manowar achilles agony and ecstasy lyrics

The whole action hinges upon Hector and Achilles, who are represented as specular characters, divided by an irreducible hatred and yet destined to share a similar destiny. The purpose of the lyrics (and of the music as well) is to evoke some characteristic Homeric sceneries: the raging storm of the battle, the barbaric, ferocious exultance of the winner, the grief and anguish of the warrior who feels death impending over him. 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 melodic structure with a certain fluency and partly reinterpreting them, but never altering or upsetting Homer’s storyline. 'Joey DeMaio’s lyrics imply a careful and scrupulous reading of the Iliad. Eleonora Cavallini, Professor in Classics, has written about this song: Because of its Homeric content, it attracted the attention of a group of scholars at Bologna University in Italy. 'Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts' is the longest (28 minutes and 38 seconds) and most complex Manowar song, and probably an anticipation of a concept album that was never accomplished. It is the only album to feature guitarist David Shankle and drummer Kenny Earl 'Rhino' Edwards. This album was inspired by Homer (4)'s 'Iliad' and it was dedicated to Greece,Īs Joey DeMaio said: 'We wrote an album for Greece, that's how much we love Greece'

Manowar achilles agony and ecstasy lyrics