Essay on The Iliad of Homer and Greek Heroes

Achilleus was a Greek hero, who fought in the Trojan War. Achilleus' most famous defeat during the Trojan War was the killing of the extraordinary hero Hektor, outside the city of Troy. In The Iliad of Homer, Achilleus’ character is inexorably altered by the nature of the experiences to which he is subjected. These consist of his fall out with Agamemnon, his emotional removal from battle, the death of Patroklos, and the killing of Hektor. Achilleus' actions had over sized impact on the outcome of battles and the lives of many warriors on both sides. Achilleus struggled with anger, respect, satisfaction, loyalty and love. At first Achilleus’ character is unlikable and self-centered. By the end of the Iliad, we see an Achilleus

Another advantage he possesses is his practical invulnerability due the the fact his mother, Thesis, submerged his entire body except for his heel in river Styx when he was a mere baby. And although Achilleus could arguably be considered invincible, the spot on his heel still makes it possible for him to be defeated, which contradicts the definition of immortality. Secondly, Achilleus is alone in his conquest, however along the way he has help from his mother, sea goddess Thetis and gray-eyed Athena. On page 344, Thetis pleads Zeus ‘put strength into the Trojans, until the Achaians give my son his rights…’ (line 262-263) after Agamemnon takes his prize, Briseus. By doing so, Thesis ensures that the Achaians will come crawling back to Achilleus for help, restore his honor and glory and apologize profoundly. We also see Thetis going to Hephaistos, the god of smiths on page 358, to ask him to make Achilleus a new armor, after Hektor takes

Initially, Akhilleus lets his pride control him when King Agamemnon takes his prize possession, Briseis, away from him. Akhilleus begins to sulk and declares he will take his army and go home. Feeling dishonored, Akhilleus goes to his mother, Thetis, and requests her to go to Zeus and petition his assistance in dealing with

When he realizes he needs to appease Chryses or everyone will literally die, for some reason he feels like he still deserves a prize. He announces to Achilleus, “What do you want? To keep your own prize and have me sit here lacking one? (p78, line133)” Now, remember, everyone knows that Agamemnon is responsible for all the awful things that just happened. They are not happy with his rule. So Achilleus, who is a macho warrior with a ton of confidence tells him straight, “Now I am returning to Phtia, since it is much better to go home again with my curved ships, and I am minded no longer to stay here dishonored and pile up your wealth and your luxury. (p79, line

Achilleus’ wrath is a way in which his individualistic heroism is represented. (Add in how fate is represented by actions) The first stage of his wrath, towards Agamemnon, illustrates how he values his own life and pride over the fate of the army: “For not worth the value of my life are all possessions they fable were won for Ilion…”, Achilleus expresses his disdain towards Agamemnon’s peace offerings, claiming his life is worth more than the petty gifts. Achilleus refuses to fight and accepts of an inglorious fate because of his wounded pride and cynicism towards fate. This is individualistic because since he does not care for the glorious fate which in turn allows others to die. If it was the glorious fate that mattered to him, he wouldn’t have let others steal his victories. Instead he is only looking out for his needs. It is only for personal gain that Achilleus accepts his glorious fate, “He’s fallen

The idea of obtaining honor and glory are what Greek characters dedicate their lives to. The Greeks lived by a heroic code, which shaped their society. Being remembered, as a great warrior, is one of the highest honors a Greek soldier can obtain. Honor and glory are the cause of the Trojan War, which takes the lives of many men. Honor and Glory are what define the hero in the epic poem, The Iliad, written by Homer. Throughout the Iliad, honor and glory is the motivation behind the characters, there are different ways to obtain honor and glory, and the different views of honor throughout the epic poem.

In Achilleus' speech to Agamemnon, he is arguing that Agamemnon is a a bad leader, and fighting the Trojans is a useless act with no will gain for anyone other than to Agamemnon to think he will be able to punish the Trojains for disrespecting him. One attribute of terrible leadership Achilleus described was when he said, "'O wrapped in shamelessness, with your mind forever on profit, how shall any one of the Achaians readily obey you either to go on a journey or to fight men strongly in battle?" (1.149-151). By saying this Achilleus is describing that, to be a good leader, one must sometimes think pass the profit that one might be gain and think of the wellbeing of people carrying out the order. Also, Achilleus is mentioning why should the warriors fight for him if they gain nothing in return, and will face a pointless death, if their king is only thinking of himself, and not the heartbreak the people might face if they are to lose this battle.

