Dying In The Iliad

There are many lessons that can be learned from reading Homer's The Iliad. One of which is understanding the stages of grief. One can literally watch Achilles go through all five stages when he morns the death of his comrade Patroclus. Achilles moves through Denial and Isolation, Depression, Anger, Bargaining and Acceptance in the short time after his close friends death.

Achilles then asks his mother to convince Zeus to honor him at the cost of the Greeks. He wants the Greeks to be defeated in battle so that they realize how important Achilles was to them and so that they will honor and respect him as their greatest warrior and most important leader. Zeus grants the wish of Thetis and the battle begins to change dramatically.

In the case of Iliad, which deals with the battle of the Trojan War. The men in this story want to defend their honor as well, by fighting in the war. Despite the fact that their families don’t want them to go. They both deal with pride and dignity. As a man, they feel it’s their duty to be a man, to protect and most importantly, keep their word. They don’t want anyone to look at them as being less than a man. In the Iliad,

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.

What a society considers fighting, and dying, for says a lot about that society. Homer’s The Iliad, and Thucydides’ The History of the Peloponnesian War are both centered on some of the largest wars that their authors knew about. In the case of The Iliad, this war started when Paris offended the honor of the Spartan king, Menelaus, by taking Helen, the king’s wife. This is just an example of the culture of the times because, right from the start, the Greeks of Homer fight for their honor. Thucydides lived during the Peloponnesian War, hundreds of years after Homer. During those hundreds of years, war itself had fundamentally changed. In The History of the Peloponnesian War, honor was still important, but the war’s main purpose was much more tangible. The main cause of the Peloponnesian War was Athens’ desire for more land, more tribute states, and, most importantly, more power. Both of the works deal largely with why the people in them think the wars are worth fighting. In the case of The Iliad, the battles, both for the states and the people fighting, are fought for honor, while in The History of the Peloponnesian War, Athens fights for the power of her empire.

Intro: In the Greek society, honor is found on the battlefield, amidst the glory of war. In The Iliad, with the thousands of deaths, murder and the wrath of the gods, the betrayal, the beauty of one woman which caused the war and the heroes in the story, they all fight for honor.

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

The notion of honor is prevalent throughout the Iliad and Antigone. Both texts demonstrate that honor is essential to Greek heroes because honor is the foundation of the society and family. Homer and Sophocles clearly show that honor guides people’s actions and responses and decides the fate of themselves and others. Both authors also place emphasis on the importance of proper burial because it is a strong indication of honor to the deceased and the deceased’s family. As can be seen in the Iliad and Antigone, the aim of every Greek hero is to gain everlasting honor because it ensures his place in the social memory of his society resounding even after death.

The information present supplies an immense amount of insight into life in Ancient Greece. However, Homer’s justification and glorification of war in the Iliad must be recognized and objectified to understand Homer’s true perspective on war. Therefore, war in the Iliad is justified and glorified by Homer to portray the importance of honor and dignity to warriors, its pertinence in human society, and war as the means to a peaceful afterlife. Overview In order to obtain a complete and well developed understanding of the glorification of war in the Iliad, its reasons and justification must be explained.

How important is it to be honored? To gain glory in this life? To secure a lasting legacy? To the Greeks and Trojans in Homer’s famous epic, The Iliad, these were the most important things in life. The Greeks of Homer’s time believed that personal honor and glory was just that, personal. Honor and glory belonged to the individual who was skilled and accomplished enough to obtain it for himself. This honor and glory was held in the highest regard, and the worldview that honor and glory are the most important things in life is strongly depicted by Homer throughout The Iliad. The Judeo-Christian worldview depicted in the Old Testament of the Bible contrastingly teaches that all honor and glory belong to God. The heroes of the Old Testament did not attempt to secure the honor and glory of their actions and deeds for themselves, rather they gave it to God. The Greeks, however, saw gaining and maintaining personal honor and glory as foundational to life. They never missed an opportunity to gain personal honor and glory, and certainly never gave away the credit for their deeds. Throughout The Iliad, the characters’ choices and actions revolve around their desire to gain and maintain personal honor and glory. Gaining personal honor and glory--through great deeds, revenge for slights, and through one’s legacy--is a main theme in Homer’s The Iliad. Homer’s clear descriptions of the actions of the heroes in his epic give modern people a clear view into the psyche

The idea of kleos otherwise known as glory in Greek, and honor is one of the most essential motifs of the Iliad. For many warriors depicted in the Iliad, honor was vital and personal. For many, Glory earned in battle was more important than one’s life. Glory or the lack of, was remembered long after one’s life. Possibly the greatest fundamental part of honor to the fighters of the Iliad was courage in battle as shown throughout multiple books. Throughout the course of this book we can see how different characters display these traits and how they influence the course of the war. Even though the Achaeans and Trojans are enemies they display a similar view, the acquisition of glory is more significant than life

Warriors of ancient Greece were considered heroes by following the Heroic Code of excellence. They achieved this by acquiring a kleos; establishing fame, glory and a positive reputation. It was not an easy task to become a Grecian hero. Building and maintaining kleos meant that a warrior must be brave and strong, be “a speaker of words and a doer of deeds.” The solider had to protect his friends and harm his enemies, respect the gods and his elders, and most of all value his honor over his life. To die in battle, and be spoken of after death was the most important act of honor for a hero. The Greek tragedy, Iliad, attributed to Homer, portrays Achilles as the most gallant hero of the Athenian army. The story tells of Achilles, who develops into the greatest hero of the Trojan War. While the end of the end of the poem does portray Achilles as the solider that the story foretells throughout the poem he does not act like that. Many times in the story Achilles actions are perceived as unheroic but ultimately they shape the course of the few weeks of the Trojan Wars described in the Iliad, the Achaean’s final victory at Troy and his emergence as a hero.

Portions of modern society believe fate to be concrete and unchanging. However, in ancient times, it was believed to be influenced and guided by the actions of the gods. Similarly, in The Iliad by Homer, the actions of the gods influence the life, death, and fate of each and every individual. Gods such as Zeus, Athena and Apollo take great influence in human affairs in The Iliad. These actions cause life, death, sorrow, and triumph to befall various individuals of the story. Achilles’ fate results, solely, from these actions the gods undertake. In particular, the gods influence on Achilles’ fate shows when the gods keep Achilles from killing Agamemnon, staying out of the war, and holding onto his rage.

Fate and the gods Any action has a consequence whether it is immediately after the action or sometime later. Many sinful actions have a negative consequence and respectful actions have positive rewards. In the epic poem, The Iliad, by Homer, actions with consequences are defined as fate, and fate is the inevitability of a human life. Throughout The Iliad, it becomes evident that it is the greek gods can affect fate.

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.