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Comparison of Achilles and contemporary hero
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For my exploration, I decided to compare Don Quixote to Achilles from the Book of Iliad. If they are both Heroes in their different stories, they present some divergences. Achille was presented like a fearless and strong warrior, arrogant and proud, and capable of great cruelty. He was a healthier man, full of strength (p.233). In contrast, Don Quixote wasn’t a warrior. He was an old and frail man despite his robust constitution. He never fought against people for his honor but to save somebody. The book states that:” this gentleman of ours was close on to fifty, of a robust constitution but with little flesh on his bones and face that was lean and gaunt.” (p.391). In addition, while Achilles fought and killed (308) to revenge his friend
...e also existed many differences. Most striking was their view on death; one dreamt of immortality while the other adored death and all its glory. At the same time, one must acknowledge the significant effect their friends had on their lives. One cannot help but wonder how each hero's life would have been without what could be considered his soul mate. Regardless, one must accept the fact that Achilles and Gilgamesh were heroes of their time and will remain epic heroes that are continually analyzed and compared throughout the modern era.
The main characters of each work are automatically associated with each other by their names, but they also share similar personalities and characteristics. Odysseus is a wily hero of the Trojan War who uses his deceptive...
...e Aeneas and Caesar to become great heroes among men. Both show piety and one is also driven by the gods, but after centuries no one has forgotten them. One of them because his ending created the foundation for an empire that would reign for a millennium. The other because of his clever tactics and devotion to protect his men and city. War has torn the world apart through the millenniums passing their times, but no one has come to the magnitude of positive renown like Aeneas and Caesar.
In this essay I will compare and contrast the qualities and plights of both Aeneas and Gilgamesh. These two epic heroes share similar fates, yet are very different in personality.
Leo Buscaglia, a motivational speaker and American author, once stated, “Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time” (thinkexist.com). The quotation reveals that anyone can have an adventure because life is an adventure. Homer’s the Odyssey and Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote tell the stories of Odysseus and Don Quixote. The two men’s lives are full of adventure, but they are two completely different adventures. Odysseus continually fights for his life, whereas Don Quixote simply fights for chivalry. Odysseus and Don Quixote are different adventure heroes because of the reasons for their adventures, their accomplishments, and their bravery.
Homer's two central heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, are in many ways differing manifestations of the same themes. While Achilles' character is almost utterly consistent in his rage, pride, and near divinity, Odysseus' character is difficult to pin down to a single moral; though perhaps more human than Achilles, he remains more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, both heroes are defined not by their appearances, nor by the impressions they leave upon the minds of those around them, nor even so much by the words they speak, but almost entirely by their actions. Action is what drives the plot of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and action is what holds the characters together. In this respect, the theme of humanity is revealed in both Odysseus and Achilles: man is a combination of his will, his actions, and his relationship to the divine. This blend allows Homer to divulge all that is human in his characters, and all that is a vehicle for the idyllic aspects of ancient Greek society. Accordingly, the apparent inconsistencies in the characterization of Odysseus can be accounted for by his spiritual distance from the god-like Achilles; Achilles is more coherent because he is the son of a god. This is not to say that Achilles is not at times petty or unimaginative, but that his standards of action are merely more continuous through time. Nevertheless, both of Homer's heroes embody important and admirable facets of ancient Greek culture, though they fracture in the ways they are represented.
The first line of the Iliad describes a human emotion that leads to doom and destruction in Homer's poetic tale of the Trojan War. Achilles' rage is a major catalyst in the action in the Iliad. It is his rage that makes him both withdraw from and, later, rejoin the war with a fury. Why is Achilles enraged? Is his rage ignited solely by his human adversaries or do the gods destine him to the experience? Achilles' rage has many facets. His rage is a personal choice and, at times, is created by the gods.
A hero is the one who can do anything to protect his people, guard the good and maintain a high amount of morality. The Greek hero Achilles and Ireland’s Cuchulain both lead very similar lives; the lives of true hero-warriors. Although the tales and myths of both these great warriors come from very different cultures it is important to note the similarities between them and they do have various character traits that sets them apart but the myths of Achilles and Cuchulain are essentially the same type of legends.
