Homer 's Iliad And Thucydides 's History Of The Peloponnesian War

Thucydides is known as one of the first historians to portray events that took place in his own words and thoughts during the ancient Greek period. His writing focuses on Greek history that captures events that happened in this age. Thucydides main focus in his writing was on the military, this includes famous battles such as the Peloponnesian war, as well as the political events that had occurred during his era of journalism. The war between Sparta and Athens was also another war that Thucydides tells us about at his point of view. But the main war that he shows us where the most political and physical battles took place was the Peloponnesian war (Morris). The events that

At the battle of Troy, Achilles chooses almost certain death in exchange for the honor of avenging Patroclus. As Socrates paraphrases, “when his mother said to him, as he was eager to slay Hector, ‘My son, if you avenge the death of your friend Patroclus and kill Hector, you yourself shall die; for straightway, after Hector, is death appointed unto you,” (The Apology, 28c). However, Socrates is relatively loose in his representation of Achilles. Homer’s Achilles is focused primarily on private affairs as seen when he only agrees to return to battle to avenge personal loss in the form of his “beloved” Patroclus (The Iliad, book 18, 120). Contrastingly, Socrates represents the Greek hero as being much more absorbed by the necessity of attaining honor and justice for both himself and his peers. Through this specific example, Socrates makes it apparent that, he, like Achilles before him, is both willing and able to die if that is what it takes to find truth. He will under no circumstances condemn any of his actions just to save his life.

The epic The Iliad by Homer argues that Achilles reaction in many situations is rage. Achilles choice to respond in such a way is very significant. It shows that this emotion is very influential in his day-to-day life. However, there has been much discussion as to whether Achilles’s rage is a virtue or a vice. Other characters throughout The Iliad have commented on his rage, such as Athena, who says, “I came to see if I could check this temper of yours,” (Homer, 235) in a discussion she has with Achilles about his quarrel with Agamemnon. Athena’s comment suggests that it takes a lot of effort to put Achilles’s rage into check. Achilles seemingly uncontrollable rages creates a man throughout The Iliad who “like[s] fighting and war” (234). Most men in this epic longed to end the war; Achilles on the other hand yearned for more battle. Achilles drive for battle makes it evident that his rage and the manifestation of it in other characters as seen throughout The Iliad is not a virtue, but a vice.

A scene of physical violence in Homer’s, The Iliad, contributes to the overall theme of fate versus free will. The Iliad is a very brutal and gruesome poem involving a war and a horrendous amount of death. Close to the beginning of the epic, the gods decide that Athena should see to it that the Trojan’s be the first to break their truce with the Achaeans This leads to the Achaeans and Trojans going into battle and slaughtering one another. The battle is so intense that a man went to collect armor off of an enemy that he had just finished killing, and dies himself in the process. Antilochus slaughters the Trojan captain, Echepolus, and when he dies, Abantes tries to steal the corpse. In the following quote it shows how Agenor prohibits Abantes from stealing the armor off the dead. “Just as he dragged that corpse the brave Agenor spied his ribs, bared by his shield as he bent low-- Agenor stabbed with a bronze spear and loosed his limbs, his life spirit left him …” (Homer 160 lines 540-543). This brutality starts when a god stirs up anger in the Achaeans by forcing the Trojans to

‘I entreat you, by your life, by your knees, by your parents, do not let the dogs feed on me by the ships of the Achaians… give my body to be taken home again, so that the Trojans and the wives of the Trojans may give me in death my rite of burning’ (22.338-343). This heart wrenching plea represents nearly the final words uttered by Hektor upon his death at the hands of Achilles. Hektor, who recently boasted of his martial prowess, vowing just moments before to do ‘some big thing first, that men to come shall know of it’ (22.305), is reduced to begging before his killer for the basic privilege of an honorable burial. In this moment of his famous Iliad, Homer offers a cynical reflection on human life and the social constructs mortals establish, especially the idea of the ‘heroic code’ that was so prominent during the Golden Age of Greece. Demonstrably, he implies throughout the work that since all humans are destined to die and memories have limited effect after death, the entire concept of the ‘heroic code’- and to a certain extent, conviction in worldly systems instead of personal beliefs- are pointless given the natural chaos of the world and man’s ultimate fate.

Thucydides gives his reasoning of the cause of the Peloponnesian War. “The real though unavowed cause I believe to have been the growth of the Athenian power, which terrified the Lacedaemonians and forced them into war; but the reasons publicly alleged on either side were as follows.” (Zagorin 40). Thucydides will then go into the grievances, which will lead to the war. He looks at four main episodes, but will give more attention and thought to the first two grievances dealing with Corcyra and Potidaea. The next two deal with the concerns from Aegina and Megara.

