The gods and goddesses played a pivotal role in the decisions made by the mortals they watched over in the Iliad and the Aeneid, but many of the questionable moral choices were made by the characters’ own free will. During these stories, the characters were manipulated in different ways depending on how it would benefit each god or their deaths were sealed by “fate” and unchangeable. Even though the gods interfered with the lives of mortals, they had choices about honor and integrity and chose to act on them accordingly. Today, people are held accountable for their actions and everyone is given a choice and moral compass about what is right or wrong. Free will allows people to live happily and unrestricted, but in terms of social …show more content…
Even though the Gods frequently interfered with the lives of mortals, the humans still made debatable choices. Before Hector was fated to die in the Iliad, he made a vow to Achilles that he would not dishonor his body in death and asked that Achilles make the same promise to him. “I will not dishonor your corpse, only strip the armor and give the body back to the Greeks. Promise you’ll do the same” (Norton 265). Regrettably, Achilles did not extend the same honor to Hector. His soldiers continued to stab him, secured his body to a horse, and dragged it through the city. For 12 days, Hector’s lifeless body was dragged on the horse while the Gods used enchantments to keep away rot and bugs. Upon seeing this heartless cruelty, Apollo begs Zeus to let Hector’s body be ransomed and he finally agrees. Thetis delivers the message to her son and Zeus sends a bird to protect Hector’s father, Praim. Filled with rage and loss from the death of his friend, Patroclus, Achilles may have continued to mutilate and torture Hector’s body had there not been an intervention from the gods. Achilles’ choice was a dishonorable one, but because he was a demi-god, he frequently received help from the gods without judgement. Achilles redeemed himself at the end of the poem when Praim travels to the Achaean camp, guided by Hermes, to pay the ransom
In book 22, Hector becomes an instrument of fate and is shown no mercy by Achilles. Hector was consistently tricked by Apollo into fighting the battle even though there was no hope of winning. At the end of the book, as Achilles is bounding towards the city of Troy with Hector standing out front. Despite all of the encouragement to come back inside the city walls, Hector remains outfront and faces his death. Ultimately his pride gets the best of him and he would rather stay out and accept his fate of death, then to come inside and receive shame for leading his people into a losing battle in the first place. Hector chooses to leave his city to fend for itself without its greatest warrior to save himself from shame. The parallel between Hector and Achilles leads to a greater understanding of the theme of freedom vs. fate. Hector gives into his pride and accepts the “fate that awaits us all” and Achilles is motivated by freedom and seeks the revenge of his friend ultimately escaping death. Homer makes an excellent statement of this connection between the two men when he writes: “They ran by these springs, pursuer and pursued, a great man out front, a far greater behind” (book
“The Aeneid” and “The Iliad” are relatively two different epics that were written decades apart. However, they have their similarities. These are two epics with the fate of two heroes. In the epic “The Aeneid,” the readers follow the journey of a man named Aeneas who is a Trojan refugee who journeys from his homeland of Troy to find Rome for the generations of the future. “The Iliad” is a story of the Trojan War and the hero of the story Achilles. Achilles was one of the bravest soldiers of the Greek army, but he was just as vain as he was brave. Both heroes showed a great amount of heroic actions throughout their perspective epics. Aeneas kills the Latin warrior Turnus and ventures away from his burning Troy to find Rome and prepare it for the future generations to come. Achilles fights for the Greeks which eventually results in him dying a hero’s death.
In ancient Greek and Roman texts, death is a common and reoccurring theme. The approach to death that each text has varies work by work, with some overlaps and similarities between them all. Three popular ancient texts include Homer’s Iliad, Homer’s Odyssey, and Virgil’s Aeneid. Each work expresses its own take on death and how it affects one’s fate, and whether the choices made before death truly affect its outcome. The approaches to death express in the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid, offer insight to how one’s choices before death can and cannot affect one’s future and how different perspectives on death produce varying outcomes.
Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid describe the journeys of the two Greek heroes –Odysseus and Aeneas, as they struggle towards their goal through the crises and deadly situations caused by the wrath of the gods upon them. In the Odyssey, we see that Poseidon (god of the sea/earth shaker) has a grudge against Odysseus while Athena, god of wisdom, aids him throughout his journey. Similarly in the Aeneid, we see that goddess Juno dislikes Aeneas as he is destined to destroy the city of Carthage loved by Juno during his mission to find a new land- Rome, whereas Aeneas’ mother Venus aids him.
There are some vaccines that children are required to get. Should parents have a choice about it though? Some people will argue that parents should have a right to say if their child gets vaccinated or not. Others will argue that vaccines are necessary. I believe that parents should not have a choice about vaccinations, and that they should be given to every child.
