Iliad Essays (Examples)

Iliad

With our observation of God, it can, every now and then, be extremely complicated to understand the proceedings and judgments of the Greek divine beings. In modern times, it is believed that God does not tend to take such a vigorous and energetic function in the dealings of people's lives, where, in contrast, the Greeks considered and respected undeviating participation and association by the gods as an every day, unmanageable division of life. Unnecessary to articulate that godly interference was a key changeable in relation to Iliad. This paper compares the role of fate and the role of gods in Iliad and modern day.

The prehistoric Greeks were polytheistic in their way of life. They were imperfect in the authority to allow, as well as exempt to their gods. Today, conversely, we observe Greek legends, as well as the qualities of the gods and goddesses being founded solely upon…

Lysistrata stands in the foreground, guiding the men to peace, despite the fact that neither side wants to admit blame. She reminds the Spartans of Athenian assistance in the wake of the quake, and she likewise reminds the Athenians of Spartan assistance in overthrowing Hippias. "hy on fighting are your hearts so set? / For each of you is in the other's debt" (228). The Spartan and Athenian make peace, and the play ends with a song and dance by a Spartan in honor of the Athenian, for which the Athenian expresses his delight and admiration. The song, of course, is also a hymn of praise to the woman whose cunning has brought the war to a conclusion: "Pour thy grace upon oor peace; / Make the artful foxes cease; / Let guidwill and love increase / And prosperity!" (232). Honor and respect is shown to the very enemy with…

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 stars in the night's darkening, Hesper, who is the fairest star who stands in the sky, such was the shining from the pointed spear Achilleus was shaking…"

With this contrast, Homer conveys a sense of dramatic irony in the final battle between the two heroes.

Irony through Allusion to Past Events

The similes which in Book 22 convey irony by placing Hector in the role as the hunted, in contrast to his role as the dominant warrior throughout most of…

Hector is valiant, and can show great anger in the thick of battle when it is necessary. But behind the walls of Troy, during times of counsel, he is able to show coolness and forthrightness. He urges Paris to fight Helen's legitimate husband Menelaus alone, which would have prevented more people from dying if Paris had not acted like a coward and fought unethically in the one-on-one battle. Hector regrets that Helen ever came to Troy, rather than delights in the fact that the war may bring him glory. And most importantly of all, even though he has a right to be very angry at Paris for bringing Helen to Troy in the first place, he never moves against Paris in a rage. Achilles, in contrast, nearly kills Agamemnon, resolving to "thrust through the ranks and kill Agamemnon now" when he is slighted (1. 225). Achilles acts out of impulse,…

The book also describes the foregone decision of the result of the war as decided by Hera who held a vicious grudge against the Trojans.

The events in Book Four perfectly portrays how despite the truce forged and upheld after the fight between Menelaos and Alexandros, it is through the meddling of the gods and goddesses in the form of Athena's machinations to convince Pandaros to break the truce that caused the war to begin again. In the end of Book Sixteen, Patroclus dies because the gods chose to withdraw their protection and instilled dangerous temper in his heart at a critical time in the battle.

Up to that time, gods had not let that helmet with its horsehair plume get smudged with dirt, for it was always guarding godlike Achilles' head, his noble forehead, too. Later Zeus awarded it to Hector to carry on his head, as his death…

The two lovers are trapped by Hephaestus' chains and the gods are debating their fates. They contemplate the issue of whether being trapped in the chains is sufficient punishment, to which Hermes quips "...although I might be held by chains that are three times more numerous, more tight, than these then - even if the gods should watch the sight and all the goddesses - I'd find delight in lying with the golden Aphrodite." This tale illustrates a few things about the ancient Greeks.

The first is that humor was indeed a part of their lives. The bards brought them song and laughter during their feasts. Additionally, such humor speaks to the Greek relationship with the gods. The gods may have held sway over much of the lives of the ancient Greeks, but they were not above being the source of humor, even for mortals. The absurdity of the gods'…

Thus repetition of characters, character epithets or tags, and events are key to oral poetry, as oral poetry usually relates familiar cultural myths. Repetition in Homer's "Iliad" is not simply evident in the poet's use of taglines to delineate his characters. For example when one hero responds to another, the poet usually uses a set phrase, such as 'then in answer again he spoke.' This is not evidence of Homer's lack of creativity. Rather, repetition is part of the nature of oral poetry, and a necessary mnemonic device for the poet and his audience. To distinguish by the ear, for example, Ajax from Achilles, by using the same label or tag line the oral poet was able to make clear to the room of assembled guests, many of whom might be drinking wine or eating while the poet spoke, which warrior was in action during the tale. The use of…

/ When he dismissed me from the camp, Achilles / told me clearly they will not harass us, / not until dawn comes for the twelfth day") (443), one perceives that respect has been shown between Greek and Trojan -- that honor has been paid.

