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Critical analysis of achilles
Critical analysis of achilles
Critical analysis of achilles
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How do you value honor? By academic achievement, physical ability, or character? This is a question that mankind has been trying to answer since its existence.The ancient Greeks determined the honor of a person by their war contributions. The Iliad revolves around the conflict between Achilles and a war obsessed society. Homer questioned the purpose of war and redefined the meaning of honor through Achilles’ rejection of the Heroic Code In the Iliad, the worthiness of a person was judged by their possessions, but Achilles challenged the expression of honor through material goods. He cared more for his pride than physical objects. In Book IX, King Agamemnon sent his best soldiers to ask for Achilles’ help in the war. Agamemnon once tarnished …show more content…
It was an engraved rule in the ancient Greek culture for men to fulfill their duty as soldiers and willingly confront death. The soldiers are “ intoxicated by a false sense of invincibility” and trust that death is worth honor (Bruce 5). Hector represented the ideal soldier. When he chose to fight Achilles and defend Troy he declared “My better part is to face him for life and death. Either I shall kill him and return with triumph, or I shall die with honor before the gate” (Homer 315). Hector knew he would die, but was convinced he had to die fighting. David Gill explained “On a deeper level, they face death in battle precisely because they must die. In the end, there is no escaping death, but glory gained by killing others in combat can bestow a kind of immortality” (3). With the Heroic Code, ancient Greek men were fated to die young. Achilles was the first to review their predisposition. Later, when Achilles’ closest comrades tried to persuade him to rejoin the war effort he explained “If I stay here and fight before the city of Troy, there will be no homecoming for me but my fame shall never die; if I go home to my native land, there will be no great fame for me, but I shall live long and not die an early death” (Homer 128). Achilles debated his two fates, and chose life over honor. While other warriors would have gone and died in battle without a second thought, Achilles’ decision to not fight illustrated the flaws of the Heroic Code and the war-obsessed Greek society. Through Achilles’ struggle Homer tried to remind young men that they are allowed to ask themselves if death is worth the price of
Throughout the Iliad, the writier Homer give great glory to the war through his use of different techniques. His displays of many colorful imagines of the war of Greeks. Also Homer points out how honor and glory can trigger an epic war that takes the lives if many men. And how it takes shape in development throughout every stage. The fall of Troy is " a thing whose glory shall perish never (2.324)". The glorification of define the hero, and thererfore are the foundation for everything that comes to pass as Homer defines it. Most heros fight for kleos. Which is a way of glory.
The ideas of fate, honor, and shame, are common themes in many works of art that shape many aspects of culture and the people in those societies. Both ancient Greek and Japanese cultures were based around ideas of fate, honor, and shame. While not necessarily placing the same emphasis on each of the ideas, their importance is shown in works from each culture. The Greek epic, The Iliad, places an large importance on fate, while placing less emphasis honor and shame, while Chusingura, a Japanese film, displays the opposite, placing a large amount of emphasis on honor and shame, yet little on fate.
He feels that his honor was besmirched when Agamemnon demands that Achilles relinquish his war prize, Brises "Are you ordering to give this girl back? Either the great hearted Achaians shall give me a new prize chosen according to my desires to atone for the girl loss, or else if they will not hive me I myself shall take her, your own prize?(Homer 1.134).
Webster’s dictionary defines Honor as high respect, good reputation or high moral standards of behavior. Kwame Appiah in his book The Honor Code: How moral revolutions happen believes that honor is tied to the ethical emotions (particularly to pride, shame, and disdain), to one’s social identity, to the value of nationalism and group unity, and to moral motivation in general. He argues that honor is “a system of entitlements to respect,” Two forms of honor exist and these relate to two forms of respect. A person is worthy of “competitive” honor when they merit respect for excelling relative to some honor code. A person is praiseworthy of “peer honor” when they merit respect, not because they meet certain standard, but on the basis of a recognition of an equal status. Achilles fought for competitive honor, (176) whereas the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchilsea dueled, because of
Throughout the Iliad, Homer portraits the extent to which honor plays a role in the lives of Greeks and the manner in which they are willing to sacrifice in order to reach their goals. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, a particularly long and bloody war, fought not over boundary disagreements, and not over political conflicts, and not to protect the nation. Rather, it was a war fought to defend the personal honor. The possession of women was important to a man’s standing and honor. Paris’ theft of Helen struck a huge blow to the honor of Menelaus and becomes the initial cause of the Trojan War. Consequently, Menelaus, the Spartan ruler, called upon his brother Agamemnon to gather the Greek forces to launch the war against Paris demanding the return of Helen and reinstating the honor for the king. The war lasted for ten years and cost innumerable Greeks’ lives and brought incurable pain upon their families. To Greek heroes, honor is more important than their life as much as that life would be meaningless without it, and they even willingly sacrifice their lives in order...
