As spectators we are normally passive onlookers of the action taking place. The only influence we can have over the outcome is by making the participants aware of our support by cheering, or of our anger and frustration at an action by chanting and booing. We place our trust in the officials and referees to ensure that strict guidelines and rules are adhered to throughout the action. As spectators we are also commentators expressing our opinions regarding the actions of the participants and the officials. As spectators we can empathise with the emotions of the participants and feel extreme jubilation or extreme disappointment depending on whether you are supporting the winning or losing side. In this essay I will be discussing whether the gods in the Iliad conform at all to this definition of a spectator. In the Iliad, the action we are witnessing is a war between the Achaeans and the Trojans supported on each side by different gods, with Zeus supposedly acting as the impartial referee ensuring that the rules of honourable conduct are adhered to. The poem opens during a ‘time-out’ in the nine year war and the losing Achaeans are blaming their poor performance on the actions of their ‘captain’ Agamemnon, who has upset the other side’s main supporter Apollo. But in appeasing Apollo, Agamemnon disrespects the honour of Achilles, and in retaliation he refuses ‘to play’ for his side until his honour is restored. It is at this point in the action that Zeus’s impartiality is compromised by a promise to Thetis that the Trojans will have the advantage until the Greeks acknowledge the worth of their ‘star player’ Achilles. When the action resumes in Books 2-7 each of the gods gives their support to their favourites on the first day of fig... ... middle of paper ... ... watching from high Pergamos was angered and called aloud to the Trojans: “Rise up, Trojans, breakers of horses, bend not from battle”(4.507-508). He goes on to admonish them for their poor performance especially as Achilles is not ‘playing’. But in contrast, as Apollo is calling out from the citadel as a spectator, Athene ‘drove on the Achaians, any of them she saw hanging back as she strode through the battle’ (5.515-516). Apollo’s relegation to a spectator maybe because the actions of the Trojan archer Pandarus, carried out in the name of Apollo, were considered dishonourable in warfare and Apollo wanted to distance himself from those actions. Apollo is again seen as a spectator in Book 5 as he and Aphrodite ‘take their ease and pleasure’ (5.760) on Mount Olympus, but this is only after he has taken direct action in saving Aeneas during a fight with Diomedes.
... in Achilles’ armor once the battle started getting direr, particularly for some of Achilles’ greatest friends. Finally, after Patroclus is killed, Achilles returns to battle, distraught over Patroclus’ death. Through the virtues and heroism of the Achaean heroes: Diomedes’ courage and oratory skill in reinvigorating the troops; Agamemnon’s honesty in admitting himself as the cause for Achilles’ rage and providing enormous wealth and honor to Achilles in an attempt to atone for his mistake; Nestor’s wisdom in selecting the three most likely to be successful; Phoenix’s favor with Zeus preventing Zeus from interfering against them while they attempted to bring Achilles back to the battle; Odysseus’ skill as an eloquent orator in his attempt to convince Achilles; all of this together eventually led to the mission of returning Achilles to the battle being successful.
Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors, is portrayed as a hero in some ways but, on the other hand, performs some controversial acts in the Iliad. Throughout the entire Trojan war, Achilles spent most of his time pouting in his tent after Agamemnon kidnapped his prized maiden, Chryseis.
The Iliad begins with the clash between Achilles and Agamemnon. Agamemnon has little, if any, respect for the gods. This is displayed by his irreverent behavior towards the priest, Chryses. Agamemnon refuses to release the princess even when the Achaean soldiers suggested "`Respect the priest, accept the shining ransom!' But it brought no joy to the heart of Agamemnon" (104). Achilles is, unlike Agamemnon, respectful of and revered by the gods. In order to expose the cause of Apollo's wrath against the Argive army, Achilles uses the prophet, Calchas. Achilles already knows why Apollo is angry, but decides the fact should be stated by someone other than himself. He knows that Agamemnon will become angry once the truth is revealed. I believe that in this instance he is trying to keep his rage in check by avoiding a direct confrontation with Agamemnon. Calchas also fears for his life because he also knows Agamemnon's fury is unyielding at times. However, with a great deal of encouragement from Achilles, Calchas "spoke out, bravely: `Beware-The god's enraged because Agamemnon spurned his priest'" (106). When the truth is exposed, Agamemnon be...
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...
The subject of Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, is very clearly stated--it is “the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles.” The reader remains continually aware of the extent of Achilles’ rage, yet is never told the reason why Achilles remains angry and unreconciled. There is no definitive answer to this question. Achilles is not a static character. He is constantly changing; thus the question of why he remains angry solicits different answers at various stages throughout the poem. To find an answer, the reader must carefully examine Achilles’ ever-changing dilemma involving the concepts of mortality and honor. At its simplest, Achilles’ dilemma is that if he goes to war, he will die. But he will die with glory.