There is, of course, a price that comes with paying it. That price may be tallied in the loss of Troy's favorite son -- or it may be tolled in the humiliation of Priam before Achilles. Indeed, Priam's obeisance before Achilles brings the entire work into focus -- it evokes, as Aristotle judged a drama should, pity and fear: says Priam: "Achilles, / be reverent toward the great gods! And take / pity on me, remember your own father. / Think me more pitiful by far, since I / have brought myself to do what no man else / has done before -- to lift…

Iliad

The major Greek figures in the early books of Homer's epic "The Iliad" are Agamemnon, Achilles, Nestor, Patroclus, Ajax, and Odysseus. The major Trojan figures are Hector, Paris, and King Priam and Calchas the priest of Apollo. Of the Grecian figures, Agamemnon is most commonly identified as the "Son of Atreus." This phrase emphasizes the bloody but noble lineage from which Agamemnon springs, and also shows why Agamemnon is so often in scenes where he is attempting to establish his supreme command over the other warriors.

One of the difficulties Agamemnon experiences in establishing his control over the other Greeks is that Achilles is a superior warrior in comparison to Agamemnon. This is because "the godlike" or "great runner" Achilles is a demigod rather than a mere mortal, with greater natural physical gifts. Achilles' semi-divine parentage and relationship to the Gods of Olympus threatens Agamemnon. However, Achilles is hardly…

They find common ground in terms of mourning and connect by means of a meal. On the other hand, the existing war is never far from Achilles' mind, and he takes precautions not to arouse Priam's anger or to let his own anger get the better of him.

As for the gods, the duality in their relationship with human beings is the traditional view of kindness and cruelty that emerge at apparent random from the gods' hands, as opposed to their friendly cooperation in return for faith and sacrifice. Priam's prayer to Zeus earns him the help and friendship of Hermes. However, the gods are also perceived as playing a fundamental role in the perpetual war and killing of family members.

In conclusion, the scene indicates the uncomfortable relationship between the changes that will inevitably take place, as opposed to the apparently stubborn persistence of the existing paradigms of relationships…

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 impressive, and merits the man being called by the word "Great" as he often is because of his size and strength, his deployment of this strength in brutal fashion is not given equal admiration as it is warriors that fight fairly, with proper weapons, and with valor.

In contrast, Virgil's chronicle of the sacking of Troy, even in the words of one who suffered greatly because of the unfair, tricked destruction of his native city with the infamous "wooden horse," seems…

Iliad Metamorphoses book 5 [Ceres Proserpina]. You compare contrast characters [prima Iliad Jupiter]

Contrasting and comparing:

Homer's Iliad with Ovid's Metamorphoses V

The story of Homer's Iliad is considered to be the paradigmatic tale of heroic excellence. Despite the fact that the Trojans and the Greeks are pitted against one another in a futile struggle for a beautiful, faithless woman, on many occasions both show valor towards one another. However, they can also be quite petty. Agamemnon takes Achilles concubine away from him when he loses his own and Achilles pulls out of the flight because of this stain upon his honor, thus condemning the Greeks until he returns again to avenge his friend Patroclus' death at the hands of the great warrior Hector.

Book V of Ovid's Metamorphoses also features a heroic fight between Perseus and Phineus, the former suitor of his wife Andromeda. But rather than heroism, the…

The conflict over Palestine is a dangerous situation that shows little evidence of being resolved in the near future (History of the sraeli-Palestinian Conflict).

The conflict with the Holy-Land is only a resemblance of what took place in liad because the society destroyed itself by going to war, which is something that srael is doing to itself. Furthermore, it is as if srael values war rather than human life, which is something occurs from the written word or real life events as it can be evaluated from the following example of the story of liad.

On this ris fleet as the wind went forth to carry his message. Down she plunged into the dark sea midway between Samos and rocky mbrus; the waters hissed as they closed over her, and she sank into the bottom as the lead at the end of an ox-horn, that is sped to carry death…

Community: The Iliad

Although much of the Iliad focuses on the soldiers who are battling outside the walls of Troy, a significant part of the reading of this work occurs within the city or within the Greek camp and shows the soldiers in context of their own communities. This work in writing will choose one figure either Trojan or Greek and explain how he fits into the community and the role that is played by this individual in relation to other people in his side of the conflict. For the purpose of this study the role of the Greek individual will be chosen for examination.

Greek Community

Honor and glory are reported in the work of Texin (2004) to be "central to the Greek character." (p. 1) In fact, Texin (2004) reports that it is none other than "honor and glory [which] trigger an epic war that takes the lives…

Revenge in the Ancient Greek Plays

The classic literature, such as the plays and stories created during ancient Greek times, often had more than mere aesthetic, entertainment, or shock value. Much like today's literature and films, these often sought to bring their audiences a deeper message. While this is not to say that most of today's media has much to offer by way of a deeper message, much of their appeal lie in the exposition of human behavior, human nature, and how morality and ethics play a role to mitigate the worst within us all. This is also the appeal of the classic literature. A such, pieces of literature like the Iliad, Agamemnon, Antigone, and Medea, tend to reject revenge, while revering moderation and other factors such as age and ancestry.