Consumed by his rage, he refuses to accept even the most admirable gifts and wealth in exchange for his return to war. He understands his prowess as a fighter, but not even his potential to make an immense difference on the battlefield can persuade him to join the fight. The adamant refusal is constant throughout the text, given that Achilles does not decide to join again until Book XVIII. What inspires this turning point is being personally struck by the death of Patroclus – his best friend. Achilles had such a strong connection with his companion that he is found sobbing, asking “but what boots it to me, seeing that my dear comrade Patroclus has fallen—he whom I valued more than all others, and loved as dearly as my own life?” (18.100-103). Just shortly after the turning point of The Iliad occurs when Achilles declares to “force his soul into subjection” and “pursue Hector who has slain him” (18.115). Without being personally affected by such a tragedy, Achilles never would have returned to war provided that not even the most tempting of offers could have swayed him. Furthermore, if Achilles were not struck with such overwhelming grief, then the outcome of the Trojan War would have been different. For instance, Agamemnon is at times a mediocre warrior. Because the Achaeans lacked a key figure in battle until Achilles changed his mind, it is very possible that Hector never would have been killed and that Achilles’s rage would have persisted. Merely telling Achilles that Patroclus had passed, breaking their brotherly bond, was enough to heighten the entire war rather than the countless battle scenes leading up to Patroclus’s
What is honor? Honor coins an individual’s nature. A principle that exists on the purpose of perception, a martyr willing to conform and accomplish. In the case of Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus was the most honorable of men. A brother to Caesar, but a father to Rome, he persist and perish for the future of his child. The idea of ignorance, and the belief of a false faith, turns this noble man toward a vulgar grave, with virtuous notions.
Honor (timê) is a crucial aspect of identity for ancient Greeks, especially warriors. Amongst the death and destruction of conflict, honor remains a desirable quality that warriors aim to achieve and maintain. As seen through Homer’s Iliad and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, the cultural value placed on honor poses a limitation on ancient Greek warfare by restricting one’s combat tactics and suppressing beneficial strategies. War in this context is no longer a fight for justice, but rather a chance for men to prove their individual worth.
