
   This is certainly not the right place to discuss the countless metal subgenres, or to
inquire into the reasons why a lot of bands lay stress on dreadful and ghastly sceneries5.
Achilles has nothing to do with demonic rituals and other embarassing topics, which
–however- play a role only in a part of this music (on the other hand, there is also a pro-
fessedly Christian metal, I suggest to visit the Italian website www.holysteel.com). In any
case, it is not surprising that the extremely archaic, barbaric savagery of the Homeric bat-
tles (only partially concealed by the aulic perfection of the Homeric verse) has exercised
a strong suggestion on some metal musicians, even if German and Norse mythology
appear more popular among the heavy metal fanbase. As a matter of fact, there are at
least three compositions inspired by the mythic Greek hero: Manowar’s Achilles, Agony
and Ecstasy in Eight Parts (from The Triumph of Steel, 1992); Warlord’s Achilles’
Revenge (from Rising out of the Ashes, 2002), and Jag Panzer’s Achilles (from Casting
the Stones, 2004).
   The second and the third song focus on the praise of Achilles’ bravery in the battle-
field. Warlord’s track explicitly declares it is based on Homer’s Iliad, but the lyrics are sub-     Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
stantially a sequence of images of destruction and bloodshed, easily adaptable to any
war scenery. Anyway, Warlord’s lyrics cannot be considered inaccurate. The most inter-
esting detail of these lyrics consists in defining Achilles “king of the dead in Acheron” (with
reference to Odyssey 11.485):
    He carved his name, forever into books of lore
    An immortal legend – helmet, shield, and sword
    Commend the dead who fought and bled upon the fields
    And bury them with honors, swords and shields
    Remember them they could not fend in the end
    In the face of Achilles’ anger, his revenge.

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                                                                                      Hail to the one! To the king of the dead in Acheron
                                                                                      In his shadow we fade, we are lost in his name.
                                                                                      Hail to the one! To the king of the dead in Acheron
                                                                                      In his shadow we fade, we are lost in his name.
                                                                                      Hail to the one!
                                                                                      Such praise of Achilles, however, openly contradicts the Homeric point of view, and
                                                                                   Achilles himself, whose shady ghost, in Odyssey 11.487-491, answers Odysseus’ lauda-
                                                                                   tory speech with the following words:
                                                                                      « Say not a word,» he answered, «in death’s favour; I would rather be a paid ser-
                                                                                        vant in a poor man’s house and be above ground than king of kings among the
                                                                                        dead» (transl. S. Butler).
                                                                                      According to the poet of the Odyssey, Achilles’ shadow speaks as an anti-hero, who
                                                                                   appreciates life more than glory. From the point of view of an epic metal musician,
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                   Achilles’ statement risks to be considered as an unacceptable loss of energy and
                                                                                   courage. Therefore, the song needed a significant change of perspective: even in
                                                                                   Acheron, Achilles remains “the king”, the undisputable object of perpetual admiration for
                                                                                   all those who “are lost in his name”.
                                                                                      But the distance from Homer is more evident in the catchy, potentially commercial
                                                                                   song by Jag Panzer, Achilles. The lyrics offer a brief summary of the Trojan saga, but they
                                                                                   do it on the sole basis of the movie Troy by W. Petersen, released in the same year
                                                                                   (2004). The derivation of the song from the movie is especially apparent in the following
                                                                                   passages:
                                                                                      Born into war is all that he’s known
                                                                                      The seeds of terror are what he has sown
                                                                                      A maiden has never seen into his heart
                                                                                      And for this passion his soul will depart,
                                                                                      or,
                                                                                      For the shores of Troy they set sail
                                                                                      When all before him failed
                                                                                      To avenge his cousin’s life
                                                                                      A victim of the knife.
                                                                                      Apart from the hasty and approximate use of rhyme, it is indubitable that Jag Panzer
                                                                                   used Troy’s plot as the unique source for their song (which however contains some fur-
                                                                                   ther alterations of the original story: e.g. Achilles does not sail towards Troy to avenge
                                                                                   Patroclus’ death!). In another work of mine (“Quaderni di Scienza della Conservazione”

                                  120
4/2004, 300-333) I defended Petersen’s movie, but I hope that it won’t become the only
landmark for those who are interested in the myth of the Trojan War.

4. The Triumph of Steel (Manowar, 1992)

   The first song in chronological order, Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts (from
now on referred to as AAeE) by Manowar, deserves far more attention. Manowar is a his-
torical metal band from the United States6: it is worthwhile to remember that, at the begin-
ning of their career (Battle Hymns, 1982; but see also Fighting the World, 1987), they
could rely no less than on movie legend Orson Welles as a narrating voice (Figure 5).
   AAeE (1992) is a suite (28’30”), dealing with some decisive moments of the Iliad, from
Hector’s assault to the Achaean ships (books 12-15) to Patroclus’ funeral (book 23).
Three of the eight parts are instrumental (3: “Funeral March”, 4: “Armor of the Gods” and
7: “The Desecration of Hector’s Body”) and aim to give an onomatopoeic rendition of
some peculiar Homeric sceneries (such as Hephaestus’ divine forge, where, according to
Iliad 18, Achilles’ new armor was created). In the remaining five parts, where the vocals
play a leading role, the lyrics appear to be far more accurate than in most contemporary
musical interpretations of the Trojan saga.
   As a matter of fact, DeMaio’s lyrics imply a careful and scrupulous reading of the Iliad.
The songwriter has focused his attention essentially on the crucial fight between Hector
and Achilles, has paraphrased some passages of the poem adapting them to the melod-




                                                                                                 Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage




                Figure 5. Orson Welles with the band Manowar (1982).

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                                                                                   ic structure with a certain fluency and partly reinterpreting them, but never altering or
                                                                                   upsetting Homer’s storyline. The purpose of the lyrics (and of the music as well) is to
                                                                                   evoke some characteristic Homeric scenes: the raging storm of the battle, the barbaric,
                                                                                   ferocious exultation of the winner, the grief and anguish of the warrior who feels death
                                                                                   impending over him. The whole action hinges upon Hector and Achilles, who are repre-
                                                                                   sented as specular characters, divided by an irreducible hatred and yet destined to share
                                                                                   a similar destiny. Both are caught in the moment of greatest exaltation, as they savagely
                                                                                   rejoice for the blood of their killed enemies, but also in that of extreme pain, when the dae-
                                                                                   mon of war finally pounces on them. Furthermore, differently than in the irreverent and
                                                                                   iconoclastic movie Troy, in AAeE the divine is a constant and ineluctable presence, deter-
                                                                                   mining human destinies with inscrutable and steely will: and, despite the generic refer-
                                                                                   ence to “the gods”, the real master of human lives is Zeus, the only God to whom both
                                                                                   Hector and Achilles address their prayers.
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                      Now, some specific remarks.
                                                                                   1) In the first section (Hector storms the Wall):
                                                                                      See my chariot run to your ships
                                                                                      I’ll drive you back to the sea
                                                                                      You came here for gold
                                                                                      The wall will not hold
                                                                                      This day was promised to me
                                                                                      The gods are my shield
                                                                                      My fate has been sealed
                                                                                      Lightning and javelins fly
                                                                                      Soon many will fall
                                                                                      We are storming the wall
                                                                                      Stones fall like snow from the sky
                                                                                      We will pay with our glory
                                                                                      In the fire of battle
                                                                                      Zeus today is mine
                                                                                      Killing all in my way
                                                                                      Like sheep and like cattle
                                                                                      Smashing skulls of all who defy
                                                                                      I spare not the hammer
                                                                                      I spare not the sword
                                                                                      This day will ring with my name

                                        122
   None have to chase me
   Let he who will face me
   Kill me or die by the sword,
the word “wall”, of course, does not refer to the city walls of Troy, but to the wall built by
the Achaeans to defend their own camp and ships (see Iliad 7.435-465) and subsequently
destroyed (with Zeus’ leave: see 7.454-463) by Hector and his troops (Iliad books 12-13).
The image of the stones which fall “like snow” on the enemies is an intentional quotation
from Iliad 12.156-161:
   And like snow-flakes the stones fell ever earthward, like flakes that a blustering wind,
as it driveth the shadowy clouds, sheddeth thick and fast upon the bounteous earth; even
so flowed the missiles from the hands of these, of Achaeans alike and Trojans; and helms
rang harshly and bossed shields, as they were smitten with great stones (transl. A. T.
Murray).
2) In the Part II of the song (The Death of Patroclus):
   Oh friend of mine, how to say goodbye
   This was your time, but the armor you wore
   Was mine. I will not rest
   Until Hector’s blood is spilled
   His bones will all be broken
   Dragged across the field
   This dear friend is how we’ll say goodbye
   Until we meet in the sky,
the obvious reference to Achilles’ armor – which becomes a fatal disguise for the valiant
comrade of the hero – is complicated by the less obvious statement that Patroclus’ death
is nothing but the anticipation of Achilles’ own death, foretold far behind and about to hap-      Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
pen. The theme of Patroclus as Achilles’ alter ego, and of the armor as the token of a war-
rior’s identity, certainly did not escape classicists and anthropologists (see for instance
[4], with bibliography), but it is not that important to verify if DeMaio is acquainted with
these studies. He had a keen intuition, and that is undeniable.
   However, this section contains the most criticized sentence in the whole song (which,
in my opinion, could otherwise be considered irreprehensible)7: “This dear friend is how
we’ll say goodbye / until we meet in the sky”. As is well known, in the Homeric concep-
tion the souls of the heroes, including Achilles’ and Patroclus’, descend to Hades (see
Odyssey 11.467-541). I’m tempted to say that, after Homer, Hector’s lot is not the same
as Achilles’ (the demigod hero is granted immortality in the Isle of the Blessed). But I