Anger and revenge are themes that go hand in Homer's Iliad. The underlying implication appears to be that terrible…

..]"("The Iliad," Book I) at first, Achilles' gives vent to his rage against Agamemnon, who asked him to give up his pray of war, Briseis, the daughter or Chryses. As a result of his impulsive nature, Achilles refuses to fight in the war and thus causes many losses in his army. His second wave of rage comes when his good friend Patroclus is killed in the fight by Hector. In his mad desire for revenge, Achilles eventually kills Hector, with the aid of the gods. The lesson that the Iliad teaches in humanity is obviously related to evolution of Achilles until the end of the poem. The "rage" that makes him almost inhuman in his thirst for revenge and the cruel way in which he performs it, literally butchering Hector's corpse, finally subsides at the end of the poem. The noble but wrathful Achilles becomes fully human when he gives…

Homeric Similes

In "Book Three," lines 2-7 describe the way in which the Trojans attack the Achaian men. Homer compares the Trojan Army's attack to the impassioned flight of wild birds, particularly cranes, as they flee the winter. Homer evokes the image of the cranes' beating wings as they wing their way farther upwards into the sky. The cranes' frenzied flight is explicitly compared to the destructive force of the Trojan Army.

The effect of the comparison is to present the Trojan Army as an unstoppable and violent force of nature. ithin the description are words that connote violence and chaos: "clamour" (3.2); "unceasing" (3.4); and "baleful" (3.7). The Trojan Army brings this violence and chaos to its opponents on the battlefield. However, a flock of birds working in concert also possesses symmetry and synchronization, much as the Trojan Army does. The Trojan Army is able to function as a…

Homer's Iliad is an epic poem that is set in Ancient Greece. The story is meant to be an historical account of the Trojan War. The Trojan Prince Hector is eager to help lead his men to victory but Andromache, Hector's wife, is terribly worried about losing him and their son and breaking up their family. The "Ceres & Proserpina" of Ovid's Metamorphoses a poem that is also set in Ancient Rome. In this story Pluto, God of underworld, steals away Proserpina who is the daughter of Ceres and Jupiter. Ceres pleads to Jupiter, God of Heaven, that he uses his power to facilitate the return of her daughter. Both Andromache and Ceres are devoid of female significance or any sense of empowerment in both Greek and Roman mythology, and this portrays a sense of general helplessness in women. In the stories conclusion, Andromache loses her husband in the Trojan…

In Theogony, Aphrodite's mother is the water of the sea, in which the goddess is "floating." This word choice further illustrates the destructive elements of Homer's tale in contrast to the nurturing of Hesiod. Finally, Aphrodite is called "Philommedes," or genital-loving, in Theogony, but referred to as "Philommeides," or laughter-loving, in the Iliad. In the selection of Homer's work, however, she is called by this name only to highlight the significance of the tears she sheds when telling her mother she had been stabbed.

The goddess Aphrodite is one element of Greek mythology that can be observed as a part of the overall shift in Greek philosophy and society. In this selection of Hesiod's Theogony, Aphrodite is presented as innocent, beautiful, and powerful. However, many years later Homer presents her sexuality as tainted, maimed, and weak. Additionally, Aphrodite's place in the lineage of gods was reduced from being older than…

deities -- Gilgamesh -- iliad

A Comaprison Of The Deities In

the epic of gilgamesh and the iliad

In what is now the country of Iraq, part of the great "Fertile Crescent" between the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates, and where Hammurabi created his famous legal codes, ancient abylon was the home of the epic story of Gilgamesh, written circa 1700 .C.E and the oldest known story in the world which predates Homer's Iliad and Odyssey by a thousand years. The hero in The Epic of Gilgamesh was an historical king who reigned supreme in the Mesopotamian city of Uruk sometime around 2750 .C.E. In this tale, the king of Uruk encounters a man named Enkidu who has been civilized by the art and magic of temple priestess. ut when Enkidu dies, the king is overwrought with emotion and sadness and then sets out to on a long journey of discovery…

And call each man by his name and his father's line, show them all respect. Not too proud now.

We should be the ones doing the work.

On our backs, from the day we were born,

It seems that Zeus has piled on the hardships."

With his order clear, he sent his brother off while he went after Nestor, the old commander.

He found him beside his black ship and shelter, stretched on a polyurethane mat, his weapons at hand, his CGL and AK-47 as well as his helmet.

His utility belt lay beside him, the leather dried and cracked.

The old man clinched it on whenever he'd harness up, marching his to war where fighters die

Nestor gave no ground to withering old age.

He propped himself on an elbow and craned his head and probed sharply, whispering through the dark,

Who's there? Who's sneaking along the ships, alone…

Part 2 have chosen Achilles and Agamemnon. For Achilles, his modern equivalent could be Gordon Gekko from the movie "Wall Street." There are so many things that these characters have in common. First of all, they are both unreasonably proud and willing to go to any length to achieve their goals, even if that means hurting people and individuals around them, breaking society rules (in Gekko's case, these are legal rules of the society, in the case of Achilles, these are conventions that he needs to respect) or destroying people around. There is no law or rule for these characters except the one they decide to make for themselves.

At the same time, both show a strange candor in different moments of their lives. Achilles has a special friendship for Patrocles that makes him go to all length to avenge his death. He is also generous in recognizing that Hector…

In Book 19, Athena also advises wisdom when she provides Achilles with divine food to strengthen him. Achilles refuses to eat while he mourns Patroklos. Athena recognizes the lack of wisdom in this and encourages Achilles to gain strength for the battle ahead.

