As you likely know, I love Dune. As a much younger person I read all the books that were then out, I still have a bunch of them, and reveled in the two recent movies from Denis Villeneuve (which include far less explanation than I thought possible). See here for my (spoiler free!) thoughts on the first book and what might be some helpful background information, written before I went to the first film in 2021. I've given out that book to friends numerous times and simply bought a replacement so they could keep it, with the hope they'd love like I do. Maybe some day.
I'm also right now reading the Iliad, a story of the Trojan War, a cornerstone of western civilization and one of the oldest surviving pieces of human literature. And in it I learned a connection to Dune that I had not fully comprehended, or remembered.
In Dune the main character, Paul, hails from House Atreides. They are one of a number of 'Great Houses' dominating the known galaxy under the power of an Emperor. These houses rule their own planets and serve in a kind of parliament, and also have distinct styles, traits and symbols like coats-of-arms. House Atreides primary symbol is a red hawk. They're renowned for their loyalty and honor and it's this very thing that draws them, willingly, into the trap on Arrakis. Their long, proud history won't be cast aside easily.
It's their lineage I want to expound upon. The Atreides family line goes all the way back to Agamemnon, legendary Myacenaean king and warlord of the Achaeans (Greeks) during the Trojan War. Considering Agamemnon (supposedly) lived more than 3000 years ago, and the events of Dune take place something like 20,000 years in the future, this is a ridiculous amount of time and family tracing. This comes into play in one of the Dune sequels, with the original Agamemnon himself appearing in the Other Memory of one of the main characters, if that's something you understand. If not, don't worry about it.
The Trojan War, of which the Iliad tells events during its 10th year near its end, was a mythological event of the Greek Bronze Age (1750-1050 BC), estimated around 1200 BC. Archeologists have indeed discovered a multiple-times destroyed city believed to be Troy, in Turkey, but that's about the extent of our knowledge outside of legend. Those legends (i.e. Greek mythology) were what the ancient Greeks believed and passed through oral legend until the time of Homer (~8th century, the 700s, BC), when the Iliad and Odyssey were written down. The religion of the ancient Greeks, and later the Romans, was intertwined with these myths, of the gods of Olympus and the various heroes, many of whom were half gods themselves. All this doesn't mean that none of this is true, the myths must have come from somewhere, but it's pretty hard to us to parse it all out so far removed.
Anyway, the war started after Paris, prince of Troy, stole Helen, wife and queen of Menelaus, the king of Sparta (not yet that Sparta), on a visit across the Aegean. Menelaus was obviously upset and so was his ambitious brother, Agamemnon, who raised a huge Achaean force that crossed the sea intent to level Troy. Helen is thus referred to as 'the face that launched a thousand ships.' The siege would last 10 years and featured a variety of Greek heroes, most famously Achilles and Odysseus, facing off against Hector and an army from Asia Minor in defense. It'd end following the deployment of the Trojan Horse, some trickery that gained entry to the stronghold city and preceded its destruction. More thoughts on actually reading the Iliad will likely come in a future post, but most of what we need here is a quick overview.
A piece I will explain further is the importance and usage of names. There are multiple names used over and over, for both groups of people and individuals, in the story. The attacking Greeks, led by Agamemnon, are, for one example, called the 'Achaeans,' or the 'Danaans,' or the 'Argives,' all interchangeably. For comprehension purposes you then need to remember all this, which admittedly can be a challenge if you're not already familiar with the terms. The various gods and heroes are referred to by multiple names as well. Not only are there cool nicknames used without further context, like 'the grey-eyed goddess,' or 'the lord of the war cry,' or 'the great runner,' but references to a character's patrimony is common. Achilles may be simply called 'son of Peleus.' Odysseus may be called 'son of Laertes.' And either Agamemnon or Menelaus may be called 'son of Atreus.' A huge part of who these men were was defined by their lineage, who they came from. The great deeds of the father are bestowed on and expected of his sons.
The names are taken a step further for the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus. They are at times referred to by what's called a patronymic name, a name for their father's descendants. Together they are called the, 'Atreidae.' Individually they can be called 'Atreides.'
'The time had come, and Prince Alexandrus (Paris),
consort of Helen, buckled on his armour:
first the greaves, well moulded to his shins,
with silver ankle circlets; then
around his chest the cuirass of his brother
Lycaon, a good fit for him. He slung
a sword of bronze with silver-studded hilt
by a baldric on his shoulder; over this
a shield-strap and the many-layered shield;
then drew a helmet with a horse-tail crest
upon his head, upon hisa gallant brow,
the tall plume like a wave-crest grimly tossing.
He picked out, finally, a solid spear
with his own handgrip.
Meanwhile the great soldier,
Menelaus, put on his own equipment.
Armed now, each in his place apart, both men
walked forward in the space between the armies,
glaring at one another. Fierce excitement
ran through all who gazed - horse-breaking Trojans,
Achaeans in leg armour - as the champions
came to a stand inside the duelling ground
and hefted spears in rage. Without delay
Alexandrus opened the fight: he hurled
his long-shadowing spear and hit Atreides
fair on the round shield. Nothing brazen broke -
no, but the point of bronze at impact bent
in that hard armour.'
From The Iliad, Book III 'Duelling for a Haunted Lady'
(Pages 52-53 in my Oxford World's Classics version)
To restate the gist here, to be an Atreides is literally to be a son of Atreus, which accurately describes Duke Leto and Paul in the Dune universe. Seeing this in the Iliad resulted in a bit of an a-ha(!) moment for me. Perhaps I should've remembered exactly what the name Atreides means, but it sure was fun figuring this bit of cleverness from Frank Herbert all over again. Especially now that I've read a lot more about ancient Greece.
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