The Irony of “A Perfect Fighter”
Oswald expounds, “ECHEPOLUS a perfect fighter/Always ahead of his men/Known for his cold seed-like concentration/moving out and out among the spears/Died at the hands of Antilochus/You can see the hole in the helmet just under the ridge.” Although Echepolus is a famed ‘perfect fighter’ he succumbs. Accordingly, being an eminent warrior is not an out-and-out absolution from mortality.
“Death killed the killer”
Oswald explains, “SCAMANDARIUS the hunter/Knew every deer in the woods/He used to hear the voice of Artemis/Calling out to him in the lunar/No man’s land of the mountains/She taught him to track her animals/ But impartial death has killed the killer./Now Artemis with all her arrows can’t help him up.” Although Scamandarius espouses extraordinary hunting skills, the abilities are not a categorical armor against expiry. Death is a more prevailing killer than Scamandarius ;hence, he cannot dodge it. Bereavement does not respect hunters, regardless of their hunting dexterity