In Book 5 and 6, Athena's relationship with the other divinities show her urge to drive change. The Trojan War will result in a new era, but only if she encourages Greek victory. Hence, she enters a strategic partnership with Hera, who works with her against the will of Zeus to overcome the Trojans. Hera also helps Athena in her assistance to Diomedes.

As for Diomedes, his partnership culminates in change when he stops fighting Glaukos after finding out that their families are bound in friendship. This realization is indicative of the inevitable dawn of the new era: when conversation will reveal the need for further action,…

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.

ork Cited

Homer. "The Iliad." Mack, Maynard, ed. The Norton Anthology of orld Masterpieces. Vol. I. 5th…

I believe both "great" mean got what they deserved in the afterlife.

Journal Part Two

In the Greek world, heroism, valor, and bravery were the greatest of all characteristics, so it is fitting that the Greeks' idea of hell is people walking around without unmotivated, unable to be brave. Americans' version of hell would be a different one, filled with all of the little frustrations of life. Some people would be caught in endless lines in department stores. Others, would be forever in a traffic jam. Still others would he stuck on the line with an infuriating member of customer service forever. Maybe some would get the mail each day, constantly finding letters about matters that they had resolved, and they would have to spend every day talking to the same companies and telling the same stories over and over again. These seem to be the little things that bother…

Religion in the Odyssey of Homer

Homer has the reputation of having "given the Greeks their gods." In so doing Homer has created a type of religion that does not have one god, but one that has many. Each god governs over one or more aspect of the world. This type of religion is known as polytheism, more than one god, as opposed to monotheism, one supreme God. Because there are many gods, no one god is omnipotent, having power over everything, as is God in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions. This paper will explore the roles of Homer's gods and how they fit into the religion that Homer has created. The paper also explores the idea that the sort of religion that Homer created does exist today.

The gods in The Odyssey do not create the men that they preside over. The gods are not overpowering, but work…

Women in the Odyssey

The roles women take in The Odyssey are as varied as society itself. There are good women, weak women, caretakers and even monsters. This paper will discuss three chief aspects women's roles in The Odyssey. The first is the role that mortal women play in the epic. The second is the role immortal women (goddesses) play on Mount Olympus and third the departments of life where women are the most powerful.

The Role of Mortal Women

The women of Homeric society are an integral part of The Odyssey and many of the female characters are held in high esteem. A passage that illustrates this the description of Arete, the wife of Alkinoos:

He "gave her such pride of place as no to her woman on earth is given of such women as are now alive and keep house for husbands. So she was held high in…

Is it a sign of inconsistency in Athena that at the end of the Odyssey she echoes the sentiment of Zeus and sues for peace whereas in Book 4 of the Iliad she is all too eager to ignore the sentiment of her father and manipulate the warriors into shedding more blood? Again -- not necessarily. hile, were it up to Zeus he would gladly see men work out their problems in a peaceful way, and, if he can help it, only sends strife and war when men need to be punished. The relationship between war and peace is complicated by the fact that he is not the only god (even if he is king of the gods). The gods seem to have just as many quarrels and disagreements among themselves as men do on Earth -- a point Zeus knows quite well. That is the reason he presides over…

Journey motif is pervasive in global literature, attributed to the existence of collective symbols common to all human societies as archetypes (Zhang, 2008). Both Homer's Iliad and Shakespeare's Henry V incorporate the journey motif as a literary technique. This serves to elevate the status of the protagonist to the heroic level, as the character struggles to meet challenges and overcome obstacles without the familiar trappings of home, family, and social status. War is one of the reasons that heroes undertake journeys, and war indeed figures prominently in both the Iliad and Henry V, driving the plot and transforming their respective protagonists. Journeying occurs on actual and symbolic levels in both these texts. In Homer's Iliad, Achilles undergoes several changes of heart during the war. His journey is introspective, taking him from a point of habitual action through a stage of vengefulness, and finally, onward to spiritual, social, psychological, and political…

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 viewers may think that the hero will feel happy and proud for what he did. However, in the Iliad of Homer, it is apparent that even heroes do feel shame and guilt. The best example of which are revealed in the characters of Achilles and Hector.

Achilles was a great Greek fighter. His passion was to fight and become well-known for his fighting skills. He was known to be the greatest fighter in Greece, thus despite Menelaus and Achilles…

He is described as being of gigantic size and of tremendous emotion. Always Achilles is described with the most exaggerated terms, shining like the sun or falling in the most absolute wretchedness. In a moment of sublimity oddly precognizant of gothic writers like E.A. Poe, Achilles refuses to bury his beloved Patrocles' body because "since I'm journeying under the earth after you, I'll postpone your burial...Till that time, you'll lie like this with me..." (book 18, 330-338) Achilles is perfect and heroic in the extremity of his nature. A more archetypal approach would say that he was heroic because, more than any other character, he represented the purity of war. Archtypically, he represents a purity of action and emotion than can drive men to battle, the pure warrior who is at once filled with the strength of emotion and will and yet resigned to perfect destiny, faithful towards the gods,…

However, because of Gilgamesh's thought that he may be invincible, he is actually putting his friend's life at risk by going on his adventure. In his attempt to prove that he is brave and that he would rather die for a cause, he actually indirectly causes the death of Enkidu, who shows that he was the stronger of the two.

