7 Deadly Sins In The Iliad

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Final Research Paper
Each character within Homer’s “Iliad” displays at least one of the seven deadly sins such as greed, lust, pride, envy, gluttony, wrath, and laziness within the story. Each were motivated by one or more of these, driven by it and for some, it lead to their inevitable destruction. These deadly sins are the driving factor of the entire plot and motivate the characters to make decisions that have deadly consequences for them and the people around them. We will look at a few of the key characters and see how these deadly sins drive them. This will give the reader a better understanding of the characters and the plot. It is important for any reader to try and understand the underlying motives of a character and the story. It …show more content…

Achilles is a god and is considered to be the greatest fighter in the world. He fights on the Greek side, but does not fight in the war at first. His relationship with Agamemnon is strained and the two do not like one another. We see early on that Achilles actually prays to the gods that the Trojans will begin to win the war so that Agamemnon will see how valuable Achilles is and will ask him for help. This is one of the first times Achilles displays one of the seven deadly sins which is pride. Achilles actually displays more of the seven deadly sins than any other character in the …show more content…

Paris, Hector, and Achilles all displayed one or more of the Seven Deadly Sins and we can look at these three characters and see that they represent different groups of people in the world. Paris being the young and foolish, controlled by his desires for the flesh. Hector the good prince, who falls victim to his own pride and honor which leads him to his death and Achilles, the brash and prideful warrior whose lust for glory leads him down a path of inevitable destruction. In Douglas M. Stenstrom and Matthew Curtis’ 2012 article, “Rating the Seven Deadly Sin” states, “The concept of sin likewise touches on the central emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of human experience that shape our perceptions of ourselves and others. In that context, understanding how people perceive sin has benefit not only for the religiously faithful, but also, in a broader cultural context, for learning more about how people perceive others and themselves in the social world” (3) by understanding and looking deeper into these character’s motives and mindset we can better understand the Iliad and come away with a different perspective than

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