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                                                                                   admit that this is not the appropriate way to face the question. Probably, “Until we meet
                                                                                   in the sky” was simply the most suggestive and catchiest phrase to put at the end of this
                                                                                   section, certainly more likeable than a forced “Before we meet in the Isle of the Blessed”.
                                                                                   However, it is interesting to notice that the Isle of the Blessed is not extraneous to
                                                                                   Manowar’s repertory (Each Dawn I Die, from Hail to England [1984]).
                                                                                   3) In the Part VIII (The Glory of Achilles):
                                                                                      The oath of the gods, this day was fulfilled
                                                                                      In the heat of the battle, Hector was killed
                                                                                      See him Patroclus, down in the dust
                                                                                      Rejoice in his death my symbol of trust
                                                                                      A dozen highborn youths have been killed
                                                                                      Cutting their throats their blood was all spilled
                                                                                      Their bodies set at the foot of your fire
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                      With oxen, sheep and two of your hounds
                                                                                      Your funeral pyre high off the ground
                                                                                      Hector’s body dragged three times around
                                                                                      I will carry the torch to your funeral pyre
                                                                                      I will ask of the wind to send high your fire
                                                                                      Hector’s blood will not be washed from my body until your body is burned
                                                                                      A prophecy spoken a promise fulfilled
                                                                                      More blood will be spilled, more will be killed,
                                                                                   the description of Patroclus’ funeral is entirely derived from Homer, with the sacrifice of
                                                                                   the twelve Trojan captives (Iliad 23.175)8 and of many animals, including sheep, cattle
                                                                                   (23.166) and “two household hounds” (23.174); with Achilles praying the winds in order
                                                                                   that they send the flame of the pyre high (23.194-219), and refusing to wash away
                                                                                   Hector’s blood from his own body before the funeral is finished (23.40-46). The reference
                                                                                   to Hector’s body, dragged three times around Patroclus’ grave, is also derived from
                                                                                   Homer, but in the Iliad this barbaric ritual (which clearly dates back to a very archaic
                                                                                   epoch) takes place later (24.15f.).
                                                                                      Finally, I would like to dwell upon Part V (Hector’s Final Hour) which, in my opinion,
                                                                                   represents the “crucial” point of the whole suite. Just like in Homer, the Gods “weigh” the
                                                                                   Fate of Hector, whose soul is going to “descend into Hades”:
                                                                                      Here inside the walls of Troy, the gods weigh my fate
                                                                                      From this day do I abstain, to a memory of hate
                                                                                      To pay for all the blood that spilled

                                    124
   The many thousands I did kill,
   No walls can contain the gods’ almighty will
   I hear the silent voices I cannot hide
   The gods leave no choices so we all must die
   Oh Achilles let thy arrows fly
   Into the wind, where eagles cross the sky
   Today my mortal blood will mix with sand
   It was foretold I will die by thy hand
   Into Hades my soul descend.
   In this case, too, the opening lines are derived from Homer. See Iliad 22.209-213:
     Then the Father lifted on high his golden scales, and set therein two fates of
     grievous death, one for Achilles, and one for horse-taming Hector; then he
     grasped the balance by the midst and raised it; and down sank the day of doom
     of Hector, and departed unto Hades; and Phoebus Apollo left him (transl. A.T.
     Murray).
   The Homeric echoes are still well perceivable, but with some interesting variations. In
the Iliad, Hector does not know that he has been sentenced to death, and faces Achilles
in the misleading hope to beat him, at least until he realizes that Athena has cruelly
deceived him (22.297-305). In Hector’s Final Hour, the Trojan prince (who, as in most
modern interpretations of the myth, appears to be the truly “empathetic” hero, because
he is the defender of an unfairly attacked country) is going to face the fatal duel. In this
moment, he perceives his own death as a “rightful” payment for the numberless victims
of his sword. According to a pattern that is more tragic than epic (see Aeschylus’
Oresteia), he feels the haunting presence of the “silent voices” (that is to say, the Erinyes)
of the fallen enemies. Nevertheless, the ecstatic (see the title!), even visionary, surren-        Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
der, which leads Hector towards the ruthless arrows of his antagonist9, can easily be
compared with the attitude of a sacrificial victim. His “mortal blood” will be one more gift
for greedy Mother Earth.
   In this dramatic (more than epic) section of AAeE, vocals play a very important role.
It is worthwhile to cite an interview with Eric Adams, Manowar’s vocalist: “I used to be a
Deep Purple groupie, a male groupie. I mean, I would go to every show, every show.
Every show, no matter where they played because I loved Ian Gillan’s voice”
(http://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/manowar.htm). This statement is interesting,
especially if we remember that Ian Gillan is the magnificent interpreter of Jesus in the
original release of Jesus Christ Superstar. I don’t think this to be simply coincidental. The

                                                                                                 125
                                                                                   archaic Greek mysticism, exemplarily represented in the Iliad, is appropriately rendered
                                                                                   both by DeMaio’s lyrics and by Adams’s stunning voice. But this is not the place to dis-
                                                                                   cuss musical influences: any further investigation about this matter would exceed the pur-
                                                                                   poses of my work.
                                                                                      Ironically, despite its originality and cultural significance, AAeE was not so enthusias-
                                                                                   tically welcomed by critics and public as other previous “epic” songs by Manowar, that
                                                                                   focused on Norse mythology rather than Greek. As epic metal shows a marked attitude
                                                                                   to create stereotypes of masculine might and power, such as Thor, the Norse god of thun-
                                                                                   der, it is probable that the Greek myth is considered less convincing by musicians and
                                                                                   public because of its homoerotic implications [6]. Anyway, after The Triumph of Steel
                                                                                   Manowar abandoned ancient Greek heroes until 2008, when the band released the song
                                                                                   Die with Honor, inspired to the courage of Spartan warriors10.

                                                                                   5. Latest developments of the theme
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                      Originally written for a different line-up, the song I am Achilles has been recently
                                                                                   inserted in the double album Disc One/Disc Two by Canadian band Epyllion (digitally
                                                                                   released throughout all the major online retailers in March 2009).
                                                                                      If you resist against me
                                                                                      I will continue forcibly
                                                                                      The consequences that’ll be
                                                                                      I can’t control what I will be
                                                                                      The consequences that’ll be
                                                                                      I can’t control what I will be
                                                                                      Join me on the run
                                                                                      Be a Myrmidon
                                                                                      I lead, so hear my politic
                                                                                      Follow a mindless story
                                                                                      Fear in nothing but the end (…)
                                                                                      In this song, Achilles’ character is presented in a metaphorical way. As Eric St. Cyr,
                                                                                   leader of the band Epyllion, personally told me, «the idea was that when Achilles led his
                                                                                   army of the Myrmidons into battle, they all followed him blindly, simply because “he was
                                                                                   Achilles”. This happens way too often in our world, where the countries in question follow
                                                                                   their leaders simply because they are the leaders»11.
                                                                                      A ridiculous glutton according to Bob Dylan, a young idealist in Led Zeppelin’s vision-
                                                                                   ary representation, a lonesome and tormented soul in Manowar’s musical fresco, Achilles

                                     126
is doubtless a leader as well (see especially Iliad 16), and, citing St. Cyr’s words, «the
question of whether he was a politician or a warrior didn’t seem too important when telling
the story, as he was still a leader and an icon of sorts». A further example of the multi-
farious interpretations, which ancient Greek mythology and its characters (especially
such a complex one as Achilles) can be subjected to in today’s culture.

