Greek Mythology : The Epic Tale 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.

The Iliad, Odyssey, and Epic of Gilgamesh all demonstrate the transformational process of their respective epic heroes through their strengths and weaknesses. Epic heroes such as Achilles, Odysseus, and Gilgamesh all possessed superior qualities that separated them from other individuals. Although their incredible abilities may support the societal perception of strong leadership, their weaknesses caused these characters to hold vices that went against the cultural expectations of what a strong leader should be. Furthermore, they all shared similar experiences in terms of undergoing a difficult situation and changing their approach in an effort for redemption. This paper will be examining the virtues of these epic heroes and the

Throughout history, many civilizations have risen and fallen carrying along with them their perspectives and beliefs manifested in works of art. All civilizations have erected monuments to not only prove they existed, but because they believed they would remain permanently. The Ancient Greeks were no different, portraying their ideal standards of beauty and proportion into their sculptures. Their ideal perception of adulation “represented the highest form of perfection, comparable to the infinite impeccability of their gods and goddesses” ( ). Evidently, the Ancient Greeks ideals served as a prerequisite that transcended into the ideals of their successors, the Ancient Romans.

The Iliad is an epic tale of war and hero's within the Greek way of life. A

In The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer has different portrayals of the roles that women play in each epic. These differences are so striking that some readers have even argued that there is a possibility that a woman could have created The Odyssey, modeled after Homer’s Iliad. In The Iliad we see women represented as war prizes and slaves, vulnerabilities to men, and in positions of limited power. In The Odyssey however, we see women capturing men and keeping them as prizes, rising from a status of limited power to dominating their household, and breaking free of the constraints of the “typical” household woman stereotype. We even see them making their own decisions and challenging their husbands. By comparing and contrasting these epic women

The Iliad: Book I, is about the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon in the beginning of the Trojan War. It shows how vigorous Achilles’ rage was and that he is no one to mess with. The book states “Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed”. This shows his fury in just a few words. Achilles was a Greek hero who was the son of a Goddess named Thetis. He was an incredible solder; brave, violent and godlike. However, Agamemnon was the commander of the Achaean Army. He was greedy, aggressive and selfish. He was described as “the most grasping man alive”. He absolutely hated Achilles. I feel that he was jealous of how respected Achilles was among the ranks in the army because of his superior skills in the field of battle. Agamemnon claimed Chryseis as his prize, after sacking a Trojan town. Chryseis was a daughter of a Priest of Apollo, Chryses. He offered an enormous ransom to get his daughter back. At first Agamemnon didn’t want it but the people round him persuaded him that it would be best to let her go so they could be released from the plague that Apollo put on them. Agamemnon then poised to Achilles that he is going to steal Achilles prize, Briseis. This is when Achilles’ rage shows at its best. He nearly draws his sword to kill Agamemnon but he is stopped by the goddess, Athena.

I will be responding on art from Ancient Greece. Firstly, Geometric Art. It is a period when figured painting returned back to Greece. This art includes Dipylon Krater, it is one of the old example from this art. The krater’s surface was covered with precisely painted abstract angular motifs in horizontal bands. There are human figures, animals, and furniture are as two-dimensional as the geometric shapes elsewhere on the vessel. I think Geometric artists revived the art of storytelling in pictures. In addition to this there was Herakles and Nessos, it was one of the most impressive Geometric art. This statuette depicts a hero battling a centaur an early example of mythological narrative.In this art there is a figure of humans of which both have beards and wear helmets, but the man is larger than the horse to indicate that he will be the victor. The Egypt style was not good enough for Greeks, therefore, they used real human bodies for art. They studied everything in detail about human body. The artist used to create creativity and produce those which was ever produced in history of civilization. One of the example of this is kritios boy. It is the first statue to show how a person naturally stands. The sculptor depicted the weight shift from one leg to the other. The head turns slightly, and the Archaic smile is gone.Kritios is one of the most important statues in the