5) Defining Honor

Honor is a characteristic that few individuals posses. It is a special type of distinguishing factor, that although many attempt to have, very few actually embrace it to its full meaning. Honor entails pride and personal excellence. It is fully believing in an action or an entity that represents something very important to the self and to those around. To me, honor is being able to stand up for your beliefs despite the opinion of others.

Honor in society can actually be viewed in two ways, depending…

However, when Achilles touches Priam as token that he should have no fear; both gods and mortals are said to be asleep. There is a sense of will in Achilles' gentleness towards the man, and his willingness to touch Priam's sleeve that night. In other words, human and divine reconciliation and pity is not simply a law, humans must accept the will of the gods, but they are also capable of choosing to add or subtract the misery of the world by showing pity to their fellow humans. Odysseus' cleverness, although aided by the gods, is also partly drawn from his own resourcefulness and character, as well as merely because Athena helps him.

Achilles makes what is said to be the greatest gift to Priam, that of Hector's body. In Greek custom, gifts were customary to give to visitors. ith such a gift, Achilles gives up his determination to mourn…

The Aeneid

Taking a character from The Iliad and setting him on his own journey, the Roman Virgil's epic The Aeneid necessarily contains certain parallels with the earlier Greek text. The overall story of this lengthy poem in and of itself reflects many of the same basic understandings of mankind's place in the universe, its relationship to the gods, and the relationships that exist within society and between men that are already described above, demonstrating that no real fundamental change has occurred in this schema. Aeneas, the titular hero of the tale who flees his native Troy after it is sacked by the Greeks, is as important as the individual heroes of the war itself, but more than a tale of individual heroism The Aeneid is the story of the founding of a people and the long trajectory of history and humanity. It is a tale for and in many…

Either as mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, mistresses, lovers or supernatural creatures, women populate the world of the Odyssey and bring thus an important source of information when it comes to finding parallels between their representations in real life as drawn from the representations they get in the Homeric epic.

Based on the same starting point as the Odyssey, another ancient author, the Roman irgil wrote the epic Aeneid. He lived in the most flourishing times of the Roman empire, in the first century BC, almost seven centuries after the Odyssey and the Iliad had probably been written. The heroes in irgil's epic are still men, but the women gain a new role: that of sounders and rulers. Analyzing the whole range of epics and poems written by ancient Greek and Latin writers, A.M. Keith points out that "classical Greek and Latin epic poetry was composed by men, consumed largely by…

speech of Achilles to Agamemnon to the Speech of Hector to Andromache

The two speeches, of Achilles to Agamemnon and the one of Hector to Andromache, represent two different types of ethics in regards to rhetoric; this can be seen within the context of the speeches as well as the events. The speech of Achilles to Agamemnon is seen as a type base rhetoric, and the speech of Hector to Andromache is seen as philosophical rhetoric.

The base rhetoric is something which follows a direction of evil; it ends in exploitation and is something condemning. This type of rhetoric hates all which oppose it, and would rather that it were greater than everything else -- it despises anything equal or greater than it. The base rhetoric is something which tries to keep anything from achieving or receiving any types of support which can be seen in the form of noble…

Achilles, in effort to match his personal loss on a national level, strives to kill Hector, again fueling the economy of revenge, but this time in a far more 'high stakes' manner. Now, the loss of a man will result in the loss of Troy's greatest warrior. But even though Achilles emerges victorious from this struggle, his is an empty victory. He knows that his own death will follow shortly after the death of Hector. He does not care; revenge means everything to him in the heat of the moment, just like sacrificing the Greek advantage was worth upholding his honor at the beginning of the poem.

Although Achilles' sudden loyalty to his friend may seem honorable to some degree, perhaps more honorable than Menelaus' obsession with Helen, it also shows how the dynamic of loss leading to more and greater losses has spiraled out of control. The one real…

Further, the text illustrate was the Mycenaean population believed from a religious perspective. It shows what was expected of people with religious beliefs and the level of importance that was placed upon adhering to traditions, such as the proper treatment of a dead body in the case of Achilles and his treatment of the body of Hector.

3. To what extent is the world we find in The Iliad historical? Can Homer's Iliad be used to supplement archaeological finds to tell us about the Mycenaean world, to reconstruct a world extant during the Dark Ages or give us some information about Greece in the 8th century BC?

Any piece of writing, whether fictional or not, is an historical artifact of a kind. Historians can uncover pottery or architecture and bones, but that will not be enough to completely understand a society which has long since been out of existence. Literary…

In his last moments, Hektor realizes he can never persuade Achilles because "in his breast is a heart of iron" (XXII.357). Achilles reveals his cold nature when he says, "Die: and I will take my own death at whatever time" (XXII.364) moments after Hektor dies. Again, we see the stark contrast between these two heroes.

