Throughout greek mythology, we see the heroic traits of glory seeking and arrogance. These traits are depicted usually at the lowest point in the heroes journey whether it’s a war or a game. Glory seeking and Arrogance can be shown throughout the books The Iliad and The Odyssey which are both written by Homer. These themes are also shown in many of the classical vases such as the Eleusis Amphora painted and pottered by the Polyphemus painter, Francois Vase pottered by Ergotimos and painted by Kleitias and the final vase Kleophrades Hyrdia painted by Kleophrades.a lot of films based on greek mythology such as Troy, directed by WolfGang Petersen; Clash of the Titans, directed by Louis Leterrier,
In the book The Iliad, we see many characters
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showing arrogance and glory seeking. In book 16 we are given an example of this is when the lover of Achilles Patroklos is about to be killed by the prince of Troy, Hector, Patroclus says “Yours is the victory given by Kronos’ son, Zeus, and Apollo, who have subdued me easily, since they themselves stripped the arms from my shoulders. Even though twenty such as you had come in against me, they would have been broken beneath my spear, and have perished.[...] you are only my third slayer.” This quote is talking about how it shows arrogance just before his death as he believes that he even though he has nearly died two other times and survived, this makes Patroclus think that he can survive against Hector as well, this is soon to prove Patroclus’ arrogance wrong as Hector kills him. Another book that was written by Homer was The Odyssey which was the story of Odysseus’ journey home after the Iliad finished. This book shows many heroic traits that are very similar to The Iliad with Glory seeking and Arrogance being one of the main ones. An example of this can be seen in Book nine of the Odyssey when Odysseus is escaping the cave of Polyphemus. This event is a massive event throughout Odysseus journey home as it Odysseus lowest point through his journey and a turning point for the story since Odysseus decided to shout out “Cyclops, if any mortal man ever asks you who it was that inflicted upon your eye this shameful blinding, tell him that you were blinded by Odysseus, sacker of cities, Laertes is his father and he makes his home on Ithaka.” This quote comes from Odysseus after his men told him not to shout his name, but Odysseus ignores them because he was too arrogant and was seeking glory because he wanted to be the one who wanted to get fame from defeating and outsmarting Polyphemus. This event can be linked to the concept of Hubris since Polyphemus was Poseidon's father which was considered not okay since he was enacting defiance towards the gods. Another concept word this event has a link to is the word Atasthalia since Odysseus shouting his name meant that Odysseus would take nine extra years to get home and all of his men will die and anyone Odysseus encounters and helps Odysseus will die as well. Ate being another concept that can be seen in book nine since Odysseus shouted his name to Polyphemus, this resulted in Odysseus receiving punishment from Poseidon for Odysseus actions that meant all of Odysseus’ men will all die because of what he did and Odysseus will arrive home after nine years of being presumed dead by his family and to discover trouble at his home with the suitors disrespecting his family and home. Another one of the concept words is Kleos since Odysseus shouted his name in hopes that it will lead to glory. However as the story goes on Odysseus starts to learn that glory seeking and arrogance is actually really bad as it only resulted in terrible things happening to him when he stated “I too seemed destined to be a man of fortune once and a wild wicked swath I cut, indulged my lust for violence…. Let not man ever be lawless all his life, just take in peace what gifts the gods will send.” This quote from Odysseus in book 18 is Odysseus realising that after his whole journey arrogance and seeking glory only results in trouble, but when he performs an honourable task he gets the glory. This book can easily be related George W. Bush was arrogant enough to think starting the Iraq war thinking he can solve the terrorism problem only resulted in countless deaths that could have been avoided by not starting a war. This war is now considered a mistake and unnecessary but many people still view George W. Bush as a hero for his actions in the Iraq war and his speech after the Iraq war finished. Classical vases portray a lot of the heroic traits of glory seeking and arrogance very well as well as The Odyssey and The Iliad.