6. Iconographical appendix

   Victorian painter Herbert James Draper (1863-1920) is the author of a famous paint-
ing entitled Ulysses and Sirens (1909), where, according to Odyssey 12.166-200, these
charming and lethal creatures try to seduce Odysseus with their beautiful voices. The
most remarkable difference between the Homeric tale and its visual interpretations (both
ancient and modern) consists in the fact that in Homer the Sirens are not visible: there-
fore, painters felt free to represent them as they wanted, beginning from Greek pottery
(where the Sirens are zoomorphic monsters), up to the self-controlled sensuality of J. W.
Waterhouse (The Siren, 1900) and to Draper’s more provocative retelling, where the
Sirens are beautiful and aggressive sex-symbols.
   An undisputable nod to Draper’s painting can be found in the cover of Symphony X’s
album Odyssey (2002), where Odysseus’s ship is literally assaulted by a Siren endowed
with bat wings: an extemporaneous syncretism between Greek Mythology and horror.
The album The Odyssey is named after the title track – a 24-minute long, condensed ver-
sion of some of the main episodes from Homer’s poem, and is characterized by elabo-
                                                       rate, classical-style arrangements
                                                       and melodies, and by accurate
                                                       lyrics.
                                                                                                Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage


                                                       (Figure 6) Herbert James Draper
                                                       (1863-1920)
                                                       Art style: Classicism
                                                       Work: Ulysses and the Sirens (1909)
                                                       Technique: Oil on Canvas
                                                       Location: Kingston-Upon-Hull, Ferens
                                                       Art Gallery

Figure 6. W.J. Draper, Ulysses and the Sirens          Size: 2133177cm (83,9369,5 inches)
(1909).

                                                                                              127
                                                                                                                                                         (Figure 7) Artist: Symphony X
                                                                                                                                                         (formed 1994 in New Jersey)
                                                                                                                                                         Title: The Odyssey (studio
                                                                                                                                                         album, released 2002)
                                                                                                                                                         Cover Art - Thomas Ewerhar
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                   Figure 7. Cover of the album “The Odyssey” by
                                                                                   Symphony X (2002).



                                                                                   Notes
                                                                                   1   Originally performed by Hazlewood himself and Nancy Sinatra, the song was covered and
                                                                                       endowed with a stunning psychedelic arrangement by Vanilla Fudge (1970).
                                                                                   2   The Fugs’ most famous songs have recently republished in Electromagnetic Steamboat, 2006.
                                                                                   3   Although they were formed in 1994, Symphony X are a progressive, symphonic metal band whose
                                                                                       sound and themes hark back to those of 80s projects by Queensryche and Iron Maiden, mostly
                                                                                       dealing with mythological and fantasy subjects. About this group, see also the Iconographical
                                                                                       Appendix below.
                                                                                   4   On the effects of “popular music” on young people, see [3] 181-223. The authors substantially
                                                                                       argue against a simple cause-effect relationship between music consumption and violent or
                                                                                       wicked behaviors: nevertheless, they admit that the exposure to some kinds of music (especially
                                                                                       metal) could produce a negative effect on young people, especially with regard to their school per-
                                                                                       formance. As for the title of the Beatles’ song Helter Skelter, which was found written on the walls
                                                                                       of Roman Polanski’s house in Bel Air after the hideous massacre of August, 9-10 1969, see




                                     128
     Vincent Bugliosi – Curt Gentry, Helter Skelter. The true Story of the Manson Murders, New York:
     W. W. Norton & Company, 1974. For an objective, broad-minded approach to the problem of the
     relationship music/violence, see Michael Moore’s interview with Marilyn Manson in the movie
     Bowling for Columbine (2002).
5    For a detailed analysis of heavy metal and of its multifarious manifestations, see [7], [8], and espe-
     cially [2] (where the genre is interpreted in very favourable way); furthermore, for the sociologic
     aspects of the subject, see [9]. For an updated review of the studies about heavy metal, see “Metal
     Studies” – A Bibliography, compiled by K. Kahn Harris, at http://www.kahn-harris.org/.
6    At least two members of the band are of Italian origin: songwriter/bassist Joey DeMaio and vocal-
     ist Eric Adams (a stage name). Former songwriter/guitarist Ross “The Boss” Friedman is of Jewish
     origin (http://www.jewsrock.org). Of course, any accusation of racism, slanderously imputed to the
     band, is groundless.
7    Not all Manowar lyrics are at the same level as AAeE: I must admit that sometimes they are
     repetitive and even boring. But the wholesale liquidation of Manowar’s lyrics as “cheesy” is
     something that goes beyond my intelligence. For instance, how could one affirm that Bridge of
     Death (from Hail to England, 1984) or Guyana (from Sign of the Hammer, 1984) are “cheesy”
     songs?
8    It is the only case of human sacrifice in Homer, who ignores, or even denies, the cruel death of
     Iphigeneia (see my Introduction to [1], 4 and n. 8).
9    For Achilles’ archers, see Iliad 22.205-207. As is well known, they are stopped by the hero, who
     claims the honor to kill Hector by his own hands.
10 The   same subject is treated in Hellenic Warrior Spirit by Italian band Holy Martyr (2008: but most
     tracks were written before and do not depend on the success of movie 300 [2007]).
11   E-mail interview of May 12th 2009.
                                                                                                                Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage


Bibliography
[1] CAVALLINI E. (ed. by) 2007, Omero mediatico. Aspetti della ricezione omerica nella
    civiltà contemporanea, Bologna (Dupress).
[2] CHRISTE I. 2003, Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy
    Metal, HarperCollins.
[3] CHRISTENSON P.G, ROBERTS D.F. 1998, Did the Devil, the Drummer, or the “Doo-
    Wop” Make ‘Em Do It?: The Effects of Exposure to Music Media, in It’s Not Only Rock
    & Roll. Cresskill, NJ (Hampton Press), 181-223.
[4] CIANI M.G. 1989, Il canto di Patroclo [Iliade XVI], Venezia (Marsilio).



                                                                                                              129
                                                                                   [5] DEL CORNO D. 1988, Letteratura greca, Milano (Principato).
                                                                                   [6] LIVERANI E. 2009, Da Eschilo ai Virgin Steele: il mito greco nella musica contem-
                                                                                       poranea, Bologna (Dupress) (forthcoming).
                                                                                   [7] MOYNIHAN M., SØDERLIND D. 1998, Lords of Chaos. The Bloody Rise of the
                                                                                       Satanic Metal Underground, Venice, CA (Feral House).
                                                                                   [8] WALSER R. 1993, Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy
                                                                                       Metal Music. Hanover (Wesleyan University Press).
                                                                                   [9] WEINSTEIN D. 1991, Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology, New York (Lexington).
                                                                                   [10] WINKLER M.M. (ed. by) 2007, Troy: From Homer’s Iliad to Hollywood Epic, Malden
                                                                                        MA-Oxford (Blackwell).



                                                                                                        Achille nell’età dell’acciaio
                                                                                                        Il mito greco nella musica “popolare” contemporanea
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                                        Parole chiave: Achille, mito, musica, Manowar


                                                                                                        1. Introduzione
                                                                                                            La presenza del mito greco nella cosiddetta “musica popolare” è di gran
                                                                                                        lunga più significativa e frequente di quanto si potrebbe supporre. Alcuni inte-
                                                                                                        ressanti esempi di questo fenomeno sono individuabili già in canzoni e ballate
                                                                                                        degli anni Sessanta, sebbene in quel periodo i riferimenti a dèi, eroi ed eroine
                                                                                                        dell’antica Grecia siano piuttosto marginali, liberi e talvolta perfino parodistici.
                                                                                                            Un esempio è Some Velvet Morning di Lee Hazlewood (1967), ove la men-
                                                                                                        zione di Fedra è dovuta più alla suggestione fonica del nome che non al ricor-
                                                                                                        do della tragedia euripidea1. Un caso molto diverso è l’Aphrodite Mass del
                                                                                                        gruppo The Fugs, una band americana estremamente ironica e intenzional-
                                                                                                        mente provocatoria, costituita nel 1965 dai poeti Ed Sanders e Tuli Kupferberg
                                                                                                        (Figura 1)2. La sezione più sorprendente e singolare di questo bizzarro brano
                                                                                                        consiste in un adattamento musicale dell’ode di Saffo ad Afrodite: il testo ripro-
                                                                                                        duce fedelmente l’originale in lingua greca, le parole sono scandite secondo
                                                                                                        la corretta pronuncia Erasmiana e il ritmo è quello di una strofe saffica: tutta-
                                                                                                        via, l’ obiettivo dell’intera operazione è evidentemente scherzoso e dissacra-
                                                                                                        torio.
                                                                                                            A mio parere, sarebbe importante affrontare uno studio sistematico degli
                                                                                                        echi del mito greco nella musica contemporanea, in quanto una tale ricerca pro-
                                                                                                        babilmente rivelerebbe alcuni aspetti inattesi della cultura e della società di
                                                                                                        oggi. Il mio lavoro, tuttavia, sarà unicamente incentrato sulla figura di Achille,
                                                                                                        che credo possa costituire uno specimen rappresentativo.
                                                                                                        2. Gli anni ’60 e ’70
                                                                                                            Nell’album Blonde on blonde (1966) di Bob Dylan figura il brano Temporary
                                                                                                        like Achilles, una sorta di moderno paraklausithyron in cui un povero innamora-
                                                                                                        to tenta più volte di presentarsi alla porta della donna amata, ma ne resta irre-
                                                                                                        movibilmente escluso. Strutturata secondo lo schema della folk-song, la can-
                                                                                                        zone è piena di maliziosi doppi sensi (es. “velvet door”) e di ironia, culminante
                                                                                                        con l’inedita descrizione di Achille come un energumeno rozzo e ingordo che fa
                                                                                                        la guardia alla casa della fanciulla:
                                                                                                          Achilles is in your alleyway,
                                                                                                          He don’t want me here,
                                                                                                          He does brag.


