Examples Of Self-Serving Bias In The Aeneid

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Maquella Kuhlmann
Ms. Schlosser
Aeneid Literary Analysis; Argumentative
01 Dec. 2015
Self-Serving Bias
The textbook definition of self-serving bias (www.psychologytoday.com) is when people tend to attribute positive events to their own character, but they attribute negative events to external factors, so quite literally, self-serving bias is making oneself look good and blaming other factors. In Book 2 of the Aeneid, Virgil recounts the Battle of Troy from the Roman perspective while in Books 3 and 4 of the Odyssey and in the Iliad, Homer recounts the battle from the Greek perspective. Both epics tell the story of the Greeks construction of the Trojan Horse, which is a wooden horse secretly hiding the army in its hollow gut. The giant …show more content…

After he says this, the Trojans give him their full trust and decide to take the horse into Troy. This quote also displays the deception of the Greeks, because what happens turns out to be the total opposite of what Sinon says. When Laocoon objects about allowing the giant wooden horse into the city, a serpent devours him; consequently, this causes the Trojans to believe that the Gods want the horse to be accepted into Troy. After all of the Trojans fall asleep, the Greek army exits the hollow stomach of the horse and destroy the city of Troy.The Aeneid depiction of the Greeks shows them as untrustworthy people who use trickery and lies to win a battle rather than using sheer intelligence. The Trojans are seen in a much better lighting than the Greeks in the Aeneid. While Sinon uses his lies to deceive the Trojans, the Trojans listen and believe what he …show more content…

Odysseus comes up with a detailed plan to ensure victory for the Greeks to finally end the war between Greece and Troy. He orders his soldiers to construct a gigantic wooden horse containing a hollow stomach. He explains that men.from the Greek army will hide inside the hollow stomach and wait until they are released inside the city of Troy. Odysseus not only thinks up the unique plan of the horse, but he also composes a muse to get the horse into Troy. The plan is to leave one man behind with a tale full of hardships and sorrows, allowing the Trojans to connect with him. Once the Trojans feel sympathetic, they will allow him, Sinon, access into the city. Sinon will also need to get the horse into the city by explaining to the Trojans that the horse is an offering to Minerva. and if the offering is rejected, they will be greatly punished by the Gods. When access is granted to the horse and Sinon, the Greek soldiers tactfully wait inside the horse’s hollow gut until all of the Trojan citizens are asleep, then they destroy the city of Troy. Proteus stated, in Menelaos's tale, '"But for you, Menelaos, O fostered of Zeus, it is not the gods' will that you shall die and go to your end in horse-pasturing Argos, but the immortals will convey you to the Elysian Field, and the limits of the earth, where fair-haired Rhadamanthys is, and where there is made

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