son Achilleus” (Iliad 1.1), the issue of Achilleus’s anger and his conflict with Agamemnon is

Summary: Agamemnon is upset that Zeus is demanding that the Greeks leave despite having promised victory to them. Diomedes calls out Agamemnon for having no courage and says that he is more than welcome to leave. While the soldiers feast, Nestor convinces Agamemnon to discuss matters with his councilors away from the soldiers. While they are away from the soldiers, Nestor recommends appeasing Achilles; Agamemnon agrees by offering cities and Briseis and appoints Ajax, Odysseus, and Phoenix. They go to Achilles who at first welcomes them but is very displeased when he hears what they came to tell him. Achilles believes all the Greeks should go home and that Agamemnon seems to be doing well without him. Achilles says he will only fight after

     As the heated battle of the Trojan War continues, the Achaeans continue to have bad luck. Iris is sent by the goddess Hera to tell Achilles to rise up and defend Petrocolus.

Homer is the author of the Iliad and is known as the greatest Greek epic poet. He has had an enormous influence on the history of literature. The poem, Iliad, has been translated into different languages, one of which will be used in this paper, translated by Robert Fagles. The poem itself is about one simple word: rage. This anger that infuriates everyone is transformed into a war that will not stop until one side, either Greeks or Trojans, wins. With the majority of the Gods taking sides, the reader can see a combination of heroes and gods fighting side by side against the rival army. All heroes, except one, are described as hulking physical men. Thersites, on the other hand, is portrayed as a servant rather than a noble hero. His role

The menace Achilleus felt at first was justifiable, now he has turned it into a foolish fight. It is a saying that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. As for Achilleus, every action that was taken against him, “...anger of Peleus' son Achilleus / and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians,” there is an even tragic response (1.1-2). Homer repeatedly describes Achilleus as “ glorious” and one who has a “godlike” presence (9.434, 494). Achilleus is looked upon by many people, yet he has a childish behavior when dishonored. Although he states “...honor is a thing I need not...,” it is a part of him and how he and others perceive him (9.607-8). If this statement was authentic to Achilleus’ character, he would have let go of his anger and joined the war when asked. After he is reminded of how bad this fight looks through another's perspective, he should be appealed to as Hera was by Hephaistos “This will be a disastrous matter and not endurable / if you too quarrel thus for the sake of mortals,” showing her how it does not become of her to

“Fate is the same for the man who holds back, the same if he fights hard / We are held in a single honor, the brave with the weaklings” 19.318-19. Achilleus realizes that despite his desires, mortality binds him. He recognizes the broken system of the Greek heroism and struggles with the concept of mortality. In Greek legend, Zeus, knowing that an immortal son of a powerful goddess like Thetis would overthrow him, married off Thetis unwillingly to a mortal, thereby dooming all of her children to mortality. Thus, robbed of his divinity, Achilleus constantly reaches for it, knowing it is rightfully his. He recognizes an almost divine power within himself, but realizes that his capability is chained by his mortality. Where most Homeric characters are enabled by the gods, Achilleus is restrained by them; he possesses a heroic consciousness of the cosmos, divinity, and mortality. However, for the love of Patroklos, Achilleus stops grasping at the divinity which is rightfully his and chooses a diminishment in mortality. Though Achillleus chooses a seemingly lower role and submits to his mortality, this choice is ultimately what makes him the hero of the Iliad. Rather than seeking personal glory, he embraces mortality and sacrifices himself for the redemption of a friend. Thus by embracing his mortality, Achilleus becomes something more than a mortal, achieving a level of heroism not even the gods can posses.

Book 18 of Homer’s Iliad contains a detailed portrayal of the Shield of Achilles, made by Hephaestus, the crippled blacksmith god, embedded with numerous animatic images of human activities. Even though the shield is crafted through the hands of a divinity, the ekphrasis emphasizes on appreciating the stunning and thriving mortal life, demonstrating the potential of prosperity a human civilization can achieve without having to equip the mighty prowess of the gods. By focusing on motion and auditory details, the ekphrasis shows an appreciation and astonishment to human civilization, establishing itself as a belonging to the mortal realm.

courage to walk away from a fight for fear of being called a "coward" or "wuss". What