As the Hellenistic society shifted away from the Classical ideals of perfectionism and idolization of the elites and gods in sculpture, artists began to be fixated on illustrating imperfection of a variety of individuals faced with ruthless authenticity of their emotional struggles. Whereas, Classical architecture focused on dedicating massive structures to the gods to emphasize their divinity, but Hellenistic architecture used advanced technology to exemplify Alexander the Great’s magnificence. Thus, differences in architecture can be seen in the sophisticated town of Alexandria with structures such as the lighthouse that show how Alexander the Great influenced town planning that was centralized on the creation of a superior city, likewise, The Altar at Pergamon expresses the loss of focus on the divine through unique sculptural techniques. Change can also be seen in the sculptures of The Boxer and The Old Market Woman as they are depicted to be imperfectly individualistic and in emotional distress.

It is hard to think of the ancient world without looking at the Greek and Roman empires. Although similar, the Greek and Roman empires are two different cultures. They existed from 500 B.C.E. to 500 C.E. (Fiero, 2006). One constant in both cultures was their pursuit of perfection in their art and architecture. This paper will examine this pursuit of perfection in both cultures and how their impact is felt in the modern age.

Generally, the ancient Greek art is known to be significant in influencing its culture and even that of other countries. The influence of this ancient art is very common in architecture and sculpture areas. For example, in the Roman Empire, their art was shaped by the Greek models. Considering any architecture or sculpture in the ancient Greek Art, one can clearly understand the culture of the Greek in certain periods. To this end, this research paper considers the architecture of the Minoan Crete, period.

Greek myths and legends had a huge impact on art and sculpture of Greece, as a result many statues of gods and others mythical beings were created. For example the statue of Zeus(appendix 3) one of the finest sculptures of Greece. This statue was thirteen metres high and was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This is proof of the work and smarts put into just one sculpture and it also shows the dedication and belief of the

The Iliad is an epic tale of war and hero’s within the Greek way of life. A

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.

In the epics The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad, heroes Achilles and Gilgamesh have important relationships with characters that directly and indirectly give readers a look at the character we might not normally see. For the mighty demi-god Achilles, this is the warrior Patroclus, whom he has a great respect for. For the tyrannical King Gilgamesh, this was Enkidu, the hairy man sent by the gods. The relationships that these characters have with their companions open these characters up for readers, and can show the characters in a whole new light. We see tenderness and emotional vulnerability that is uncharacteristic to these characters. Despite there being many things that can be compared in the relationships between these hero’s, there is also a lot that separates them. Unlike Gilgamesh with Enkidu, Achilles does not need Patroclus to understand himself as a person, and does not change his characteristics a great deal before his death. Whereas the tyrannical, brutal King Gilgamesh ends up being someone looked at as a very wise, kind, heroic king, after Enkidu comes into his life and Gilgamesh’s true self is revealed.

The first monument this essay will be discussing is the Temple to Zeus at Olympia. The Temple to Zeus was constructed between C. 470 to 450 BCE, having this temple belong to the Early Classical Period. The Temple of Zeus had the typical features of the Doric Order, a perisytle, with a rule that the number of columns on the sides should be one more than double on the front and back (thus the perisytle is 6 X 13), a pronaos, a cella and an opithodomos. The two columns between the anta in the pronaos and the opithodomos align with the columns along the front and back of the temple. The temple was constructed in limestone as well as marble for the roof tiles and the sculptures. Over the entrances of the pronaos and opisthodomos, there were metopes of the 12 labours of Herakles, athla 1-6 over the opithodomos (west) and athla 7-12 over the cella (East). One of the main features that this temple is “good to look at” is because of the pediments. The west pediment depicts the Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs, while the east pediment depictions the horse race of Pelops and Oinomaos. As this is the Temple to Zeus, the figure of Zeus as in the center of the East Pediment, whiles Apollo was the center figure for the west pediment. The