The Tragic Heroes and their Effect on Humanity in Homer's "the Iliad" and "the Aeneid"

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.

Publius Vergilius Maro, or more commonly known as Virgil, studied the Greek’s most well-known author Homer when he was creating his national epic poem. Virgil’s “The Aeneid” was written long after the creation of Homer’s “The Iliad”. However, there are many underlying similarities between the two. Virgil intended for their stories to share similar themes and plots because he truly admired Homer’s works he eventually adopted the Homeric style in his own writing. Despite having great battles and bloodshed, Virgil drew parallels to Homer’s works with the heroes and their fates, the men started wars over a woman, the different prophecies, and other connections between “The Iliad” and “The Aeneid.”

One of the greatest and highly esteemed authors throughout all of history is known simply as Homer. Homer is the author who gave a visible, written form to two of the greatest and highly respected epic stories of the world of the ancient Greeks, the Iliad and The Odyssey. However, none are certain of the time in which Homer lived. It is believed now that, if Homer was at all more than myth himself, he did not create the two stories, rather he organized or edited the poems in a written form (Bloom). Regardless of Homer’s involvement with the two stories, these ancient tales are distinct and characterized by the world in which they were conceived. The Iliad and The Odyssey both heavily draw inspiration from and are firmly founded upon the religious beliefs of the ancient Greeks. Being so firmly founded upon the ancient Greek religion, which has for centuries been mythology with many mystical and unusual creatures of fantasy, homer’s tales have withstood the test of time, captivating the attention of countless readers though many millennia and inspired the imagination of those who have read through the glorious epic.

     A comparison between Virgil's hero, Aeneas, and the Homeric heroes, Achilles and Odysseus, brings up the question concerning the relevance of the difference between the Homeric heroes and Aeneas. The differences in the poets' concerns are explained by the fact that Virgil lived many years after Homer, giving Virgil the advantage of a more developed literary and philosophical society than Homer had at his disposal. But the question remains: how are the differences between the Homeric heroes and Aeneas relevant to the epic at large? This question will be answered by first pointing out the differences between Greek and Roman society, then explaining

The Aeneid by Virgil is an epic war poetry written in the 19 B.C.E based on the Trojan War. The poem narrates a story of a Trojan who visited Italy where he came the Romans’ ancestor. In the context of the poem, gods have much quoted manipulating; plotting and working against humans they abhor (Virgil & Ferry, n.d.). Despite the god 's cunning behaviors, their actions end up putting destiny back on its proper course. Gods, future, and fate are essential aspects of Greek epic poetry .in most Greek god’s stories; the gods despite being powerful and divine also have human characteristics such as rivalry. The gods and goddesses portrayed as being in a conflict with each other but no matter their perceptions the results are always

Many years ago in ancient Greece, Plato initiated a debate about the usefulness of literature by declaring that poetry had no place in the ideal society, mainly because it was full of lies and because it evoked undesirable emotions. His pupil Aristotle, however, took the opposing side of this dispute and argued that literature was, in fact, useful. Aristotle agreed with Plato that literature induces undesirable emotions, but he stated that it only does so in an attempt to purge us of these harmful sentiments, a process which he termed “catharsis”. The events in Homer’s Iliad, while used by both Plato and Aristotle to defend their theories about literature, lend themselves to the defense of Aristotle’s ideas more so than Plato’s.

Homer used pride as the tragic flaw that Achilles learned to overcome, whereas Virgil used a sense of duty as Aeneas’s tragic flaw. Homer portrayed Achilles as arrogant because he allowed his men to fight a battle he knew they could not win without him. Achilles asked his mother for Zeus to favor the Trojans so that he could regain the honor that he felt Agamemnon stripped away. Aeneas’s tragic flaw unlike Achilles was his sense of duty, which in turn he encountered pitfalls during his escape from Troy. Achilles battled for personal glory and his own honor as a warrior whereas Aeneas spent his time attempting to fulfill his mission, which forced him to invade and conquer, a duty given to him by the gods. “Virgil unites and conjoins all the virtues in the formation of his hero: He gives him religion towards the gods, piety towards his country, tenderness and friendship towards his relations, and equity and justice towards all” (Rapin). On the contrary, Homer magnified the tragic flaw in Achilles, which cost him his sanity because he became obsessive with revenge. Although Aeneas’s flaw appears minor in comparison to Achilles, it led him to be an instrument of gods, which in turn destroyed innocent lives. Mercury appeared to Aeneas to remind him of his mission and told him, “Oblivious of your own world, your own kingdom…He [Zeus] and no other sent me to you…Think of the

Homer once said, “Two urns on Jove 's high throne have ever stood, the source of evil one, and one of good; from thence the cup of mortal man he fills, blessings to these, to those distributes ills; to most he mingles both. What the great philosopher is establishing is that the source of good and evil are the same while being different. Reminiscent of how The Iliad and the Aeneid are both epic poems that share similarities such as the setting, the reoccurring motif of gods, as well as aspects like the two heroes and the goals to be reached by the plot.

