The world that Homer shows in the Iliad is a violent one, where war is not only a means of gaining wealth, but also the arena in which a man demonstrates his worth. The Greek army gathered in front of the walls of Troy exhibits the weaknesses and strengths of the Homeric world. Greece is not one nation, and the army of Greeks mirrors this. It is a collection of small city-states with a common culture and a common language, capable of coming together for a great enterprise, but also capable of being driven apart by petty squabbling. The common culture is based on acceptance of characteristics seen as virtuous: xeineia, or hospitality; agathos, the successful warrior; oikos, which means from noble birth; keleos, glory; pine, honor, which is a central motif throughout the Iliad; and finally, the ultimate virtue of arête, which stands for goodness or excellence and encompasses the other virtues. For Homer, a good man must be of noble family, strong, brave in battle, and wealthy. Earthly possessions show that a man has initiative and has the esteem of others. But the most important qualification to be considered a good man is honor, because honor is gained, not born into.
In the Homeric world, honor is qualified by power. In the Iliad, power is measured several ways. When Nestor tries to mediate between the enraged Achilles and Agamemnon, he makes the point that “power and glory [are] given by Zeus himself” (Book I, Line 294). A king is the ultimate in nobility, even if he is the king of a small, poor Greek city. Being a king depends on accident of birth, not on ability, and is a sign of the gods’ favor. Because the gods have smiled on him, “a scepter-holding king has honor beyond the rest of men” (Book I, Line 293). In the Greek army...
... middle of paper ...
...capable of arête, of goodness.
The ethical values reflected in the Iliad should be taken seriously because they are not only plausible, but also congruent with the time and place. Homer is narrating tales of a society where men expect to fight and likely die in battle, where courage is demanded of all men, and where honor and glory are seen as steps toward achieving excellence. What makes the Iliad a masterpiece of Western civilization is not just the stirring story, but most of all Homer’s even-handed portrayal of the Homeric world, for the Trojans are never depicted as being less than the Greeks. The Greeks, even their greatest military heroes, are seen as flawed human beings. In conclusion, what Homer presents in the Iliad is a worldview rather than the local perspective of a distant war. In the end, Homer seems to be saying that all men may aspire to virtue.
Virtue in the Greek world was determined mainly by how one is viewed by others. This was an important notion for the Greeks, since their society was very aggressive. The world of the Odyssey was fiercely competitive, as each hero strove to outdo the other (Finley 118). This competitive attitude stems from the Greek concept of arête, or excellence (Moran 2). This neec for excellence is what caused the Greeks to try their hardest to fulfill their function as a human and as a member of society. In order for a Greek person to be fully functioning, they had to excel in certain attributes that were key to their role in society. For the average Greek male, their function was to be brave, effective, and honorable. These three qualities are the virtues that every Greek male strived to attain, with honor being the most important. Bravery and effectiveness are both related to combat and how a man conducted himself on the battlefield. If a man is not effective in war, or other occupations, then he had no means to attain arête. The same can be said about bravery, since bravery is essential for a warrior to succeed. Honor is the most important virtue of the Greek...
However, this exploration from two perspectives violates the term ethical as it should be “a universal system of moral principles and values “ applicable through actions perpetrated by humans. However, absolute standards are unobtainable and conditional upon the society and time in which they are conceived. Another definition suggests that to be ethical is “to conform to accepted standards consistent with the agreed principles of correct moral conduct”. Conversely, until Aristotle, there were no “agreed principles for moral conduct” thus the term ethical cannot be used within the context of Homers society. We can, however examine the role the gods have to play in the Iliad and examine the relationship between the immortal and mortal to ascertain an “ethical” framework of the poem.
Western thought and culture grew out of Greek ideals. Since “there is nothing new under the sun,” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) many of the ideals expressed by Homer, Sophocles, and Hesiod ring true for Westerners today. Part of the myth of a tragic hero includes a leadership position of some sort: often noble birth, kingship, or military leadership. Tragic plays like Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and the Iliad served as worship, entertainment, examples of virtue, and cautionary tales. Modern Americans can look back at such works and apply the ideas to selecting and serving as leaders on a national, community, or family level. Some of desirable qualities illustrated in Archaic and Classical Greek works include self-control, fairness, respect for moral law, service to one’s community, courage, and honor.
Honor in The Iliad is imperative to the Greeks because it is the foundation of the Greek society. It leads people to perform certain actions and determines their fate. Greeks live their lives based on the actions in which they will receive honor. All Greeks are determined to gain honor because it guarantees them a strong reputation and standing in the social ladder. The goal of every Greek soldier is to achieve honor in their lifetime one way or another. Homer portrays numerous heroes in The Iliad who fight for honor using various techniques. Honor is an important factor in a Greek society because it holds the respect for those honorable men; it gives Greeks a motivation to attain dignity. Hektor is the most honored because he sacrifices
The notion of personal honor is prevalent throughout the Iliad. The honor of every person in Homeric culture was important, but to the hero, his honor was paramount. He could not endure insults, and he felt that he had to protect his reputation — even unto death. The hero 's duty was to fight, and the only way he had of gaining glory and immortality was through heroic action on the battlefield; thus, he continually prepared his life for the life-and-death risks of battle. The Homeric hero believed that men had to stand together in battle; men had to respect each other; and they had to refrain from excessive cruelty. This last condition was critically important for the Homeric hero. He loathed deliberate acts of cruelty and injustice. If he were ready to kill a victim, he believed that he should do it quickly; he was not to mutilate him, as Achilles does with Hektor 's body. By following this code, a hero gained a sense of dignity and a reputation for honor that would ensure his place in the social memory of his community.
