Hector the Betta Fish

Slightly fuzzy pic, but very blue, no?

Upon entering Walmart, I had no intention of buying a fish. I went in for one thing - just one - and came out with several: two bottles of nail polish, a fish, face wash and some random tomatoes. Retail therapy works wonders for me, but I'm thinking I might need to be concerned that my particular version of it entails fish.
The previous day had been exceptionally hard, and the only explanation I could conjure for obtaining a betta was simply that I needed to show something I cared. Faithfully taking care of something requires a certain amount of stability, and I really needed that.

In the past, I named fish after philosophers because I'm just that geeky. Plato and Kirk had already been used on previous fish, and I didn't like the sound of Socrates or Aristotle. That would just be pretentious. Har har.

And then I started thinking about my college days and the political theory courses I took, particularly one about ancient political thought in which a beloved blonde professor had us memorize parts of the Iliad.

And that would be Winston the owl demonstrating how to simultaneously photo bomb and give a serious stink-eye. 

(And before I'm labeled as unbearably highfalutin', let me just confess that I misspelled Iliad. Without missing a beat, I then spelled 'misspelled' with one 's'. After decades of education, I rite so gud.)

I chose to memorize a part in the Iliad in which two warriors meet in battle. Hector watches Achilles approach, and wonders whether he should engage Achilles or flee to the safety of the city wall. Neither his family nor his city want him to die; and he faces a choice between life and honor. He chooses honor and with it, tragic death.

I loved - and still love - this section because Hector chooses to stand firm in the face of enormous peril. He knows what he has to do, and he does it.

So I named the fish Hector. It seemed right.

Later that evening I watch him get acquainted with his spacious new home, his tail fins flowing like robes behind him. I smiled, delighted.