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Greek values in odyssey heroism
Heroism in the Odyssey
Heroism in the Odyssey
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Immense Heroism in Homer’s Iliad
The Iliad opens with "the anger of Peleus' son, Achilleus," (1.1) and closes with the "burial of Hektor, breaker of horses" (24.804).1 The bracketing of the poem with descriptions of these two men suggests both their importance and their connection to one another. They lead parallel lives as the top fighters in their respective armies, and, as the poem progresses, their lives and deaths become more and more closely linked. They each struggle to fulfill the heroic ideal, and they both grapple with temptations that lure them away from heroism. While Hektor embodies the human heroic ideal, Achilleus strives to surpass human heroism to achieve some identification with the divine. These delusions of grandeur diminish Achilleus greatly; despite his efforts he can never be immortal, and a mortal god, besides being an oxymoron, would be decidedly pitiful. Achilleus' heroism, therefore, is incumbent on his acceptance of his humanity. Achilleus entangles Hektor in his struggle to come to terms with his own mortality by recognizing himself in his enemy. Hektor comes to represent the humanity of Achilleus, against which Achilleus rebels and which he tries to destroy in his desire to be immortal. Their fates are therefore linked, and the death of the one necessitates the death of the other. In finally giving over Hektor's body to Priam, Achilleus is at his most heroic; for in this action he accepts his fate, his mortality, and his humanity.
The two men are lured away from heroism in opposite directions; Hektor, by his connections to home and family, and Achilleus, by his connections to the gods. To be a hero is to sacrifice one's own personal and familial ties in favor of facing death and striving for...
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... of Achilleus' funeral, for the fates of these two heroes are linked. We do not see Achilleus' death in the poem, but we are certain of its prompt occurrence, for we see the burial of Hektor who has become a reflection of Achilleus. By accepting his own death, Achilleus finally becomes a hero. His heroism is so great because, unlike other men, the measure of his heroism does not lie in the status of the people he kills, but in the action of giving up Hektor's body. The murder of Hektor is not Achilleus' greatest moment, but only one step in attaining his heroism. He diverges so greatly from the heroic, that in the moment when he finally accepts his mortality, his heroism is immense.
NOTES
1 Achilleus is the son of Thetis, a goddess, and Peleus, a mortal.
2 Homer, Iliad, Translated by Richard Lattimore (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951).
Starr, Norton. "1970 Draft Lottery Data." University of Hong Kong, Economics Department. N.p., 21 Sept. 1998. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.
The Iliad is a story in which many men should be recognized as great war heroes.
Hektor is one of the most sympathetic characters in Homer’s famous epic, The Iliad. He stands apart from the other selfish heroes with his strong sense of duty, which motivates all of his actions. Though he is the main adversary of the story’s Achaian heroes, he is favorably established and likable. For this reason, the reader cannot help but be saddened by his death and look upon his character with admiration.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum in England differs greatly in structure and content to the Te Whariki curriculum in New Zealand; this therefore makes for an interesting comparison. The EYFS was introduced in England, in 2008, by the DfE as a framework that ‘sets the standards for learning, development and care of children from birth to five’ (DfE, 2012). Alternatively, Te Whariki was founded in New Zealand, in 1996, based on the aspirations for children ‘to grow up as competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body, and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society’ (Ministry of Education, 1996). Throughout this essay, the EYFS and Te Whariki curriculums will be compared and contrasted to give a greater understanding of the similarities and differences between England and New Zealand regarding their beliefs about young children’s needs.
In this book Sterling discusses three cyberspace subcultures known as the hacker underworld, the realm of the cyber cops, and the idealistic culture for the cyber civil libertarians. At the beginning of the story Sterling starts out with discussing the birth of cyberspace and how it came about. The Hacker Crackdown informs the readers of the issues surrounding computer crime and the people on all sides of those problems. Sterling gives a brief summary of what cyberspace meant back then and how it impacted society, and he investigates the past, present and future of computer crimes. For instance he explains how the invention of the telephone led to a world that people were scared of because the telephone was something that was able to let people talk to one another without actually being in the same area. People thought that it was so strange and so different because they didn’t understand all of the information behind it. Back then people thought of the telephone as a tool that allowed others to talk to them in a way that was so personal yet impersonal. Sterling then goes on to explain how “phone phreaks” played such an important part in relating the telephones to computer crimes and how they were so closely related back then.
A normal heartbeats at a rate of 60-100 beats per minute. Cardiac dysrhythmia occurs when there is a disturbance in the normal rhythm of the heart. Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter are two of the most common types of cardiac dysrhythmia. “These atrial arrhythmias may interfere with the heart’s ability to pump blood properly from its upper chambers (atria). The atria may not always empty completely, and blood remaining there too long may stagnate and potentially clot. Such clots may travel to other parts of the body, where they may cause blockages in the blood supply to the limbs, brain or heart. ("Cardiac Arrhythmias." Cardiac Arrhythmias. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013, retrieved from http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/) The American Heart Association reports that 383,000 emergency out-of-hospital treated cardiac arrests occur in the United States. A number of factors can cause cardiac dysrhythmia; smoking, heavy alcohol use, drugs (ie; cocaine or amphetamines), some prescription or over-the-counter medicines, or even too much caffeine or nicotine. Emo...
