The Iliad By Homer

Homer’s the Iliad is a tale of war and aggression (Puchner 183). Written in the 8th century, it remains relevant to society today. The basis of the Iliad, warfare, brings with it portrayals of death, grief, and the real problem with humankind: we are not peaceful beings. In a war-ridden world, these topics remain pertinent to society. These terrors of war showcased in the Iliad generate an anti-war message. With this said, Homer creates a timeless lesson against war with his work.

Is a hero only characterized by their success? If a leader’s last actions carry them to victory, are their flaws unimportant? The Odyssey by Homer narrates the ancient myth of a leader coming home from war in Troy who faces many trials, and despite returning home alone without any of his crew, he is looked upon as a hero for having survived. His ultimately sole success continues to define him, although the bitter truth being that he was the leader of his men when they all perished. As flaws of the all-mighty Odysseus and his crew are presented through their responses to the challenges they experience on their journey, people of the modern world may begin to understand that there exist several flaws that plague all men, whether they live now or lived thousands of years ago, and whether they are leaders or followers. The Odyssey is important in its characters’ responses’ to their trials ability to evoke emotional reactions that cause the reader to ponder their own tendencies by revealing the human nature of pride to be the fuel of the impulsiveness that oscillates fate.

The Iliad, by Homer, is an epic poem set in the era of the Trojan War, accounting the battle logs during the time of conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles, the text’s tragic protagonist. The heroic outlook on life, in Iliadic terms, is exemplified through the construction of one’s honor through hard work. Being an aspect of the heroic outlook of life, this value is demonstrated through his contribution and dedication to the Trojan War, his experience with neglect from the deities, Achilles’ overall disdain towards Agamemnon, and, lastly, his longingness towards Briseis, his dear lover.

In the epic, The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus proves to be a very respected and admirable leader. Before he leaves for the Trojan War, Odysseus is king of Ithaca, an island home to his dear wife and son. He is respected by his people and known for being a very powerful and intelligent man. In Troy, Odysseus leads his men to victory with his cunning and power, destroying their city. It has now been ten years since he saw his family, and returning home safely alongside his crew is his highest priority. However, he and his men are faced with trials like they have never seen, and Odysseus must take charge and command them using the skills he is most known for: his bravery, his genius, and his unwavering resolve.

The epic poem called The Iliad written by Homer concerns the Trojan War. It shows Trojan and Achaean warriors’ courage, bravery and their attempt to become the best fighter to get fame, glory, and honor. The heroes in The Iliad follow Homer’s heroic code, striving for excellence. Hector and Achilles’ strength comes from their desire for fame, glory, honor and their acceptance of fate. These qualities are considered to be characteristics of Homer’s heroic code. However, the actions of Paris are not heroic causing trouble and conflict for many people. In fact, Paris’ non-heroic action started the Trojan War and the hatred between Greece and Troy.

Warfare is a common thread that ties Homer's Iliad to Virgil's Aeneid. However, the way warfare is treated in the two epics is different. This can be attributed to many factors including the time between the composition of the pieces, the fact that pieces were written by different authors, and the fact that the pieces were written in different places. We can use these pieces to get a view of what the society that produced them thought about war and how the view of war changed as time went on in the ancient world.

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.

When reading the Iliad by Homer and With the old Breed by E. B. Sledge, the two stories that revolve around warfare are surprisingly different. Not because of the time period but because of how warfare is viewed in each of these works. In the Iliad, warfare is not only conducted differently but it is viewed as a very heroic and noble thing. Throughout the Iliad, Homer avoids all of the gruesome or evil topics of warfare and simple shows the noble aspects, so much so that he ensures that most of the important characters get a heartfelt and heroic monologue before they die. On the other hand With the old Breed by E. B. Sledge shows warfare to the exact opposite of what Homer has portrayed, a mentally taxing experience that most of the time breaks the soldiers to the point where they would never be the same. According to Shay, “The Iliad is a work of poetry, not sociological or historical scholarship”(Shay, 121). Seeing as how the Iliad focuses more on only positive aspects of war, Shay is correct in his statement. These two works are vastly different from one another through their descriptions of the various aspects of warfare.