                                     130
  He’s pointing to the sky
  And he’s hungry, like a man in drag.
  How come you get someone like him to be your guard?
  You know I want your lovin’,
  Honey, but you’re so hard.
     Nei confronti del più famoso eroe dell’epica mondiale, vi è un trattamento
certo irriguardoso, ma comprensibile da parte del pacifista Dylan (e comunque
ancora ben lontano dall’impietosa quanto forzata rappresentazione di Achille
che verrà proposta da Christa Wolf nel romanzo Cassandra [1983]). Sfugge a
Dylan (come del resto a tutti gli autori che citeremo in seguito) che l’eroe ome-
rico è in realtà anche un “beatnik” ante litteram, indisciplinato, insofferente nei
confronti del “potere costituito”, restio a tagliarsi i capelli e, soprattutto, musici-
sta dilettante che canta accompagnandosi con una lira dal ponte d’argento
(Iliade IX 186-189: vale forse la pena ricordare che nell’inglese moderno i testi
delle canzoni sono denominati lyrics).
     Occorreranno alcuni decenni perché la cultura “popolare” recuperi il perso-
naggio di Achille attingendo alle origini, vale a dire al mito greco e soprattutto
all’Iliade (la cui recente, controversa trasposizione cinematografica, Troy di
Wolfgang Petersen [2004] è oggetto del mio articolo A proposito di Troy,
“Quaderni di Scienza della Conservazione” 4/2004, 300-334, nonché del volu-
me a cura di M.M. Winkler Troy: from Homer’s Iliad to Hollywood Epic, Oxford
2007) [10]. La presenza di Omero è appena accennata, quasi sfuggente, perfi-
no in quello che può essere considerato il più significativo componimento dedi-
cato ad Achille dalla musica rock degli anni ’70: Achilles Last Stand dei Led
Zeppelin (dall’album Presence, 1976). Basato sulla funambolica abilità del chi-
tarrista Jimmy Page e sui virtuosismi canori del vocalist Robert Plant, il brano
si caratterizza (nonostante le sonorità potenti e l’accentuato impiego della bat-
teria) soprattutto come una malinconica, struggente riflessione sulla futilità della
guerra:
  It was an April morning when they told us we should go
  As I turn to you, you smiled at me
  How could we say no?
  With all the fun to have, to live the dreams we always had
  Oh, the songs to sing, when we at last return again
  Sending off a glancing kiss, to those who claim they know
  Below the streets that steam and hiss,
  The devil’s in his hole
  Oh to sail away, to sandy lands and other days
  Oh to touch the dream, hides inside and never seen.
  Into the sun the south the north, at last the birds have flown

                                                                                            Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
  The shackles of commitment fell, in pieces on the ground
  Oh to ride the wind, to tread the air above the din
  Oh to laugh aloud, dancing as we fought the crowd
  To seek the man whose pointing hand, the giant step unfolds
  With guidance from the curving path, that churns up into stone
  If one bell should ring, in celebration for a king
  So fast the heart should beat, as proud the head with heavy feet.
  Days went by when you and I, bathed in eternal summers glow
  As far away and distant, our mutual child did grow
  Oh the sweet refrain, soothes the soul and calms the pain
  Oh Albion remains, sleeping now to rise again
  Wandering & wandering, what place to rest the search
  The mighty arms of Atlas, hold the heavens from the earth
  The mighty arms of Atlas, hold the heavens from the earth
  From the earth...
  I know the way, know the way, know the way, know the way…
  Oh the mighty arms of Atlas, hold the heavens from the earth…
     Ingenuamente travolti dal demone della guerra, ossia “della distruzione lega-
lizzata e mascherata da valori fittizi” 3, i giovani eroi in partenza per il conflitto


                                                                                          131
                                                                                   troiano sognano l’avventura in terre lontane, l’esaltante traversata del mare “a
                                                                                   cavallo dei venti”, e un ritorno coronato da gloriosi canti di vittoria. Quasi come
                                                                                   in un’Odissea all’incontrario, il viaggio si carica di visioni favolose, ma il sospi-
                                                                                   rato ritorno non ci sarà. Gli ultimi pensieri di Achille vanno al piccolo figlio che
                                                                                   cresce lontano (Neottolemo?), alla madre di quest’ultimo (ma tale nostalgico
                                                                                   sospiro starebbe meglio in bocca a Odisseo che non ad Achille) e alla patria,
                                                                                   che però non è né Ftia né la Grecia, bensì “Albione”. L’impreveduto richiamo
                                                                                   alla vera nazionalità della band britannica distoglie l’ascoltatore dalla mitica
                                                                                   réverie per ricondurlo alla concreta realtà del presente, e forse per ammonirlo
                                                                                   sulla tragica eventualità (purtroppo tutt’altro che remota) di nuove guerre e
                                                                                   nuovi inutili massacri.
                                                                                   3. Dall’Hard Rock all’Epic Metal
                                                                                       Se la guerra, nonostante gli sforzi dei movimenti pacifisti, non può essere
                                                                                   evitata, tanto vale esorcizzarla enfatizzandone i lati più distruttivi e raccapric-
                                                                                   cianti, come già aveva fatto W.S. Burroughs in alcuni importanti scritti, su cui
                                                                                   ritorneremo. A partire dagli anni ’70, temi come guerra, morte e distruzione ven-
                                                                                   gono riproposti, con sintomatica frequenza, da quel genere musicale che viene
                                                                                   denominato, nella sua globalità, heavy metal.
                                                                                       Tornando al tema di questo intervento, appare significativo il fatto che pro-
                                                                                   prio l’heavy metal sia particolarmente interessato alla figura di Achille. La cosa
                                                                                   non dovrebbe meravigliare: semidivino e invincibile, splendido e tremendo nelle
                                                                                   sue armi lampeggianti che atterriscono i Troiani anche a grande distanza (Iliade
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                   XXII 25-32), estremo nella generosità e nel senso dell’onore e dell’amicizia
                                                                                   come nella crudeltà e nell’ira, Achille appare vicino all’immaginario del metal, o
                                                                                   almeno a quella parte di esso che viene denominata epic metal, e che, pur ispi-
                                                                                   randosi prevalentemente alle saghe della mitologia norrena, rivolge una certa
                                                                                   attenzione anche ai miti greci: degni di nota soprattutto The Odyssey dei
                                                                                   Symphony X [2002], particolarmente notevole per l’elevata qualità degli arran-
                                                                                   giamenti strumentali4, nonché la raffinata opera metal dei Virgin Steele The
                                                                                   House of Atreus [1999-2000], ispirata all’Orestea di Eschilo).
                                                                                       Estremamente discusso, censurato da numerosi governi in tutto il mondo
                                                                                   per il suo carattere provocatorio e spesso irriverente, da più parti oggetto di irri-
                                                                                   sione e disprezzo non sempre chiaramente motivati5, l’heavy metal rimane tut-
                                                                                   tora di difficile definizione e classificazione. Sussistono dubbi perfino sull’origi-
                                                                                   ne dell’espressione heavy metal, o meglio del peculiare slittamento semantico
                                                                                   che questa subisce nel passaggio dal linguaggio della chimica e dalla metallur-
                                                                                   gia all’ambito musicale6. Non sarà tuttavia un caso che fra i primi (se non il
                                                                                   primo) a parlare di heavy metal in senso metaforico, con riferimento al disagio
                                                                                   esistenziale della propria generazione, sia lo scrittore William S. Burroughs. In
                                                                                   The Soft Machine (1962), egli crea il personaggio di “Uranian Willy, the Heavy
                                                                                   Metal Kid”. Il suo successivo romanzo Nova Express (1964) porta ad un ulte-
                                                                                   riore sviluppo del tema, facendo dell’espressione heavy metal una metafora
                                                                                   della temibile addiction (micidiale dipendenza da alcool e droghe):
                                                                                       Pp. 56-58 [Chapt. “Uranian Willy”] e. 62-63 [Chapt.”Towers Open Fire”]
                                                                                       Uranian Willy the Heavy Metal Kid. Also known as Willy The Rat. He
                                                                                       wised up the marks. [...] THIS IS WAR TO EXTERMINATION. FIGHT
                                                                                       CELL BY CELL THROUGH BODIES AND MIND SCREENS OF THE
                                                                                       EARTH. SOULS ROTTEN FROM THE ORGASM DRUG, FLESH
                                                                                       SHUDDERING FROM THE OVENS, PRISONERS OF THE EARTH
                                                                                       COME OUT. STORM THE STUDIO [...] Burnt metal smell of interplane-
                                                                                       tary war in the raw noon streets swept by screaming glass blizzards of
                                                                                       enemy flak. [...]
                                                                                     “ Shift linguals - Free doorways - Cut word lines – Photo falling - Word fal-
                                                                                       ling – Break Through in Grey Room – Use partisans of all nations –
                                                                                       Towers, open fire-“ [...]
                                                                                     “ Partisans of all nations, open fire – tilt – blast – pound – stab – strafe –
                                                                                       kill”
                                                                                     “ Pilot K9, you are cut off – back. Back. Back before the whole fucking shit

