Somax Vs Achilles

"There are things... we can never throw off."
Which experiences make the deepest impression on the characters in Ransom?

In his adaption of Homer’s eighth century epic, Malouf demonstrates the vastly different effect each character’s experiences, both past and present have upon them, and how each one can help that character grow. In his interpretation of Achilles, Malouf shows how the traumatic the loss of his soul-mate Patroclus and his equally disturbing violation of Hector throws the Greek hero’s fragile psyche into an undignified malaise. However, Priam’s visit to Achilles acted as a catalyst to free him from his depression, and from the forgiveness Priam offered, he found peace within himself. In a similar but extended trauma and growth,
Unlike Achilles Somax is able to “go on, for all [his] losses”. Somax’s losses come in the form of the deaths of his seven children, the most tragic of which being the two most recent deaths of his sons. When one died after trying to lift a cart that was much too heavy, Somax was filled with regret for the way he treated the boy when he had “knocked him down,” and “wished a thousand times over” that he had acted differently. But unlike Achilles when Patroclus died, he had an understanding that “the fleas keep biting, the sun comes up again.” His life would go on. When his other son died when Beauty had kicked him into the river, he was distraught, and “felt like punching” the mule “where she stood” but once more unlike Achilles, Somax knew that “it wouldn’t’ have brought him back.” This clarity of perspective from Somax is due to his understanding of himself and others that has been ingrained within him as a result of the harsh reality of his everyday life. Somax “unchangeable, therefore unchanged” in a way that Priam himself has strived to be for so many years because Somax has the strength within himself to endure and remain unchanged even in the presence of
However, Priam could not escape the immense trauma he experienced and it continued to secretly haunt him for much of the rest of his life. In Troy, the story of Podarces is one “every child has heard”, and every Trojan knows but is not one that any really understand. Not even Hecuba knows the pain it has caused him. In spite of the seemingly happy ending, Priam “had not been delivered”, as the experience of what it was to have “your breath in another’s mouth” was something he could not “un-experience.” What scared him the most was the fear that he might not have his story told; he might’ve remained “a nameless thing”. This thought is what persists with him throughout his life, that all his “high honour” and “kingly duty” all stem from something as insignificant and meaningless as a whim. Hecuba too is made uneasy by just the thought of this. Priam’s experience as Podarces has left him scarred, as he feels he is no more than the “little shadow of a dead prince”, and that his all life on the throne has been as insignificant as the whim that put him on it. As such he strives to fill his life with only the kingly duty as if his commitment to the role will eventually end his sense of