In The Iliad by Homer it foretells a story of a war that took place for nine years and shows how selfish acts can lead to unforgettable outcomes. The book is written and told based off of the muse’s inspiration to Homer the narrator of the story. In this book Homer describes the muses story based on his point of view as he was not there to live the event. Homer tells the story in a poetic manner so that it can be memorable and easy to understand. He uses the inspiration of the muse and his personality to embody these characters as he tells the story. To keep the audience intrigued by the story Homer utilizes common human faults and aspects such as, a person selfish acts, violence and death, and sorrow and sympathy for the story to come alive. …show more content…
The Iliad starts off with a vengeful father wanting to have his daughter back and in result bringing plagues and diseases to the camp. In order for this to have stopped Agamemnon had to give up his prize possession and take Achilles prize as his own. Homer points out how Achilles a main character in the book is prideful, selfish, and vengeful by stating, “But now he seized Briseis ' heavenly charms, And of my valour 's prize defrauds my arms, Defrauds the votes of all the Grecian train;63 And service, faith, and justice, plead in vain.” (Homer 25) This is Achilles speaking to his mother Thetis, saying he has done so much for Agamemnon and he goes to embarrass me like this and take my prize position I think not. This goes to show a selfish act, although he might have won Briseis, Achilles needed to realize that in order to save the country this is what needed to be done. Achilles selfish act resulted him in being vengeful as well because now he does not want to continue the war which results in many fatalities throughout the book. Homer represents his point of view of The Iliad by bringing forth a conflict that will continue to unravel as the story goes on and telling the audience the character’s flaws so that they can tell what is going to happen …show more content…
In doing so, the audience can understand the characters pain and growth to certain situations. In many stories at times the narrator wants to build up the conflicts so that the audience can see the character in a true life state showing their compassion to certain outcomes. In The Iliad, Homer describes how Achilles suffers his friends death, “He, deeply groaning—"To this cureless grief, Not even the Thunderer 's favour brings relief. Patroclus—Ah!—say, goddess, can I boast A pleasure now? revenge itself is lost;”(Homer 232) by doing so Homer emphasizes Achilles regret for sending Patroclus to fight instead of himself. Now, broken down over his friend’s death brings a climatic seen in the story because Achilles is known for vengeance. This goes to show that when someone is deep in pain that sometimes the person will do anything to revenge the fallen. Homer also introduces a side of Achilles that audience probably wouldn’t have thought could’ve happen. In the remorse for Hector’s death, Priam, Hectors father begs and pleads for his son back, “These words soft pity in the chief inspire, Touch 'd with the dear remembrance of his sire. The old man 's cheek he gently turn 'd away. Now each by turns indulged the gush of woe; And now the mingled tides together flow: A father one, and one a son deplore: and now his friend. The infectious
hroughout the Iliad Achilles shows how the ego of a Kardashian is being portrayed and the emotional maturity of an eight-year-old because of the certain adult qualities he lacks, for example: he does not work well with others, he lacks the concept of forgiveness, he is selfish, thinks highly of his self without regard to others, being rude and unkind, aggressiveness when talking to others, and having too much pride and not thinking about the consequences of his actions and how it can affect not only him but others as well. Achilles does not like to work with others he prefers to be the one in charge of everybody and he likes for everyone to do as he says. In the Iliad Agamemnon says, "This man wants to be ahead of everyone else he wants to rule everyone and give orders to everyone" (1.302-303). Achilles and Agamemnon are having an argument amongst one another because no one wants to give Achilles the honor he feels that he deserves for being the best fighter in the war and for all the blood sweat and tears he shed while defeating the Trojans "he is a mighty bulwark in this evil war" as Nestor says.
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.
Schein, Seth L. The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
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 Ancient Greeks admired their heroes and tried to learn from both their achievements and their mistakes. They believed that most great leaders and warriors followed a predictable behavior cycle, which often ended tragically. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is a great warrior who traces the stages of the behavior cycle twice, from arete to hubris to ate and then to nemesis. Achilles is a highly skilled warrior and a great leader who becomes a narcissist and an arrogant person, which leads to selfish and childish behavior resulting in the death of his best friend. Following Patroclus’ death, Achilles repeats the behavior cycle by regaining his courage and motivation, and goes back to battle against Hector. The pride he feels in killing Hector and his overpowering hatred for him, leads Achilles to another bad decision: disrespecting the body of his enemy. This foolish choice leads directly to Achilles death. Although The Iliad is mainly known as a story about the Trojan War, it is understood as a story about Achilles and his struggle to be a hero.