                                           132
   house goes up – Return to base immediately – Ride music beam back
   to base – Stay out of that time flak – All pilots ride Pan Pipes back to
   base”
   The Technician mixed a bicarbonate of soda surveying the havoc on his
   view screen – It was impossible to estimate the damage – Anything put
   out up till now is like pulling a figure out of the air – [Enemy] installations
   shattered – Personnel decimated – Board Books destroyed – Electric
   waves of resistance sweeping through mind screens of the earth – The
   Message of Total Resistance on short wave of the world – This is war to
   extermination – Shift linguals – Cut word lines – Vibrate tourists – Free
   doorways – Photo falling – Word falling – Break through in grey room –
   Calling Partisans of all nations – Towers, open fire –”
   p. 67 [Crab nebula] They walked on into an area of tattoo booths and sex
   parlors – A music like wind through fine metal wires bringing a measure
   of relief from the terrible dry heat – Black beetle musicians saw this
   music out of the air swept by continual hot winds from plains that sur-
   round the city – The plains are dotted with villages of conical paper-thin
   metal houses where a patient gentle crab people live unmolested in the
   hottest region of the planet. [...] The SOS addicts had sucked up all the
   silence in the area were now sitting around in blue blocks of heavy metal
   the earth ‘s crust buckling ominously under their weight [...]
   p. 109 [SOS] The Blue Heavy Metal People of Uranus [...]
   p. 111 [Short Count] The Heavy Metal Kid returned from a short blue holi-
   day on Uranus [...]
   p. 112 Green People in limestone calm – Remote green contempt for all
   feelings and proclivities of the animal host they had invaded with inexo-
   rable moves of Time-Virus-Birth-Death – With their diseases and orgasm
   drugs and their sexless parasite life forms – Heavy Metal People of
   Uranus wrapped in cool blue mist of vaporized bank notes – And The
   Insect People of Minraud with metal music – Cold insect brains and their
   agents like white hot buzz saws sharpened in the Ovens [...]
                                                          (da “Nova Express”, 1964)

    Il testo di Burroughs, con i suoi toni angosciosi e laceranti, prelude in qual-
che modo a quelli che saranno in séguito alcuni degli scenari favoriti del metal:
ambientazioni stranianti e claustrofobiche, istinto di ribellione nei confronti di
una società materialista e disumanizzante, ossessione della guerra (da
Burroughs peraltro talmente enfatizzata da perdere qualsiasi tratto realistico
per trasformarsi in pura visione apocalittica). Vale la pena ricordare che
                                                                                             Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
Burroughs era fortemente interessato alla musica alternativa e underground
della sua epoca: dopo aver partecipato come attore al film di Conrad Rook
Chappaqua (1966), insieme con Ravi Shankar e i già ricordati Fugs (Figura 2),
in età avanzata Burroughs si interessò ad una delle icone più rappresentative
della musica degli anni ’60, Jim Morrison (Stoned immacolate: the Music of the
Doors, 2000), e registrò letture di propri testi con la collaborazione del gruppo
industrial metal Ministry (Just one Fix, 2002) e di Kurt Cobain (The priest they
called him, 1992) (Figure 3-4).
    Pochi anni dopo la pubblicazione del libro di Burroughs, la frase “heavy
metal thunder” viene inserita nel testo della canzone Born to be Wild degli
Steppenwolf (1968), mentre due “metalli pesanti”, rispettivamente il “ferro”
(iron) e il “piombo” (le[a]d), entrano nelle denominazioni, entrambe curiosa-
mente ossimoriche, di due fra le band più significative del periodo che va dalla
fine degli anni ’60 agli inizi dei ’70, gli Iron Butterfly (“Farfalla di ferro”) e i già
ricordati Led Zeppelin (“Dirigibile di piombo”).
    Con gli anni ’70, l’espressione heavy metal appare ormai largamente impie-
gata per definire un tipo di musica aggressiva, dalle sonorità potenti e forte-
mente ritmate, ottenute attraverso un uso martellante delle percussioni nonché
un’enfatizzata amplificazione e una studiata “distorsione” dei suoni di chitarre e

                                                                                           133
                                                                                   bassi, e a volte perfino attraverso l’alterazione delle voci. Già utilizzata negli anni
                                                                                   ’60 da alcune band storiche tra cui gli stessi Beatles (Helter Skelter) per altera-
                                                                                   re la timbrica degli strumenti a corda, ottenendo effetti stridenti e, secondo alcu-
                                                                                   ni, potenzialmente psicotropi7, la “distorsione” trova largo impiego nel metal, che
                                                                                   si avvale di essa per trasmettere suggestioni oniriche, per esprimere rabbia e
                                                                                   disagio, talvolta addirittura per evocare atmosfere tetramente gotiche.
                                                                                       Non è certo questa la sede per esaminare i numerosi sottogeneri dell’heavy
                                                                                   metal né per indagare le ragioni per cui alcuni gruppi prediligono scenari lugu-
                                                                                   bri quando non esplicitamente orrorifici8. Achille non ha nulla a che vedere con
                                                                                   rituali demoniaci ed altre imbarazzanti tematiche, che comunque sono presen-
                                                                                   ti solo in una parte di questa musica (vi è infatti anche un metal dichiaratamen-
                                                                                   te cristiano, per cui cfr. www.holysteel.com). In ogni caso, è verosimile che la
                                                                                   truculenza delle battaglie omeriche, nonché l’atmosfera di primitiva barbarie
                                                                                   che persiste almeno in alcune parti dell’Iliade (e che solo in parte è temperata
                                                                                   dall’aulica perfezione del verso omerico), possano avere esercitato sul questo
                                                                                   genere musicale una certa suggestione.
                                                                                       Sono, infatti, almeno tre i componimenti ispirati alla figura dell’eroe acheo:
                                                                                   Achilles. Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts dei Manowar (dall’album The Triumph
                                                                                   of Steel, 1992); Achilles’ Revenge dei Warlord (da Rising out of The Ashes,
                                                                                   2002), e il recente Achilles dei Jag Panzer (da Casting the Stones, 2004).
                                                                                       Il secondo e il terzo sono esaltazioni del valore guerriero dell’eroe; in parti-
                                                                                   colare, il brano del gruppo americano Warlord, pur dichiarandosi esplicitamen-
                                                                                   te based on Homer’s Iliad, è in realtà una sequenza di immagini di distruzione
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                   e massacro, facilmente adattabili a qualsiasi scenario di guerra. Tuttavia, il testo
                                                                                   dei Warlord non si può considerare eccessivamente generico o, peggio, non
                                                                                   accurato. Un dettaglio interessante, e del tutto peculiare, è infatti rappresenta-
                                                                                   to dalla definizione di Achille come “king of the dead in Acheron”(con riferimen-
                                                                                   to a Odissea XI 485):
                                                                                       He carved his name, forever into books of lore
                                                                                       An immortal legend – helmet, shield, and sword
                                                                                       Commend the dead who fought and bled upon the fields
                                                                                       And bury them with honors, swords and shields
                                                                                       Remember them they could not fend in the end
                                                                                       In the face of Achilles’ anger, his revenge.
                                                                                       Hail to the one! To the king of the dead in Acheron
                                                                                       In his shadow we fade, we are lost in his name.
                                                                                       Hail to the one! To the king of the dead in Acheron
                                                                                       In his shadow we fade, we are lost in his name.
                                                                                       Hail to the one!
                                                                                       Tale elogio di Achille, tuttavia, contraddice apertamente il punto di vista ome-
                                                                                   rico, e lo stesso Achille, la cui ombra, in Odissea 11.487-491, risponde alle lodi
                                                                                   di Odisseo con le seguenti parole:
                                                                                       Non lodarmi la morte, splendido Odisseo. Vorrei esser bifolco, servire un
                                                                                       padrone, un diseredato, che non avesse ricchezza, piuttosto che domi-
                                                                                       nare su tutte l’anime consunte (trad. R. Calzecchi Onesti).
                                                                                       L’Achille dell’Odissea si esprime come un anti-eroe, che apprezza la vita più
                                                                                   della gloria. Dal punto di vista di un musicista epic metal, l’affermazione del per-
                                                                                   sonaggio rischia di essere considerata come un’inaccettabile abdicazione al
                                                                                   valore guerriero. Pertanto, la canzone necessitava di un importante cambio di
                                                                                   prospettiva: perfino nell’Acheronte, Achille rimane “il re”, l’indiscusso oggetto di
                                                                                   perpetua ammirazione per tutti coloro che “sono persi nel suo nome”.
                                                                                       Ma la distanza da Omero è più evidente nell’orecchiabile e potenzialmente
                                                                                   commerciale canzone dei Jag Panzer, Achilles. Il testo propone un breve rias-
                                                                                   sunto della saga troiana, basandosi esclusivamente sulla trama del film Troy di
                                                                                   W. Petersen, uscito nello stesso anno 2004. La stretta dipendenza della can-
                                                                                   zone dal film è evidente soprattutto in alcuni passaggi:
                                                                                       Born into war is all that he’s known
                                                                                       The seeds of terror are what he has sown
                                                                                       A maiden has never seen into his heart
                                                                                       And for this passion his soul will depart,