The first of the three vases that show these heroic traits is the Kleophrades Hyrdria. This vase is a red figure vase that depicts the rape of Cassandra which is the daughter of King Priam and murder of King Priam of Troy and Hector’s son on his lap. This scene takes place during the fall of Troy and is considered to be very arrogant. In this vase we are shown Lesser Ajax raping Cassandra and eventually murdering her in the temple of Athena, this can be considered very disrespectful to the gods, and is considered Hubris and Atasthalia since Lesser Ajax is being really disrespectful towards the gods and raping and murdering her in Athena’s temple only worsen Ajax’s fate but we never hear any more about lesser Ajax from here. We are also shown the murder of King Priam by Achilles’ son Neoptolemus in the temple of Apollo, this is also just as disrespectful as the rape of Cassandra since King Priam is being killed on the altar of Apollo, this links to the concept of Hubris and Atasthalia since Neoptolemus is disrespecting Apollo and worsening his fate and shortly dying later. These are the acts of arrogance as they are insulting the gods as they are murdering Trojans in temples of worship. The second vase of the three is the vase Eleusis Amphora which is red figure vase that depicts the myth of Odysseus blinding of Polyphemus, this vase doesn’t show …show more content…
glory seeking or arrogance but the events that occur afterwards occur because of the blinding. After Odysseus blinded Polyphemus Odysseus escapes the morning after and just when he is about to get away without getting caught, but as soon as he shouted his name after his men told him not to shout out his name, Polyphemus knew that he could ask his father for help to bring punishment to Odysseus and his men for what they have done. This links very easily to Hubris since he is blinding a son of a god, Atashhalia since he worsened the fate of him and his men, and Ate since Odysseus is arrogant enough to yell out his name to a son of god to claim the fame that proves his stratagems and strength that will cause him punishment for his actions towards Polyphemus. In the scene depicted on the vase Odysseus is painted white, most times when a figure is painted white it shows character difference and the importance of a great leader but we know that after Odysseus blinded Polyphemus, Odysseus shouted his name which isn’t consider a smart thing that a great leader would do. This part can be considered to be the fall of Odysseus and where his whole journey begins because Odysseus was arrogant. The final vase out of the three vases is the Francois vase which is a black figure that depicts nine myths throughout the vase, but I will be focusing on one myth, this myth is Achilles pursuing Troilus as this shows arrogance in this scene. In this scene we are shown Troilus riding a horse around the outside wall of Troy as Achilles pursues after him, this is because he decided to rejoin the battle to get revenge for all the men that had died while Achilles was absent from the war. When Achilles rejoins the war he goes after Troilus since he is one of the five sons of King Priam and leaders of the Trojans, when Achilles eventually catches up to Troilus, Achilles cuts off Troilus’ head and holds it high up over the altar of Apollo to show that he had just killed Troilus as of a way of gloating as King Priam and Troilus’ brothers watch Achilles head being held up, but since Achilles killed Troilus and was holding his head above the altar of Apollo this is very arrogant of Achilles and which can also be considered as glory seeking, this is considered as hubris since is disrespecting the gods as he held the head up to show that he had killed Troilus over the altar as the blood dripped into the altar which made his fate worse which can link to Atasthalia which resulted in Apollo guiding the arrow that kills Achilles into Achilles as a form of punishment towards Achilles which links to Ate. Throughout the movie Troy, we see many scenes with the heroic traits of Glory seeking and arrogance. Most of the scenes that represent glory seeking and arrogance are scenes of war and tragedy. From the very beginning of the film when we see versing against Achilles which is the strongest warrior of all of the greeks versing against Boagrius the strongest warrior out of all of King Triopas men, Triopas and Boagrius we see arrogance throughout this scene, though. Boagrius and his men believe that because Boagrius is huge and threatening that they are going to win up against Agamemnon as we hear Triopas say “Boagrius has this effect on many heroes.”As he believes that Boagrius is going to win no matter what because he is strong and bruting. This is arrogant because since Boagrius is perceived as a strong bruting character it makes Triopas think that he’s going to win to then discover that brawn isn’t always better and in a result of thinking that brawn is all that matters, Triopas loses against Agamemnon. A later scene we see Paris against Memnon In the film Clash of the Titans arrogance and glory seeking is a very big heroic trait shown in the film through a lot of minor characters and Perseus as well.
