Honor, Friendship, Glory, And Honor In 'The Iliad Name'

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The Power in a name- The Iliad Books XI-XIII Analysis The themes: the power of a name, guest-friendship, glory, and honor appear in books six through eight of The Iliad. These themes are important to consider in relation to each other. Glory elevates honor, meaning that same actions that help one obtain glory can also yield honor to the person, or the person’s family. A name carries the glory and honor of the bearer in a record that extends beyond the life of the individual. In the next generation, the name reminds the community of the legacy left by previous generations. In this way, the level of glory and honor obtained by one family member can apply to the entire family. Therefore pursuing glory and honor is not solely a selfish pursuit, …show more content…

Hector comes to Troy to shame Paris for abstaining from the war he started and find s him vainly admiring himself and polishing his weapons. His behavior lowers the level of respect the other Trojans have for him, which leads to dishonor. As they rejoin the battle, Hector makes this point clear to Paris. Although he is a strong fighter, the other Trojans exchange hurtful words about Paris for starting the war and not doing his part in the battle. Paris has already dishonored himself by breaking an oath. Now he brings more dishonors upon himself by fighting half-heartedly. It hurts Hector to see Paris in such a state of dishonor, “It breaks my heart/to hear what the Trojans say about you (IX, …show more content…

There are still families that are respected because of their legacy. For instance, the Kennedy’s were already a prominent family in society before John F Kennedy became president. Other prominent family names include Hilton, Gates, Booth, and Pinckney because of the histories and wealth associated with these families. This way, people are still born with a certain level of honor and prestige based on the family name they carry. Even on a local level, families carry reputations of having certain traits. Before meeting a Falls, one may expect to encounter a calm, reserved, intelligent person because those are traits associated with the Falls name. On a personal level, a person’s name still holds keys to a story. Public records are kept on everyone. A skilled researcher could uncover a person 's past simply by researching a name because that name carries a story. Anything a person does, whether good or bad, is associated with a name. Sometimes people to form opinions on someone based on a person’s name because the name alone tells a story. Modern cultures may view names casually, but they still carry power

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