                                       134
oppure
   For the shores of Troy they set sail
   When all before him failed
   To avenge his cousin’s life
   The victim of the knife
   A prescindere dalla sbrigativa disinvoltura che contraddistingue l’uso della
rima, è indubbio che la sceneggiatura di Troy rappresenta la “fonte unica” del
testo dei Jag Panzer (che peraltro aggiunge ulteriori alterazioni della storia ori-
ginaria: ad esempio Achille non fa vela alla volta di Troia per vendicare la morte
di Patroclo!). In altra occasione (“Quaderni di Scienza della Conservazione”
4/2004, 300-333), ho preso le difese del film di Petersen, ma non è certo auspi-
cabile che esso diventi l’unico punto di riferimento per chi sia interessato alle
vicende della guerra di Troia.
4. The Triumph of Steel (Manowar, 1992)
     Di ben altro interesse il primo brano in ordine di tempo, Achilles, Agony and
Ecstasy in Eight Parts (d’ora in poi citato come AAeE) dei Manowar, storico
gruppo statunitense9 che agli esordi (Battle Hymns, 1982; ma vedere anche
Fighting the World, 1987) potè avvalersi niente meno che della collaborazione
di Orson Welles come voce narrante (Figura 5). Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in
Eight Parts (1992) è una suite (28’30”), incentrata su alcuni momenti fonda-
mentali dell’Iliade, dall’assalto di Ettore alle navi achee (libri 12-15) al funerale
di Patroclo (libro 23). Tre parti su cinque sono strumentali (3: “Funeral March”;
4: “Armor of the Gods”, e 7 “The Desecration of Hector’s Body”) e hanno lo
scopo di rendere onomatopeicamente alcuni peculiari momenti della narrazio-
ne omerica (ad esempio la descrizione della fucina di Efesto, dove, secondo
Iliade 18, vennero forgiate le nuove, divine armi di Achille). Nelle altre cinque
parti, in cui la voce ha un ruolo determinante, il testo appare molto più accura-
to che nelle altre interpretazioni musicali della saga troiana da me prese in
esame.
     In effetti, il testo di Joey DeMaio presuppone un’attenta e scrupolosa lettura
dell’Iliade: l’autore si è soffermato essenzialmente sul “cruciale” scontro fra
Ettore e Achille, ha parafrasato alcuni passi del poema adattandoli alle esigen-
ze del canto con una certa scioltezza e senza imbarazzanti forzature, e in parte
reintepretandoli, ma senza mai alterare o stravolgere il racconto omerico. Sia il
testo che la musica si propongono di evocare alcuni caratteristici scenari ome-
rici: la furia travolgente della battaglia, la barbara e feroce esultanza dei vinci-
tori, il dolore e l’angoscia del guerriero che sente incombere su di sé la pre-
senza della morte. Sulla scena sono presenti solo Ettore ed Achille, personag-
gi speculari, divisi da un odio irriducibile ma, al tempo stesso, accomunati da un

                                                                                           Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
destino per molti aspetti simile. Entrambi vengono còlti nel momento della mas-
sima esaltazione, mentre gioiscono selvaggiamente per il sangue dei nemici
uccisi, ma anche in quello della solitudine e dell’estremo dolore, quando il
dèmone della guerra si rivolge contro loro stessi. Inoltre, a differenza che nel-
l’irriverente e iconoclasta Troy, qui la divinità è una presenza costante, ineludi-
bile, che determina le sorti degli uomini con volere tanto imperscrutabile quan-
to ferreo: e, sebbene si parli genericamente di dèi, in realtà il vero padrone delle
vite dei mortali è Zeus, l’unico dio cui sia Ettore che Achille rivolgono le loro pre-
ghiere.
     Qualche osservazione particolare.
1) Nella prima parte (Hector storms the Wall),
     See my chariot run to your ships
     I’ll drive you back to the sea
     You came here for gold
     The wall will not hold
     This day was promised to me
     The gods are my shield
     My fate has been sealed
     Lightning and javelins fly


                                                                                         135
                                                                                       Soon many will fall
                                                                                       We are storming the wall
                                                                                       Stones fall like snow from the sky
                                                                                       We will pay with our glory
                                                                                       In the fire of battle
                                                                                       Zeus today is mine
                                                                                       Killing all my way
                                                                                       Like sheep and like cattle
                                                                                       Smashing skulls of all who defy
                                                                                       I spare not the hammer
                                                                                       I spare not the sword
                                                                                       This day will ring with my name
                                                                                       None have to chase me
                                                                                       Let he who will face me
                                                                                       Kill me or die by the sword,
                                                                                   il “muro” cui si riferisce il testo non è, naturalmente, quello di Troia, bensì quel-
                                                                                   lo costruito dagli Achei a difesa del proprio accampamento (Iliade 7.435-465) e
                                                                                   in seguito abbattuto (con il consenso di Zeus: cfr. 7.454-463) dalle schiere troia-
                                                                                   ne guidate da Ettore (Iliade 12-13). Uno specifico richiamo omerico è il riferi-
                                                                                   mento alle pietre che si riversano “come neve” sui nemici (Iliade 12. 156-161):
                                                                                       Come cadono i fiocchi di neve che un vento gagliardo, scuotendo la
                                                                                       nuvola, fitti riversa sopra la terra nutrice di molti; così si riversavano i
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                       dardi sia dalle mani dei Teucri, sia degli Achei, secco suonavano gli elmi,
                                                                                       colpiti da pietre molari, e i concavi scudi (trad. R. Calzecchi Onesti).
                                                                                   2) Nella seconda parte (The Death of Patroclus):
                                                                                       Oh friend of mine, how to say goodbye
                                                                                       This was your time, but the armor you wore
                                                                                       Was mine, I will not rest
                                                                                       Until Hector’s blood is spilled
                                                                                       His bones will all be broken
                                                                                       Dragged across the field
                                                                                       This dear friend is how we’ll say goodbye
                                                                                       Until we meet in the sky,
                                                                                   l’ovvio riferimento alle armi di Achille che diventano fatale travestimento per il
                                                                                   valoroso amico dell’eroe è complicato dalla (meno ovvia) constatazione che la
                                                                                   morte di Patroclo non è altro che l’anticipazione di quella di Achille, già presta-
                                                                                   bilita dal Fato e ormai prossima. Il tema di Patroclo come alter ego di Achille e
                                                                                   delle armi come contrassegno dell’identità del guerriero non è certo sfuggito a
                                                                                   grecisti e antropologi (si veda in proposito [4] 11ss., e bibliografia ivi citata), ma
                                                                                   poco importa accertare se l’autore del testo di AAeE fosse o meno a cono-
                                                                                   scenza di tali studi: la sua resta in ogni caso una felice intuizione.
                                                                                       Sempre nella stessa sezione, tuttavia, vi è anche la frase più criticata di que-
                                                                                   sto testo per il resto inattaccabile: la frase “This dear friend is how we’ll say
                                                                                   goodbye/ Until we meet in the sky”. Nella concezione omerica, infatti, le anime
                                                                                   dei morti scendono nell’Ade, incluse quelle di Achille e Patroclo (Odissea
                                                                                   11.467-541). Sarei tentata di osservare che, dopo Omero, la sorte del mortale
                                                                                   Ettore viene ben presto differenziata da quella del semidio Achille, che sarà
                                                                                   reso immortale nell’Isola dei Beati. Ma ammetto che questo non è il modo
                                                                                   appropriato di affrontare la questione. La verità è che “until we meet in the sky”
                                                                                   era probabilmente la più suggestiva e orecchiabile tra le clausole possibili, certo
                                                                                   preferibile ad un ingombrante “until we meet in the Isle of the Blessed”.
                                                                                   Interessante comunque notare che l’Isola dei Beati non è affatto estranea al
                                                                                   repertorio dei Manowar (Each Dawn I Die, da Hail to England [1984]).
                                                                                   3) Nell’ottava e ultima parte (The Glory of Achilles):
                                                                                       The oath of the gods, this day was fulfilled
                                                                                       In the heat of the battle, Hector was killed
                                                                                       See him Patroclus, down in the dust
                                                                                       Rejoice in his death my symbol of trust
                                                                                       A dozen highborn youths have been killed


