The Iliad poem takes place in north western Turkey around the once mythical city of Troy. Troy was unearthed by a german archaeologist known by Heinrich Schliemann in 1865. Now with the actual city being found it started to bring the story into the realm of truth, but mystery behind the writer of the poem still lingered. The Iliad is believed by scholars to have an unknown author, but the poem’s authorship was ultimately given to a blind poet by the name of Homer. Homer as an individual is a mystery due to the lack of history following his life. Scholars refer to his life not by the individual, but by when the poems were written. The mystery behind this story is starting to come into actuality. I think with time we will discover more fascinating truths behind the city of Troy.
The Iliad begins with a priest, Chryses praying to the god Apollo for his daughters to be returned to him. Apollo answering the prayers of his priest rains vengeance upon the Greek encampment. After nine days of plague, a council is called to discuss ways to end the plague. The council agrees that they must return the girl Chryses asked for when he brought wealth to Agamemnon as trade for his daughter Chryseis. Chryseis is returned by Odysseus to her father, but in exchange Agamemnon takes the other daughter whom Achilles claimed. Achilles is outraged by this vowing that him and his myrmidons will no longer fight in his army. During this time Achilles prays to his mother asking her to speak with Zeus, asking if Zeus to give favor to the Trojan army.
Zeus agrees to help Achilles by sending a dream to Agamemnon, in this dream Zeus urges Agamemnon to siege the city. Agamemnon wishing to fulfill his dream seeks the morale of his army by telling them they are g...
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...tle ensues with Achilles laying waste to the Trojan army while the gods fight alongside mortal men. Hector feeling the need to face Achilles after the fall of Patroclus faces Achilles outside the walls of Troy. After a short chase due to Hector becoming fearful of losing his life, is stopped by Athena. A short duel ends with Achilles killing Hector, as Hector is dying he tells Achilles, that he too will find death soon. The body of Hector is taken by Achilles. The body of Hector lays within the tent of Achilles, Achilles has no intent on returning the body. Priam the father of Hector with the aid of Zeus and Hermes is taken to the tent. Priam begs Achilles for the body of his son, moved by this Achilles agrees and the two bemoan their loses do to the war.
Works Cited
Homer, Alexander Pope, and John Flaxman. The Iliad of Homer. New York: Heritage, 1943. Print.
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.
In Homer’s prominent epic, The Odyssey, A male protagonist gifted with immense physical strength and power named Odyssey is traveling back home to Ithaca. Over the course of his 10 year journey across vast and treacherous waters, his physical attributes are not enough to help him reach home. He faces many obstacles that he must overcome. The most important obstacle is temptation. His journey home is full of temptation and will challenge his physical and mental capabilities that he must learn to control, and overcome, so that he can find his way back home.
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...
Each of these displays of rage are ended with reconciliation that changes Achilles as a man. The epic opens with a plague on the Greek army and a soothsayer reveals that the plague has been caused Agamemnon. To end the plague Agamemnon must give up his war prize, a girl named Chryseis. Agamemnon protests but
In Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, the recurring theme of intelligence is important because through intelligence, Odysseus is able to utilize wit and cunning to suit his needs and wants, as well as defeat bigger and stronger opponents than he. Through the stories of Odysseus' sufferings throughout the Trojan War and his struggles of homecoming, Homer portrays intelligence as being an effective application of strength used to gain an advantage over his opponents. Odysseus is depicted as an intellectual hero, who focuses on brain and sophrosune, rather than the typical martial hero, such as Achilles in the Iliad, who focuses on brawn and action provoked by emotion.
Lattimore, Richard. Introduction. The Iliad of Homer. New York: University of Chicago Press. 1961. 7–55.
Agamemnon demands, the "Argives will give me a prize, a match for my desires, equal to what I have lost, well and good. But if they give me nothing I will take a prize myself (1.159-62)." When Achilles confronts Agamemnon about this, Agamemnon responds, "You are nothing to me--you and your overweening anger! ...
The insistence of personal gain seems to shield the Homeric hero to the consequences that can befall not only him, but also those that are under his leadership. Agamemnon ignores the evidence that the girls father is a priest of the god Apollo, by dis...
The Iliad focuses its narrative on the glories of heroes in the Trojan War, particular Achilles and Hector. Although both are heroes for their side, they have complex personalities that explain their actions. Indeed, as one reads through the poem, it seems that they have nothing in common. They do not share motives for fighting, similar views concerning the immortals, or perspective concerning relationships of those around them, yet they are united by characteristics that constitute a hero as we understand one. Despite their differences, Achilles and Hector both place value on bravery, fight on behalf of others, and see the humanity in those they are fighting with and against.
In conclusion, although the Iliad is based upon Troy, it is not really fair to compare the two. A book and a movie are two entirely different things. It is almost like comparing apples to oranges. Homer’s Iliad is a classic tale, and even though many people might agree that such a masterpiece should not be tampered with, it is important to keep it alive and spread it to all those around.
Within the first book of the poem, we read that Achilles is considered by many to be "god-like". (King Agamemnon, Book 1, line 154) When so...
The Iliad is a classic epic poem written by Homer about the Trojan War and the rage of an Achaean warrior, Achilles. The book introduces the reader to the war and the personal battle between Achilles and King Agamemnon; because of this argument between these two major characters, Homer introduces the role of the gods when Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to go to Zeus and beg for his interference on Achilles’ behalf. The major role the gods play in the Iliad is their interference in the Trojan War as immortal versus immortal and mortal versus immortal.
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 Iliad by Homer, was set nine years into the Trojan War. The war started because Paris, prince of Troy, took Helen from Menelaus. As a result of this, the Greeks and Trojans ended their long peace. Helen’s husband, Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon declared war on Troy determined to bring Helen back. The Greeks settle on the Trojan beach which marked the beginning of the war. Because of this war, innocent Trojans lost their homes, husbands, sons, and their loved ones. Brother of Paris, Hector, died in combat. The war took away thousands of lives. Mothers of sons wept in sorrow. Helen was the main cause of the
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...