Violence In The Iliad Essay

C. McKean Krieger

Professor Call

IHUM 201 Paper 1

The Role of Violence in The Iliad

In Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, violence abounds on the battlefield between the Greeks and the Trojans, usually with a sickening degree of detail. Such intense scenes bring the reader to ask why Homer felt the need to include such explicit gore. The poem’s self-proclaimed purpose of portraying “the wrath of Achilles” (Homer 1:1) can’t be the only reason, for the gore exists long before Achilles actually enters the fray in the second half of the book. Additionally, the realism with which Homer depicts the pains and negative consequences of the war would undermine the idea that Homer simply glories in violence. Instead, Homer treats violence much like an author

On the battlefield this was manifest as a heroic code, in which men received honor, rewards and praise for their valiant behavior in battle. This principle is a primary reason why Homer seems to glorify violence and war; the gory detail shows the audience just how valiant and brave the characters of the poem are. The following depiction of Agamemnon fighting embodies this principle: "But now it was Agamemnon lord of the far-flung kingdoms catching up with Isus -- he stabbed his chest with a spear above the nipple, Antiphus he hacked with a sword across the ear and hurled him from his chariot, rushing fast to rip the splendid armor off their

Homer presents war as a choice made by the gods, as though it were beyond mankind’s power to control. War is treated as a predestined event and is shaped heavily by the influences of the gods throughout the poem. When Achilles, for example, decides to take up arms to avenge Patroclus, it is only because Thetis prompts him to do so and bestows armor upon him. Additionally, when Agamemnon offers his last excuse for his conflict with Achilles, he says: “I am not to blame! Zeus and Fate and the fury stalking through the night, They are the ones who drove the savage madness in my heart, That day in assembly when I seized Achilles' prize— On my own authority, true, but what could I do? A god impels all things to their fulfillment” (Homer 19:100). As Agamemnon directly states, he believes that he (and by extension all of mankind) is at the whims of the gods, and that men cannot control their own behaviors or the outcomes of the war. If the gods are driving the men to war, one might think that this inherently makes war holy or divine. These concepts, however aren’t housed in the culture of the Greeks. The Greek gods represent both the best and the worst, and remind us of the overwhelming power of nature. Therefore, while the gods in the poem perpetuate such violence, Homer is making more of an assertion about the recurring nature of conflict than about its