Warfare is a common thread that ties Homer's Iliad to Virgil's Aeneid. However, the way warfare is treated in the two epics is different. This can be attributed to many factors including the time between the composition of the pieces, the fact that pieces were written by different authors, and the fact that the pieces were written in different places. We can use these pieces to get a view of what the society that produced them thought about war and how the view of war changed as time went on in the ancient world.

The Peloponnesian War was an exceptionally predominant war that had consequential outcomes for both Athens and the opposing side of the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. The Peloponnesian War was an ancient Greek war that began in 431 to 404 BC. Thucydides was an Athenian historian who wrote the account of “History of the Peloponnesian War”, which became the most immeasurably valuable primary source. The events of the Peloponnesian War, the outcomes, the consequences of the Spartan victory and of the Athenian defeat in conjunction with the historiographical debates about the war, reflect the ramifications of the conflict.

The plague of Athens was an event in history that countless authors went on to write about. Recounting the death and destruction of not only the people, but their civilization as well. Starting at the beginning of 431 BCE, historian Thucydides wrote his take on it. In his work “The History of the Peloponnesian War” Thucydides talks about the social and political consequences of the plague, a personal account on the experiences he lived through. Anywhere during 99-55 BCE poet Lucretius had his work “On the Nature of the Universe” end with an account of the Athenian plague. Lucretius’s account was nearly an exact translation of Thucydides’ description of the plague. But whereas Thucydides wrote historically and real on his experiences on

Thucydides was born around 460 BC and will live until 404 BC. Unfortunately, when dealing with ancient civilization it can be hard to find meaningful records and artifacts. Not a lot is known about Thucydides and his life because of this. He lived in Athens and his father was Olorus. In 424, he will be elected strategos and will later be sent to Amphipolis to try to stop an attack by the private Spartan army lead by Brasidas. However, he will be too late and the city will have already fallen and will be recalled and exiled from Athens for 20 years. He was old enough to understand the importance of the Peloponnesian War and to be able to record it. His work “The History of the Peloponnesian War” will record the political and moral aspects and

Thereby it is not your destiny to be killed by the river, but he shall be presently stopped, and you yourself shall behold it” (21. 288-292). When Achilles questions the gods ways and reasoning, (thinking he is going to die) we, as an audience, are able to experience the mighty Achilles during his first true glimpse of death and see what thoughts come through his mind during what he believes is his last moments of life. Achilles’s reaction towards his approaching death gives us readers a glimpse of the differences between mortals and immortals. Achilles, all throughout the epic poem, tends to try to replicate a godlike form by denying the men that visited him asking for him to return to fight (The Embassy to Achilles) but he can not achieve that immortal stance because he is a “mere mortal”.

      The Iliad is a story of rages of Achilles and the War of Troy. Thanks to the techniques of the author, Homer, The Iliad is very colorful, romantic, and it makes the readers imagine the ancient Greeks and their times of war. Homer is believed to be the author of epics other than the Iliad, although their authorship remains uncertain. Historian believes that Homer probably lived in the eighth century, B.C.1 (Discovering World History). However, there are very few things that we know about him. Some historians think Homer's birthplace may have been on an island on the eastern edge of the Aegean Sea, or perhaps in a city on the nearby coast, but they don't have evidence to

In ancient Greek times, it was typical for all written texts to focus on the Greek Gods and their omnipotence. Thucydides’ retelling of the Peloponnesian War is considered a secular text mainly due to the fact that the work was one of the first of its time period to not put any emphasis on the Gods. Many believe that the work’s lack of religious referencing is what makes it secular; however, under further examination, the reason the text does not discuss Gods could be due to the overall topic and theme of the book. Since Thucydides is based primarily on the history of the Peloponnesian War, the lack of referencing to the Gods may have been unintentional on Thucydides’ part. The Old Testament, in opposition to Thucydides as a secular text, was written for religious purposes. Since the Old Testament is predominantly composed of religious prophecies, and its purpose is utilized in different religions, it is considered a religious work.

Personally, I disagree with the scholars that believe the Iliad is about death. Although many events in the Iliad surround death, I believe the main idea of the poem focuses more on the character’s feelings towards the traditions of that time. As we learned from the lecture there were many important traditions that were followed throughout the lives of these characters. Achilles for example, distanced himself from the war because he did not agree with Agamemnon changing the rules. He believed that fairness was more important than fighting in battle in order to earn time and Kleos. Here we see Achilles completely removing himself from society and no longer fighting for this tradition which was extremely important to those who lived during this

This short essay will identify five traditional epic characteristics that are evident in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.