Achilles is another face Homer attaches to the notion of war and kleos. Achilles is noble and popular for his "swift feet" (I.148). he is swift on his feet and he is swift to anger and this anger will surface to be the one thing that plagues him through The Iliad. It drives him through most of the plot and it is the bane of his existence. However, this flaw does not prevent Achilles from seeking glory or reaching fame. He experiences a different kind of kleos than Hektor does primarily because he becomes an…

Madam Eglantyne the Nun, is also an ironic charater. She eats in a very refined manner and attempts other fine characteristics such as speaking French, although she fares poorly at this. Ironically, not all her language is pure, as she swears cosntantly by "St. Loy," a saint renowned for not swearing. Unlike the general conception of the Nun, she is very concerned with outward appearances and did not much care for human beings. Indeed, she cared much more for her three dogs than the human beings around her. Another irony is that she has a coral trinket to fight worldly temptations, which is clearly failing badly.

A second character is the Friar, Hubert. While he is jolly, merry, and festive, his actions are nevertheless evil and cunning. He impregnates girls, for example, and marries them off. He deceived the faithful by hearing confessions for a fee, and even begged from…

In Homer, he can boast: "Do you not see what a man I am, how huge, how splendid / and born of a great father, and the mother who bore me immortal?" (Homer Book 21, lines 108-109, p. 421).

In Cassandra however, he can still boast but doesn't always get away with it. In a rather accusatory and insulting tone, olf referred to Achilles in this way: "A fiend in battle so that everyone would see he was not a coward, he did not know what to do with himself once the fighting was done...And this is the man to whom Calchas the seer later had to turn over his daughter." (83) Cassandra believed that Achilles' brave soldier act was but only a facade. hile Homer mentions facts to capture the essence of Achilles' personality, olf uses observation and perception to get her results. The bottom line was the same…

It is rather like a feud in this respect -- the one who commits the final act of revenge is declared the winner.

Hector is the Trojan warrior whose character differs greatly from that of Achilles and who has very different reasons for fighting. here Achilles fights for glory, Hector sacrifices himself or his family, his country, and his ideals. His dedication to family is apparent as he visits his wife and children while delivering a message away from the battlefield, a clear contrast with the way Achilles ignores family obligations. Hector places himself in harm's way knowingly in service to his city, a contrast with Achilles, who sulks in his tent because of his own pride and not because of any concern for his country. At the same time, both men tend to be reckless, as seen in hector when he is advised by Polydamus to retire from the…

role of deities in "The Iliad," by Homer, the poetry of Sappho, and "Pericles Funeral Oration," by Thucydides. Specifically it will discuss how significant the deities are in the three pieces, and why deities played such an important part in ancient literature.

IMPORTANCE of the DEITIES

The Gods (deities) play an extremely important part throughout these three pieces, and through much of ancient literature. The gods were extremely important to the Greeks, who believed they lived atop Mount Olympus, ruled by Zeus, the father and leader of the Gods. In "The Iliad," Achilles often turns to the Gods to aid him in battle and in his personal life. People believed the Gods could influence everything in their lives, and so often asked them for help and advice, as Achilles does. "I came to see if I could check this temper of yours, / Sent from heaven by the white-armed goddess…

Your answer should be at least five sentences long.

The Legend of Arthur

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 9 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7A: Honor and Loyalty

1. Consider how Arthur's actions and personality agree with or challenge your definition of honor. Write a few sentences comparing your definition (from Journal 1.6A) with Arthur's actions and personality.

2. Write a brief paragraph explaining the importance or unimportance of loyalty in being honorable.

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 10 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7B: Combining Sentences

Complete the Practice Activity on page 202 of your text. After completing this activity, read over your Essay Assessment or another journal activity you've completed.

* Identify three passages that could be improved by combining two or more sentences with coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. Below the practice activity in your journal, write the original passages and the revised sentences you've created.

* Be sure to…

Those with issues to overcome are always more heroic. Hector also becomes a hero when, after at first running from Achilles, he eventually stands up to him and dies a heroic death.

The Iliad is primarily a war epic. In your opinion, is the Iliad condemnation of the it could easily be argued that the Illiad glorifies war, as much of the poem is spent portraying the warriors as brave and courageous, even as they go on killing rampages. Warriors are describes as "masters of the battle cry" and "warlike" in glowing epithets. When Achilles originally refused to fight, he is roundly condemned for it by all of the other Greek characters. Even the weapons of war, such as Achilles impenetrable shield, are glorified. But homer is more complicated than simple -- war also brings death, which he describes in great detail. Hector's death is perhaps the most graphic of…

War is a fact of life, a terrible fact of life, but when it is willed by the gods it cannot be ignored.

Achilles does have some positive moral characteristics: although he spends much of the Iliad retreating from the fighting, he is clearly not a coward, in contrast to the Trojan Paris. He wants to fight, but his honor is too bruised. Furthermore, Achilles harbors a deep and abiding affection for his friend Patroclus, and the Greeks idealized this type of male friendship often more than husband-wife relationships. When Hector kills Patroclus in battle, because he believes him to be Achilles, Achilles is thrown into a frenzy of grief. He puts aside the slight done to him by Agamemnon, and vows to kill Hector.

