The world that Homer shows in the Iliad is a violent one, where war is not only a means of gaining wealth, but also the arena in which a man demonstrates his worth. The Greek army gathered in front of the walls of Troy exhibits the weaknesses and strengths of the Homeric world. Greece is not one nation, and the army of Greeks mirrors this. It is a collection of small city-states with a common culture and a common language, capable of coming together for a great enterprise, but also capable of being driven apart by petty squabbling. The common culture is based on acceptance of characteristics seen as virtuous: xeineia, or hospitality; agathos, the successful warrior; oikos, which means from noble birth; keleos, glory; pine, honor, which is a central motif throughout the Iliad; and finally, the ultimate virtue of arête, which stands for goodness or excellence and encompasses the other virtues. For Homer, a good man must be of noble family, strong, brave in battle, and wealthy. Earthly possessions show that a man has initiative and has the esteem of others. But the most important qualification to be considered a good man is honor, because honor is gained, not born into. In the Homeric world, honor is qualified by power. In the Iliad, power is measured several ways. When Nestor tries to mediate between the enraged Achilles and Agamemnon, he makes the point that “power and glory [are] given by Zeus himself” (Book I, Line 294). A king is the ultimate in nobility, even if he is the king of a small, poor Greek city. Being a king depends on accident of birth, not on ability, and is a sign of the gods’ favor. Because the gods have smiled on him, “a scepter-holding king has honor beyond the rest of men” (Book I, Line 293). In the Greek army... ... middle of paper ... ...capable of arête, of goodness. The ethical values reflected in the Iliad should be taken seriously because they are not only plausible, but also congruent with the time and place. Homer is narrating tales of a society where men expect to fight and likely die in battle, where courage is demanded of all men, and where honor and glory are seen as steps toward achieving excellence. What makes the Iliad a masterpiece of Western civilization is not just the stirring story, but most of all Homer’s even-handed portrayal of the Homeric world, for the Trojans are never depicted as being less than the Greeks. The Greeks, even their greatest military heroes, are seen as flawed human beings. In conclusion, what Homer presents in the Iliad is a worldview rather than the local perspective of a distant war. In the end, Homer seems to be saying that all men may aspire to virtue.
“The world is full of wonders, but nothing is more wonderful than man.” This quote shows that the Greeks valued themselves, but also their intellect in which they know that the world about them is great. The Greeks valued beauty, art, intellect, honor, and truth; the list is long. Some of these values are shown through the story of the Odyssey, which tells of the adventures of Odysseus and his family. In order to understand Greek values and how they are portrayed in Greek society, one must examine how some values are portrayed in the Odyssey: hospitality, intellect, and beauty.
Western thought and culture grew out of Greek ideals. Since “there is nothing new under the sun,” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) many of the ideals expressed by Homer, Sophocles, and Hesiod ring true for Westerners today. Part of the myth of a tragic hero includes a leadership position of some sort: often noble birth, kingship, or military leadership. Tragic plays like Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and the Iliad served as worship, entertainment, examples of virtue, and cautionary tales. Modern Americans can look back at such works and apply the ideas to selecting and serving as leaders on a national, community, or family level. Some of desirable qualities illustrated in Archaic and Classical Greek works include self-control, fairness, respect for moral law, service to one’s community, courage, and honor.
Virtuous men in Greek society were not only warriors but fathers as well. The head of the household was in charge of perpetuating the family, worshiping acncestors, maintaining family’s economic worth, insisted...
A man threw his son of a mountain because he was ugly. A soldier doomed his countrymen because his prize was stolen from him. A woman plotted the destruction of an entire city because one man chose another woman over her. Murder, jealousy, and impulsive anger, none of these traits sound virtuous, and yet these were among the most virtuous of people. Through The Iliad by Homer, the differences between Ancient Greek idea and the current idea of righteousness become visible. But power and goodness cannot stave off misfortune and grief. Although his definition of virtue remains drastically different from the modern definition, Homer teaches that virtue does not save from tragedy and divine power does not always rescue from pain and sorrow.
The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.
While a lot of the analysis in the aforementioned paragraphs is Athenian based, the honor that is bestowed upon warriors is best seen through the Spartan society. Spartan’s were heavily military based and used all efforts to create warriors that would serve the polis. Absolutely everything in their society was based off this idea. Women were appreciated because they bore the sons that would become warriors, and sons were sent off at seven to begin their warrior training. Men who carried out their duty well were rewarded within the society and held an elevated status. Spartan’s held that ideal that to,“know that it is good for the city-state and the whole people when a man takes his place in the front row of warriors and stands his ground without flinching.” The wanted to create the strongest warrior possible and the only way to incentivize that was through honor. Honor was made an attainable goal for these warriors and something that they had been conditioned to want to strive for. Greek people also honored the gods though as their first and foremost responsibility. They needed to do right by these deities in order to be successful in their lives. Actions such as questioning their existence, or belief were looked down upon and in some cases even punished. The idea of honor was reinforced throughout their policies, lawmaking abilities and how they treated one another. Consequently, this would eventually lead to competing tensions between Athens and Sparta resulting the Peloponnesian War. However, honor is intrinsic to both of their ideals and integral to the values the Greek society
Honor is something men and women have fought for century after century. Even now, thousands of American and British men are fighting in Iraq, near to where the Trojan War was to have taken place. These men fight for the greater good. They fight for those in Iraq who are unable to fight for or otherwise defend themselves. They fight for honor. The characters in the Iliad are motivated by their own form of honor, or arete, known similarly as the Homeric Code. And it is because of this code that the Trojan War began. The characters in this story are shown to possess arete, but some have different ideas as to how vastly and to what rate it should be respected. And because of this, many a man’s honor is disturbed.