Achilles is reminding his comrades of the prophecy his mother Thetis told him. When Achilles is explaining the prophecy he says, “If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy, my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies… true, but the life that’s left me will be long, the stroke of death will not come on me quickly”(Homer 265). The prophecy says that if Achilles goes to war then he will have a short life but glory that goes on forever. However, if he goes back home he will have a longer life without glory. If Achilles goes to war, the Greeks will recognize him as the man who saved them and his glory will live on past his death. On the other hand, if Achilles ventures home the Greeks will see him as a coward who did not help his people in their time of need. Achilles has lost the urge to continue on and fight in battle because he knows that his life will be short if he goes back to war. However, Achilles’ comrades attempt to convince him to fight for the Greeks by reminding him of all the geroi he will receive if he is victorious in battle. In response to Odysseus’ plea to Achilles asking him to come back to battle, Achilles says, “One and the same for the lot that hangs back and the man who battles hard. The same honor waits for the coward and the brave”(Homer 262). The Greeks and Trojans
Never wanting to give up and giving your all were key components of life that the warriors lived by. When Hector dies in Book XVIII, the values and characteristics that he displays are nobility, self-respect and courage. Dying in the duel is shown to be a hero’s death and the best way for a warrior to die. The final battle between Achilles and Hectors is not only a battle between two heroes but of two heroic values. Hector is motivated by the fact that he wants to kill Achilles because he has killed multiple members of his family. “My doom has come upon me; let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter (The Iliad, Book XVIII, Line 483).” This showed how death was valued and how the warriors, even after death were looked upon as heroes. Their courage and nobility were glorified even after
HONOR CAN BE DEFINED IN SO MANY WAYS CAN mean respect and esteem shown to another. HONOR may ALSO apply to the recognition of one's right to great respect or to any expression of such recognition IN SOME SITUATIONS IT implies profound respect mingled with love, devotion.There is a priceless respect that everyone in the world possesses, and that is the. respect of a person?s honor. A person?s honor is something that can not be bought, sold,. or traded it?s something that must be gained by the respect of your peers. An example of. how honor is seen in everyday life in through a persons word. The standard dictionary definition of honor first lists public regard and esteem under the word, with ethical conduct or high standards of justice and responsibility appearing much further down the list. This is reflected in the way the modern world treats the issue of honor. In ancient times, honor was the manner of being that we now describe as having integrity. In plain language, an honorable person avoids deception whenever possible, treats others with respect and sticks to her beliefs no matter how others think or act. People generally do not seem to behave very well toward each other any more.Honor determines the hierarchy of an individual while revealing his loyalty and true intentions. Reward comes for those at the top whose honor does not diminish, while a false or fleeting honor of a lesser mortal causes destruction. Exploring and discussing how to act honorably toward each other is a place to start.The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. How can you be a person of integrity? First, figure out what integrity (honor) is. My mother used to say to treat others the way you wanted to be treated. Does anyone do that these days? Well, I know that I don't want to be cut off in traffic, or yelled at, or bumped into rudely at the grocery store, or left picking up garbage all over my yard from the street. So I could try not to do those things to other people. I won't cut off others in traffic, or yell, or act rude at the grocery store, or throw garbage in the street. That's just a place to start. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
In my opinion, honor is determined by the courage a person displays, the difficulty of the test a person faces, the physical abilities a person possesses, and a person’s social
Honor plays an important role in family relationships. For example, it was very important in
The most powerful warrior in The Iliad, Achilles controls the Myrmidons, soldiers from his homeland of Phthia in Greece. Proud and headstrong, he takes offense easily and reacts with blistering indignation when he perceives that his honor has been slighted. Achilles’ wrath at Agamemnon for taking his war prize, the Briseis. In This easy I will indicate how the conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles came about, Why Agamemnon believe that he has the right to claim Achilles prize and Achilles believe that he has the right to possess his prize?, why Achilles reasoning different from Agamemnon, Agamemnon admit that he wrong when he sends ships intent of persuading Achilles to return to battle and how Achilles responded to the people sent by Agamemnon to persuades Achilles, what made Achilles to return to battle and lastly, the conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles ever resolved and why they did not resolved the problem. If you pay attention to the book you can see or discover that the problems regarding between the goddess and mortals and the mortals itself was centered to Power, glory, honour , fate and
In one of his most famous works “Iliad”, He portrays one of the greatest worriers on the battlefield, Achilles, as being a man with a moral compass who did not care much for wealth and greed. This work displays a belief by the author, that there was a problem with many of the systems of ancient Greece... Time and Geras was a system in which time represented respect, what every warrior wanted, and the tangible sign of time was geras or “prize” (Morris Powell102). Agamemnon, had obtained Achilles’s geras, a girl, as a division of spoils. Achilies, was angry because he had earned the girl fair and square, and a man could not have time without geras (103). His political power was less than Agamemnon’s because he ruled fewer people, but he believed that he should have the same” time” or more for his achievements on the battlefield (104). He says to Agamemnon “Yes, clothed in shame, greedy for gain”, because taking some one else’s time and geras was considered to be dishonorable and disrespectful. In this guilt and shame culture, which was displayed in Homer’s work, a man’s reward was based on the merit of his actions