Nature Of War In The Iliad

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In Homer’s The Iliad, there are various scenes where war is depicted through similes that relate it back to nature. Through the use of this literary device Homer shows how cruel the war is in contrast to how peaceful nature is. Many people are slaughtered in this story; this overwhelming amount of death is portrayed alongside the vivid descriptions of the beauty of nature. The culture that this poem was written in was very familiar with aesthetically pleasing scenes in nature, as the Greeks often admired it. The use of nature imagery while describing scenes of war is expressed when a large scene full of death is introduced with a detailed passage of how beautiful the land they were fighting in was, when the men of an army are compared to animals, …show more content…

It takes one out of the moment through describing how peaceful the battlefield was before the soldiers appeared, and how they stood once they arrived, thus bringing a serene ambiance to the story. This is seen in lines 471-473 when it states “They took their stand in the meadow of flower-bound Skamandros, without number, as many as there are leaves and flowers in their season.” This compares the men of the battle to flowers, giving them delicate and tender characteristics. Flowers are fragile and often marveled due to their beauty, which is what the soldiers are being compared to. Later, in this passage it describes the same men as “Achaeans with flowing hair took their stand in the face of the Trojans, longing to tear them in pieces.“ (book 2, lines 475-478). This, in contrast, compares the men of battle to angry and wild warriors who are ready for combat. Within one paragraph, there is a sharp turn in how the soldiers are described. These men are related to nature and are described as peaceful beings, yet they are then related to war as they are described as ruthless and blood-hungry. This contrast shows how peaceful the land was before the war, and then compares it directly to how the men are ready for a hellish …show more content…

This comparison allows the audience to see a strong, fierce group of men who are standing together in unison as something that has a gentle and peaceful connotation. In line 544 of book 2 Homer describes the ranks of men as "flocks of winging birds, geese or cranes," continuing to further emphasize the grace of the appearance of a large flock of birds. It gives the image of order and synchronism in the front line of warriors, ready for battle. Through giving the men the appearance of grace while describing them as animals gives the opposite effect, as it now shows them as tranquil and elegant humans. However, it has been made obvious that these men are willing to fight to no end, and this comparison to birds allows us to further see how they are not truly graceful or of peace. They are going to fight until victory, and they cannot fly away from the battle such as a bird could possibly do. They are there to win the fight, and will not leave until the battle has been

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