The Iliad is definitely a book of contrasts from how Homer achieves PATHOS in book VI, Hector is exposed as quintessentially human, to Homer’s characterization of the Trojans as being family oriented. Pathos is a quality of an experience in life or a work of art that stirs up emotions of pity, sympathy and sorrow. (Literary Devices 1) There are a few situations in book VI where Homer provokes emotions such as sadness. One example is where Hector went back to the Scaean Gates where many women come to ask him about their husbands and sons. “Meanwhile, Hector reached the Scaean Gates and oak tree. The Trojans’ wives and daughters ran up round him, asking after children, brothers, relatives, and husbands. Addressing each of them in turn, he ordered them to pray to all the gods.” (Iliad 1) Many of the men died and this information made the women upset. To console the upset woman Homer urges them to pray to which they agree to. This evokes pathos because of how the women reacted to their men dying. This quality is easily classified as sorrow and sympathy. Another example is when Homer showed Hector expressing his emotions that are distanced from his warrior persona. Homer exposes Hector’s fears such as his fear of death and failure. “Wife, all this …show more content…
He believes she will be dragged away and become a slave. “My pain focuses on you, when one of those bronze-clad Achaeans leads you off in tears, ends your days of freedom. If then you come to Argos as a slave, working the loom for some other woman, fetching water from Hypereia or Messeis, against your will...May I lie dead, hidden deep under a burial mound, before I hear about your screaming, as you are dragged away.” (Iliad 3) In the previous quote, it clearly states Hector’s concern for his wife and her well-being. Hector is one of the many Trojans that Homer depicts as family orientated. All these are just a few examples to provide credence to Schein’s
There are many lessons that can be learned from reading Homer's The Iliad. One of which is understanding the stages of grief. One can literally watch Achilles go through all five stages when he morns the death of his comrade Patroclus. Achilles moves through Denial and Isolation, Depression, Anger, Bargaining and Acceptance in the short time after his close friends death.
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 Iliad is not only a narrative of epic battles and armies, but also of the redemption of a man ruled by wrath. Achilles, whose wrath is the driving force of the whole tale, experiences redemptive changes in the following ways .Firstly by being able to experience empathy, secondly by being willing to forgive those who his wrath was kindled against ,and finally by being able to release the sinister emotions that ruled his life. Achilles does not experience a total redemption in a biblical sense, but instead experiences partial redemption of his character. The Iliad is a novel of a humanistic redemption that does not fully grasp the Christian sense of the word but is nevertheless still redemption.
“Then the screaming and shouts of triumph rose up together, of men killing and men killed, and the ground ran blood.” From first examination the Iliad seems to be an epic founded on an idealized form of glory, the kind that young boys think about when they want to join the army. A place full of heroism and manliness where glory can be achieved with a few strokes of a sword and then you go home and everything is just lovely. Many people view the Iliad this way, based on it’s many vivid battle descriptions and apparent lack of remorse for the deaths that occur. This, however, is not how war is presented in the Iliad. Homer presents a very practical outlook on war countering the attainment of the glory with the reality of its price and the destruction it causes. He successfully does this by showing the value of the lives of each person that dies and, in a sense, mourning their passing, describing the terror and ugliness of war, and, through the characters of Achilleus and Hector, displaying the high price of glory.
Homer’s Iliad focuses on the war and its heroes, their emotions and their ultimate glory. In Book 6 of the Iliad, Hector comes home for the last time and shows tenderness as a father, “Then his beloved father laughed out and his honored mother, and at once glorious Hector lifted from his head the helmet… Then taking up his dear son he tossed him about his arms, and kissed him.” This quotation shows us the tender and fatherly nature of Hector while he is still fighting a war. Homer is emphasizing that although one can love his wife and his children, fighting for the city is always the highest duty for a soldier, which transcends all his other personal responsibilities. As Hector leaves, his wife cries; “so glorious Hector spoke and again took up the helmet with its crest of horse-hair, while his beloved wife went homeward turning to look back on the way letting the love tears fall.” Hector’s wife understands that the ultimate glory of a soldier lies in carrying fighting the war bravely and fearlessly, Even though she ...
