Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The character of Achilles
The character of Achilles
Morallity in the iliad
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The character of Achilles
The Importance of Honor and Virtue Two important characteristics for warriors are honor and virtue. Virtue is deemed to be the most important to a warrior's life and it means achieving your greatest potential as a human being. "The reward for great honor and virtue is fame (kleos), which is what guarantees meaning and value to one's life. Dying without fame (akleos) is generally considered a disaster, and the warriors of The Iliad do the most unimaginable deeds to avoid dying in obscurity or infamy. Other components of a warrior's heroic code is courage, loyalty, generosity, mercy, dignity, decency, honor, stoicism and strength." This is the heroic code of honor that the warriors are taught throughout their life. It is the code that all warriors live and die for to achieve greatness. A warrior is fierce, savage and merciless which attributes to their virtue and honor. The four codes that a warrior lives by are "always to be the best and bravest and to be distinguished above others. To stand fast and firmly while in battle. To be a speaker of words and a doer of deeds. And the final code is to help one's friends, while harming one's enemy." The stereotypical warrior would be with prestige, which he must defend. A great warrior is goal oriented to the point of being narrow minded with the goal of becoming the best. A warrior's greatest fear is to fail, if a warrior fails he no longer has virtue or honor. A warrior must be ready at any given notice that an enemy wants to publicly humiliate him at anytime. A warrior is responsible for the close friends and family members he may have. The harsher and most barbaric way an enemy is able to slain his foe gives the warrior more prestige within his army. The more ridic... ... middle of paper ... ...r but a warrior that strived for the very best in everything. With this kind of upbringing is there any other way for him to think of what is important in life? If you are conditioned from birth that this is the most important attribute you can contribute to life than would it be consider barbaric? Akhilleus was raised to be the best warrior and therefore what started out as the willingness to achieve greatness, evolved into a barbaric way of life, which then turned into survival. Survival of the fittest was to live by the code to be the best and to kill or be killed and to be known as the greatest warrior of all. Akhilleus has willingness to destroy anything or anyone that stood in his way of achieving his goal in life. Bibliography: Work Cited Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Doubleday, 1974
In document B written by Catharina Blomberg, it says, “Loyalty toward the feudal lord in Japan was hereditary.” If becoming a samurai was hereditary, then some samurai weren’t chosen to be a samurai because of their abilities, but because they were the son of a samurai. That means that not all samurai are the best fighters. It also says in document E, written by the DBQ project, “To dishonour knighthood was the greatest disgrace.” Part of the code is to always obey your king, so a knight would want to fight harder and not back out.
What values do warriors abide by? There are universal similarities between all warrior codes, such as bravery and honor, but the specific distinctions vary according to the cultural values. These warrior codes have a big influence on the warrior ideologies in The Tain and Rama the Steadfast and ultimately determine their warrior practices. In The Tain, characters are very concerned with individual prowess and maintaining their reputation, whereas in Rama the Steadfast, their concern with pursuing their dharma leads them to justify the violent acts. Their warrior codes influence their ideologies and practices—characters are forced to face the consequences of the violent acts they are committing and as a result question their way of life.
When looking at much of the world’s ethical views and morals today, many of its standards can draw back to that of the samurai. This warrior class of Feudal Japan contributed greatly to the development of social values that people today constantly follow. It is important to look to past events and cultures to enrich the future and the ideals of the samurai are ones that better people in self fulfilling ways. Whether it be to instill positive values to children or applied to become successful in the “real world”, the virtues and morals set forth by the samurai are invaluable teachings that will influence society for many years to come.
One aspect of the way of life of these people that is very influential is the education of the young. Early on, children are taught the important life skills that will likely be their job for the rest of their life. This is seen in Document 3 where an unknown author describes the various things children are taught. One of these skills is bravery for warriors.
What is your idea of an honorable warrior? Would they be more like the knight or samurai class? In two different places, Europe and Japan, they formed a similar system where warriors get paid land for fighting and protecting Lords and Daimyos. These warriors are called samurai and knights. Historian believed that the two warriors were similar but the truth is the are very different. For the code of honor the samurai believed in what is called bushido while knight believed in chivalry. Both warrior fought with armor of course, however samurai fought in leather wear and knights fought in full plate armor.