                                        136
    Cutting their throats their blood was all spilled
    Their bodies set at the foot of your fire
    With oxen, sheep and two of your hounds
    Your funeral pyre high off the ground
    Hector’s body dragged three times around
    I will carry the torch to your funeral pyre
    I will ask of the wind to send high your fire
    Hector’s blood will not be washed from my body until your body is burned
    A prophecy spoken a promise fulfilled
    More blood will be spilled, more will be killed,
la descrizione del funerale di Patroclo è di totale derivazione omerica, con l’uc-
cisione dei dodici prigionieri troiani (Iliade 23.175)10 e di numerosi animali, fra
cui montoni, buoi (23.166) e due “cani domestici” (23.174); con Achille che
invoca il vento perché mandi in alto la fiamma della pira (23.194-219) e rifiuta
di lavarsi dal sangue di Ettore prima di avere compiuto il rito funebre (23. 40-
46). Anche il riferimento al corpo di Ettore trascinato tre volte intorno al tumulo
di Patroclo è omerico, ma nel poema il barbaro rituale (di origine evidentemen-
te molto arcaica) si svolge più tardi (24.15-16).
    Per concludere, mi soffermerei su quello che mi sembra essere il punto cru-
ciale dell’intera suite, la Hector’s Final Hour (Part V). Come in Omero, gli dèi
“soppesano il Fato” di Ettore, la cui anima si accinge a “scendere nell’Ade” (cfr.
Iliade 22.209-213):
    Allora Zeus agganciò la bilancia d’oro, le due Chere di morte lunghi stra-
    zi vi pose, quella d’Achille e quella d’Ettore domatore di cavalli, la tenne
    sospesa pel mezzo: d’Ettore precipitò il giorno fatale, e finì giù nell’Ade;
    l’abbandonò allora Apollo (trad. Calzecchi Onesti).
    Ancora una volta, i riecheggiamenti omerici sono ben percepibili, ma con
una variazione interessante: nell’Iliade, Ettore non sa di essere condannato a
morte, e affronta Achille con l’illusione di poterlo ancora battere, almeno fino a
quando non si renderà conto del fatale inganno di Atena (22.297-305). In
Hector’s Final Hour, il principe troiano, prima ancora del duello decisivo, perce-
pisce la propria morte imminente come una sorta di equa ‘compensazione’ per
le molte migliaia di vittime della sua spada: secondo un modulo più tragico che
epico (Orestiade), egli avverte intorno a sé la persecutoria presenza delle
“silent voices” (ossia, le Erinni) degli uccisi. Ettore sa che la morte è la giusta
‘ricompensa’ (cfr. il successivo Death Hector’s Reward) per le innumerevoli
stragi da lui compiute: eppure, l’abbandono estatico, perfino visionario, con cui
l’eroe troiano va incontro alle frecce implacabili dell’avversario, è quello di una
vittima sacrificale. Il suo “mortal blood” sarà l’ennesimo dono offerto all’avida
madre terra.
                                                                                        Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
    In questa drammatica (più che epica) sezione di AAeE, la voce ha un ruolo
fondamentale. A questo proposito, vale la pena citare una dichiarazione di
Eric Adams, vocalist dei Manowar: «I used to be a Deep Purple groupie, a
male groupie. I mean, I would go to every show, every show. Every show, no
matter where they played because I loved Ian Gillan’s voice»
(http://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/manowar.htm). L’affermazione è inte-
ressante, specie se si ricorda che Ian Gillan è il magnifico interprete di Gesù
nell’edizione originale di Jesus Christ Superstar. Non penso che si tratti di
semplice coincidenza: il misticismo arcaico, rappresentato nell’Iliade, è reso in
modo appropriato sia dal testo di DeMaio che dalla sorprendente voce di
Adams. Tuttavia, ulteriori congetture riguardo alle influenze musicali, o ad
altre influenze di questo affascinante brano andrebbero al di là dei fini e dei
limiti di questo intervento.
    Per ironia della sorte, nonostante la sua originalità e la sua valenza cultura-
le, AAeE non fu accolto da critica e pubblico con lo stesso entusiasmo che
aveva in precedenza accompagnato altri brani “epici” dei Manowar, incentrati
sulla mitologia nordica anziché su quella greca. Poiché l’epic metal mostra una
spiccata tendenza a creare stereotipi di forza e potenza virile, come ad esem-
pio Thor, dio norreno del fulmine, è probabile che il mito greco sia considerato


                                                                                      137
                                                                                   meno convincente da musicisti e pubblico a causa delle sue implicazioni omoe-
                                                                                   rotiche [6]. Comunque, dopo The Triumph of Steel i Manowar hanno abbando-
                                                                                   nato gli eroi dell’antica Grecia fino al 2008, quando la band ha pubblicato la
                                                                                   canzone Die with Honor, ispirata al valore dei guerrieri spartani11.
                                                                                   5. Recenti sviluppi del tema
                                                                                       Originariamente composta per una formazione diversa, la canzone I am
                                                                                   Achilles è stata recentemente inserita nell’album Disc One/Disc Two del grup-
                                                                                   po rock canadese Epyllion (pubblicato on line nel marzo 2009):
                                                                                       If you resist against me
                                                                                       I will continue forcibly
                                                                                       The consequences that’ll be
                                                                                       I can’t control what I will be
                                                                                       The consequences that’ll be
                                                                                       I can’t control what I will be
                                                                                       Join me on the run
                                                                                       Be a Myrmidon
                                                                                       I lead, so hear my politic
                                                                                       Follow a mindless story
                                                                                       Fear in nothing but the end (…)
                                                                                       In questo brano, Achille è presentato in forma metaforica. Come comunica-
                                                                                   tomi personalmente da Eric St. Cyr, leader del gruppo Epyllion, “l’idea era che
                                                                                   quando Achille conduceva in battaglia la sua armata di Mirmidoni, tutti lo segui-
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                   vano ciecamente, solo perché «lui era Achille». Questo accade troppo spesso
                                                                                   nel nostro mondo, dove i popoli seguono i loro leader semplicemente perché
                                                                                   sono i leader”12.
                                                                                       Ridicolo ghiottone secondo Bob Dylan, giovane idealista nella visionaria rap-
                                                                                   presentazione dei Led Zeppelin, anima solitaria e tormentata nell’affresco musi-
                                                                                   cale dei Manowar, Achille è senza dubbio anche un leader (si veda soprattutto
                                                                                   Iliade 16), e, per citare ancora le parole di St. Cyr, “la questione se fosse un
                                                                                   politico o un guerriero non è sembrata molto importante nel narrare la storia,
                                                                                   poiché egli era comunque un leader e un’icona di questo”. Un ulteriore esem-
                                                                                   pio delle molteplici interpretazioni cui il mito greco e i suoi personaggi (special-
                                                                                   mente se complessi come Achille) possono essere soggetti nella cultura con-
                                                                                   temporanea.
                                                                                   6. Appendice iconografica
                                                                                       Il pittore vittoriano Herbert James Draper (1863-1920) è autore di un famo-
                                                                                   so dipinto intitolato Ulisse e le sirene (1909), dove, sulla scia dell’Odissea
                                                                                   (12.166-200), queste creature affascinanti e micidiali tentano di sedurre
                                                                                   Odisseo con le loro bellissime voci. La differenza più significativa fra il raccon-
                                                                                   to omerico e le sue interpretazioni visuali (sia antiche che moderne) consiste
                                                                                   nel fatto che in Omero le Sirene non sono visibili: pertanto, i pittori si sentivano
                                                                                   liberi di rappresentarle come volevano, a cominciare dalla ceramica greca
                                                                                   (dove le sirene sono mostri zoomorfi), fino alla sorvegliata sensualità di J.W.
                                                                                   Waterhouse (La sirena, 1900) e alla più provocante interpretazione di Draper,
                                                                                   dove le sirene sono avvenenti e aggressivi sex-symbols.
                                                                                       Un’indiscutibile allusione al dipinto di Draper è identificabile nella copertina
                                                                                   dell’album The Odyssey dei Symphony X (2002), dove la nave di Odisseo è let-
                                                                                   teralmente presa d’assalto da una Sirena dotata di ali di pipistrello: un sincreti-
                                                                                   smo estemporaneo fra mito greco e horror.
                                                                                       L’album The Odyssey prende il nome dal brano omonimo, della durata di 24
                                                                                   minuti, che contiene una versione condensata dei principali episodi del poema
                                                                                   omerico, ed è caratterizzato da melodie e arrangiamenti elaborati e classi-
                                                                                   cheggianti, e da testi accurati.

