The Iliad And The Battle Of Thermopylae

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.

As stated in the lectures, hundreds of Greek polis were spread across the region in the eighth century B.C. These individual towns and cities did not unify, but were connected by two major components, language and religion. Polytheism, the practice of worshipping many gods, was a staple between these polis. Along with religious beliefs, a sense of political involvement, accompanied with the importance of citizenship, directly contributed to the similarities between these polis. Consequently, as a result of not becoming a single state, major cities such as Athens, Sparta, and Corinth would consistently be at war with one another (Strayer, p.112) A unified form of Greece eventually pieced itself together after the conquests of Alexander the Great, resulting in the immense spread of Greek culture, but this did not occur until centuries later. Ultimately, Rome would conquer much of the Mediterranean, including

Ancient Greece was dominated by small city-states and independent towns, rather than by one all-powerful king, because of its geography. The country’s valleys, mountainous terrain, and offshore islands encouraged the development of many city-states. Altogether there were over 1500 city-states, but some of these barley qualify because they are so small. Each city-state had its own form of government and its own army, and even sometimes its own navy. Each city-state had its own way of doing things. Still, the city-states of ancient Greece had many things in common. They all spoke the same language and they all believed in the same god. But they were loyal to their city-state. The five most powerful Greek city-states were; Athens, Sparta, Corinth,

The Battle of Thermopylae, which Herodotus recorded in his writing The Histories, was one of the most arduous and notable battles of western history. Herodotus was an extremely significant historian who lived during the 5th century B.C. In this primary source writing, he portrays how Xerxes was superstitious and tyrannical, how the battle informs you about the Spartan culture, how the values of Greek promoted society, and he displayed how significant the Persian invasion was on Greek development, for example, their political and intellectual expansion. The Persian King Xerxes

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.

Because Greek city-states were largely independent of each other, multiple forms of power were able to

These self-governed city-states were governed by the natural laws of the universe. The polis also had a psychological pull to the point where it was infested into the art, religion, literature and philosophy (Document 1). In a way similar to India though, everyone identified first and foremost with their polis identity, like the Indians did with their caste system (Document 1). The way to gain power in Greece was not though money, but through family names and heritage, but in 330 BC, Cleisthenes created the basis of his reform for Greece: the demes (Document 2). By doing this he takes out the powerful noble families and gives the lower class the power to decide what happens with their government and therefore became more “deme-ocratic.” He did many things to change the structure of Greece to make it fairer. For example he took the original four tribes of Greece and redistributed them into ten different tribes so now the tribes can have more “civic rights.” Another example of what Cleisthenes did to fix things was that he increased the Council members from 400 to 500. Now each tribe was only sending fifty representatives, instead of the original hundred. Finally, one last example is that Cleisthenes divided Greece up into thirty parts. Ten urban and suburban, ten costal and ten inland and each of these contained its own special number of demes. Now, men were to be identified first by their demes name, which is very similar to India’s recognition of their caste name or level (Document

“Polis is a term that is used to describe a tight knit small community of Ancient Greek citizens who agreed on certain rules and customs. Usually a polis was centered on a small town and the countryside the surrounded it” (Deering). The polis defined a public and communal space, the Agora, for the purpose of leading public affairs. The affairs of men and affairs were included as these had essentials parts to the entire community’s affairs. The Ancient Greek poleis are among the first recorded democratic governments in the world. The term polis has been translated into city-state as there was typically only one city and because an individual polis was independent from other poleis in terms of political, judicial, legal, religious and social institutions and practices (Cartwright). A polis offered security for its inhabitants and gave organization to government through structure, function and hierarchy.

In the ancient societies of Greece, war means many things; power, glory, honor. The idea of fighting is not just a daily task for the Greeks but a necessity. In

Homer’s epic, The Iliad, highlights the influence and jurisdiction that beauty provides. The prizes and glory a man accumulates from war measure his power, while beauty measures a woman’s power. Since conquering a woman is the ultimate prize to a man, her beauty represents ultimate power. Though the beauty of mortal women has the power to turn men against each other, mortal women have no influence over this power and are instead objectified by men. Immortal women, however, have authority over their beauty and are able to control men with their power. Helen, on the other hand, though mortal, has the beauty of a goddess. Yet, Helen is bound by her fate to Paris, making her power obsolete. By presenting Helen’s hopeless power and supplying the reader with insight on her suffering through her thoughts, Helen is portrayed as a tragic hero.

The Battle of Thermopylae, it is a story that has been told throughout the centuries. Many have heard of this battle for democracy whether to may be through media or just reading books, which contain information on the battle. This was a battle that took place in 480 BCE, when the mighty Persian Empire invades the free city states of Greece. Therefore in contradiction to this 300 Spartans, and a few other Greeks, assembled to defend the pass at Thermopylae, they did this knowing that death was imminent. This story has brought courage to many and has showed how the 300 Spartans sacrificed everything they had in order to preserve democracy. On that day, if Persia managed to conquer the city-states of Greece, then much of Greek culture would

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

In Homer’s Illiad Hector, one of the primary leaders of Trojan forces and also a prince of the fated city of Troy fulfills the male gender expectations defined through prowess in war. However, male’s heroism is driven by the fear of shame and dishonor in war. Hector is an mortal character in Homer’s Iliad and all Hector seeks is war-glory, and he believes that one must die with a cause. He fears the indignity that he believes will come should he not fight nobly for his city of Troy but it is this way of thinking which steers Hector towards his eventual death.

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

Central to any study of the humanities is the human condition – our nature, which has historically shown that it is equally capable of both good and evil deeds – and the problem that arises from it; specifically, why do humans suffer? Many philosophies and religions have their own account for this aspect of humanity, and we find that what the accounts have in common is each explains the human condition in terms that are similar to how that institution of thought explains the true nature of reality.