than the times of today. Back then, the most important aspect of life for a
The Iliad is an epic tale of war and hero’s within the Greek way of life. A
Homer's two central heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, are in many ways differing manifestations of the same themes. While Achilles' character is almost utterly consistent in his rage, pride, and near divinity, Odysseus' character is difficult to pin down to a single moral; though perhaps more human than Achilles, he remains more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, both heroes are defined not by their appearances, nor by the impressions they leave upon the minds of those around them, nor even so much by the words they speak, but almost entirely by their actions. Action is what drives the plot of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and action is what holds the characters together. In this respect, the theme of humanity is revealed in both Odysseus and Achilles: man is a combination of his will, his actions, and his relationship to the divine. This blend allows Homer to divulge all that is human in his characters, and all that is a vehicle for the idyllic aspects of ancient Greek society. Accordingly, the apparent inconsistencies in the characterization of Odysseus can be accounted for by his spiritual distance from the god-like Achilles; Achilles is more coherent because he is the son of a god. This is not to say that Achilles is not at times petty or unimaginative, but that his standards of action are merely more continuous through time. Nevertheless, both of Homer's heroes embody important and admirable facets of ancient Greek culture, though they fracture in the ways they are represented.
Cardiac dysrhythmias come in different degrees of severity. There are heart conditions that you are able to live with and manage on a daily basis and those that require immediate attention. Atrial Fibrillation is one of the more frequently seen types of dysrhythmias (NIH, 2011). The best way to diagnosis a heart condition is by reading a cardiac strip (Ignatavicius &Workman, 2013). Cardiac strips play an chief part in the nursing world allowing the nurse and other trained medical professionals to interpret what the heart is doing. In a normal strip, one can clearly identify a P wave before every QRS complex, which is then followed by a T wave; in Atrial Fibrillation, the Sinoatrial node fires irregularly causing there to be no clear P wave and an irregular QRS complex (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013). Basically, it means that the atria, the upper chambers of the heart, are contracting too quickly and no clear P wave is identified because of this ‘fibrillation’ (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013).
The price that heroes pay for the glory they obtain is something readily forgotten if one does not read The Iliad in the context of the times. In the time of the Iliad, glory and honor was even more important than it was now. One can get easily get lost in the descriptive nature of the epic poem, which gives reason to a belief that the Iliad is simply a glorification of combat, however, this is not the case. The Iliad is based on much deeper principles than combat, it glorifies the search for honor and the sacrifices that great men will take to achieve this honor. If Achilleus had not rejoined his comrades, taking pity on them, he would never be remembered even if he still had great prowess in battle, because he did not use it to help help his friends.
Thesis: Despite his accomplishments and the glory associated with his life, Aeneas only achieves the status of hero through divine intervention, and this god-given position causes him just as much grief as it does splendor.
The past does not inevitably exist in the present. The creative processes of remembering and telling stories allow our histories to remain with us. Memory and story negate the possibility of existing independently of the past by connecting humans across time to the actions and value systems of their predecessors. Humans are forced to live amidst and confront a complex and multi-dimensional reality in which their every action affects people and events outside of their immediate context. By burdening humans with the consequences of their histories, story and memory comprise a foundation of moral responsibility. Since memory and story are subjective, our past, a seemingly immutable reality, is subject to their creative hands. These hands define as malleable entities the past, the future, and that which exists or has its basis outside of the present. The “real” is only immutable in a present entirely disconnected from all other time. Yet while the profound power of memory and story does deny an objective, singular reality, it simultaneously allows humans the capacity to transform the world to their liking. Even death, the most immutable of realities, can be manipulated through the creative processes of remembering and storytelling. Death, then, is the point from which we will begin to understand Homer’s exploration of memory and story.
...e environment, such as with Eos and Poseidon, or to foreshadow events like Aschenbach’s death, with Charon or Narcissus. Myths create an extreme situation followed by extreme repercussions for ones choices in these situations, that aim to educate or inform the reader of the “what can happen”, and what is deemed proper behaviour to avoid these horrible outcomes. In the case of Narcissus, don’t love yourself too much or you will end up killing yourself, if you love someone truly and completely, such as Semele did for Zeus you will eventually be rewarded. In conclusion, the myths placed throughout this novella guide the reader through all of Aschenbach’s deepest thoughts and feelings and eventually lead us to his final end. They demonstrate in a variety of ways the range of emotions that one can feel for a person, and the integration of old beliefs into modern works.
Throughout The Iliad, one could make the strong argument that it is glorifying or celebrating war. Characters are shown as either noble or incompetent based on their bravery or success in battle. For example when Paris voices his distaste for battle he is shunned by his family and lover. In book 6, Hector goes to Paris and tells him “I don’t understand you, Paris. No one could slight your work in battle. You’re a strong fighter, but you slack off-You don’t have the will. It breaks my heart to hear what the Trojans say about you.” (Homer, 127) Achilles can be viewed as the opposite of this and is in turn rewarded with eternal glory by denying a long, comfortable life with his family at home. The text itself appears to support this claim of judging character based on performance in battle and applies at times to the gods of Olympus. The epic seems to praise brave and war perpetuating deities such as Athena while it pokes fun at gods that despise battle, using the apprehensiveness of Aphrodite and Artemis to add comic relief. Fighting in battle for Kleos or glory, which is often achieved through glory in battle or one’s own death. To fight in war is to prove one’s honor and integrity, while avoiding warfare is illustrated as lazy and ignoble.