In his classic work "Poetics" Aristotle provided a model of the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero is more admirable than the average person. This results in the tragic hero being admired by the audience. For the audience to accept a tragic ending as just, it is crucial that the tragic hero be responsible for their undoing. At the same time though, they must remain admired and respected. This is achieved by the tragic hero having a fatal flaw that leads to their undoing. One of literature's examples of the tragic hero is Achilles from Homer's The Iliad. However, Achilles is different from the classic tragic hero in one major way - his story does not end tragically. Unlike the usual tragic hero, Achilles is able to change, reverse his downfall, and actually prove himself as a true hero.
The Iliad, the Greek epic documented by Homer that describes the battles and events of the ten year siege on Troy by the Greek army. Both Trojans and Greeks had their fair share of heroes and warriors, but none could match the skill and strength of the swift runner, Achilles. Achilles had the attributes of a perfect warrior with his god-like speed and combat abilities. However, even though he was Greek’s greatest warrior, he still possessed several flaws that made him fit the role of the Tragic Hero impeccably. Defined by Aristotle, a Tragic Hero is someone who possesses a high status of nobility and greatness, but must have imperfections so that mere mortals cannot relate to the hero. Lastly, the Tragic Hero’s downfall must be partially their own fault through personal choice rather than by an evil act, while also appearing to be not entirely deserved of their unfortunate fate. Achilles is a true Tragic Hero because he withholds all of these traits. Achilles proves to be a good man that puts his loved ones first, reveals his tragic flaws of pride and anger, shows dynamic qualities as a character when his flaws are challenged, and has a moment of clarity at the end of his rage. Achilles truly exemplifies the qualities of a Tragic Hero.
When Odysseus visits the kingdom of the dead, he meets Achilles. On page 265, he brings up that Achilles was basically a god in his time alive and that no one else will ever be like him. Odysseus does not understand why Achilles is unhappy because Achilles may have died young, but he died in fame and now has power in his afterlife. Achilles tells Odysseus that he would rather be alive struggling to get by than be ruling over the dead. What is so enticing to Odysseus about dying in glory? Is it that he fears he will not be remembered because he did not die attempting some spectacular feat? If so, this concept diminishes the value of life itself. The things one did in life should be more important than the circumstances in which he/she
Throughout the Iliad, a conflict develops through the process of each chapter which rests on the surface over a Maiden. The disagreement is caused due to one person or the other feeling far more powerful or superior than the other and is left to sense as if they should receive what is rightfully theirs even if it is not a fair exchange. This conflict is seen between two leaders who view each other with different status: Agamemnon the Argive leader of the expedition to Troy, who had inherited the role of king through his father, and Achilles the leader of Myrmidons. As the dispute develops, it is apparent that the discord between Agamemnon and Achilles is more than something about women; it seems to be their mindset distracting them from having a dispute between their views on power, honour, glory and pride amongst themselves.
The Iliad may be seen as an account of the circumstances that irrevocably alter the life of one man: Achilles, one of the greatest warriors. Throughout the course of the poem Achilles goes through many ordeals that change his character immensely. Starting with his quarrel with Agamemnon and withdrawal from battle, to the death of Patroklos, and with the slaying of Hektor. Achilles emotions and actions decide the fate of many warriors on both sides. Achilles struggles with anger, honor, pride, loyalty and love make the poem more that just a gruesome war story.
According the Iliad by Homer, Hector and Achilles are the main characters that have many different, but also they have some similarity.They both have the different in personalities and life. Also, they have the different about leadership and relationship with their family. Both are the two strong warriors and heroes. Achilles is in Greek side, Hector is in the Trojans side , and they both want to win the battle . Both characteristics believed that their fate is to die on the battle as the warrior, but approach war differently. However, they all have the advantage and disadvantage. Also, They have the different reasons to fight the battle that hector fight for his homeland and his family's honor and Achilles fight for Helen , also because he is the best warrior that he want people to respected him.
In the poem, Iliad, Achilles and Hector both show relative heroism in their own different ways. Achilles may have been the more popular hero, but Hector had great heroism as well. Each of these characters possess their own different strengths and weaknesses. These two characters both have pride as being one of their main weaknesses. Hector seems as if he would suit best in the modern world, but there are a few different reasons as to why the ancients may have chose Achilles. Hector and Achilles both lost a lot by letting their pride get in the way of their heroism. Both of these characters were their country’s best warrior. Achilles and Hector have very different personalities, and very different ways of approaching situations.