The Iliad, A Homeric Epic That Depicted The Age Of Heroes

Iliad captivates readers with its courageous heroes who fight for the glory of Greece. Iliad is the story of how individuals gained heroic status through courageous acts during the battle field or the way one spoke. The aim of every hero is to achieve honor which is from their peers. The ideals of a Homeric hero is having enormous amount of courage, physical abilities that surpasses any mortal like as if he's a god, the difficult tests the hero is faced with and their resolutions, and the fear of disgrace. Honor is very important and essential to Homeric heroes, that life would be meaningless without it. "

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

Greek mythology played a large role in Greek artistic styles and functions. In the case of this study, the mythological god Apollo is the subject of the artistic works of the votive known as the “Mantiklos Apollo” and the statue of “Apollo” that was found in Pireaus. These figures show a natural progression in style and technique. They are important because they represent the sacred beliefs and superstitions of their respective cultures and time periods.

For many years, Greek culture based their social status on prominence and rank in their colony. This prepotency over the culture is shown in the epic poem, The Iliad of Homer. Great vitality is exhibited by the characters in the poem. The need for glory, honor, and eternal remembrance is mentioned numerous times from beginning to end in this composition. Glory and honor comes with great responsibility and wisdom. Homer presents this idea in various ways. This fortitude is passed throughout The Iliad showing the foundation of dignified heroes and self-glorification.

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

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.

The Iliad: Book VI is about the continued war for Troy but Homer focuses a lot of the book on Hector, Prince of Troy. The Achaeans were overwhelming the Trojans so they were forced back into their city. The Trojans were weakened so the Achaeans took full advantage and slaughtered as many as they could. However, the Trojans anticipated this weakness and Hector asked his mother to pray to Athena for the army. Meanwhile Paris, Hector’s brother, had withdrawn from battle because of the grief he caused. But his soon to be wife Helen and Hector convince him to return to battle. Just before they head into battle Hector pays a visit to his wife and child to say goodbye for maybe the last time. His wife is convinced that he is near his death and mourns. Hector then meets Paris on the way to the city gate and they prepare to fight.

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.

In the Iliad, Homer sees Achilles as a better man than those around him, even though his pride and anger cause a great deal of damage. Achilles puts up with Agamemnon who does not have the same level of skill or integrity. Therefore, the story of Achilles is a story of someone who is working within a society where his integrity and belief systems are above those of the King. At the same time, Achilles also represents the weakness of anger because of the death of Patroclus and the way in which he then goes and kills Hector. However, Holway writes that in the Iliad Homer was depicting honor culture in which having the most strength was considered to be the greatest achievement and virtue. Holway describes Achilles in that he “embodies the dominant paradigm”, suggesting that it is in his skill and strength that righteousness is found.

While pride is a vice that is often frowned upon in modern cultures, it occupied a vastly different place in ancient Greek culture. Indeed, it was often inextricably tied to their concept of glory and heroism. Be as that may, Homer, in The Iliad of Homer, despite it being one of the most well-known pieces of ancient Greek literature, portrays pride in a more negative light than was the norm of his time. Pride in the Iliad most often causes much destruction and ends up being the downfall of many key characters, including Achilleus and Agamemnon. When the pride of Agamemnon is such that he misappropriates one of Achilleus’s war-won concubines, which ignites Achilleus’s pride to the point of refusing to fight in the war, they nearly singlehandedly hand over the victory to the Trojans. Given that these two eventually reconcile, however much they personify pride, it is Hektor whose hubris ultimately brings about his downfall. Homer uses Hektor’s storyline to exemplify the dangers of excessive pride and warn against allowing it to govern your actions. In his pursuit of pride and glory, Hektor shames himself by bringing about the deaths of his men and is killed after realizing his mistakes and seeking to restore his honor. It is only when Priam abandons his pride and humbles himself that Hektor’s storyline is resolved.

Pride is a natural part of a human being. It has driven us to the good and bad things in life. In Book I and VI of the “The Iliad”, the author, Homer shows the importance and existence of pride in the ancient world. Achilleus and Agamemnon were driven by pride in the decision they made. Pride had led the characters to be arrogant, make selfish decisions and self centered.

Agamemnon states, “The girl I will not give back; …far from her own land, and being in bed as my companion…” (1.29-31) He is simply the cruelest and abominable character in the Iliad; telling a daughter’s father that he will never see her again and that she will be his partner in bed until death. The lack of compassion needed to say such a thing to a grieving father remains incomprehensible. He also said, “Never let me find you again, old sir, near our hollow ships, neither lingering now, nor coming again after.” (6.106-120) He explains to the father that if he ever sees him again, he will kill him on sight. Agamemnon’s strength and leadership abilities could promote him to be a great leader, but he fights for the wrong

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

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 Iliad is one of the greatest and earliest works of Greek literature beautifully written by Homer. The poem was set at the last year of the Trojan War prior the fall of Troy, that was indeed ten years long. Moreover, the focus of this poem is a conflict that rose among Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and commander-in-chief of the allied Greeks, and Achilles, the greatest warrior, rather than the events and battles that occurred in the Trojan War between the Greeks and Trojans. Throughout the Iliad, the conflict rose due to numerous issues regarding pride, honor and power. This epic poem was written in a distinguished manner that made it easier for the readers to identify the important themes of the poem. For