The Brutal Killing Of Priam In The Iliad

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The brutal killing of Priam, king of Troy, is both at the beginning of the story of the Aeneid and an end to the story of the Trojan war contained in the Iliad. In war, some of the most damaging things that can be accomplished are the demoralizing of the other soldiers and the desecration of their gods. The Trojans held their gods in great esteem and are portrayed as a very reverent people. This can be seen by Aeneas refusal to touch the statues of his household gods until he can clean himself of the battle from which he has just come.

Father, carry our hearth gods, our Penatës.

It would be wrong for me to handle them-

Just come from such hard fighting, bloody work-

Until I wash myself in running water.#

There seems, also, to be a great trust in their gods because of this reverence that the people have, as though the people believe that they will be rewarded for their reverent service of the gods. The royal family seeks sanctuary at the altar of their household …show more content…

With this in mind, the killing of King Priam on the steps of the altar of his gods becomes more than just a death. Pyrrhus is not just slaughtering the king of a rival city, he is going out of his way to defile a holy place of their gods as and act of disgracing his foes. Because of this disregard for the gods, Pyrrus is shown to have little or bad character at this moment. The text describes Pyrrhus as "Burning for the death-stroke"# It would seem that there is no shred of human concern in this man. Pyrrhus has become like a wild animal and he allows himself to be driven by rage.

The first reaction of Aeneas to seeing his king slaughtered barbarically at the altar of his own gods is utter horror.

For the first time that night, inhuman shuddering took me from head to foot. I stood unmanned, and my dear fathers image came to mind...

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