Still, unlike Hector, who is repeatedly shown rallying the Trojans to fight in more glorious ways through his wise leadership, Achilles' bravery is often emotional,…

Homer was a legendary Greek poet who is traditionally credited as the author of the major Greek epics the "Iliad and the Odyssey," as well as the comic mini-epic "Batracholmyomachia" (The Frog-Mouse ar), the corpus of Homeric Hymns, and various other lost or fragmentary workd such as "Margites" (Homer pp). Some ancient authors credited him with the entire Epic Cycle, which included other poems about the Trojan ar as well as the Theban poems concerning Oedipus and his sons (Homer pp). According to legend, Homer was blind, and aside from several Ionian cities claiming to be his birthplace, there is nothing else known about him (Homer pp). Aristotle and Pindar believed that Homer was born in Smyrna, on the coast of modern-day Turkey, and enjoyed years of fame on the Aegean island of Chios (Tolson pp). Although the great scholar-librarians of Alexandria scrutinized the epics for historical and geographic errors,…

Adaptations

Mythology - Adaptations

When watching the Coen Brothers' film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, it becomes immediately apparent that the film is meant to be a creative adaptation of The Odyssey by Homer. Rather than a straightforward mimicking of The Odyssey, however, the film makes use of Homer's plot to tell a very different story about escaped convicts in the southern United States in the late 1930s.

The most obvious parallel between the original and the Coen brothers' adaptation is the main character, played by George Clooney. While he is called by his middle name, Everett, throughout most of the film, the full name of Clooney's character is Ulysses Everett McGill. "Ulysses" is, of course, the Latin translation of the name "Odysseus." By giving him an Irish last name, it could even be suggested that the Coen brothers are also making reference to another famous adaptation of The Odyssey,…

Trojan Wars and Culture

The three epic stories namely, The Iliad, the Trojan Women, Pericle's Funeral Oration are powerfully written master pieces of work, that illustrate the element of horridness of war beautifully.

The Iliad

The story of Homer's Iliad focuses on the "rage of Achilles." eading this epic poem makes one believe that it is based entirely on the totality and gruesomeness of war. However, it tells us about the details of war with full description and information. Though war is an important aspect of the tale, but the real story is based on the remarkable fighter and hero-that man is none other than Achilles.

Achilles possesses the greatest military expertise of any of the Achaean ranks and also the greatest fighting ability out of all of the warriors, Trojan or Achaean. At the beginning of the epic, Achilles becomes liberated from his fellow warriors and retreats back to…

Yet, Odysseus is also rewarded for his loyalty and survives the Trojan War. His wit and intelligence provide a much different vision of an excellent hero than presented by Achilles. However, it is he who figures out how to end the lengthy war with the trick of the wooden horse. In the case of both heroes, it is not divine or monstrous adversaries that they face. Instead they fight a similar battle that Osiris did -- they must fight the greed and lust of mortal men. Although Agamemnon is their king, he is an adversary in that he forces them from their homes and places them and their men in danger for selfish greed and lust. However Agamemnon is later punished when he his murdered by his deceitful wife upon his return. Another human adversary faced by the heroes of the Iliad is Paris and his uncontrollable lust for Helen.…

Pride in Literature

As a universally human characteristic, pride plays an important part in world literary themes. However, pride can be defined and perceived differently, and the term also has many different definitions. For example, pride can refer to a dignified type of satisfaction, as comes from taking pride in one's work. More often in literature, though, pride is depicted in a negative light and is usually featured as a tragic flaw that, if not overcome, brings about the hero's downfall. Moreover, the implications and meaning of pride in literature has changed over the course of time. Pride was portrayed as a necessary but dangerous trait of powerful leaders in the ancient epics of Greece and Mesopotamia like Gilgamesh, the Iliad, and the Odyssey. The trait of pride reached a sort of thematic culmination in the Old English work Beowulf, in which the title character's pride contributes positively to his…

Revenge, too, is prominent in all of these works: Beowulf must destroy the monster our of revenge for the havoc on the Kingdom; the Greeks must avenge the kidnapping of Helen and the slights against their lands; the Knight, the Miller and the ife of Bath all must seek revenge for perceived wrongs. Poems like Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, and the Iliad and Odyssey, especially as oral tradition, frame the journey of the hero through trials and tribulations to, eventually success. The saving of society, though, is often met with grave personal sacrifice, sometimes of tangible wealth, more often of loved ones, or, in the case of Beowulf, the ultimate sacrifice -- giving up one's own life in the service of society.

Yet in each of the tales there is at least one, and frankly many more, characters that have a fatal personality flaw that causes not only consternation, but increases…

For Aristotle, true freedom and liberty consists in ruling and being ruled in turn and not always insisting on fulfilling one's own personal desires at the cost of others. Thus, for dysseus, true freedom can only come about when one is allowed to contribute to society for the betterment of everyone involved, a sure sign of moral correctness and rational thinking.