Homer progressively subjects his characters to a choice between loved ones, and war quest with heroic personalities is invariably choosing the latter. The gravity of decisions made in the text emphasizes more on knowing about fate ahead of time. Characters prize ancient Greek martial values such as honor, nobility, bravery, and glory with the will to sacrifice chances of long life for the loved ones. In portraying an ideal epic world, the text recognizes about the creation of mortals and the glory of man that does not live in constructions.
Throughout the Iliad, Homer portraits the extent to which honor plays a role in the lives of Greeks and the manner in which they are willing to sacrifice in order to reach their goals. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, a particularly long and bloody war, fought not over boundary disagreements, and not over political conflicts, and not to protect the nation. Rather, it was a war fought to defend the personal honor. The possession of women was important to a man’s standing and honor. Paris’ theft of Helen struck a huge blow to the honor of Menelaus and becomes the initial cause of the Trojan War. Consequently, Menelaus, the Spartan ruler, called upon his brother Agamemnon to gather the Greek forces to launch the war against Paris demanding the return of Helen and reinstating the honor for the king. The war lasted for ten years and cost innumerable Greeks’ lives and brought incurable pain upon their families. To Greek heroes, honor is more important than their life as much as that life would be meaningless without it, and they even willingly sacrifice their lives in order...
In The Iliad, written in a 3rd person omniscient point of view, Homer gives a very serious account of the tenth and last year of the Trojan War. It was in Homer's account that the very idea of becoming a legendary hero reached its pinnacle; the choice of the better hero was not decided on the events they participated in, but rather by their characteristics. The ancient Greeks had strict criteria for individuals to follow if they were to be seen as heroes. Above all, a man needed to be a skilled warrior, but this was not the only requirement. To be a hero, a warrior had to respect authority, both governmental and religious. The Greeks gave heroes no room for pride. These men were to be modest, not only giving credit to their culture and the gods for any great deeds they had done, but also accepting everything that happened as Fate, not scenarios they had created for themselves. In other words, they did not make themselves what they were; rather, they had been predestined to become it. The final requirement of being a hero was coolness. Heroes were not permitted to be blinded by rage or have mood swings. In The Iliad, two Greeks are presented to the reader as heroes. They are Achilles and Diomedes. Although they are both good contenders for the title of hero, Diomedes is by far the better of the two. Diomedes is one of the finest and bravest of the Greek warriors. He is respectful to all authority figures and has little or no pride. Always wise and reasonable, he may be the vision of the perfect nobleman.
Homer clearly and precisely depicts the religion and the ethics of the Achian and Trojan societies in The Iliad. During the time of the Trojan war, religion played an important role in the societies. Sacrifice, prayer, and rituals were all equally significant, and the superiority of the gods and the fates above humans was a standard of society. The gods were sacred deities to whom one had to bestow honor and respect. Within the society, honor, glory, and fame were desperately sought by warriors striving to achieve enduring notoriety. One's word represented a considerable commitment to be acted upon. Religion and ethics are prominently displayed in the characters throughout The Iliad due to their importance in Greek and Trojan society.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Iliad, and Oedipus Rex all center on morality in terms of each character’s social behavior from the beginning to the end of the story. Gilgamesh, Achilles, and Oedipus are three central characters that embody strong qualities of strength, however carry different experiences of morality. Furthermore, all three characters hold different moral codes that are dependent on their ability to resolve the unique situations that they are in. Nevertheless, morality has ultimately impacted the character’s perception of their role in society in terms of whether or not their actions benefit someone or something. This paper will be examining the morality of the three main characters as they undergo major character transformations
Homer’s Iliad is ripe with a variety of social structures. The passage where Diomedes meets Glaucus in battle shows the reader how a variety of these structures interact, and how the Argives value them in relation to each other. There are times when the characters fight for glory, there are times when they strive to earn riches, but above all else, they respect xenia. Xenia is the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, and it is evoked any time a guest visits a host. The Achaeans respect it above all else, and failure to adhere to its strict customs could lead to the forfeiture of countless souls. By the end of the story, xenia has overpowered money, battle, and glory, cementing its place as the most powerful force in all of Homer’s Ancient
Throughout the Iliad, heroic characters make decisions based on a specific set of principles, which are referred to as the “code of honor.” The heroic code that Homer presents to readers is easy to recognize because the heroic code is the cause for many of the events that take place, but many of the characters have different perceptions of how highly the code should be regarded. Hector, the greatest of the Trojan warriors, begins the poem as a model for a hero. His dedication and firm belief in the code of honor is described many times throughout the course of the Iliad. As a reward for heroic traits in battle, prizes were sometimes awarded to victors of war. In Book 1 Achilles receives Chryseis as a prize and a symbol of honor. Heroism had its rewards and its setbacks which ultimately was the backbone of the Illiad in the case of Achilles prize. Hector, arguably the greatest Trojan warrior or even the bravest of the Homeric heroes is very fierce and fights for what he believes is his destiny. In book VI Hector expresses his bravery when Andromache pleads with Hector not to fight when Hector says, “But I would die of shame to face the men of Troy and the Trojan woman trailing their long robes if I would shrink from battle now, a coward. Nor does the sprit urge me on that way. I’ve learned it all too well. To stand up bravely, always to fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers, winning my father great glory, glory for myself” (VI, 387).
The Iliad, by Homer, tells a part of the tale of the conquest of Troy by the Greeks. In the Greek army there are many prominent figures. These important Greeks have distinct personalities. This paper hopes to demonstrate that certain famous Greeks each get some form of comeuppance based on their respective bad character traits and actions. In essence, this paper will show that justice is served against the Greeks for their actions.