Various Perspectives on War in Homer's Iliad

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Various Perspectives on War in Homer's Iliad

The Iliad is a story of rages of Achilles and the War of Troy. Thanks to the techniques of the author, Homer, The Iliad is very colorful, romantic, and it makes the readers imagine the ancient Greeks and their times of war. Homer is believed to be the author of epics other than the Iliad, although their authorship remains uncertain. Historian believes that Homer probably lived in the eighth century, B.C.1 (Discovering World History). However, there are very few things that we know about him. Some historians think Homer's birthplace may have been on an island on the eastern edge of the Aegean Sea, or perhaps in a city on the nearby coast, but they don't have evidence to support their theory (Michalopoulos).

In The Iliad, Homer interprets the war, the science of nature, the gods, heroes and fate. For all topics, he expresses the words so powerfully and emotionally that it makes it easier to imagine the whole the great story of The Iliad. In the time when Homer lived, the war was something that existed in people's everyday life; he must been an eyewitness of the war, and that experience made him able to tell the story so realistically, especially the description of the soldiers who were killing each other in the war.

Even though Homer may be seen as an antiwar storyteller based on his vivid description of violence and injury. He, on the other hand describes the both braveness and cowardliness of two heroes of The Iliad, Achilles and Hector; Homer shows this seems to be a pro-war position, as he idealizes the traces of bravely and heroism. The emotion of all the characters in the story, as well as the characters' suffering, pain, joy, and fury m...

... middle of paper ...

...nd Hector, Homer seems to symbolize the fall of both cities. After 10 years of war, there was no true winner. Thus, the futility of war was the message of Homer.

Sources:

-Discovering World History "Homer Composes the Iliad, c. 800 B.C.". Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. http://www.galenet.com/servlet/HistRC/

-Michalopoulos, Andre, " Homer", In Twayne's World Authors Series Online New York: G. K. Hall & Co., 1999 Previously published in print in 1966 by Twayne Publishers.

-Homer, The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald.

- Moss Joyce and George Wilson, edited by, Gale Research, Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them, Volume 1: Ancient Times to the American and French Revolutions (Prehistory-1790s), 1997.

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