Grief
In contrast to the sometimes abrupt deaths of the soldiers in the field, Oswald offers some lengthy space for processing through the eyes of the widows. Families are also casualties in this tale because they lose their support systems, their loved ones, and sometimes even their freedom, in the case of the Trojans. Women like Iphidamas' wife sometimes barely have any time to share with their husbands before becoming widows. Others, like Andromache, mourn bitterly and unconsolably for a beloved lover who was ripped away from them. From the very dramatic recitation of names that begins the poem to its disconsolate ending, grief remains the thread which ties all of these disparate parties together.
Memorial As a Necessary Function of Time
Understandably Oswald's poem serves as a memorial. The names listed in the opening read off like a ceremonial reading at a war monument, and that's exactly their purpose. In this poem, however, there is an additional element to the memory of lost lives. With reference to nature, specifically how it changes over time, Oswald laments the loss but contextualizes death within a greater narrative of temporality itself. Winds and the rotation of the sun have made these events appear even more distant then when they first occurred, which was distant enough. The need to remember the names of the victims of this war arises from their additional loss to the persistent march of time.
Unity in Death
Oswald makes a point to portray each life as equally significant and its loss equally painful. This applies to relatively unfamiliar names like Iphidamas as well as the heroes like Hector. Each of their deaths is given attention, though some receive a mere mention. Similarly, the nature of the soldiers' deaths bears no relevance to how they are honored. Some, like Hector, have carried an ominous foreboding of death into battle with them, but others are completely surprised, like Protesilaus who is killed even before reaching the battle. Regardless of their status, suffering, or even investment in the war, these men are unified in death. Their sacrifices have earned them sufficient merit to be honored, mourned, and remembered.
