Mea Culpa

Walking through Grizedale Forest a figure spotted in the distance in the dappled shade.  Was it running?

Coming closer I discovered the figure was not running but pulling.  Both figures connected by the rope.

His face gazing sightless the rope behind and around his neck.  A struggle between two joined figures

One being hoisted into the air.

The two larger than life figures (about 10 feet or 3 metres) are a sculpture called "Mea Culpa" (My mistake) by the artist Robert Bryce Muir.  Seeing it in its deep forest setting it is like seeing some ancient cullture in the silence of the forest being continually enacted.  Are they working together or against each other.  I think the atmosphere will alter with the seasons. 

 It is interesting to see how the strips on the tree echoes the strips of riveted metal of the figures.

I discover Muir's explanation of his installation is that the figures are locked in a mutually dependent struggle for survival .  "A clash of titans and neither will yield like the final conflict between Achilles and Hector in Homer's Iliad, a monumental struggle which is both a flight to the death but also a fight for life".

Footnote
Achilles is the hero of the Iliad he is the son of the king of the Myrmidons and when he refuses to fight to annoy Agamemnon the Greek commander his gentle and amiable friend Patroclus appears in the armour of Achilles at the head of the Myrmidons and is slain by Hector. Now you know this is not going to end well. Hector is portrayed by Homer as the noblest and most magnanimous of the Trojans but that will not save him for after holding out for ten years he is killed by Achilles.  "Alas the gods have lured me to my destruction..."  Here is the story of the end of Hector and Achilles.

An entry to ABC Wednesday - journey through the alphabet.