Male Pride And Arrogance In The Iliad

Male Pride and Arrogance in the Poem of Iliad

Many look for mystical information from the Greek Gods through the Greek myths, theatrical plays and other writings. Stories of the Greek gods has been passed on from one generation to the next. The Iliad is considered the earliest known work of Greek literature, therefore many of the characteristics of the characters in the Iliad is carried out into our modern day. The poem of Iliad takes place in the Bronze Age containing many famous Greek gods which are explained by Homer the author as full of pride, arrogance, and glory for war. The male characters in the Iliad are all arrogant and full of pride which stops them from taking Nobel and rational decisions.

In the bloody society of the Iliad pride is what defines the means of a male character .the main conflict of the Iliad is between Achilles and Agamemnon which was led by the damaging might of Pride. Achilles who is considered to be the strongest of the Achaean army is held back by his character flaws so he can’t act with nobility and mercy. The Iliad begins nine years after the beginning of the Greek war against the Trojans, where the Agamemnon the commander of the Achaean army take a Trojan allied town and capture Chryseis a priest of the god Apollo daughter, and another maiden of the name Briseis. Achilles claims briseis for himself as spoil of war. Chryseis’s father begs Agamemnon to return his daughters and offers to pay an enormous ransom Agamemnon refused to return chryseis in the Iliad because of his arrogance and concede.

Agamemnon is a very hot tempered man who refuses to be told what to do. Agamemnon sails into anger and says he will return Chryseis only if Achilles gives him Briseis as compensation. Agamemnon’s offer t...

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...l person consumed by pride. He was willing to sacrifice everything so his legacy will continue after his death. He draw his sword to kill the commander and chief of the army that he was one of its strongest soldiers. Also, Agamemnon’s stubbornness and pride made him insult and demand that Achilles would give up his war prize, which caused Achilles to leave the Achaean army, and to go seek help from Zeus. Likewise, Zeus arrogance starts an outrages argument with Hera after he felt his pride and privacy was violated from Hera questions. Even though Hera was his beloved wife, he called her a witch and made her very angry. Zeus’s pride makes him help the Trojans because of the favor he owes Thetis, he didn’t want the significance of his promise to be belittled. Homers shows in the poem of Iliad that those who are full of arrogance and pride make absurd decisions.