The Iliad by Homer is an epic poem separated in different books or chapters that shows a fictionalized account of the Trojan War. Book 6: Hector Returns to Troy is the specific portion of the poem that is being covered in this essay. Hector from the Iliad shows a very clear aspect of his personality, a strong sense of loyalty and tenderness for his loved ones and also his people by being on the front lines during the war and showing his people he is willing to fight with them and essentially sacrificing himself for his family. Hector even knows his forgiveness towards his brother, Paris even though Paris is the main reason the Trojan War is in existence.
The Iliad of Homer, by I. A. Richards, happens in the Bronze Age where the war amongst Greek and Trojan is going on. In this exposition, I will discuss investigating between Achilles and Hector discussing the distinctions and similarities between the two legends of the story The Illiad. Achilles is responsible for the Greek armed forces, while Hector summons the Trojan equipped drive. They are grouped awesome pride and radiance to obviously speak to every side as legends to the point they picked up everybody 's respects. Regardless of the qualities they have, there are more variations than they are indistinct. While deeply analyzing the differences on Achilles and Hector, I have concluded that they differ by the amount of respect they receive, values and family life.
Book Six of The Iliad depicts one of the most interesting conflicts depicted by Homer in this poem, one that occurs between both Hector and Paris in a passage approximately between 380 through 410. Through the context and language Homer uses to illustrate this conflict also explores certain characteristics of these two Trojans. This characterization of Hector and Paris is important as it scrutinizes the brotherly relationship that exists between these characters, offering insight into their personalities and characteristics. The language that Homer uses to describe the conflict in this particular passage establishes the relationship and characteristics of Hector and Paris through the conflict, highlighting the fundamental aspects and values
In the beginning of the Iliad and The Epic of Gilgamesh there are similarities in the behavior of the leading characters. Gilgamesh and Achilles both have problems managing their emotions. For Gilgamesh the issue is in the form of sexual conquest and abuse of power. For Achilles it is pride and fury that causes problems for the hero. It could be said that these behaviors show how the heroes deal with and internalize feelings as well as emotions. Another similarity is how the loss of their comrades causes a transformation in the protagonists. In the Iliad the hero Achilles suffers the loss of his close comrade, Patroclus, and likewise in The Epic of Gilgamesh he experiences the death of Enkidu. The deaths of these comrades serve as a catalyst
...ow of it.”( Line 303-305) Hector knows that he is going to die but he still wants to die with honour. Hectors desire to protect his people and only call upon the gods when needed is a very important quality that demonstrates his distinguished capability to be honour-filled.
Throughout the text, major characters seem to be at constant battle with their different emotions. This inner conflict is mirrored by the everyday conflicts between the gods. Just as Zeus and Hera are constantly at odds with one another, so are the different sides of Achilles: his cultural responsibility, pride, honor, and revenge. No one is completely at peace with his or her conflicting emotions in The Iliad – and therefore, neither are the gods, who represent these emotions. Hector is a prime example of a human who finds himself torn between two forces: his love for his growing family, and his duty as a prince of Troy. He admits to Andromache that he worries about his own mortality, but emphasizes that “I would die of shame to face the men of Troy…if I would shrink from battle now, a coward.” (Homer 6: 523, 525). Hector’s deeply ingrained sense of honor and loyalty to home is clearly established in the beginning of the text. Therefore, when Zeus later grants Hector “power to kill and kill till you cut your way to the benched ships” (Homer 11: 241-242), it is not too much of a stretch to attribute Hector’s dodged perseverance to his upbringing and rigid sense of duty, rather than to the
The 'Iliad'; by Homer is a book that deals with many emotional issues. I am going to talk about a few emotional parts of the Iliad and compare them to the emotional life of today. I have chosen a section of the book and will talk about the emotions that come up there. The section that I have chosen to talk about is in book 18 when Achilles is very angry and very sad about Patroclus death. After that he wants revenge by killing hector.
In Homer’s The Iliad he tells of the battles and events during the time of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. This was just a small portion of the Trojan War that had lasted ten years. The Iliad shares the ideas of the glory of war, military values over family life, and the impermanence of human life and its creation. One thing that Homer does is characterize the two different warriors Achilles and Hector. These two great warriors both show different kinds of traits that shape the character they become throughout the The Iliad. Achilles is the main hero in The Iliad, but Homer subliminally tries to persuade the reader that Hector is the true hero in this story.
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.
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.