William Barr is no Achilles.
In an interview with CBS aired Friday, Barr said he doesn’t regret taking the job as President Trump’s attorney general. He knows he’s not exactly everyone’s favorite person right now, though it’s hard to compete with the deification of his foil, special counsel Robert Mueller.
Still, Barr won’t stop defending the administration. Why? Because we all die. “I am at the end of my career,” Barr said. “Everyone dies, and I am not, you know, I don’t believe in the Homeric idea that, you know, immortality comes by, you know, having odes sung about you over the centuries, you know?”
Barr may not be able to defend his own reputation, but at least he can say that it doesn’t matter. He was likely never a big fan of Homer’s “Iliad” or its vainglorious Achilles.
Achilles made many mistakes in life because he chased glory in death, but it’s also possible to make mistakes in life just because you, well, made a mistake. Try to blame that on Homer.
Despite his distaste for Homeric ideas, Barr does probably relate to another one of the Greek author’s poems. It’s about a man who embarks on a journey. Although he wins in the end, his foolishness and negligence lead his entire crew to their deaths.
Barr may not identify with the “Iliad,” but he’s surely noticed the possibility that he will share the fate of the minor characters in the “Odyssey.”
[Read more: Breaking with Trump, Barr doesn’t think DOJ or FBI committed treason ‘as a legal matter’]
