An Analysis Of ' The Iliad '

In almost all instances of war the cause has been related to greed, or the gaining of land and possessions. Greed is presented in the very first book of Homer’s “The Iliad.” It isn’t displayed by the cowards, but the “heroes” of the war such as Agamemnon, Achilles, and Pandarus. The entire cause of the Trojan War is the result of the greedy and cowardly behavior of Paris. There are many factors that had sparked the war, including the interference of the gods; however, the main factor to be blamed for the war is greed.

Thesis statement: Within the Iliad, the consequences of Helen’s actions and the motif of beauty are demonstrated through her self-blame, passions, and conflicting intentions, which ultimately results in the destruction of Troy.

“As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies” (6.146-50)

The Iliad during the Trojan war is a very interesting story that could cause debate upon fellow readers. It brings up a lot of questions and thoughts about the gods and greeks of this time period, such as what is more important to them, justice or mercy? Also, it highlights the view that they have on war and whether it is tragic or glorious to them. During the Iliad, justice and mercy both play very important roles throughout the multiple books and are seen by different characters during the war. Also, it shows what the gods are like and how they view themselves and humans.

The Iliad and The Odyssey are tales written by Homer centered on the drama of the Trojan War. First poem deals with the time during the end of the war, while the latter, which occurs roughly ten years later, explains the disastrous journey of Odysseus fighting his way back home. The character of women in the Odyssey is to exhibit the many and diverse roles that women play in the lives of men. These functions vary from characters such as the goddess ' that help them to the nymphs who trick them. Women in the Iliad exhibit their significance in the lives of the ancient Greeks because they are so prominent in a world so dominated with military relations.

The first book of the Iliad begins with the beginning of Achilles’ rage, the rage that will eventually cause his own people so much grief and is also the force for Homer’s version of the story of the Trojan War. Whereas the taking of Helen is the focus of the larger, traditional story, the feud between Agamemnon and the hero Achilles over a kidnapped girl defines the Iliad. Both feature a conflict over a woman, Helen and Chryses’ daughter, and a need for resolution as well as a breach of social contract: Paris steals the wife of Agamemnon, ruining the bonds of the guest relationship, while Agamemnon denies Chryse his right to ransom and invokes the wrath of the gods in the form of a plague. In both cases, however, it becomes clear that the conflict will not be resolved quickly, but will continue through the very heart of the story. By “singing of Achilles’ rage” from the first line, the narrator is clearly showing the audience that this Trojan war is not the war of Hector or Paris or Helen, but of the proud Achilles and his hero-sized enemy.

In The Iliad by Homer women in the Ancient World period were seen as possessions and property of men and consequently they were inferior to men. The Iliad begins in the 10th year of the war and starts off with Achilles and Agamemnon fighting over their war prizes, Chryseis and Brieseis. Chryseis’s father, priest of Apollo, asked Menelaus for his daughter back or he would pray to Apollo to send a plague to the Greek camp. Menelaus finally gives Chryseis back because

Throughout The Iliad, an epic poem written by Homer, there were numerous warriors and other characters that could be looked upon as heroes; some of these heroes included Achilles, Ajax, Diomedes, Hector, and Glaucus. All of these individuals were heroes because of their remarkable mental and physical strength: they were courageous and were better fighters in war than other ordinary men. The trade of battle was a way of life to the Greeks back in Homer’s time. Children were raised to become great servicemen to their country, and warriors lived to fight for and defend their nation with pride and valor. The heroic code was a strict morality that dealt with matters relating to honor and integrity in battle.

Homer’s epic, The Iliad, highlights the influence and jurisdiction that beauty provides. The prizes and glory a man accumulates from war measure his power, while beauty measures a woman’s power. Since conquering a woman is the ultimate prize to a man, her beauty represents ultimate power. Though the beauty of mortal women has the power to turn men against each other, mortal women have no influence over this power and are instead objectified by men. Immortal women, however, have authority over their beauty and are able to control men with their power. Helen, on the other hand, though mortal, has the beauty of a goddess. Yet, Helen is bound by her fate to Paris, making her power obsolete. By presenting Helen’s hopeless power and supplying the reader with insight on her suffering through her thoughts, Helen is portrayed as a tragic hero.