                                                                                   Note
                                                                                   1   Originariamente eseguita dallo stesso Hazlewood e da Nancy Sinatra, la canzone



                                       138
     venne coverizzata nel 1970 dal gruppo Vanilla Fudge, che ne realizzò uno stu-
     pendo arrangiamento in chiave psichedelica.
2    Le canzoni più famose dei Fugs sono state recentemente ripubblicate nell’album
     Electromagnetic Steamboat (2006).
3    Così [5] 211 (a proposito dell’Ifigenia in Aulide euripidea).
4    Sebbene costituitisi nel 1994, i Symphony X sono un gruppo di metal progressivo
     e sinfonico, il cui sound e le cui tematiche risalgono ai progetti ottantiani dei
     Queensryche e degli Iron Maiden, relativi ad argomenti mitologici e fantasy. A pro-
     posito di questo gruppo, si veda anche l’Appendice Iconografica che conclude il
     presente articolo.
5    Vale la pena ricordare che nei primi decenni del secolo XX lo stesso atteggia-
     mento denigratorio era rivolto al Jazz (cfr. in particolare la recente riedizione di
     Th. Adorno, On Popular Music, in A. Easthope and K. McGowan (Eds.), A Critical
     and Cultural Theory Reader, Open University Press, Milton Keynes, 1992, 301-
     314).
6    Nell’accezione originaria, per heavy metal si intende un metallo dal peso speci-
     fico superiore a 5.0, con particolare riferimento ad alcuni metalli tossici come
     piombo e mercurio (cfr. Oxford English Dictionary s.v. ). A proposito dell’ utilizzo,
     in contesto musicale, di termini appartenenti ad ambiti semantici diversi, V.
     Colombo osserva: “nel mondo della musica le parole comuni assumono un diver-
     so significato rispetto alle convenzioni linguistiche, diventando così un idioletto
     per iniziati. La prima peculiarità del fenomeno è che ciò accade in modo subdo-
     lo: non si inventano nuove parole, ma se ne usano di già esistenti con un signi-
     ficato applicabile solo in quel determinato contesto. La seconda peculiarità è che
     ciò accade solo con le parole. Le note, che dovrebbero essere i vocaboli speci-
     fici degli iniziati, sono invece universalmente comprensibili anche a chi è musi-
     calmente ignorante” (C onversazioni private, scambi, risposte e ritorni ,
     “Kaleydos”, bollettino dell’Università Popolare di Mestre (VE) 23 [Ottobre-
     Dicembre 1999] 4-7).
7    Una documentata sintesi degli studi relativi agli effetti della “popular music” sulla
     psiche dei giovani è in [3] 181-223. Pur prendendo le distanze da quanti vorreb-
     bero sostenere l’esistenza di un preciso rapporto causa-effetto tra consumo di
     musica (soprattutto metal) e comportamenti aggressivi o comunque devianti, i due
     autori tuttavia finiscono con l’ammettere un’influenza negativa della musica sul
     comportamento degli adolescenti, in particolare sul loro rendimento scolastico. A
     proposito del titolo Helter Skelter, che fu trovato scritto sui muri della casa di
     Roman Polanski a Bel Air dopo il raccapricciante massacro del 9-10 agosto 1969,
     vedere Vincent Bugliosi-Curt Gentry, Helter Skelter. The True Story of the Manson
     Murders, New York (W.W. Norton & Company) 1974. Sui timori che certi “idoli”
     della musica contemporanea suscitano nell’opinione pubblica, soprattutto ameri-

                                                                                                  Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
     cana, si sofferma, con salutare ironia, Michael Moore nel film-documentario
     Bowling a Columbine (2002).
8    Per un’analisi dettagliata dell’ heavy metal e delle sue molteplici forme, rinvio a [7],
     [8], e soprattutto [2] (che presenta il genere in una luce largamente favorevole);
     inoltre, per i risvolti propriamente sociologici del fenomeno, vedere [9]. Per un’ag-
     giornata rassegna degli studi riguardanti l’ heavy metal, si veda “Metal Studies”-A
     Bibliography, a cura di K. Kahn Harris, all’ indirizzo http://www.kahn-harris.org.
9    Almeno due membri della band sono di origine italiana: il bassista/compositore
     Joey DeMaio e il cantante Eric Adams (un nome d’arte). L’ex chitarrista Ross “The
     Boss” Friedman è di origini ebraiche (http://www.jewsrock.org). Naturalmente, ogni
     accusa di razzismo, calunniosamente imputata al gruppo, è da ritenersi infondata.
10   Si tratta dell’unica traccia di sacrificio umano rimasta nell’ Iliade, che ignora, anzi
     addirittura nega il sacrificio di Ifigenia (si veda in proposito la mia introduzione ad
     [1], 4 e n. 8).
11   Lo stesso tema è trattato in Hellenic Warrior Spirit del gruppo italiano Holy Martyr
     (2008: ma la maggior parte dei brani è anteriore e non presuppone il successo del
     film 300, uscito nel 2007).
12   Intervista del 12 maggio 2009.



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                                                                                   Summary
                                                                                   From the Sixties until today, the presence of Greek Mythology in so-called “popular music” appears
                                                                                   to be far more frequent and significant than one could imagine. Nevertheless, at the beginning such
                                                                                   references are rather generic, loose and even ironical; on the other side, in the Eighties and after-
                                                                                   wards, particularly in the framework of certain music genres, entire concept albums are inspired to
                                                                                   the deeds of Achilles and Odysseus, or by the tragic vicissitudes of the house of Atreus. Special
                                                                                   attention is dedicated to the character of Achilles, who, as a prototype of the modern “super hero”,
                                                                                   is somehow close to the sensibility and the expectations of contemporary youth cultures and their
                                                                                   associated media.


                                                                                   Riassunto
                                                                                   A partire dagli anni ’60 del secolo scorso, la presenza del mito greco nella cosiddetta musica “popo-
                                                                                   lare” risulta molto più frequente e significativa di quanto si potrebbe immaginare. Nei primi tempi, tut-
                                                                                   tavia, tali riferimenti appaiono piuttosto generici, liberi e perfino ironici, mentre dagli anni ’80 in poi,
                                                                                   soprattutto in determinati generi musicali, si assiste alla composizione di veri e propri concept
                                                                                   albums ispirati alle gesta di Achille e Odisseo, ovvero alle tragiche vicende della casa degli Atridi.
                                                                                   Particolare attenzione è dedicata al personaggio di Achille, prototipo del moderno “supereroe” e
                                                                                   quindi per certi aspetti vicino alla sensibilità e alle aspettative della cultura giovanile contemporanea
                                                                                   e dei suoi mezzi di comunicazione.
E. Cavallini - Achilles in the Ages of Steel: greek Myth in modern popular music




                                                                                   Résumé
                                                                                   À partir des années 60 du siècle dernier, la présence du mythe grec dans la musique soi-disant
                                                                                   “populaire” est beaucoup plus fréquente et significative que ce que l’on ne pourrait imaginer. Dans
                                                                                   les premiers temps, néanmoins, ces références paraissent plutôt génériques, libres et même ironi-
                                                                                   ques, tandis qu’à partir des années 80, surtout dans des genres musicaux déterminés, on assiste à
                                                                                   la composition de véritables “concept albums” inspirés aux hauts faits de Achille et Ulysse, c’est-à-
                                                                                   dire aux tragiques vicissitudes de la maison des Atrides. Une attention particulière est consacrée au
                                                                                   personnage d’Achille, prototype du moderne “super-héros” et donc, à certains égards, proche de la
                                                                                   sensibilité et des attentes de la culture juvénile contemporaine et de ses moyens de communication.


                                                                                   Zusammenfassung
                                                                                   Seit den 60er Jahren ist die Präsenz des griechischen Mythos in der so genannten “Pop-Musik” viel
                                                                                   verbreiteter und bedeutsamer als man annimmt. In der ersten Zeit waren diese Bezüge jedoch eher
                                                                                   allgemein, frei und sogar ironisch, während man seit den 80er Jahren vor allem in bestimmten
                                                                                   Musikgenres die Zusammenstellung richtiger Concept Albums beobachten kann, die von den Taten
                                                                                   des Achilles und des Odysseus oder den tragischen Ereignissen im Haus der Atriden inspiriert sind.
                                                                                   Besondere Aufmerksamkeit wird der Figur des Achilles gewidmet, Prototyp des modernen
                                                                                   “Superhelden”, der damit in gewissem Sinne der Sensibilität und den Erwartungen der heutigen
                                                                                   Jugendkultur und ihrer Kommunikationsmittel nahe steht.


                                                                                   Resumen
                                                                                   A partir de los años 60 del siglo pasado, la presencia del mito griego en lo que se ha dado en llamar
                                                                                   música “popular” resulta mucho más frecuente y significativa de cuanto se podría imaginar. En un
                                                                                   principio, sin embargo, dichas referencias eran más bien genéricas, libres e incluso irónicas, mien-
                                                                                   tras que a partir de los años 80, y sobre todo en determinados géneros musicales, se asiste a la com-
                                                                                   posición de auténticos álbumes conceptuales inspirados en las gestas de Aquiles y Odiseo, o en el
                                                                                   trágico devenir de la casa de los Atridas. Particular atención ha recibido el personaje de Aquiles, pro-
                                                                                   totipo del moderno “superhéroe” y que, por serlo, en ciertos aspectos está próximo a la sensibilidad
                                                                                   y a las expectativas de la cultura juvenil contemporánea y de sus medios de comunicación.

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