Human Connection In The Iliad Essay

Human Connection’s Role in The Iliad To say that penetration is a common occurrence in The Iliad would be an understatement. With soldiers being likened to wolves or swarms of bees on the battlefield, the Trojan War is not without bloodshed and aggression. However, truly “getting through to someone” calls for a method different from brutally stabbing one’s enemy. The bond between two people, such as that between Diomedes and Glaucus or Achilles and Patroclus, is instead not only a physical experience but also an emotional one; Homer demonstrates that getting underneath someone’s exterior emotionally during war is much more important than the exteriorized connection made when, for example, one pierces an opponent’s skin with a sword. Throughout

Consumed by his rage, he refuses to accept even the most admirable gifts and wealth in exchange for his return to war. He understands his prowess as a fighter, but not even his potential to make an immense difference on the battlefield can persuade him to join the fight. The adamant refusal is constant throughout the text, given that Achilles does not decide to join again until Book XVIII. What inspires this turning point is being personally struck by the death of Patroclus – his best friend. Achilles had such a strong connection with his companion that he is found sobbing, asking “but what boots it to me, seeing that my dear comrade Patroclus has fallen—he whom I valued more than all others, and loved as dearly as my own life?” (18.100-103). Just shortly after the turning point of The Iliad occurs when Achilles declares to “force his soul into subjection” and “pursue Hector who has slain him” (18.115). Without being personally affected by such a tragedy, Achilles never would have returned to war provided that not even the most tempting of offers could have swayed him. Furthermore, if Achilles were not struck with such overwhelming grief, then the outcome of the Trojan War would have been different. For instance, Agamemnon is at times a mediocre warrior. Because the Achaeans lacked a key figure in battle until Achilles changed his mind, it is very possible that Hector never would have been killed and that Achilles’s rage would have persisted. Merely telling Achilles that Patroclus had passed, breaking their brotherly bond, was enough to heighten the entire war rather than the countless battle scenes leading up to Patroclus’s