In the beginning of the film one of the first scenes is some of the warriors from Argos are seen destroying a statue of Zeus which can be considered the concept of Hubris which can be considered very arrogant since they are showing excessive pride towards the Zeus by destroying a statue of Zeus as of a way of them saying that the human race doesn’t need the gods and that the human race is better than the gods. Another concept this scene shows is Atasthalia are making their fate worse by taunting the gods and enacting Hubris towards the gods. This made the gods want to bring destruction to the human race and Argos as they feel that the human race is too arrogant and rude but Perseus is trying to prevent this from happening. As Perseus journey continues he encounters many opportunities that he can ask the gods help for, one of these scenes is Perseus up encountering Calibos for the first time, in this scene we see Perseus being offered a sword to fight Calibos from the gods, Perseus decides that he doesn’t need any help from the gods and that he can defeat Calibos without the sword. This scene shows arrogance as Perseus thinks that he doesn’t need the help from the gods and instead “can do this as a man” This quote is said by Perseus 36 minutes into the movie as he believes he doesn’t need any help from the gods. Since
he denies the help from the gods Calibos ends up getting away and Perseus receiving a life threatening injury, but Perseus arrogance doesn’t end there, he is so determined to find and kill Calibos to get glory even if it means going into dangerous area that ended Getting Perseus and his men end up having to verse against giant scorpions, after defeating all the scorpions Perseus still has his life-threatening injury, he gets the opportunity to ask for help from his father Zeus but denies it because Perseus wants to deal with this situation himself and doesn’t see Zeus as a father to him. In a later scene we see Zeus offering his sanctuary for Perseus but Perseus denies this because Perseus is still confident that he can defeat the gods and prevent the destruction of humans and Argos as Perseus states “I’d rather die in the mud with those men than live forever as a god.” since Perseus doesn’t appreciate the gods since they killed Perseus parental figure that Perseus even calls his own father rather than Zeus because of what the gods have done, this can be considered as hubris since he believes that he is better than the gods. The movie can be easily compared with classical texts such as vases and the stories since they share similarities like mythology of gods and monsters alongside the concept ideas like Hubris and Atasthalia and the heroic traits such as glory seeking and Arrogance, a difference between the classical texts and film is that the films focus more on not being arrogant towards each other and doesn’t involve much about the gods but in the classical texts it’s mainly about not being arrogant towards both the gods and mortal humans. This can easily be compared to with the Arrogance in modern culture of war and sports for example with George W. Bush when he sent people into a war with Iraq after the 9/11 attacks thinking that he can fix Iraq and simply solve the terrorism problem. This was the cause of thousands of people dead from Iraq and America because George W. Bush thought he could solve the terrorism problem. Even though that the Iraq war was unnecessary and thousands of people were killed throughout the war he is still perceived and treated as a hero with his victory speech at the end of the Iraq war. This is also similar to certain activities and events modern times as well for example when George W. Bush declared war on Iraq after the 9/11 attacks and was considered a hero for this action.
Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus’ power was gained through the power of others resulting in three phases of understanding: self-determination, courage, and having a greater vision in life. In order to understand these three phases, one must be able to conquer predominance from those less useful than others. Although Odysseus was physically strong, he was not who he was mentally, without the help and guidance through the gods. Odysseus was like one who has no friends, but when he meets up with more people, he becomes popular. One who was alone and meets new people, has more friends and finds out more interesting subjects about daily life. They are the ones who have more predominance than others because they know more people and have much more interesting subjects. Odysseus was like this because he didn’t know much without the help and guidance from others.
Odysseus is one of the most renowned warriors of all time. However, many historians argue that he was one of the worst leaders in all of literature and humanity. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus has shown traits unbefitting of a leader and king. Odysseus is a lousy leader because he is arrogant, disloyal, and selfish.
The definition of pride is a feeling or deep pleasure of satisfaction that people obtain from their own accomplishments. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey, is full of pride throughout his long journey. Odysseus is a warrior from the ten year Trojan War and he is trying to get back home to Ithaca. He is one of the most popular war heros from his time. On his journey home over sea, the sea god and Odysseus’s enemy Poseidon, creates obstacles for Odysseus that he has to overcome if he wants to get home. Odysseus eventually returns home after another ten years. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer represents pride Odysseus’ biggest flaw throughout his encounter with Polyphemus and the Phaeacians.
Throughout its history, strong values have stood at the core of Greek culture. Ancient Greeks placed a focus on a balance of mind and body. Citizens were expected to adhere to three main Greek virtues; these being respect for the body, respect for the gods, and hospitality. At times, these virtues were not upheld, usually resulting in what they believed to be punishment from the gods. Examples of this can be seen in the epic, The Odyssey, authored by Homer. Throughout the poem, a repeated disregard for the ancient Greek values teaches readers a fundamental principle of life--consequences follow poor decisions.
“There is no safety in unlimited hubris” (McGeorge Bundy). The dictionary defines hubris as overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance. In The Odyssey, Homer embodies hubris into the characters Odysseus, the Suitors, and the Cyclopes. Odysseus shows hubris when he is battling the Cyclopes, the Cyclopes show hubris when dealing with Odysseus, and the Suitors show it when Odysseus confronts them at his home.
