A hero is someone who molds compassion into heroic action. In doing so, they give their heart and soul in service to humanity. A hero is as an individual or a network of people that take action on behalf of others in need, or in defense of integrity or a moral cause. In the Iliad, to be a hero, his honor would have to be supreme. The duty of the hero would be to have bravado on the battlefield. This would be a virtuous way of gaining glory. Part of the code of conduct was to stand together in battle and refrain from barbarism and injustice. In Book XXII of The Iliad, Achilles does the exact opposite with Hector’s body. By the following the code, a worthy individual would gain an excellent reputation while securing a place in …show more content…
Honor is associated with one’s meaning of life. For example, Achilles loses Briseis to Agamemnon. As Achilles dabbles in his thoughts of rejection, Agamemnon offers him gifts. Achilles realizes that if he accepts those gifts, he will lose more of his honor. Social responsibility was important was important to the hero’s status. Showing respect and responding ethically to critical situations was essential on the battlefield. Respecting your elders and exhibiting loyalty to friends, family and the community were important things for maintaining status. In the Iliad, although Patroclus showed absolute loyalty to Achilles, he made an irrational decision. Patroclus disobeyed Achilles’s order and was slain by Hector. Recognizing one’s anger is also considerable way of becoming the best hero. It seems Achilles and Agamemnon had some anger issues in The Iliad. Neither Achilles nor Agamemnon recognizes their responsibility for their emotional and physical responses. One negative outcome will lead to more negative outcomes. It is up to the hero to decide whether to harbor animosity towards that negative …show more content…
Hector is characterized as the best hero in The Iliad. He displays amazing combative aptitude by being the head of the Trojan army. Hector show serious attention to his family, and is seen as a man who can be a first-rate leader and father. He's very devoted to his wife and loves his children. In one scene, his son was scared of him because of his great helmet. Odysseus is another hero who showed consistent devotion to his people. Throughout The Iliad, he shows that he will never abandon his nation; he even did a wonderful job in building up moral for his men. Priam was also portrayed as a hero in the epic. He was a leader who also took responsibility for his men. He even forgave his son Paris, the individual who was basically the reason the war had commenced. They gave away 10 years of their life to represent their
The first line of the Iliad describes a human emotion that leads to doom and destruction in Homer's poetic tale of the Trojan War. Achilles' rage is a major catalyst in the action in the Iliad. It is his rage that makes him both withdraw from and, later, rejoin the war with a fury. Why is Achilles enraged? Is his rage ignited solely by his human adversaries or do the gods destine him to the experience? Achilles' rage has many facets. His rage is a personal choice and, at times, is created by the gods.
In the world of tragedy and comedy plays, the lives of the characters are vibrant in their nature. Forbidden love, plotting wives and infectious tempers are portrayed within the plays as a result of love and marriage. The theme of marriage features heavily in these plays and Shakespeare portrays the nature of marriage in the plays Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet as well as The Taming of the Shrew in multi-faceted ways. This essay will explore how the nature of marriage and love is represented in the two tragedies, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. It will also draw comparison with the nature of marriage in the play, The Taming of the Shrew.
Honor is a significant theme because every individual feels it. Their movement towards a particular end is driven by honor. Like Achilles’ wrath described in book 1 it is provoked by Achilles’ sense of honor as a result of disagreement between him and Agamemnon. Another example of this is when drags hector’s body when he killed hector, he did that because of his belief that his cousin, Patroclus, was dishonored by hector. When his wife opposes Priam going to Achilles, Priam responds with the honorable love of a father: "If it be my fate to die at the ships of the Achaeans even so would I have it; let Achilles slay me, if I may but first have taken my son in my arms and mourned him to my heart's comforting.”
The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.
Although his father Priam begs Hector to retreat behind the safety of the walls, knowing Achilles will most likely kill the last of his sons, Hector believes this is his fate to fight Achilles. Pride and honor play a role in preventing Hector from backing down. However this is where Achilles turns out to be more hero-like than Hector as Hector backs off when he is confronted with Achilles one on one. Each hero responds in a different manner to this conflict. Hector, in this case, decides to flee from Achilles, who chases him. Achilles, vengefully kills Hector with a spear to the throat which is the only part of Hectors body which isn't covered with Patroclus armor. After Hector dies Achilles shamelessly desecrates the body and allows Greek soldiers to "have a piece of Hector" by cutting him. These actions do not follow the warrior code of the Greeks, which in turn angers the gods. When Achilles and his soldiers gain pleasure from repeatedly stabbing Hector's lifeless and bloody corpse, Achilles true nature is shown, and according to the heroic code, this should take away his title as a hero. In my mind Hector was more of a hero than Achilles although Achilles survived and Hector didn't. Hector died for the Trojans and died in the glory of battle whereas Achilles downgrades himself by attacking the lifeless corpse and gains pleasure. Also Achilles takes Hector's body and keeps it as a ransom. Knowing Hector's father,
Before his death the Trojan leader Hector exclaims, “Well let me die⎼but not without struggle, not without glory, no, in some great clash of arms that even men to come will hear of down the years,” (22.359-362). This proclamation reveals an important theme in Homer’s Iliad. Throughout the epic poem, the concept of honor and shame constantly reappears, from being the cause of the plot to personification as Greek and Trojan heroes to the dichotomy of honor and shame within the gods. Homer uses honor and shame as a major theme of the Iliad to show how important these attributes are to the human condition.
