Hundreds of heroes living on the shores of the Aegean Sea fought valiantly, thousands of warriors died, epics were written and deep traces were left in history with the Trojan War that broke out because of the immortal love of Helena, the beautiful wife of Menelaos, the king of Sparta, and Paris, the son of Priamos, the king of Ilion. Anatolia was never the same after the Trojan War. The city of Ilion was burned to the ground and turned into ruins. Paris was killed, Helen was forcibly taken back to her country...

Odysseus, one of the heroes of Troy, drifted from place to place for ten years until he found his homeland, the island of Ithaca, and his beautiful wife, Penelope, his greatest love. Despite many adventures, dozens of beautiful women and the traps of the sirens, he remained faithful to Penelope. Penelope, on the other hand, held off all the men who wanted to marry her while her husband was at war for years, saying that she would not marry until she had finished a tulle that she unraveled every night and rewove every day. Because it was said that her husband had died in Troy and would not return, she recognized Odysseus, who returned ten years later, from the arrow he shot in the competition organized for her...

Some loves make history, others fade into oblivion. But in all loves there is heroism and madness. What they all have in common is melancholy and pathos (madness).

The Irish princess Isolde heals Tristan, who was washed ashore from the sea. Healed Tristan returns to his country and tells his uncle King Mark about the girl who healed him. King Mark also wants to marry and will leave Tristan as his successor. Tristan goes to Ireland to fetch Isolde for his uncle and after many adventures he brings her back to him and the wedding takes place. On the way, however, his mother, the queen, gives him a talismanic sorbet, from which those who drink it will fall madly in love and remain faithful to each other for the rest of their lives. Tristan and Isolde, who unknowingly drank this talismanic syrup prepared by the queen for the bride and groom, fell madly in love with each other. Tristan and Isolde begin to meet secretly in the depths of the forest. They send their love letters to each other by river. The forest dwarf sees them and tells the king. The king orders his nephew Tristan to be captured and hanged. Isolde and Tristan are forced to flee. King Mark, who follows them, takes pity on them and forgives them, seeing them sleeping in the forest with a sword between them. (This is evidence of brotherly sleep in the tradition of chivalry)

Tristan goes to Britain and marries another girl. Her brother Kaherdin is Tristan's good friend. In a battle that the two of them fight together, Tristan is mortally wounded by a poisoned arrow and is about to die. None other than Isolde, who saved his life when he was wounded in the same way before, will be able to save him. Kaherdin promises to bring him Isolde. If he brings her, he will set white sail; if not, he will set black sail. Tristan's wife eavesdrops on this conversation and as soon as she sees the ship with white sails, she rushes to Tristan on his deathbed and tells him that a ship with black sails is coming. Desperate Tristan dies. Isolde, seeing her lover dead, also dies of grief. King Mark, learning that all this had happened because of a talismanic sorbet drunk unknowingly, pardoned the two lovers...

Whatever the reason, whether it is a talismanic elixir or a sad and transcendent story. Even as Schopenhauer explains in "The Metaphysics of Love"; that love is a game played by nature on people with the right genes for the continuation of the lineage, that the human being, for whom all kinds of suffering and wars are fought, who gives up everything, will not have much romance left after the production of the ultimate goal, the child. Instead of the divine order telling human beings to "give birth! Reproduce!" but instead uses love as a trap. For whatever reason, LOVE is a reality and undeniable. Whether it is love for the Creator like the love of Yunus, love for a friend like Mevlana and Shams, or love for an impossible love like Romeo and Juliette, it is a reality...

I wish all love could continue even after Farhad has passed through the mountains. If only the story didn't end here...

Mukaddes Pekin Başdil

Researcher-Author

Source: Denizli Haber