Analysis Of The Iliad: You Ll Grow Out Of It

Divine Intervention is a “direct and obvious intervention by a god or goddess in the affairs of humans”. In various myths such as the Iliad, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Herakles, divine intervention was called upon in order to restrain a hero’s destructive or too powerful forces. Although the divine intervention was used to impair different heroes, the purpose to constrain was the same in all the narratives.

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.

“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 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.

She does not understand why the older and well-known authors are not being read in high school. Prose uses a personal experience from her son’s sophomore English class. He had to read a “weeper and former bestseller by Judith Guest” (424), about a dysfunctional family dealing with a teenage son’s suicide attempt. “No instructor has ever asked my sons to read Alice Munro, who writes so lucidly and beautifully about the hypersensitivity that makes adolescence a hell,”(424). She again mentions books she approves of that should be read in English classes.

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 term “foil” is a “character who contrasts with the protagonist in ways that bring out certain of his or her moral, emotional or intellectual qualities,” as defined by Sharon Hamilton (143). Achilles is the main hero of the “The Iliad”, a warrior who is angry and excluded. The contrasting and secondary hero is Hector. He is also a warrior and upcoming King of Troy who fights courageously for Troy. In his epic poem, “The Iliad,” Homer uses Hector as a foil to Achilles to emphasis their different qualities by comparing their emotions and actions.

The Iliad and The Odyssey are two epic poems with both similar and different styles to the structure of the poems, as well as each poem having the same gods incorporated into the stories intervening with the day to day lives of the mortals.

The ancient Greek culture is rich in many elements and is hence reinforced through the diversity and authenticity of the ancient Greek tales. It is through the ancient Greek tales, that the true depiction and discernment of the ancient Greek society comes to life. Aristophanes's Lysistrata and Homer’s The Iliad are examples of the ancient Greek tales that tell stories of the social, religious, cultural and moral theories that reflect the ancient Greek society. Through the societal aspects, like war, love, courage and the role of women, the ancient Greek story and definition of life gradually comes to life and reconciles the actions of the ancient characters. Since the ancient Greek society embraced artworks and literary techniques, it is

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

The most difficult obstacle to face is simply starting the paper. I knew I was not interested in the warrior queens that I did not have any previous knowledge about, but I found myself drawn towards the amazon women. My freshman year of high school, I enrolled in the house “Trojan War Narratives,” and a good portion of the course focused on Homer’s The Iliad. Because of this course, I already had plenty of knowledge about the Trojan war as well as ancient Greece. I also had a personal interest in Ancient Greece before I started college because my father is very fascinated by ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Growing up, he often told me about the epic poems, and we watched documentaries many times together. For this research, I had a difficult time deciding on my paper’s topic. I tend to be a indecisive person, so found myself conflicted between certain options. I tend to best make such decisions when I can openly discuss my thoughts with another person and receive their opinions. I was able to finally decide on a topic that reflected my personal interests.

Following the demise of Troy, the Achaean’s mighty fortification is destined to fall not by mere mortal strength, but rather, the selfish act of divine intervention. In Book 12 of the Iliad, Homer’s narration is centralized around the Greek’s mighty fortifications, the fortress that agitates the gods. The author begins the story by describing Zeus’s plans to dismantle the Greek rampart. The author makes the god’s plan manifest when Hector chastises Polydamas for his foresight and proceeds to carry out his god’s will. More specifically the structure of the story proceeds with Asius’ and Sarpedon’s attempt at charging the wall and finally Hector’s assault, with the intervention of Zeus, which successfully opens the gates and lead the Trojans inside the wall. Though, prior to Hector’s success, Homer illustrates stalemate-like battle scenes to describe the evenness of the mortal warriors. More specifically, Homer emphasizes this evenness in strength between both armies and the overbearing power of Zeus through the usage of his epic similes, most notable in lines 322-337, where Zeus is depicted by his divine powers as supporting Hector and his Trojans breach the wall. Ultimately, Homer’s simile in lines 322-337 functions as a way to determine the fate of the victor on the battlefield, the breach of the Greek’s fortification, and most importantly to demonstrate how divine intervention is committed out of selfishness rather than to aid mortal men.

Central to any study of the humanities is the human condition – our nature, which has historically shown that it is equally capable of both good and evil deeds – and the problem that arises from it; specifically, why do humans suffer? Many philosophies and religions have their own account for this aspect of humanity, and we find that what the accounts have in common is each explains the human condition in terms that are similar to how that institution of thought explains the true nature of reality.

The Iliad ranks as one of the most important and most influential works in terms of world literatures since its establishment. Between the underlying standard to which the Iliad offers us as audience members, along with the plethora of writers that have followed in the footsteps to which Homer’s Iliad paved, the impact that the Iliad has played is remarkable in itself. While the Iliad can be credited for much of present day literature we study today, Hollywood can be created for the plethora of world-class films and replication of iconic works of literature over its time as well. Wolfgang Petersons Troy is a prime example of a world-renowned poetic being transformed into a Hollywood production. While the 2004 American epic adventure war film, Troy was a huge hit in the box office, and full of world-class actors such as Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom; it does lack many critical events and characters that play a key role in Homer’s Iliad.