“As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies” (6.146-50)
While the ending of The Aeneid might be seen to have multiple significances, I believe that Virgil ended the poem the way he did to make a statement about the use of power to achieve dominance and rulership: namely, that a lust for nothing but power will ultimately consume. The poem ends with Turnus and Aeneas facing each other one-on-one on the battlefield. However, it should be noted that there are fundamental differences between the philosophies of the two combatants which should first be grasped to fully understand the significance of Aeneas’s actions in ending the war. Before the battle between Aeneas and Turnus begins, the reader gets a glimpse of Turnus’s philosophy regarding the stakes of the battle. “Either I’ll send, with my hand, this deserter of Asia, this Dardan, / Down to the Pit of the Damned—and the Latins can sit down and watch while / My lone sword is refuting the charge of dishonor we all share; / Or you [Latinus] must share my defeat. And Lavinia must go as this man’s wife.” (12.14-17) Turnus believes that in war, there is no possible outcome but for one leader and his entire army to be wiped out in the other side’s pursuit of honor and glory. Aeneas’s views on the battle are displayed earlier in the poem, when he journeys down into the underworld and is instructed in Trojan battle philosophy by his deceased father Anchises. “You, who are Roman, recall how to govern mankind with your power. / That will be your special ‘Arts’: the enforcement of peace as
Playwright Lucius Annaeus Seneca said that “Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant,” (Beautiful Quotes) and perhaps nowhere is this idea better illustrated than in Virgil’s epic poem The Aeneid. Fate drives the course of events throughout the twelve books of The Aeneid, pushing both the mortal and divine, to the unwavering destinies laid before them, and destroying those who attempt to defy, or even hinder, the course of destiny. Today, fate is regarded as a benign force which can be easily combated with free will. However, As Virgil conveys in his epic, fate was once considered to be so unyielding that not even the gods themselves could intervene to prevent its coming to
Portions of modern society believe fate to be concrete and unchanging. However, in ancient times, it was believed to be influenced and guided by the actions of the gods. Similarly, in The Iliad by Homer, the actions of the gods influence the life, death, and fate of each and every individual. Gods such as Zeus, Athena and Apollo take great influence in human affairs in The Iliad. These actions cause life, death, sorrow, and triumph to befall various individuals of the story. Achilles’ fate results, solely, from these actions the gods undertake. In particular, the gods influence on Achilles’ fate shows when the gods keep Achilles from killing Agamemnon, staying out of the war, and holding onto his rage.
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Virgil was Rome’s unwilling epic poet, he gave the Roman people a cohesive narrative that tied them to the past and propelled them towards the future. This narrative, The Aeneid, had its basis in local lore as well as ties to the older Greek epics of Homer. The Aeneid almost functions as an extension of The Iliad and Odyssey, with its protagonist, Aeneas, being a minor figure in the earlier poems, and the work itself academically divided into “Odyssean” and “Iliadic” parts. In this relationship Virgil owes a creative debt to Homer, and there is a resemblance that can be seen with striking clarity when the experiences of Homers’ Odysseus and Virgil’s Aeneas are examined side by side. Odysseus and Aeneas are both honour bound to reach the destinations of their respective journeys, Odysseus to rule Ithaca and Aeneas to found Rome, and while ones journey often mirrors the others, there are significant differences between the two. The major differences that can be observed lie in their characters and forms of heroism and these variations shape the course of their narratives, yet the similarities of their internal journeys and ultimate fates remain intact.
Homer’s epic The Iliad, is a great tale of war and glory. It takes place during the last year of the ten year Greek-Trojan war. The Greeks have been fighting with the Trojans for quite some time, and just when peace seemed like a possibility, the youngest prince of Troy, Paris, acts out selfishly and steals the beautiful wife of Menelaus, Helen. This instigates the fighting again. Throughout The Iliad, Homer tells of two heroes, both similar, but also very different in their character; the great and powerful Greek, Achilles, and the strong, loving father, Prince Hector of Troy. In Homer’s The Iliad, Hector and Achilles differ as heroes in regards to pride, duty, and family love, the latter being self-centered and prideful, while the
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.
Hector has killed good Patroclus and many other friends. May such anger, which upsets the wisest, no longer affect the deathless gods and mortal men!” (145). All of these great qualities Achilles possesses both start two different behavior cycles that start at different times in the epic poem.
Virgil’s Aeneid, tells the story of the founding of Rome. It follows the last of the Trojan’s who escaped the fate of Troy. Troy eventually falls following Homer’s The Iliad, and Virgil continues the story of their people. The Trojans are not, however, the only similarity between the two books. Virgil employs many of the same image patterns that Homer uses in The Iliad. The symbolism of fire, shields, and gates are used in both epic poems.