Metaphors In The Iliad

The theme of honor can be seen throughout the storyline. In book 3, the war is started when Menelaus honors his wife, Helen, by fighting for her against the Trojans after Paris runs off with her (Homer 50-51). Homer uses Menelaus to show he is motivated by honor when going after his wife. It would give him a cowardly image to let another man run off with his wife and him do nothing in return. The contrast to Menelaus going after his wife is Paris. Paris is shameful for running off with another man’s wife instead of finding his own. He shows shame later on in the story as well. Homer uses these characters and their motivations actions to set up the main conflict in the story and to predict the later decisions that they make.

Themes, in literature, give purpose to a story, and that is why figurative language is the best way to convey them; not only can it help the author get their idea across, but it also allows the reader to interpret the meaning in their own perspective. Homer, when he wants to highlight an idea, he utilizes figurative language to exaggerate and uncover the theme, in this case it’s obedience.

(A Discussion on Scenes of Violence in the Iliad and Their Effect on the Text as a Whole)

Authors have different ways to convey the emotions from their work to the reader. Diction and sentence structure is one of the many components authors use to create the tone of the story, also known as the author’s attitude towards the subject. But with the use of figurative language it helps express the meaning of a line without using its literal definition. Homer, the author of The Odyssey, used figurative language to express the tone by using personification and similes to help the reader picture and sense his words.

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.

While idealizing the glory of war, as well as exaggerating the grief caused by it, Homer attempts to balance the dual nature of war in the Iliad; however, in an attempt to balance this duality, he winds up demonstrating that even the glory and honor of war is tainted with grief. Rather than being an epic that portrays the glory of war, The Iliad illustrates the grief that is brought by it, “‘war, in the Iliad, is a frightening and sorrowful thing’” (Giles 54). All soldiers, not only in the Iliad, attempt to attain kleos, or glory, however the damages of attaining it far outweigh the benefits. Rather than morning the deaths of their fellow soldiers, they continue on their search for kleos. This bubble of grief that was overlooked builds up, and eventually, like all bubbles, pops. In the Iliad, the pop is represented through the interaction between Achilles and Priam, and in today’s contemporary society, it is demonstrated by the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that many soldiers are faced with. Through the imagery of war, Homer exemplifies how both glory and grief are forms of trauma, as the glory forces soldiers to fall victim to the pressures of being an honorable man while dealing with the grief of losing brothers-in-arms.

Godly colossal Greek epic, “The Iliad” constituted by the poet named, Homer, articulate the chronicle of the Brobdingnagian Trojan War. It is swarming with the interventions of the gods enchanting their coveted mortals (humans) and altering the heterogeneous scenes of the Trojan War. In this poem, gods have an assortment of relationships with humans which include love, fornication, and mother or father relationships. Gods interact with mortals in human shapes and stimulate them. Also, gods cognize that every human is eventually destined to die and they anticipate humans to pray to them for every obstacle humans encounter. However, for humans gods are omnipotent, authoritative, dominant, and immortals, who they supplicate to if they have

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.

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

The Trojan War is described as one of histories most legendary battles. This battle is told to have lasted ten years, resulting in the eventual collapse of Troy, under the siege of Greek forces. Modern knowledge of the Trojan War has survived mainly through the account given in Homer’s Illiad, and while having proved to be a rich source of inspiration for other writers, artists, and even filmmakers in recent history, much speculation still exists surrounding his account. I will analyze modern interpretations of the Trojan War and examine both speculation and support for Homer’s account. Concluding with sufficient evidence that has been collected surrounding this epic battle, proving Homer’s account of a massive battle between these two powerful city states to not be just a tale of myth and legend, but actual history.

Barry Strauss, professor of classics at Cornell University attempts to redefine a one of history’s biggest love affairs, the Trojan War. Strauss explains how certain events and characters from Homers “The Odyssey” might have actually existed, but also uses modern discoveries from the Bronze Age to compare Homers account to those of Egypt, the Middle East, and etc. While Homer’s epic should not be read as a historical document which recounts the Trojan War hundred percent accurately, it can still be seen as document which embodies some historical truth. The novel as a whole explains the customs, economic standing, fighting styles and beliefs of the Greeks. Strauss’s writing style allows for the book to be accessible to both students and historians. He argues that just like Franz Ferdinand was the spark which ignited World War 1, Helen on the other hand was just a spark which escalated an existing tension between the Greeks and Trojans. Strauss’s personal input on the war itself gives the novel a different outlook on the Trojan War because, it allows for readers to see beyond the facts and make connections with ideas that Strauss had made with recent discoveries and Homers epic.

Regardless of the time frame, Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s epic the Iliad share both a copious amount of similarities and differences. For example, many common themes such as heroism, fate, and destiny are apparent in both works. Within the Aeneid and the Iliad, it is seen that the wars going on during that time were glorious that is why the role of gods were significant in leading both Aeneas and Achilles and influencing fate. In both texts, it is clear from the beginning that the role of the gods is to make Aeneas and Achilles fulfill their journey The Iliad focuses on the end of the Trojan War and the damaging power, while the Aeneid is focused during the aftermath of the war and underlies the foundation for the new civilization. This paper will address and argue the comparison of the role of gods and how each of the authors representation of the gods have influence on the lives of mortals.

While the Greeks are on their ships, Polydamas explains how it would be much more strategic to charge the Greeks while fully armored, versus using the horses, and break into five groups. A Trojan leader, Asius, takes his horses instead and is stopped at the gate by Polypoetes and Leonteus, sons of Lapithae, and claims that Zeus has broken the promise of a swift victory against the Greeks and glory for the Trojans, misunderstanding the promise which actually had said that not all Trojans would gain glory. While Lapithae defends the gates and the Greeks defend the ships, Hector and Polydamas see an eagle fly overhead with a serpent, still living, gripped in its talons. Polydamas sees this as a sign of misfortune and they should stop. Hector, unable to accept the idea of Zeus breaking his promise to him, says that Polydamas won’t be killed in battle because he is a coward. Hector rallies his men and, with aid from Zeus in the form of a dust cloud, smashes the Greeks’ wall. Sapedon and Glaucus lead the Lycians through a breach that Sapedon created in the Greek defense. As Menestheus sees this advance, he sends a messenger to ask for the help of the Ajaxes and Teucer. Ajax and Teuner go to assist, Teuner wounding Glaucus and forcing him to retreat. Sarpedon opens the breach for the Trojans to pass and calls on the Lycians to help make

Many of the characters in the Iliad are similar in one way or another but what distinctively sets them apart from each other is how they are in war. Every character reacted to and dealt with battle very different because there are characters that are cowards, bitter, and afraid, as well as characters that are confident, prudent, and know what it takes to be a great warrior.

In the Iliad is a very interesting epic with features two main central characters that are similar in some ways but totally different in other ways. In this epic you will be introduced to Hector and Achilles. Two men from each side in the great Trojan-Greek war. They were both heroes to their people despite their clearly different contrast in their personalities. In this paper I will highlight the life of both of these two leaders of the Greek and Trojans in this epic the Iliad. Also a little will be shed of how Homer portrays the characters deeper then an average thought. I will attempt to show the complexity of his thought process in forming the climax of these two characters coming to battle.