Pleasure, War, and the Mad Torment of Lord Byron.

Reminiscent of an excerpt from my second Cartwheels book, Between the Cartwheels:

‘The Greek War of Independence had consumed, and eventually killed, Lord Byron. In bizarre homage, this was where the Hero in the history of Western Civilization went from the Homeric, through the Socratic, to the Byronic. The hero of deeds, and then convictions, became the hero of romance. He possessed great talent and passion, distaste for society and its institutions, and a lack of respect for rank and privilege (although he had both). He had a secret past, and had been thwarted in love by social constraint. His character was flawed, arrogant, overconfident and, ultimately, self-destructive. He lived in rebellion and exile.’

My buddy Steve of the Jacuzzi once remarked that Byron had been a bit like me.