(4.1. SCW) Homers “The Iliad" refers to a genre of the heroic epic poem and has traces of oral folk poetry of 8th century BCE in Greece. “The Iliad" does not really describe the most important events during the Trojan War, only a couple of insignificant battles that happened during the ten-year siege of Troy. This poem is about the feelings of Achilles, Patroclus, Hector, Priam; the description of their hopes, disappointments and loss, that’s what made Homer the first, and one of the greatest European poets.
The poem describes only nine days, but in a great detail. This is in fact the greatness of the poem “The Iliad”. The language of Homer is unique, and no one ever could create any poem that big with such a great description of nine days.
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Who among the Greeks can ever obey your commands after this, either on march on in battle?” (SCW 4.1. p44). This is the begging of Achilles monologue to Agamemnon that frightens him with taking the Achilles slave-girl away from him. The way in which Achilles talks to the king shows that he does not see Agamemnon as someone higher rang than him. Later, in his monologue, Achilles refers to his previous achievements and that he does not need to follow king any more. This part shows the Homer respected the king, but not agreed with his total superiority above others. Furthermore, we get a sense and Achilles mentions it, that he has a huge support of Greek people, so the king cannot really do anything to him. That shows in Homer perspective the relationship between Kings and Heroes of that time. It adds significance to the poem, as we see that king’s words and deeds could have been criticized.
I do strongly believe that “The Iliad” of Homer was, and still is a lighthouse for poets, artists of the ancient and modern world. Homer was the first genius to who could accurately convey suites of the characters of his heroes; their complexity and contradictory relationships. Homer created a new philosophy of life that we think about when talking about ancient Greece. He praised life in its fullness; even when there is tragedy and war, life is still something great and
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SCW) Caligula and Claudius were two Roman Emperors that were in power one after another. Even though they were coming from the same dynasty, Julio-Claudian, they were completely different people. Different points and facts about their life described in source 6.3. portrays how it was to live in the Roman Empire during those times.
Caligula was considered to be mad, otherwise he would be the monster of the ancient Rome. He relocated all government power to himself, coming to absolute monarchy at its closest. His proclamations of being a god, construction of a gold statue of himself and dressing it in the clothes he was wearing this day (SCW 6.3. p75) give a clear idea about his obsession with himself. From the facts known about him, his reign was one of the craziest times during the Rome history.
Claudius was totally different to him. He was “modest, unpretentious man who refused to take the title of Imperator…” (SCW 6.3 p75). After the reign of Caligula, the people of Rome thought all the new rules will be like him, but they were wrong. After Caligula death, it was the Claudius turn to rule. He would reconcile all his ideas and deeds with senators. He was more a philosopher and civilian governor, rather than an emperor of the Roman Empire. People did respect him for everything he was doing for them, and was one of the most loved
Homer’s Iliad has been a European myth for many millennia , the long poetic narrative written in the 8th century B.C. recounts a fearsome war fought over a beautiful woman. The reliability of Homers Iliad as a true historical document has been challenged for hundreds of years and only through archaeological studies can the truth be deciphered. The Iliad was written five centuries after the war, where the stories had been passed down through the oral tradition, therefore the type of society reflected within the poems resemble much more the time of Homer . The fact and fiction of the Iliad has been uncovered through archaeology. Archaeologist found a site in which they thought to have been ‘Troy’ destroyed by the powerful country of Mycenae in the late Bronze Age. They found large amount of material culture from where they could reconstruct the society, this included pottery, engravings, murals and clay tablets. A reason for the Trojan War has always inspired great controversy. The Trojan War according to Homer was fought over the abduction of a beautiful women but this theory appears improbable. Other causes which could have sparked a war is Troy’s geographical positioning. This made it extremely opulent, where other countries of the Aegean would trade there goods and use its harbour. The Mycenaean’s being an extremely imperial, violent and militaristic country would have seen Troy as a great opportunity to gain territory and wealth, on this motive the war took place.
Caligula was born as Gaius Augustus Germanicus, on August 31st, 12 CE, to Germanicus and Agrippina “The Elder”. Although, as a child, he strutted around in pint-sized caligae (Roman soldiers’ footwear), because even then - parents enjoyed draping their progeny in their lineal attire. He wore his getup while accompanying his father, Germanicus, on campaign. Shortly thereafter, Germanicus’ troops referred to the little rascal as Caligula, meaning “little boots”, and it stuck – even in spite of Gaius’ supposed discontent with the name.