The Iliad by Homer and the Women of Troy by Euripides are both Greek works of literature that look at the Trojan War from different perspectives. Book 6 of the Iliad illustrates that the ultimate glory is to fight for the city with no regard to the impact on the family. The Women of Troy focuses on the negatives that war causes, especially towards the soldier’s wives and children. Whereas the Iliad focuses on the battle itself and centers on the warriors, the Women of Troy focuses on the wrath the war brings upon the families left behind. The central theme in both the works is the Trojan War and they both offer perspectives of the duty of a person, the role of predetermined fate, and the role of women.

“The Odyssey” by the Greek poet Homer tells the epic tale of a man trying to return home to his wife and kingdom to rescue them from the men seeking to gain control. Many of the Grecian works by Homer are told from a man’s perspective and many argue that this narrow retelling of the Trojan War leaves very few places for prominent female characters. This leads to women being portrayed as only servants or deities; the few mortal women are reduced to simple archetypal characters such as the devoted mother, seductive siren, or a combination of the two. Penelope manages to play the role of mother and seductress simultaneously, acting as an echo of her cousin Clymenestra’s story as well as proof of the patriarchal ideals of Grecian society and narrow roles of women as shown through Homer’s “The Odyssey”.

However, Helen possessed a character of being destructive to the people of Troy. She was an emotional person, along with the other women in the Iliad; nevertheless, Helen’s character had more of an influence because she was the cause of the Trojan War. She was one of the demi-gods described in the epic and her representation of the female stereotype was that they possessed a destructive beauty that could only bring harm to the human race. Helen was shamed for her seductive beauty and she was recognized more as a possession. As a result of that shame, Homer emphasized the passiveness of women through Helen’s character, especially during the conversation between Paris and Menelaus when they were deciding her fate. Instead of taking advantage of the her situation and acting more as a hero Helen expressed her interest in the war by weaving instead of speaking up for fate. She also leaves the audiences with the impression that women were helpless during the time of Homer. They were not able to speak up for themselves for lack of education, status, or power. Therefore women were represented as obstacles for men to

Homer’s epic The Iliad, is a great tale of war and glory. It takes place during the last year of the ten year Greek-Trojan war. The Greeks have been fighting with the Trojans for quite some time, and just when peace seemed like a possibility, the youngest prince of Troy, Paris, acts out selfishly and steals the beautiful wife of Menelaus, Helen. This instigates the fighting again. Throughout The Iliad, Homer tells of two heroes, both similar, but also very different in their character; the great and powerful Greek, Achilles, and the strong, loving father, Prince Hector of Troy. In Homer’s The Iliad, Hector and Achilles differ as heroes in regards to pride, duty, and family love, the latter being self-centered and prideful, while the

Homer’s Iliad is undoubtedly focused on its male characters: Achilles, primarily, but also Hector and Agamemnon. Nevertheless, it seems that the most crucial characters in the epic are female. Homer uses the characters of Thetis, Andromache, and Helen as a basis for comparison to the male characters. Homer wants his audience to see and understand the folly of his male characters in choosing war over peace, aggression over kindness, and honor over family. While the behavior of these characters clearly speaks for itself, the contrasting attitudes and behaviors of the female characters proffer an alternative; in comparison, the reader can hardly fail to concur with Homer’s message that war, aggression,

While the film and poem have the same overall plots, revolving around the takeover of Troy by the Greeks, the feud between Achilles and king Agamemnon, and such events that ultimately triggered the actions of the Trojan prince Paris stealing Helen of Sparta. While at the same time, revolving around the same general plotline, in that of Homer’s Iliad, many significant differences separate these two works of art from one another. This indifferent between several key aspects is most noticeable in regards to the overall progression of years