I'm going to rant about The Two Towers now, dammit, and we'll see if I can relate it back somehow to The Iliad.

First off, Grima was excellent! I have just learned that I am one of literally about six Grima Wormtongue fans across the globe, but my infinitely marginal status doesn't bother me. Did everybody notice the two parts where he cries? For those that only spotted the one, when he's professing his love to Eowyn, he's actually crying. Annoyingly, there is absolutely no character in The Iliad which parallels him. Believe it or not, there aren't any angst-ridden advisors/PBTTs (Power Behind The Thrones) in any Homeric context. On the other hand, it can be argued that he bears a striking similarity to--SHOCK!--Aegisthus! I'm not sure, but I think there's vermiculation surrounding Aegisthus, too. If anyone can back me up on this, drop a line or sign the guestbook yet again. But anyway, think about it...

Both are men of words, intellect and persuasion in a Hack 'n' Slash (and if the fangirls have it their way, emphasis on the Slash) world. Remember? Aegisthus is constantly being ridiculed for his lack of interest/ability in combat. Grima is also under fire for this; in Rohan, you see, these things called "litracy," "reed-ing" and "not using my big-arse sword to get my way" are associated with witchcraft.

Both are also in love with royalty, although Aegisthus is actually successful (dear lord, let's not continue the metaphor--Agamemnon is nothing LIKE Aragorn, 'cept for the whole lost king coming into his own thing... and the battle thing... no, let's end it here). Perhaps this is due to a subtle classism: whilst Aegisthus is, as I've heard it called "steenkin' rich" and royal to boot, Grima Wormtongue is of lowly birth. And we all know from every respectable story--including history--that rich men can marry poor girls, but not the other way around. If Eowyn went on to wed Aragorn, I'd say that the obvious thing standing in Grima's way was that her heart was elsewhere. Fair enough, but let's not forget the HORRIBLE deus ex machina marriage to Faramir in ROTK. Yawn. Does anyone really care about Faramir?

Perhaps more on this later.