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Discuss the theme of war in Homer's I liat
The theme of the Iliad
Ancient Greek perception of war using Homer
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Throughout the Iliad the warriors' dream of peace is projected over and over again in elaborate similes developed against a background of violence and death. Homer is able to balance the celebration of war's tragic, heroic values with scenes of battle and those creative values of civilized life that war destroys. The shield of Achilles symbolically represents the two poles of human condition, war and peace, with their corresponding aspects of human nature, the destructive and creative, which are implicit in every situation and statement of the poem and are put before us in something approaching abstract form; its emblem is an image of human life as a whole. Forged by Hephaestus, this shield includes all manner of imagery to dazzle and overawe Achilles' opponents. Made out of bronze, tin, and priceless gold and silver, this glittering, triple-ply "world of gorgeous immortal work" is blazoned with "well-wrought emblems across its surface." Starting out describing the earth, the sea, and the sky, Homer goes into detail and uses imagery to talk about such specifics as the "blazing sun," the "moon rounding full," and "the constellations, all that crown the heavens." . He then starts going into detail about the two mortal cities. The first city opens with a description of a wedding and a wedding feast. Sharing details such as the glowing torches, the choirs singing, the young men dancing with flutes and harps, and the women who rushed to the doors, were moved with wonder. Then it goes into a mass of people streaming into the marketplace where a quarrel had broken out and two men struggled over the blood-price for a kinsman just murdered. Their quarreling is settled when they call for a ... ... middle of paper ... ...r to Menelaus now. Thee tapestry is too intricately woven, so as the central blame is Helen, most of the individuals involved are in the war for widely different motives. This war involves a human side, including the admission of fear and scenes of domestic life, not in a sentimentalized version. This more complete and responsible depiction shows that there's not one single center to the war, just as there's not one single god for the Greeks. Running along the outermost rim of the shield is the Ocean River, the river that is at once the barrier between the quick and the dead, and also the frontier of the known and imagined worlds. One of the last descriptions on the shield, this river could perhaps be a symbol for total inclusiveness and eternity, and for the stability of the larger perspective.
But still the size of membership of a group is by no mean the most
As Homer’s The Iliad begins, Achilleus, a god-like mortal and the greatest among all warriors, comes into light as a lead character; one whom brings about the complex issues within the poem. The poem forms while illustrating different overlying ideals such as anger, honor, greed, destruction, forgiveness, and others. Characters come and go, displaying the ideals and warlike lifestyle housed by the warrior-like men of ancient Greece throughout the text; however, Achilleus’ character develops portraying new and different values and beliefs of a soldier of his stature.
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.
The subject of Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, is very clearly stated--it is “the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles.” The reader remains continually aware of the extent of Achilles’ rage, yet is never told the reason why Achilles remains angry and unreconciled. There is no definitive answer to this question. Achilles is not a static character. He is constantly changing; thus the question of why he remains angry solicits different answers at various stages throughout the poem. To find an answer, the reader must carefully examine Achilles’ ever-changing dilemma involving the concepts of mortality and honor. At its simplest, Achilles’ dilemma is that if he goes to war, he will die. But he will die with glory.
The Iliad is an epic of death. It is a tale of conflict, battle, agony, and horrific mutilation. Honor and glory are attained through warfare. The great shield of Achiles stands out in this context because it depicts the glories of an orderly, functioning, productive civilization. This depiction of life stands in stark contrast to the scenes of death that constitute a large portion of the narrative. An examination of the shield of Achiles in Homer’s Iliad reveals many ideas in conflict: love and honor, the pleasures of life versus a heroic death, free will and destiny. By viewing the shield as an element of contradistinction—that is to define it on the basis of contrast—one can see that the shield symbollicaly unifies the entire poem. Achiles’ shield is the mechanism through which the poet presents a tool of warfare as a reflection of civilization; explores the concept, structure, and nature of the universe; and examines the role of art in society.
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...
