Pride And Honor In The Iliad

The Iliad and Odyssey, besides being continuations of the same story and being written by the same author have many themed/topic based similarities. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey retold through epic poetry, the story of the Trojans and Greeks who battled over Troy, and those who lived to sail home. In their strange world, it seems as though honor and pride were worth more than life itself. Living without honor is sacrilege, it’s best to die with it or fighting for it than to die without it. With honor, comes fame with the gods . In this world, the divine beings that one prays to are within reach and visible. They intervene in a mortal’s everyday life and determine their fate. Aside from that another topic that seemed monotonous amongst both books

The Iliad is a story about the war between the Trojans and the Greeks. They believe that if you fight in a war, this is how you prove ones honor and integrity, but to not fight would show cowardice or fear. During this time, the males were trained from a young age to assume a major role in the war efforts (Rosenberg, 1999, p. 119).

     Mortality, by its very nature, causes men's lives to be cut short at their primes.The Fates cut our lives short at any time, so the Greeks must have an example, a model mortal, to follow so as to make the "most of their lives."A model mortal is one who lives his life accumulating the most honor and glory: "he pressed for battle now where men win glory" (4: 259).By strictly adhering to the honor/heroic code, a mortal can raise himself to become the model mortal. This hero, Diomedes, is the model mortal of the Greeks.

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

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

There are many themes in the Odyssey that are very important to the time period it was written in. Bravery, pride, and loyalty were the most popular in all of Greek Stories told in this time period. Achilles showed all of these things and so did Odysseus. Odysseus showed bravery because he left his child and wife to go fight and defeat the Trojans. As he is on the boat he says to himself how he can fight alone without the Greek goddess Athena. He shows his bravery because he wants to take on the fight alone. Bravery also comes into play when Poseidon tries to make his journey difficult back home to his family. “All the gods pitied him, except Poseidon” (Homer 291). This shows how all the gods wanted the best for him expect Poseidon. With him doing this Odysseus shows his bravery by continuing with the journey. Odysseus shows his bravery at when he is stranded in the ocean but uses his “strong hands to cling to the rocks until the skin was ripped off” (Homer 354). Odysseus is brave and swims to shore while his hand are being cut open.

In Webster’s Dictionary, a hero is defined as a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of purpose, especially if this individual has risked or sacrificed his life. In the Iliad and the Odyssey, the code which administers the conduct of the Homeric heroes is a straightforward idea. The aim of every hero is to achieve honor. Throughout the Iliad and the Odyssey, different characters take on the role of a hero. Honor is essential to the Homeric heroes, so much that life would be meaningless without it. Thus, honor is more important than life itself.

The concept of honour reverberates throughout both Troy and Book XXIV of the Iliad, this is clear in the two texts when addressing the idea of war and what it entails. War is seen a destructive force and yet to die during such is the highest honour, as they are serving their king and their country. The concept of nationalism and defending your own nation at the risk of losing your life is considered to be the highest as this act ensure that there is a significant place in history for your name and eternal recognition. This is further supported in the film Troy when Achilles chooses to fight in the battle of Troy despites his foreshadowed death, for Achilles is consumed with the notion of being remembered and to die with honour. This idea of Glory and Honour echoes throughout both pieces with the constant reflection of warfare equalling worthiness. In the film Troy throughout the battle between Achilles and Hector items of Hectors armour a removed piece by piece this is to reflect the stripping away of his glory and himself as a man. However it is apparent that the vengeful act of killing Hector relieve none of his tension and is still consumed by grief.

The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.

A strong example of how Hector is loyal is how he treats his men and family. Hector exchanged gold armor for bronze to equal himself to his men. He also struggled with whether to stay home with his family instead of going to war. He loved his family but he wanted to fight with his men as well. Because of his loyalty he earned the respect of his men. As the story tells on page 207, Hector was injured by a spear and he fell in battle. While some soldiers grabbed Hector others stood between Hector and the enemies to protect him from harm. The soldiers dragging Hector brought him to the river wake him and help him recover from his injuries. Most men will not risk themselves to protect their leader if they aren’t treated with respect and loyalty. Another example Hector’s loyalty, is how he protects his brother Paris even though the main cause of the war Paris’ keeping helen and not returning her to the Greeks. Hector’s loyalty and protection of his brother and Helen contributed to the Trojan nation being at war with the Greeks for ten years.

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.

There are different forms and examples of exemplary and classic literature which have been deemed as significant works that are highly esteemed worldwide. These examples of literature would awe the world with how much literary skill they entailed when they were composed and written: attention to details as to formation of characters, the most crafty of plots, the most eloquent speeches and lines, the most astounding of twists of scenes, and most of all, the most universal and meaningful of themes. The theme of any literary work is what makes it great as it should be able to encompass the immense diversity of the world and as it would be able to transcend the boundaries of religion, age, race, gender, etc. Two examples of this great and

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.

be looked at as "the wife of Hektor, who was ever the bravest fighter of

John Maxwell once said "There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. 'Good pride' represents our dignity and self respect. 'Bad pride' is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance." The characters Oedipus and Antigone are filled with lots of pride. Is it good or bad ? Either one that they depict it landed them in a tragic ending. causing them to become tragic heroes. Oedipus and Antigone's pridefulness will be determined by identifying scenes from the story ,examining the effects that pride has on each character's life,and predicting what would've happened if they had not, had this distinguished amount of pride.