INTRODUCTION<br >The true hero， the true subject， the center of the Iliad is force. Force<br >employed by man， force that enslaves man， force behind which<br >man s flesh shrinks away. In this work， at all times， the human<br >spirit is shown as modified by its relations with force， as swept<br >away， blinded， by the very force it imagined it could handle， as<br >deformed by the weight of the force it submits to.<br >In the lowland rainforest of south-central New Guinea lives a tribe of<br >about 450 persons， the Gebusi. Few societies go so far in repudiating<br >all expressions of anger and violence. Anthropologist Bruce Knauft has<br >described the Gebusi stress on kindliness， mutual deference， commu-<br >nal sharing， and cooperation， and their affectionate practices of child-<br >rearing:<br >The primary cultural value instilled in young children is "good<br >company" (kog-wa-yay). This term is also used by the Gebusi to<br >describe their customs and way of life as a whole. The<br >component concepts of this term--togetherness， casual talk，<br >and exuberant humor--are the most immediate and striking<br >