One major theme of Homer's Iliad – which somehow seems as fresh and as vivid today as when first written – is its description of how even the greatest of states in Western civilization fail to reclaim what they lose. "Attempts to repair one loss lead only to more losses," Emily Wilson writes in her introduction to the Iliad (2023). "Loss can never be recouped."

As Wilson sets out her story, one cannot escape the analogy to today – to a Biden seeking to recoup the American "reputation" (Kleos in Greek). In the case of leaders of the ancient world too, the goal of achieving undying kleos runs through the poem.

Today, we might refer to it as one's "legacy." In the Iliad it is definitional and gives mortal leaders the chance to live on after death with honour and glory. For Team Biden, Ukraine was supposed to be their Troy. Russia, like Hector, was tricked into a fight and (and as Team Biden had hoped) is killed under Troy's walls.