The Iliad is a book full of poems that talk about the history of Trojans and Greeks. Within the Iliad, there is a strong urge to show a world in which was are tremendous and the gods have direct hand in human events and these deities influence fate. The two leading gods, Achillies and Aeneas, the reader can see the ways in which these two cultural problems entwine and try to create an image of the ancient world which is at once barbarously real in terms of the depiction of not just the glory, but also the horrors of war which are filled with supernatural and mystical figures called the gods.

x that turns anybody who is subjected to it/ into a thing,” (153). Weil perceives force as an active entity that is capable of profound, negative, influences on the lives it touches (153). For a hero, force replaces his rational sensibilities by an uncontrollable urge to slaughter his opponent in an animalistic fashion, an unavoidable outcome generated by war. Weil defines this uncontrollable type of force as “the force that kills,” marking the moment when a hero becomes a warrior (155). Simone Weil records The Iliad as a evil and vanity of war, but she fails to do justice to the complexity of Homer 's challenging vision. She turns a blind eye to poem 's commitment to heroism, a concept she assigns force as the poem 's "true hero." Weil overlooks the Homeric hero’s investment in the ethos of glory and the participation in the “noblest deeds of men,” which is present in The Iliad’s “true hero,” Hector.

“The Iliad” is an epic poem by the ancient Greek poet Homer, which is based on the significant events surrounding the Greek siege of the city of Troy. The poem is suggested to have been composed between 750 and 650 B.C and was set in Mycenaean Greece during the Bronze Age. In this period, Greeks believed their goddesses and gods often came on earth and there were humans with godlike powers in Greece. Evidently, Homer mentioned on several occasions in the poem about gods and goddesses coming on earth, acting, and influencing actions. Homer uses a lot of themes in poem but one of the most prevalent themes were the individuals quest for glory and honor.

In the epic poem The Iliad by Homer it talks about the events that occurred in the Trojan War between the Greeks and the Trojans, and also about their warriors, kings, and other people. But there are really important characters that play an important role in this poem, and there are the Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Greece. The gods and goddesses role in this poem is of controlling the lives of the Trojans and Greeks, intervening in their fates and destinies daily for their own good, provoking mass destructions and death in the Trojan and Greek land, and tricking them in what things they should do. Even though the warrior want to change their fate and destiny, it won’t work because at the end the gods will control them and make them what they really want.

While the film and poem have the same overall plots, revolving around the takeover of Troy by the Greeks, the feud between Achilles and king Agamemnon, and such events that ultimately triggered the actions of the Trojan prince Paris stealing Helen of Sparta. While at the same time, revolving around the same general plotline, in that of Homer’s Iliad, many significant differences separate these two works of art from one another. This indifferent between several key aspects is most noticeable in regards to the overall progression of years

The Iliad, a Homeric epic that depicted the Age of Heroes in Archaic Greece. An age of giant, god-like, men, and a time of true heroism. The themes of the Iliad encompass a realm consisting of the principles of justice, vengeance, and honour in Achaean society. A monumental theme that Homer brought through the Iliad was the idea of Greek Shame culture, which Involved public praise and blame, to honor and shame one before others in one 's society. The assemblies, called by the Achaean commanders, where the Achaeans would discuss and delegate battle strategy, acted as a perfect place for one to gain and defend their honour. These assemblies represented the political make-up of the Achaean coalition force. Commanders could effectively voice their concerns and opinions on matters that faced the assembly, all while fostering discussion that unified the Achaean force. Agamemnon was head of the Achaean army, with his royal scepter, but he still needed the confidence of his commanders in order to rule effectively. He established this confidence in the assemblies throughout the Iliad. The assemblies acted as forums of discussion and delegation, where those who were worthy, could speak and voice to their own heroism.

Throughout all adaptions that have come from the classical text of Homer’s Iliad the linchpin of all has been the human emotion and interaction. The atrocities that eventuate from the act of such a war as the siege of Troy and though none of the stories feature classical monsters; all make monsters of men.