Throughout the Iliad, heroic characters make decisions based on a specific set of principles, which are referred to as the “code of honor.” The heroic code that Homer presents to readers is easy to recognize because the heroic code is the cause for many of the events that take place, but many of the characters have different perceptions of how highly the code should be regarded. Hector, the greatest of the Trojan warriors, begins the poem as a model for a hero. His dedication and firm belief in the code of honor is described many times throughout the course of the Iliad. As a reward for heroic traits in battle, prizes were sometimes awarded to victors of war. In Book 1 Achilles receives Chryseis as a prize and a symbol of honor. Heroism had its rewards and its setbacks which ultimately was the backbone of the Illiad in the case of Achilles prize. Hector, arguably the greatest Trojan warrior or even the bravest of the Homeric heroes is very fierce and fights for what he believes is his destiny. In book VI Hector expresses his bravery when Andromache pleads with Hector not to fight when Hector says, “But I would die of shame to face the men of Troy and the Trojan woman trailing their long robes if I would shrink from battle now, a coward. Nor does the sprit urge me on that way. I’ve learned it all too well. To stand up bravely, always to fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers, winning my father great glory, glory for myself” (VI, 387).
The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.
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...
Simone Weil argues that the way Homer presents war and the use of force in the Iliad, in all of its brutality, violence, and bitterness bathes the work in the light of love and justice (pg 25). The point Weil is making is that by depicting the suffering of all of these men regardless of their side, or strength Homer equalizes them in a “condition common to all men”(pg 25). Because Homer equalizes them the reader can feel empathy, or at least compassion for all of the men. However while Weil is correct about how Homer’s descriptions of war and force reveal justice and love, she is wrong in thinking that justice and love are mere “accents” to the Iliad, and progress through the story “without ever becoming noticeable”(pg 25). Homer not only reveals this underlying idea to the reader through his tone and even handedness, but also through Achilles’ journey. By the end of the Iliad Achilles understands justice and love in much the same way that the reader does.
The characters in Homer’s Iliad follow the Heroic Code which is all about honor. For them, honor is the most important thing and a person who dies without honor is worth nothing. To be someone honorable, one must standout from the army, like Akhilleus and Hektor. The two are recognized as the best in their army and community. But the Heroic Code is more than just exerting more effort as a warrior, more than being the best warrior there is and more than doing something that the army, community and opposition will recognize. In the heroic Code, there exist four pillars that will dictate whether you have achieved honor.
Homer progressively subjects his characters to a choice between loved ones, and war quest with heroic personalities is invariably choosing the latter. The gravity of decisions made in the text emphasizes more on knowing about fate ahead of time. Characters prize ancient Greek martial values such as honor, nobility, bravery, and glory with the will to sacrifice chances of long life for the loved ones. In portraying an ideal epic world, the text recognizes about the creation of mortals and the glory of man that does not live in constructions.
The Iliad is not only a story of war, but a story of relationships and family connections through respect and honor. Sons don’t seem to question their duties to their family. They go to battle and fight until the end, maybe even until their death. They do not search for love from their fathers, but for the respect and desire to follow just as their fathers did, to be dignified warriors and proud of their ancestral accomplishments.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Iliad, and Oedipus Rex all center on morality in terms of each character’s social behavior from the beginning to the end of the story. Gilgamesh, Achilles, and Oedipus are three central characters that embody strong qualities of strength, however carry different experiences of morality. Furthermore, all three characters hold different moral codes that are dependent on their ability to resolve the unique situations that they are in. Nevertheless, morality has ultimately impacted the character’s perception of their role in society in terms of whether or not their actions benefit someone or something. This paper will be examining the morality of the three main characters as they undergo major character transformations
Homer clearly and precisely depicts the religion and the ethics of the Achian and Trojan societies in The Iliad. During the time of the Trojan war, religion played an important role in the societies. Sacrifice, prayer, and rituals were all equally significant, and the superiority of the gods and the fates above humans was a standard of society. The gods were sacred deities to whom one had to bestow honor and respect. Within the society, honor, glory, and fame were desperately sought by warriors striving to achieve enduring notoriety. One's word represented a considerable commitment to be acted upon. Religion and ethics are prominently displayed in the characters throughout The Iliad due to their importance in Greek and Trojan society.
The Iliad, by Homer, tells a part of the tale of the conquest of Troy by the Greeks. In the Greek army there are many prominent figures. These important Greeks have distinct personalities. This paper hopes to demonstrate that certain famous Greeks each get some form of comeuppance based on their respective bad character traits and actions. In essence, this paper will show that justice is served against the Greeks for their actions.