The tales communicate that a warrior’s duty was to protect the Buddhist Law which in turn meant to protect the imperial authority. Written letters between the Onjōji to the Kōfukuji Temples avow that the “great virtue of the Buddhist Law is that it guards the imperial authority; the imperial authority endures because of the Buddhist Law.” Furthermore, the letters articulate that whether one is “southern capital or northern, we are all disciples of the Buddha.” Middle Captain Shigehira’s plea to the Buddha, before his execution, exemplifies this. Shigehira declared “I was not acting of my own free will when I committed my grave sins; I was merely trying to do my duty. Who that lives can spurn an imperial command?” Regardless of what was commanded the warrior was obligated to obey. Director of the Military Stores Bureau Yorimasa confirms this decree when he is ordered to restrain an invisible monster. Yorimasa reported “from the old, the mission of warriors posted to the court has been to repulse rebels and destroy violators of imperial commands” then, prepared to die for his lord, struck the monster with an arrow. Inomata no Koheiroku Noritsuna reveals that warriors would announce their identity before battle in view of religious beliefs. He maintained that “a man who kills an enemy does not perform a great exploit unless he takes the head after identifying himself and requiri...
Modern American honour values bravery, freedom and hard work. Honor has been expressed different for years and years in different countries. Honour is defined of someone having high respect, courage and being selfless. Honour can also be viewed as someone sacrificing something or themselves; like our US soldiers. Nothing stays the same and just like honour it has changed over time, many times depending on what is valued. History tells its own story from different perspectives of honour.
Last year, around Christmas, I lost the person to me that was my warrior. I wondered why did such a selfless person get something so awful. I wonder this a lot, even over a year later. I didn't know how to act. How could someone get over that? I saw on the news and in magazines that people were losing loved ones, people they saw as their warrior. After a while, they all seemed to get over it and move one. All I could wonder then was how? Did it have to do with how close they were? Could it be the lifestyle? As I wondered this I thought of the fact that they might not have the same culture as me. Maybe their warrior meant something different. Does the warrior archetype change in different cultures? While looking at 3 different
Honor is one of the many things that cannot have one accepted definition, it and its meaning change from person to person, culture to culture, time period to time period. A definition for honor that is generally accepted is that it has to do with high respect and nobility. This, however, only raises more questions. What do different peoples, different cultures, or even people of different times think of honor? These are some of the questions that we will answer, or at least try to. In this report, we will go over what honor is within other periods of time (including modern day), what it is within different cultures, describe what honor is to an American, and compare this American honor to that of another people, the Shi’a Islamic people.
...t only in the code of chivalrous Honor does Loyalty assume paramount importance. The eighth and last virtue is character and self-control. Bushido teaches that men should behave according to an absolute moral standard, one that transcends logic. What’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong. The difference between good and bad and between right and wrong are givens, not arguments subject to discussion or justification, and a man should know the difference. Finally, it is a man’s obligation to teach his children moral standards through the model of his own behavior: The first objective of samurai education was to build up Character. The subtler faculties of prudence, intelligence, and dialectics were less important. Intellectual superiority was esteemed, but a samurai was essentially a man of action. These are the eight virtues of the samurai code bushido.
For one to be a warrior they must live with honour, understand their responsibility, and train in defense and survival skills. In todays society, it is hard for people to meet these requirements outside of pop culture which results in people who have the warrior spirit but can’t necessarily meet all of the above requirements. If not many people meet the requirement than maybe it’s time that more warrior concepts are instilled into society. Using the strategies from Sun Tzu’s Art of War I’m going to highlight some ways that the warrior spirit can be renewed in society.
The first requirement of Aristotle's tragic hero is that they are more admirable than the average character. Achilles meets this requirement because of his ability on the battlefield. In The Iliad, the background to the story is the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. This background is not only the basis for the story overall, but is also the basis for Achilles' own story. This begins when Achilles refuses to join the battle because he is insulted by Agamemnon. This decision results in the action that drives the remainder of the story. Later in the story when Achilles becomes angered and goes to the other extreme, launching into battle and killing ferociously. The significance of this is that it places battle as central to both Achilles' story and to what is important in the setting of the story. Importantly, the aspect that makes Achilles greater than most is his ability o...
Japanese society has a history of only 120 years since shedding its feudal system. The origin of feudal system is more than 1,000 years ago, so it is still underlying thought of Japanese. Hara-kiri performed especially by the warrior called samurai as indicated above. The samurai were the members of the military class, the Japanese warriors. Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns, but their most famous weapon and their symbol was the sword. Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of bushido ("the way of the warrior"). Strongly Confucian in nature, Bushido stressed concepts such as loyalty to one's master, self discipline and respectful, ethical behavior.
...d that they will find enlightenment through their determination to die. If left alive these warriors will feel as though they have failed, and are cowardly, thus they fight with an urgency unlike most others. Their desire to obtain complete master of Bushido is unfortunately only obtainable by their demise. This method of training and preparing soldiers is unlike most other and is highly effective in creating the perfect soldier, one that fights with an awareness like none other, and another who trains with the sole purpose of ending up in a fatal situation.
Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics is a theory used to make moral decisions. It does not rely on religion, society or culture; it only depends on the individuals themselves. The main philosopher of Virtue Ethics is Aristotle. The. His theory was originally introduced in ancient Greek.