War: Unjustifiable and Absurd

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War is a lot like love: it costs a lot of money, time, and energy; it distracts you from other areas of life; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but most importantly, in the end, it’s still worth fighting for. But unlike love, war cannot and should not be justified and disregarded, by gods or men. No matter what people try to do to resolve their disputes, sometimes they get so aggravated that they resort to killing each other, and the taking of a life is no light matter. It’s no coincidence that most people have post-traumatic stress coming back from the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. It’s because sinners live on the same planet, sinning and accusing the other of sinning while covering their own sin. So wars come and wars go, exchanging the powers between the nations who attack each other. The Trojan War, partially exemplified in the Iliad by Homer, follows this natural pattern of human nature. The Iliad does not go anywhere near the fact that the war is unjustifiable and absurd. In fact, the poem makes it clear that in the minds of both Greeks (also Achaeans) and Trojans that the war was justified and that each faction thought that they were entitled to some sort of resolution in their favor. Therefore, one should examine the Iliad from the viewpoint of the characters and the poet’s beliefs, from a fixed fictional standpoint instead of the real world’s standpoint. Both the Greek and Trojans had both rational and somewhat realistic reasons behind their logic, summed up in three observations: The competition of the main characters to elevate their own self-importance, their manly struggle over the hot Greek chick, and finally the vengeance that must be wrought for their fallen brothers-in-arms. But even though both sides...

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...r how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime”. It is a common occurrence to forget about the people who suffer and die at the merciless hands of the evil dictator called War. It might be possible, as long as those people are remembered and taken care of, to reshape what the world thinks a justified war means.

Works Cited

1. "Ernest Hemingway." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2013. 25 November 2013. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ernesthemi108407.html
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2. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Iliad.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
3. Homer. “The Iliad”. Robert Fitzgerald, Anchor Books, 1974.
4. Leithhart, Peter J. “Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to select Ancient Literature” Canon Press, Idaho, 1999.

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