To what extent do you regard The Shield Of Achilles as characteristic
of Auden’s work as whole?
At first glance Auden’s poem the ‘Shield of Achilles’ appears to be
focused on the classical world. The poem’s classical nature is first
indicated by the title- Achilles was of course a famous Greek hero,
and throughout the poem there are further classical references, many
of which Auden has taken from Book XVIII of Homer’s Iliad- ‘Marble
well-governed cities’ (l.3), ‘…athletes at their games’ (l.46),
‘Hephaestos, hobbled away’ (l.61). However, the poem also combines
these classical details with the modern world- ‘Proved by statistics’
(l.17), ‘Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot’ (l.31). Although
there is this unusual combination of classical and modern, the poem
can be seen as timeless:
Column by column in a cloud of dust
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They marched away enduring a belief
Whose logic brought them, somewhere else, to grief.
(‘The Shield of Achilles’ ll.21-23)
Here the army who are ‘enduring a belief’ (l.21) that they are doing
good can be as easily applicable to the modern day (i.e. the situation
in Iraq) as to classical times. The timeless nature of the poem can be
said to be a characteristic feature as it appears in other poems such
as ‘Gare du Midi’:
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…clutching a little case
He walks out briskly to infect a city
Whose terrible future may have just arrived.
(‘Gare Du Midi’, ll.6-8)
Here we are led to believe that a man is about to unleash a terrible
weapon on a city and although the poem was written in December 1938,
its proleptic nature allows the poem to be much more in tune with the
w...
... middle of paper ...
...atures, it is perhaps impossible to
outline a characteristic Auden poem. ‘The Shield of Achilles’ lacks
many features that would make it characteristic. For example, poems
such as ‘Moon Landing’ and a ‘Walk After Dark’ are rife with
colloquial (‘Mneh’- ‘Moon Landing’, ll.22) and recherché (‘Lacrimae
rerum’- ‘A Walk After Dark’, l.30) language, whereas ‘ The Shield of
Achilles has none, instead the language in the poem obeys the poem’s
principle of contrast- it alternates between classical and modern
language. Therefore it’s reasonable to say that there are many
re-occurring themes throughout Auden’s poems, but not that there are
entire poems which are ‘characteristic’.
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[1] It is notable that ‘Ist September 1939’ appeared on many websites
after the September 11th attacks in 2001.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Possibility of Evil.” Literature Reading, Reacting, Writing. Kirszner, Laurie. Mandell Stephen. 4th edition. Sea Harbor: Harcourt College Publishers. 2001. 463-474
In the 1939 movie classic, The Wizard of Oz, the Cowardly Lion is on a quest for the wizard to give him courage. He is afraid of everything and anything. However, in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle believes that courage is possible for all individuals. To gain courage one must have the inner qualities that will guide the courageous. The most important part of these qualities is to come to terms with death itself. Also, there are views of courage that are falsely perceived because they appear to be parallel with one another; nevertheless they are still very different.
In order to do this he is led on a path of multiple murder and deceit.
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.
Who was this man named, Achilles, and why is he as known as he is? Achilles was a great man with a lot of Personalities. Achilles was introduced as the epitome of destructive might, in his, tent he realized his true force was more that martial dominance over another (Champagne 65). Achilles was a warrior and because of that, people wonder who he is. Achilles is one of the heroic Greek gods because of his help and saving of the Trojan War.
Conflict, tragedy, and heroism are the heart of world literature. Conflicts ranging from a woman overstepping her boundaries, to fighting a waging war share the common ending asset of a hero. Similar to beauty, qualities that make up a hero may greatly vary depending on social status, background and etcetera. However, three qualities in particular reign a significant importance among Antigone, Achilles, and Hector. Bravery to do the unimaginable, intelligence to understand the consequences, and selflessness to carry out the bravery and intelligence for a reason that may not benefit themselves.
His birth name was Alcedes, which later changed to Heracles (Hercules). The story a hero’s journey and the 1997 film both tell hercules story in different ways. Having multiple versions of his story he has multiple archetypes.
