Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Homer's The Iliad proves to be insightful reading because even today, it represents the nature of man through the Achilles and Hektor. Both of these men are heroes but they have very different characters and it is interesting to see how they develop throughout the poem. Hektor is torn between loyalty to his family and his duty to his country. Achilles allows himself to be driven by anger, which makes for a good, but emotional, warrior. They are both heroes but they are different and this allows us to appreciate the differences of man.
Hektor is a compassionate hero that is compelled by the well being of his family. When his wife expresses concern for him when going up against the Trojans, he actually considers staying behind for them but his sense of duty to country finally wins him over. He tells her that he would feel "deep shame / before the Trojans . . . If like a coward I were to shrink aside from fighting" (Homer VI.441-3). Here we can see that he is at least compassionate enough to explain to his wife what he is feeling and why. Achilles is also a hero but he is very different fro Hektor in that he does not have a strong sense of family ties. He has "swift feet" (I.148) and a swift temper as well. Achilles is bloodthirsty and prideful, two characteristics that can lead to trouble if one is not careful. Achilles also gives into acts of revenge, allowing his heart to be clouded and he never lets his anger go long enough to be content.
The experiences of both of these men are significant because they reveal to us that man rarely changes over the centuries. Circumstances and names may change but the nature of man rarely does.
Work Cited
Homer. "The Iliad." Mack, Maynard, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Vol. I. 5th ed. New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1985. pp. 106-208.
Homer What is the proper relationship between the Gods and Humans according Homer? "These are not poems about Gods, but about human beings. These human beings inhabit a world of which the gods are an unquestioned part."[footnoteRef:1] For Homer, the gods are indispensible parts of literary structure and narrative form. It impossible to imagine a Homeric world without gods. From a purely cosmological standpoint, the gods add structure, meaning, and order to
The Guilt and Shame In Heroes Sometimes, there is a misconception that heroes do not feel shame and guilt. For instance, in a movie, when heroes eliminate their adversaries, the viewers are happy because they just think of the good result that such action can bring to everyone. The viewers do not care of how the hero may have felt about his action of getting rid of the enemies and the
Homer is particularly fond of the pastoral pastime of stargazing, contrasting it with Achilles' warpath: "…as he swept across the flat land in full shining, like that star which comes on in the autumn and whose conspicuous brightness far outshines the stars that are numbered in the night's darkening." He also contrasts the image of the brightest star with the image of Achilles' spear: "And as a star moves among
And the Western people followed this idea. This labor code has been legalized for so many years now and has been amended several times all for the benefit of the working population. It is not only the Western civilization who has been benefited by this idea from the Greeks but also most, if not all, countries around the world. In terms of aesthetic ideals, the Greeks have also greatly influenced
Even if one accepts that Homer's age was more barbaric than our own, the description conveys nothing of a balanced match between equals, only blood and death. This is not to say that the "Iliad" is lacking in tales of great warriors, but that the author was not enamored with conflict and war to the degree that he was immune to its seeder side. Even though Ajax's display is
However, he makes it equally clear that he feels no obligation to help Agamemnon's men. Achilles' responses to all three ambassadors make it clear that he feels that Agamemnon has not treated him fairly or with respect. He feels like he has repeatedly put his life at risk and accomplished much as a warrior, only to be spurned by Agamemnon. Moreover, Achilles countered the arguments made by the ambassadors that