Claudius was a significant ruler of the early Roman imperial era. He reigned from AD 41-54. He was easily influenced by those with questionable agendas, such as his last two wives and his freedmen, yet his principal was deemed successful. His expansion of the empire, his new reforms and his control over the senate were all beneficial to the state and his rule was one which paved the way for those who ruled after him. Claudius was a member of the equestrian class and became a consul in AD 37 (Emperor Claudius Timeline, N Gill).
It is important to note that the Iliad is originally a poem told by many bards and storytellers; by using similes, Homer compliments the spoken word of the Iliad with a visual component. In certain scenes, Homer utilizes similes in the Greeks’ favor, elevating their battle prowess in comparison to the Trojans. Presented to a primarily Greek audience, Homer’s particularity in bolstering the Greek army plays to the bias of the audience––augmenting the atmosphere of the crowd. The implementation of similes throughout the epic is vital to the poem as it provides the Greek audience with a brief respite from the practically nonstop gore of
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.
“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 people of Rome quickly began to realize that the young man they thought he was be was not the man he was becoming. His behavior was highly disliked by Rome’s elite, and conspiracies were soon to be made against this tyrannical ruler. On January 24th of 41 A.D., four months after he returned from Gaul, Caligula was murdered by members of the Roman senate and officers of the Praetorian Guard and one well known man, Cassius Chaerea. Caligula’s wife was stabbed to death and his infant daughter’s head was bashed against the wall. This opened the way for Caligula’s uncle, Claudius to succeed him and become Rome’s next emperor.
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.
Iliad is one of the commonly understood pieces as epic that based on the Trojan War in ancient Greek. However, the meaning of the piece goes deeper and reflects more on the ancient Greek. The Iliad is a story about the evolution of Achilles persona and emerges as an epic of the war. Homer puts the elements of anti-war relatively on display portraying the ideal epic world that progresses through elements that defines the coexistence of the society.
The ancient Greeks and Romans made a variety of contributions to western civilization in the field of literature. Both of these ancient cultures produced a variety of literary works which have persevered the test of time and continue to be studied today. One of the biggest contributions of the ancient Greeks to literature came from an author, who still relatively little is known about, Homer. Homer, believed by many to have been blind, is credited with the authorship of two of ancient Greece’s most famous epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey. These two epic poems chronicle the final days of the Trojan War and the epic struggle Odysseus underwent on his sea voyage back to his home after the tragic war.
Homer is credited for writing epics that generate source materials for the modern world. The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer are captivating stories with fascinating heroic characters. The Homer stories share with classical mythology typical recurrent motifs. The two Homer epic poems focus on the Trojan War, and its result. The epic poems contain the Greek mythology featuring the Greek gods, goddesses, mythological creatures, and the Greek heroes, and heroines. In addition, the principal motifs typical of classical mythological hero stories are; the dominance of fate, evil fighting against the gods, and death. In both the classic mythology, and he modern fiction hero stories, the heroes always have a helper in their expedition, but ultimately, they have to stand alone, face the darkness, and conquer it in order to become victorious.
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.
In the book the Iliad, The Odyssey, and Works and days, there are many things that can be similar when talking about Greek heroes and the world of Greek poetry. The stories and topics are describing similar events during this time of the eighth and seventh century B.C. In the end, however, they do have some differences in some parts when describing or explaining certain situations and ideas. The world of Greek heroes is written like a story; or Epic Poetry. That is what The Iliad and The Odyssey are; Epic Poetries. They are telling a story of a great hero and their adventures. On the other hand, the more realistic Greek World that is being described in Works and days is a Didactic poem, which tells more of a moral or message to the reader.
The Iliad is a classic epic poem written by Homer about the Trojan War and the rage of an Achaean warrior, Achilles. The book introduces the reader to the war and the personal battle between Achilles and King Agamemnon; because of this argument between these two major characters, Homer introduces the role of the gods when Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to go to Zeus and beg for his interference on Achilles’ behalf. The major role the gods play in the Iliad is their interference in the Trojan War as immortal versus immortal and mortal versus immortal.