For hundreds of years, psychologists have attempted to understand why toddlers selfishly refuse to share. Recently, many experts in the field agree that toddlers are incapable of sharing because of their lack of integral brain development. From birth through early childhood, a child can only recognize his own wants and needs. Around the time a child begins kindergarten, he starts to development his understanding of abstract concepts, such as empathy, and sympathy. However, some believe that humans never rid themselves of that original selfishness. In essence, humans are born selfish and hopefully become compassionate later on. The idea of a natural tendency towards selfishness
“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.
The notion of personal honor is prevalent throughout the Iliad. The honor of every person in Homeric culture was important, but to the hero, his honor was paramount. He could not endure insults, and he felt that he had to protect his reputation — even unto death. The hero 's duty was to fight, and the only way he had of gaining glory and immortality was through heroic action on the battlefield; thus, he continually prepared his life for the life-and-death risks of battle. The Homeric hero believed that men had to stand together in battle; men had to respect each other; and they had to refrain from excessive cruelty. This last condition was critically important for the Homeric hero. He loathed deliberate acts of cruelty and injustice. If he were ready to kill a victim, he believed that he should do it quickly; he was not to mutilate him, as Achilles does with Hektor 's body. By following this code, a hero gained a sense of dignity and a reputation for honor that would ensure his place in the social memory of his community.
Homer’s moral exemplars in the heroic tragedy, The Iliad, can be analyzed to further understand warrior ethics. Agamemnon, a powerful warrior king, was proud and arrogant. These qualities made him an excellent warrior and the Greeks respected him. However, Agamemnon demonstrated excess pride and arrogance, as well as stubbornness. The Greeks believed that people must face their destiny with pride and nobility.
Often readers will criticize the champions of classical and medieval epics for egotism. Critics cite examples from the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Beowulf of conceit and egocentric behavior. Odysseus, Aeneas, and Beowulf display a well-known arrogance befitting their accomplishments. The motivation for this arrogance, to complete these tasks, to perform these feats, is often over-generalized to the point of inaccuracy and confusion. One must not let such misinterpretations interrupt the humanization of these characters. Through the examination of the desires and behavior of these epic heroes, we can discover an underlying need for recognition or honor. In classical and medieval western epics, the hero’s desire to complete a given quest is fueled by their desire to gain or maintain honor or fame.
than the times of today. Back then, the most important aspect of life for a
Throughout the Iliad, Homer portraits the extent to which honor plays a role in the lives of Greeks and the manner in which they are willing to sacrifice in order to reach their goals. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, a particularly long and bloody war, fought not over boundary disagreements, and not over political conflicts, and not to protect the nation. Rather, it was a war fought to defend the personal honor. The possession of women was important to a man’s standing and honor. Paris’ theft of Helen struck a huge blow to the honor of Menelaus and becomes the initial cause of the Trojan War. Consequently, Menelaus, the Spartan ruler, called upon his brother Agamemnon to gather the Greek forces to launch the war against Paris demanding the return of Helen and reinstating the honor for the king. The war lasted for ten years and cost innumerable Greeks’ lives and brought incurable pain upon their families. To Greek heroes, honor is more important than their life as much as that life would be meaningless without it, and they even willingly sacrifice their lives in order...
The ethical values reflected in the Iliad should be taken seriously because they are not only plausible, but also congruent with the time and place. Homer is narrating tales of a society where men expect to fight and likely die in battle, where courage is demanded of all men, and where honor and glory are seen as steps toward achieving excellence. What makes the Iliad a masterpiece of Western civilization is not just the stirring story, but most of all Homer’s even-handed portrayal of the Homeric world, for the Trojans are never depicted as being less than the Greeks. The Greeks, even their greatest military heroes, are seen as flawed human beings. In conclusion, what Homer presents in the Iliad is a worldview rather than the local perspective of a distant war. In the end, Homer seems to be saying that all men may aspire to virtue.
treachery among the Gods that is so prevalent in the Iliad, is nowhere to be
The Iliad and the Odyssey are two classic stories told by Homer. Within these two stories the roles of the gods are very important to the story line and how they affect the characters throughout. In the Iliad, more gods are involved with the characters whereas in the Odyssey there are only two major gods that affect two major characters. The roles of the gods in the Iliad are through two different stances of immortal versus immortal and mortal versus immortal. The roles of the gods in the Odyssey are through two major gods and they affect the plot as Poseidon versus Odysseus and Athena versus Telemachus.