A hero has many definitions from a Mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability, an illustrious warrior, and many other definitions. “To be heroic is to be courageous enough to die for something; to be inspirational is to be crazy enough to live a little.” ― Criss Jami, Venus in Arms. Growing up I’ve read books that were bigger than me, like mythological books because it had adventures and heroic people that would risk their lives for another. The Iliad, The Odyssey and The Harry Potter series were always my favorite and no matter how many times I read them, I find new things I missed and record the heroic deeds someone has done in their story. What makes a hero and how does one remain loyal to those he trusts around him?

In parts of the tragic anthology, Iliad, the author Homer allows the reader to distinguish the various types of heroes presented and the characters that each one of them shares. He succeeds in implementing stages of Aristotle’s poetic definitions of tragedy while shifting his characters to his own Epic Tragedy. The author also prepares the reader in comprehending the differences between his and Aristotle’s definition of the Tragic Hero. In this paper, principles in Aristotle and Homer’s Tragic Heroes will be presented in relation to Achilles and Hector. These two characters will also be compared and contrasted in order to highlight their tragic characters in the anthology. Achilles, a demigod with great strength focuses on his honor and

Not much was known about the Greek Poet Homer. Actually, there are many who believe that no such ‘Homer’ ever even existed in Ancient Greece. Nonetheless, it is agreed that Homer is one of the first writers that have shaped our culture immensely. Homer gives us a look into what morals the Greeks followed and what their beliefs were. Homer shows us how the Greeks put these beliefs into action by presenting multiple struggles that our characters must go through. Homer’s epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey, are thousands of years old. Yet, whoever reads these pieces of literature today can somehow relate to its characters and events. This is because of the author’s ability to form a connection between the reader and what it is they are analyzing/reading. This paper will identify the values, conflicts, and parallels within Homer’s text.

Over 2,000 years ago the story of the Trojan War and the heroic Achilles came to be. This was portrayed in the writing of Homer’s The Iliad. Fast-forward to 2004, the age of media, where the epic adventure war film Troy was released, starring none other than Brad Pitt as Achilles; so dreamy. Despite the fact these works of art were executed in different cultures thousands of years apart, as well as in different mediums, their characters greatly contrast each other. On the other hand, these different genres are comparable in the fact that Troy follows many of the important plot concepts as The Iliad.

Homer’s poems, play a key role in Ancient Greek culture and many important moments or scenes from Homer’s The Iliad and The Odysseys are depicted on the vases. Each vase has a story and the painters depict the moments or events in the poem in the exact way Homer describes. However, some depictions on the vases could be dramatized by the painters because the painter brought their imagination from the story of Homer. Through the Ancient Greek vases, we can get new information or background information about the Homer’s poem and we can understand the scenes better in the Iliad and the odysseys even though some vases are depicted a little differently from the lines of the pomes.

Many literary characters experience some sort of change in their story that changes the trajectory of their motives and development. In Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, there is a humongous amount of conflict due to the Trojan War, but the characters surrounding it make the story appealing. One of the most captivating characters of his piece, however, is the demigod warrior Achilles. Even when he is missing in action throughout the middle of the epic, he is still one of the most interesting characters in the piece due to his character background and development throughout the story. Homer does this in such a way so the reader/listener can sympathize with him and the Greek army, even when he is committing horrible acts of violence. Clearly, Homer’s The Iliad is actually a response to the violent world surrounding Achilles, due to how he and his loved ones are ultimately affected by it and his sad but necessary response.

In reading texts that describe the mythical story of the Trojan War, it would be difficult to ignore the tragedy that the story emanates in its character’s actions and their consequences. Homer’s Iliad explores the tragedy of Achilles, whose preoccupation with glory has its tragic consequences of death and grief. It also shows the War’s resounding effect on those outside of the battlefield and the families of the warriors, as does Euripides’ Women of Troy, reflecting on family as the unforeseen victims of war. Furthermore, the play Rhesus is shown to give a more elaborated perspective of tragedy for individual characters. An examination of the Trojan War from the Trojan and Roman perspective further reveals tragedy on both sides. The gods’