Achilles’ shield isn’t just a shield made of bronze, it’s more than that. This shield is made up of many aspects of Homer’s Iliad such as the growing conflict between the Trojans and the Greeks, the values of the fictional homeric society and the actual archaic society, and the sacrifice that Achilles has to make. The scenes represented on Achilles’ shield reflect back on the central plot of The Iliad because the relationship between the images allow for both replication and opposition of Archaic and Homeric society. The shield is important because it introduces the reader to look into the lives of archaic and Homeric people and aids the reader in understanding the plot of the epic poem as well. Achilles shield, remarkable as it is, shows the
"The Iliad is a poem that celebrates the heroic values war imposes on its votaries (27)." Homer himself describes war as "bringing glory to man." War is a huge part of both the Achaeans and the Trojans' lives. Characters gain glory through their performances and bravery in battle. Furthermore, Homer persuades the reader that war is the glorious way to settle a dispute. For example, Hector and other Trojans scorn Paris for backing down from Menelaus. On the other hand, Achilles acquires glory by deferring the option of a long, peaceful life in order to fight and become an epic hero. The characters in The Iliad value honor and glory to such a degree that they are willing to give up life itself in order to possess it.
In one, a quarrel breaks out and is brought to judgement. Surrounding the other, two armies fight along the river banks, killing men and dragging off the dead. Both
The soldiers of Greece force these newly widowed wives to be their concubines or slaves, treating the women as if they are a symbol of victory. A soldier riding to Helen’s pen where she is imprisoned can be heard saying “we need her for the victory parade!” These barbaric soldiers have drawn lots to decide which Trojan woman that they will take as their own. This is yet another vile cost of war, treating women as slaves and parading them in show of their victorious efforts in battle. This practice belittles the Trojan women, viewing them as objects for the Greeks to do with as they please. The Trojan women have lost their freedom, such freedom that their husbands and sons gave their lives to
It is said for every dollar a man makes a woman makes 77 cents, and women of color make significantly less. One example of this is five members of the U.S. women 's national soccer team have filed a wage-discrimination action against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The reason they did this is because that despite the women 's team generating nearly $20 million more revenue last year than the U.S. men 's team, the women are paid about a quarter of what the men earn. This wage gap not only famous soccer players, and today 's youth but an older generation as well. Women who work full-time, year-round make substantially less than of what a man doing the same job makes. That means women will make less over their whole lifetimes, so then they end up with smaller Social Security checks. While men and women participate in retirement plans at the same rate and women even save more of their salaries, since those salaries are lower they end up with less money in their accounts. The the number of elderly women living in extreme poverty is ever growing because of this. That leaves them more exposed to scams, foreclosure, and other serious financial trouble. I suggest that we close the wage gap by enforcing the equal pay of women.
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.
In ancient times, shields spoke yields of their owner and their beliefs. Sometimes, they even showed their owner’s eminent fate. In the Iliad and the Aeneid, the shields of heroes—Achilles and Aeneas—are described both similarly and differently. There are many similarities in their shields: both having received the shields from their goddess mothers. Both shields were made by Hephaestus/Vulcan. The shields were also described in depth, making the shields seem comparable. However, they differed in the images on the shields. In the end, the Iliad’s description of the shield was the more effective symbol of the two stories.
The Shield of Achilles shows life in two different perspectives; it shows normal life in peace, as it symbolizes everything past the battleground; as well as it implies that war creates only one unique aspect of life. This shield has a very low impact on the story as a whole, but it also provides a viewpoint on the entire Trojan War. This protective piece of armor reminds us that humans may serve not only as fighters, but also as regular living beings that have to survive. Humans fight, work, and play. Even though Homer describes in detail the lifespan of the warrior and the importance of war during most of this epic, his portrayal of regular life as it is shown on the shield
In today’s society, it is an understatement that women have come a long way from earlier generations in achieving gaining equal rights with men. Gender roles have evolved greatly throughout history; women can even be known as the breadwinners. However, discrepancies still exist when it comes to equal pay for equal work. This issue has the potential to have an impact on all women including myself, as I hope to one day join the workforce and become a financially independent businesswoman. While some argue that the issue is not relevant to today’s society there are still cases where women’s pay does not match up to men for doing the exact same work.