The text supports a means of judging character and extends it to cultural elements such as the gods who define the faith and belief of the people. Iliad upholds warlike deities, including Athena, for admiration among the modern civilization. In the ideal epic world, the comic is vital in creating relief as seen with the timidity of Artemis and Aphrodite. Moreover, fighting seems as a way of proving honor and integrity, while avoiding warfare is a demonstration for laziness and misaligned
Achilles is introduced into The Iliad getting into a debacle with the leader of the Greek army, Agamemnon, during the last year of the Trojan War. Achilles starts a quarrel with Agamemnon because he has demanded possession of Achilles’ woman, Briseis, in consolation for having to give up his woman, Chryseis, so that the gods will end their plague upon the Greek soldiers. Achilles does all he can to get his loved one back, but he knows that nothing will waver Agamemnon’s decision. This is when Achil...
The men of the Iliad are very emotional individuals; however, the emotions they express are consistently rage, pride, and jealousy. Achilles and Agamemnon jealously bicker over Briseis, a war prize that neither man particularly values. Agamemnon eventually returns her to Achilles with the admission that he never actually coupled with her; Achilles is less-than-enthused to have her back. Not only is Briseis, as a woman, regarded less as a human being as she is chattel, but the real issue dividing Agamemnon and Achilles is petty jealousy and pride. This is symptomatic of a general attitude among men that "might makes right," and the only priority is to exert a dominance over others whenever possible and at any cost. Achilles is willing to risk the lives of his compatriots and eventually forfeits his own life in pursuit of glory. Hector also loses his life and fails his family and country for glory despite having weighed the alternatives and con...
The Greek army has been camped out on the shores of Troy for a very long, so they do not have much supplies, and much fewer tokens to show their honour, so honour itself is also running out. When Agamemnon says that he will need something to replace the prize that he has lost at the start of the poem, Achilles replies, “...how shall the great-hearted Achaians give you a prize now? There is no great store of things lying about I know of.” (Homer, Iliad 1.124) The men need to continually add to their honour, and without a large victory, they are not able to do so, so there is tension, and the tension is made worse when Agamemnon takes what Achilleus thinks is more than his fair share. ...
"The Iliad is a poem that celebrates the heroic values war imposes on its votaries (27)." Homer himself describes war as "bringing glory to man." War is a huge part of both the Achaeans and the Trojans' lives. Characters gain glory through their performances and bravery in battle. Furthermore, Homer persuades the reader that war is the glorious way to settle a dispute. For example, Hector and other Trojans scorn Paris for backing down from Menelaus. On the other hand, Achilles acquires glory by deferring the option of a long, peaceful life in order to fight and become an epic hero. The characters in The Iliad value honor and glory to such a degree that they are willing to give up life itself in order to possess it.
Homer’s The Iliad: Book XX features a battle between the Trojans and Achaians, shortly after Patroklus’ death (Lattimore Book XVI), where the gods must intervene in order to restrain Achilleus’ destructive nature that becomes amplified due to the grief and wrath as a result of the loss of his cousin/lover. The divine foresaw an early fall of Troy caused by the intensified destructive nature of Achilleus, therefore they interfered in the battle to protect a bigger ideal of fate, a fate of a nation, by manipulating smaller ideals of fate, the fates of people’s lives(Lattimore 405). At the beginning of the battle, after the gods descended from Olympus, they decide to sit and just watch how their mortal teams will fend for themselves until Apollo takes form as Lykoan and coerce Aeneias to challenge Achilleus, thus establishing the first act of divine intervention (Lattimore 406-407). When Achilleus is inches away from killing Aeneias, Poseidon takes sympathy upon him and whisks him off to safety (Lattimore 407-411). The last interference occurs during the confrontation between Hektor and Achilleus, where Achilleus is about to murder him and Apollo saves Hektor (Lattimore 416). Hektor’s rescue in this battle is an important event in the Iliad because Achilleus’ and Hektor’s fates are interrelated, further meaning that if Hektor die...
The Role Of Zeus in Homer's Iliad. & nbsp; In the era of Homer, divine intervention was thought to be typical, and one of his. foremost works, The Iliad, reflects this. Nearly all of the Greek gods are involved in the outcome of the Trojan War, which happens to be the background story of this epic poem.
The men of the Iliad are very emotional and prideful. Achilles and Agamemnon jealously feud over Briseis, a war prize that neither man particularly values. Even though Briseis is seen as a possession she plays a key part in the battle for Troy. Perhaps the war would have ended much sooner if Achilles and Agamemnon could have settled their differences instead of fighting. Not only is Briseis viewed as a prize of war, but the real issue dividing Agamemnon and Achilles is petty jealousy and pride. Achilles is willing to risk the lives of his compatriots and eventually f...
As the reader goes through the many books in the Iliad, he or she may notice the battle of immortal versus immortal on Mount Olympus. The gods are introduced in this book as major characters that have taken a side on either Team Trojans or Team Achaeans. Aphrodite, Apollo, and Ares are the main gods on Team Trojans, while Hera and Athena fight for Team Achaeans. Zeus is supposedly neutral, but in book one Thetis approaches Zeus saying, “honor my son Achilles!-doomed to live the shortest life of any man on earth […] grant the Trojans victory […] till the Achaean armies pay my dea...
Greek mythology has systematically included the intervention of gods and goddesses in matters of the mortal world, and Homer’s The Iliad is no different. The story is littered with divine intervention, with both positive and negative outcomes for the humans involved.