In addition, Aristotle stressed the importance of justice and goodness, for he believed that people possess a sort of inborn knowledge concerning what is right and what is wrong; however, irrational desires often overrule such knowledge and leads people to commit wrong acts or behave inappropriately. This conflict of desires in human beings could be overcome by achieving self-control via training the mind to win out over primitive instincts and passions. Thus, intelligence is the finest human quality and the mind is the true self, the god-like aspect of…

He seeks to heal his broken relations with Achilles only when the Greeks are desperate, a transparent ruse Achilles easily sees through. Agamemnon does not go as one of the emissaries to Achilles, but sends Odysseus, laden with gifts. The general refuses to come humbly bearing a personal apology for his foolishness, as a good leader might try to heal the rift in the Greek camp. Achilles only agrees to return to war in Book 19 after his friend Patroclus dies, not because of the gifts Agamemnon gives to in reparation for his earlier insult. Agamemnon should have seen that Achilles was less motivated by material rewards than he was by love for people he cared about, like Brisesis and Patroclus. Agamemnon is too egotistical to understand the psychological motivations of other people. This is part of his self-obsession -- because he is motivated by spoils, he assumes all other…

Introduction
The roles, ideals, views of men in the ancient civilization have been explored extensively in literature from the famous Kings of Israel to the mathematicians and philosophers of Greece. In contrast, the history entails limited literature of women in the ancient civilization. However, several masterpieces such as the Homeric poem, the Odyssey and the Iliad provides a glimpse of ideals, position, and role of women in the ancient civilization. Women play a fundamental role in life by taking multiple responsibilities as portrayed in the epic poem Odyssey. The epic poem presents the role of women in the facet of power, sexuality, and interaction with men.
An analysis of the women in the poem demonstrates a challenge of the space of women as traditionally defined by the patriarchal Greek society. The Homeric poem has a distinct feminist message of the struggle women endure as they try to extricate themselves from…

Achilles a Sympathetic Character

Achilles, the grandson of Aeacus was regarded as the greatest and primal character in Homer's Iliad, the ancient epic of Greek mythology. Even though Achilles is the central character of the epic, he is considered to be an unsympathetic character. Achilles was the son of the king of Meymidouns in Phthia, Pelues, and sea nymph Thetis. As the legend goes, Achilles made invincible by his mother Thetis by dipping him in the river Styx, however, ignored to wet his heel she held him by and made him vulnerable to be killed by a blow to that heel. (Achilles [Categories: LGBT mythology, People who fought in the Trojan ar]) Homer's Iliad, develops around the Trojan ar that spans for ten years between Greeks and the Trojans. Illiad depicts the involvement of gods and goddesses in the lives of mortal beings. (Troy Movie Review: arner Bros. Troy vs.…

Homeric Battle

The Iliad is a collection of poems by Homer describing the 10-year siege on Troy by Greeks in what is now famously referred to as the Trojan ar. Several Greek and Trojan characters are worth a special mention in these Homeric poems because of the roles they played in the battles before the war was won, how they conducted themselves to help eventually win the war for their side. This paper specifically investigates the writings in the Homeric poems to look are important in the overall text.

The author, Homer, portrays a society utilizing poetic fiction. He describes how humans directly talked and interacted with divine beings (Raaflaub 469), an act that can be seen in page forty six of the Iliad which starts by describing a dream that Zeus (god) had sent to Agamemnon. In the dream Zeus promises Agamemnon glory in when the war is finished.…

There are enough similarities of story and characterization, however, that while one must take care not to see Troy as fact, or even as an essentially faithful movie version of the Homer's the Iliad, one may still learn something about the plot, characters, and setting of Homer's great poem by seeing it. Educationally speaking, perhaps one of the greatest benefits of a major motion picture like Troy is that seeing it might interest more people in reading the Iliad, for comparison, and/or in learning more about Greek legends, myths, and mythological characters in general.

The basic plot and setting of the film is this: the Mycenae Greeks (Greece and Sparta) and the Trojans, having been at war, have finally reached peace after many years. Two handsome young Trojan princes, Hector and Paris (sons of King Priam) are celebrating this fact with Menelaus, King of Sparta (Menelaus's brother Agamemnon is King…

Agamemnon claims that he loves Chryseis more than his own wife, but agrees to give her up as long as he gets another prize. hen he demands Briseis from Achilles, it is clear that one sexual being can simply be traded for another in Agamemnon's eyes. Indeed, when Achilles refuses to fight because of Agamemnon's demand, it is not because Achilles deeply loves Briseis, but because he is insulted with Agamemnon's demand. The only redeeming treatment of women in the epic is the Chryses' love for his daughter, determination in getting her back again, and excitement when his request is fulfilled.

hen compared to the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Iliad often seems muted in references to women's sexuality, but it can be argued that the contents of this epic poem show women in a far worse place in society than women in Gilgamesh's epic. hile Gilgamesh's epic presents women as…

Thematic Comparison: Divine Intervention in Homer & Virgil

Both works decently portray the horrors of warfare, and (albeit it in a reverent fashion) place the blame for this horror soundly at the feet of the gods. However while in Homer this intervention is largely capricious and relatively unmotivated, in Virgil's work it takes on a more motivated and historical turn in which the gods may actually be seen as working to some form of higher end.

Part of the difference between these two takes on divine interference relates to the purpose of the two works. Homer's epic, so far as can be told, was designed to educate and amuse and perhaps to make a statement about the meaning of warfare and deity. However, it was not designed so much to create a national myth of identity. The Greeks and the Trojans they faced were more or less of the same…