In the introduction of the Essential Illiad given by Sheila Murnaghan, Achilles is labeled as “the greatest of the Greek heroes”. In classic mythology a hero is a person of great strength and courage celebrated for bold exploits and is often the offspring of a mortal and a god. Achilles was the greatest fighter among the Greeks or Trojans and feared no man in battle. He was also the offspring of a mortal and a god so by classic mythology definition, Achilles was indeed a hero. A hero is defined by the present day Websters Dictionary as: “one who inspires through manners and actions; an individual who leads through personal example and accomplishments requiring bravery, skill, determination, and other admirable qualities.” Achilles, in no manner, fits this definition. By contemporary standards, he is instead a pathetic villain. Aside from being a kidnapper, rapist and murderer, Achilles proves to be emotionally weak, selfish, and malicious. Many times throughout the Illiad, Achilles is also referred to as “godlike”. The gods of Greek mythology were subject to the same emotions and character flaws as humans, and though privileged to some foresight, the gods had similar mental capacities as humans. What really set the gods apart were their powers (controlling the elements, changing their appearance, etc.), great strength, and immortality. Because of his great strength and apparent invincibility, it is easy to see why Achilles would...
entrapped in a world of evil that is not of his own creation. He must oppose
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.
William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello puts on exhibit an obvious hero and other not-so-obvious heroes. Let us examine them all in this essay.
The Iliad, the Greek epic documented by Homer that describes the battles and events of the ten year siege on Troy by the Greek army. Both Trojans and Greeks had their fair share of heroes and warriors, but none could match the skill and strength of the swift runner, Achilles. Achilles had the attributes of a perfect warrior with his god-like speed and combat abilities. However, even though he was Greek’s greatest warrior, he still possessed several flaws that made him fit the role of the Tragic Hero impeccably. Defined by Aristotle, a Tragic Hero is someone who possesses a high status of nobility and greatness, but must have imperfections so that mere mortals cannot relate to the hero. Lastly, the Tragic Hero’s downfall must be partially their own fault through personal choice rather than by an evil act, while also appearing to be not entirely deserved of their unfortunate fate. Achilles is a true Tragic Hero because he withholds all of these traits. Achilles proves to be a good man that puts his loved ones first, reveals his tragic flaws of pride and anger, shows dynamic qualities as a character when his flaws are challenged, and has a moment of clarity at the end of his rage. Achilles truly exemplifies the qualities of a Tragic Hero.
According the Iliad by Homer, Hector and Achilles are the main characters that have many different, but also they have some similarity.They both have the different in personalities and life. Also, they have the different about leadership and relationship with their family. Both are the two strong warriors and heroes. Achilles is in Greek side, Hector is in the Trojans side , and they both want to win the battle . Both characteristics believed that their fate is to die on the battle as the warrior, but approach war differently. However, they all have the advantage and disadvantage. Also, They have the different reasons to fight the battle that hector fight for his homeland and his family's honor and Achilles fight for Helen , also because he is the best warrior that he want people to respected him.
In the poem, Iliad, Achilles and Hector both show relative heroism in their own different ways. Achilles may have been the more popular hero, but Hector had great heroism as well. Each of these characters possess their own different strengths and weaknesses. These two characters both have pride as being one of their main weaknesses. Hector seems as if he would suit best in the modern world, but there are a few different reasons as to why the ancients may have chose Achilles. Hector and Achilles both lost a lot by letting their pride get in the way of their heroism. Both of these characters were their country’s best warrior. Achilles and Hector have very different personalities, and very different ways of approaching situations.
In Homer’s epic, the Iliad, the legendary, has no two characters that are so similar yet so different as Greek warrior, Achilles, and the Prince of Troy, Hector. Achilles is the strongest fighter in the Greek side, and Hector is the strongest Trojan. They are both put into the mold of a hero that their respective societies have put them into; however; it is evident that they are both extremely complex characters with different roles within their society and with their families, and with the gods.