Honor is defined as a high respect given to an individual that brings credit. To receive honor is paralleled to being crowned with jewels and being regarded as a role model to all. The society that the Iliad portrays is “centered on the battlefield of achievement and its rewards” (Homer, xxi). The figures in Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, partake in events that will allow them to “receive more honor and more material rewards” even if it means that they must indulge themselves in heightened risks that could end in death (xxiii). Hector, one of the most pivotal characters in the poem, illustrates the lust for glory and ignorance of everything else that holds just as much importance. As his character is strengthened, it can be seen that every
Mortality, by its very nature, causes men's lives to be cut short at their primes.The Fates cut our lives short at any time, so the Greeks must have an example, a model mortal, to follow so as to make the "most of their lives."A model mortal is one who lives his life accumulating the most honor and glory: "he pressed for battle now where men win glory" (4: 259).By strictly adhering to the honor/heroic code, a mortal can raise himself to become the model mortal. This hero, Diomedes, is the model mortal of the Greeks.
In the Iliad there are many characters that could be considered heroic. But the two main characters that stand out as heroes to me are swift-footed Achilles and flashing-helmet Hector. Numerous times throughout the epic they display qualities and traits that are unsurpassed by anyone on their side. Many times throughout the epic Achilles and Hector are tested for their strength, and will to win in battle, which for both warriors always ends up positive because they always win their battles. Although both fighters are among the elite status in the armies, they each show human and god-like qualities that help them be as a fierce and feared as possible.
Socrates’ primary motivation for comparing himself to Achilles, the best of all the classic heroes, is to convince the jury of his Achillean heroism. One attribute of a hero according to the events of the Iliad is that one must either kill or be killed in the pursuit of honor. Correspondingly, the Iliad chronicles Achilles’ life and death on the natural path to heroism. Despite the
In the Iliad there are many characters that could be considered heroic. But the two main characters that stand out as heroes to me are swift-footed Achilles and flashing-helmet Hector. Numerous times throughout the epic they display qualities and traits that are unsurpassed by anyone on their side. Many times throughout the epic Achilles and Hector are tested for their strength, and will to win in battle, which for both warriors always ends up positive because they always win their battles. Although both fighters are among the elite status in the armies, they each show human and god-like qualities that help them be as a fierce and feared as possible.
Achilles can be described as a Tragic Hero in many ways. He was brave and had great strength but, he was also prideful and lacked control with his emotions, and in all the label of a tragic hero fits him. A Tragic hero is “a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy” (“Tragic Hero”). To many men Achilles was god-like, and immortal, the epitome of a hero to the Greeks, he was strong, brave in the face of war, and of noble birth because he was the son of a goddess. In the Iliad, Achilles, driven by anger seeks revenge on Hector for killing his “dearest comrade” (“The Heroic Age”), Patroclus, whom he claims to have valued more than his own life. He
Nestor, noble charioteer, captures best the essence of Achilles when he says, “Achilles, brave as he is, he has no care, / no pity for our Achaeans” (Homer 11.787-788). Most readers of the Iliad, consider Achilles the greatest warrior of The Trojan War, however, he lacks an important characteristic; care for others. Achilles’ best friend Patroclus, has described him as a great warrior, but a terrible person (11.774). In Homer's Iliad, Hector the great warrior of the Trojans, exhibits a selfless leadership approach, which contrasts to Achilles’ selfish actions as a leader. In order to be a great warrior, one’s loyalty must belong to something outside of themselves, and it’s through Achilles’ self-centered actions, that he loses the title of the greatest warrior to Hector. As the two capital warriors of the different sides of the Trojan war, Hector and Achilles provide an interesting contrast between two powerful leaders. Known for being loyal, selfless, and dedicated to his army, Hector contrasts to Achilles, who is self-serving in every aspect of his life. Despite his defeat at the hands of Achilles, Hector proves to be the greatest warrior of the Trojan War. The first characteristic Hector possesses, making him the superior warrior, is his ability to set his pride aside when he knows it will benefit his army. In contrast, Achilles allows his pride to control him and detriment his army. Another vital characteristic Hector’s possesses, making him a better leader, and
Hector has killed good Patroclus and many other friends. May such anger, which upsets the wisest, no longer affect the deathless gods and mortal men!” (145). All of these great qualities Achilles possesses both start two different behavior cycles that start at different times in the epic poem.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus is considered the heroic figure. Throughout both the Iliad and the Odyssey, Odysseus showed many acts of bravery, maybe more than Achilles showed. Both men, in the