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Today was pleasant enough.

The weather was nice, and the camp was abuzz with preparations for the Patroclus Honor Games. -That’s what they are calling them.

It might not be such a bad idea.

There are a bunch of events scheduled, and the men are very excited about it. -There is definitely a new air of optimism around camp now that Achilles has returned.

Diomedes and the Argosians are in charge of most of the planning for the Games, and today they set up tables where anyone could register for events.

Most of the generals signed up for one event or another. Unfortunately, that seemed to discourage a lot of the men of lower rank. No one wants to beat a general.

As a result, this will likely turn out to be an ego-fest for the army’s commanders.

Polites, Euryalus and I took a walk over to the sign-up tables this afternoon. I didn’t enter any of the competitions.

I suppose that it would be fun to try some archery, but a Cretan captain named Meriones and this Salamisian guy named Teucer had already signed up. These guys are two of our best archers, and they were standing around the table, acting like a couple of assholes. Meriones and Teucer were giving a hard time to anyone that added their name, and I didn’t really feel like dealing with it.

Polites signed up for the discus throw. -He is pretty good at it.

Looking at the lists, I saw Odysseus had registered for wrestling and running. Ajax’s signature was a few names below his in the wrestling competition. -I wonder if the General knows.

While we were there, we saw Nestor, arguing with some of the Argosian attendants. He thought there should be a debate event in the Games. The Argosians kept explaining that it was an athletic competition only, but Nestor wouldn’t hear any of it. The old guy just kept repeating: “A great soldier exercises his body and his MIND!”

Seeing that the Argosians wouldn’t budge, Nestor grew frustrated, and said “Fuck you, then! I’m signing up for the chariot race!” For the seventy year-old general, that would be suicide. The Argosians looked really stressed out. They didn’t want Nestor to sign up for a chariot race, but at the same time, they couldn’t just create a debate competition for him. –It was pretty funny to watch, but I sort of felt sorry for those guys.

Anyway, while we were watching the action, Elpenor and Epieus came up.

Seeing the two, Euryalus waved and called: “Hello Elpenor!” in one of his Epieus impressions.

Elpenor almost freaked, but Epieus grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the boxing registry.

Epieus signed his name and called to Euryalus: “Hey Euryalus, look, there is space for your name right below mine! Eur-y-al-us… how do you spell that?”

Polites and I started laughing, and Euryalus had little choice. He had to sign up. -Epieus might be a fop, but he's in very good shape. I think Euryalus might be in some trouble.

The rest of the day went by quietly.

There is a big funeral pyre for Patroclus down at the beach right now. Agamemnon and a bunch of the generals are making speeches in his honor.

They have a pig roast too, but I didn’t really feel like going.