The Iliad, which is an epic poem written about the Trojan War, was the first thing written in the European tradition. Astonishingly, its quality and appeal have yet to be surpassed. This is a result of Homer's use of idealistic themes, many of which show up in many modern novels. One of the most dominant themes present in The Iliad is the pursuit of honor and glory. Even though the Achaeans and Trojans are in a violent battle with one another, both display a similar attitude: the acquisition of glory is more important than life itself.
In Book 21, Achilles kills a hostage at his mercy, whose life he has sparred in the past. By the end of Book 21, Achilles has killed so many Trojan’s that the river is clogged with the bodies of his victims. Achilles behaves without a care for human life, as well as his treatment toward Hector before and after he kills him. As stated in Blucher’s article, Achilles is found to go berserk, committing atrocities to both living and dead. This, for Shay, is the story of the Iliad and also as Shay goes on to demonstrate, the story of many Vietnam combat veterans”. (Blucher). Before their battle Hector begs Achilles to honor his corpse if he is killed in war, and Achilles refuse, saying, “Don’t try to cut any deals with me, Hector. Do lions make peace treaties with men? Do wolves and lambs agree to get along? No, they hate each other to the core, And that’s how it is between you and me, No talk of agreements until one of us Falls and gluts Ares with his blood” (Homer). His statement of intent to dishonor Hector’s corpse and to damage the body after his enemy’s death, shows that he had anger towards his superiors. The most disturbing portrayal from Achilles is his behavior, when Hector’s father Priam meets with him to ask for Hector’s body. This show Achilles’ anger is driven by rage towards other superior officers in the
Revenge in The Iliad it the main theme and drives men to do things that they would not normally do. The main example of this is Achilles wanting revenge on Agamemnon. The first book of the Iliad explains that Achilles wants revenge because Agamemnon is forced to return Chryseis, his war bride, to her father, and he decides to take Achilles war bride from him. According to “Some Thoughts about the Origins of ‘Greek Ethics’”, by Nicholas D. Smith, “Agamemnon’s unjust affront to Achilles leads to and extraordinarily deadly retaliation, the ultimate outcome of which is that multitudes of these men’s innocent allies are killed unnecessarily”(smith 10). This is out of character for Achilles, who would normally be the first man into battle, not sitting one out. By “rejecting even the most earnest and impressive entreaties Agamemnon offers, and increasingly making decisions which are rationally indefensible”, he shows how much his wanting of revenge has turned him into a madman (smith 10). His only desire is to get revenge for his loss. It takes the death of Patroclus, his dear friend, to bring him back to the war, which he has left.
...les obtains the flaws of a Tragic Hero with his anger and pride issues. The fact that he won’t fight for Agamemnon because he stole his woman shows that his pride was hurt and when Achilles fights in a pure wrath upon hearing about Patroclus’s fate shows his flaw of anger. The transition from having to overcome his hurt pride after hearing about Patroclus’s death reveals his adaptability as a character with his change in behavior from being passive at the Achaean ships to violent in war. Lastly, Achilles solidifies his position as a Tragic Hero when he finds his moment of clarity with King Priam as he gives the body of the fallen Hector back in an act to finalize and end all conflicts Achilles and Troy. Achilles undoubtably symbolizes Aristotle’s definition of the Tragic Hero.
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.
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.
...h Agamemnon and wishes that ‘strife could die from the lives of gods and men’… Not to avenge Patroclus by killing Hector would be a renunciation of all that he stands for and has lived by”. Even though “sorrow fell on Achilles like a cloud” (216), he went back out to the battlefield and killed Hector. It took a great deal of bravery for Achilles to face the man who killed his best friend but Achilles, being the hero that he was, got back into battle and killed him because he couldn’t let Patroclus’ death go unavenged.
Homer's Iliad is commonly understood as an epic about the Trojan War, but its meaning goes deeper than that. The Iliad is not only a story of the evolution of Achilleus' persona, but at times it is an anti-war epic as well. The final book proposes many questions to the reader. Why not end with the killing of Hektor? Most stories of war conclude with the triumphant victory of good over evil, but in the Iliad, the final thoughts are inclined to the mourning of the defeated Hektor, which accentuates the fact that good has not triumphed over evil, but simply Achilleus triumphed over Hektor. Ending with the mourning of Hektor also brings to center stage for the first time the human side of war and the harsh aftermath of it. We see that war not only brings great glory, but also much suffering and anguish. Homer puts his anti-war views on display.
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 tells the story of the Trojan War, which lasted 10 years. The Grecians eventually won the war, but the outcome could have very easily shifted due to a quarrel between King Agamemnon and Achilles. Pride and anger is what the two men were fighting about. This story is a very good example of how those two simple emotions can lead to tragedy.