Honor And Shame In The Iliad

It recounts the story of war heroes and the beginning of the war. Through this myth, we learned that the Trojan War began because of a disagreement between the goddesses; Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, where

Helen’s character is balanced by personal guilt and self-preservation which together define her as a woman with her own agency and power to act. In the initial chapters of the Iliad, Helen is wracked by intense guilt and self-loathing that stems from her involvement in the conflict between the Achaians and the Trojans. Her shame is first displayed after she is called sit beside Priam and view the duel between Paris and Menelaus. When Priam asks Helen to identify the leader of the Greek forces, she takes a moment to express her remorse and mentions that she wished she had chosen “bitter death” over departure from her homeland (Iliad 3.173). Helen admits her culpability in this conflict and reveals that the extent of her shame is so great

(page 352, line 59)” Infact he repeats this statement multiple times whenever discussing this matter. He was so affected by being treated like a lower class, he literally abandoned his duty as a soldier. Patroklos then proposed that he dresses up as Achilleus to inspire the troops and insight fear into the Trojans. Once again, Achilleus demonstrates hubris by rebutting, “So you will diminish my honor.

Agamemnon’s taking of Briseis enrages Achilles and spurs him to remove himself from the war, leading to a massive death toll in the Achaean forces. In stealing Briseis from Achilles, he is not only robbing of him of a material prize, but also a symbol of honor, his geras, in Greek culture. In retaliation, Achilles removes himself from the war and prays to his mother, Thetis, that she will ask Zeus to damage the Achaean forces. Achilles’ only goal is that “even mighty Atrides can see how mad he was to disgrace Achilles” (1.488-490). Despite having no true grievance against the Achaean army as a whole, Achilles’ rage blinds him from the potential harm that may befall his troops.

Achilles is maddened and appeals to his goddess mother saying, “If I am to die soon, shouldn’t I have what I want?” Feeling only sorrow for her son, Thetis requests Zeus to cause to Greeks to lose until Achilles fights again. Slowly the Greeks are pushed back farther and Agamemnon pleads with Achilles, offering Briseis back. Achilles declines due to his pride and the Trojans come close to burn the Greek ships. Even when a ship was burning, Achilles refused to fight and instead sends out Patroclus.

In Homer’s ancient work The Iliad, there are many forces of leadership at work, both strong models and poor examples. The two focal leaders in The Iliad are Agamemnon and Achilles. Both these characters exemplify leadership, but in drastically different ways. Agamemnon is immediately recognized as an authority because of his political standing; he is the leader in all technical meanings of the word. However, on Achilles part, it is his character and actions that earn him the recognition of a leader.

Unlike the concept of honor that distinguishes cultural differences between Greek and Japanese, the word “shame” seems to convey the meaning of something unacceptable to society in both cultures. However, the word “shame” carries something more than one’s unethical action. It carries connections with historical philosophy that deeply submerges on its culture, which discriminate the one cultural literacy from the other. Homer’s Iliad demonstrates two types of shame: human and divine adios.

After defeating Hector, pride within Achilles resulted in him killing more enemies and actually losing his own life. Homer’s story of The Iliad illustrates the damage anger causes when allowed to take root in any life. Anger often lead to other complications such as pride, suffering, and even fear. Achilles downfall teaches readers that the anger often controls emotions. To communicate an important message on anger, Homer illustrates the consequences of Achilles anger in The Iliad to show that controlling anger results in a more peaceful and positive

In the epic poem, the Iliad written by Homer, several characters taking part in the warfare between the Achaeans and the Trojans are portrayed as embodying the heroic code of courage, physical strength, leadership, arete of value of honour, and the acceptance of fate. The heroic code is illustrated by the actions of the Trojan prince, Hector and the Achaeans strongest warrior, Achilles. Both of these characters display the Greek’s image of a hero, and can also let the reader discern what the society admires, looks up to and aspires to in its heroes. There are also characters who fail to be heroic, such as the Trojan “vivid and beautiful” prince, Paris. These characters in the Iliad illustrate the qualities that Ancient Greek society values.

During the Trojan war Gods picked sides depending on who they thought was justified or to get revenge. The Gods used mortals as pawns in their game of the revenge and justice. Aphrodite saved Paris in an act of justice, rather than letting the cowardly Paris die at the hands of Menelaus. This angered the Greeks and even ones close to Paris. Helen expresses what everyone thinks of him, “‘You’ve come back from the fight.

The Trojan War was started because as seen in the myth of the golden apple, Zeus believed that there were too many people on the earth. Therefore Zeus devised a scheme that would solve this situation, with the help of Eris. They created a golden apple for the “Fairest” and gave it to Hera, Aphrodite and Athena,

We see this taking place when Achilles is trying to convince Agamemnon to give the girl back to her father. He says in line 150, “We Achaeans will pay you back…if Zeus will grant us the gift, somehow, someday, to raze Troy’s massive ramparts to the ground.” Achilles is offering to repay for his honor later on, when they conquer Troy. Agamemnon refuses again, however, this shows

The Ancient Greeks value specific qualities in a person, however they did not value other. Ancient Greeks valued these qualities based on certain achievements or on a performances in war or even inside the city walls making substantial decisions. The Iliad is an epic novel by the Greek poet Homer. The Iliad is based off of the Trojan war between the Achaeans led by King Agamemnon and the Trojans led by King Priam of Troy. This novel focuses on the actions of several characters and how the disparate gods interfered with the war to help one or the other side have a chance to win.

They fight over the two girls. Later Achilles threatens to quit the war since he has nothing against the Trojans. He says that he only fights because Agemenom tells him too. King Agamemnon answered: Indeed, sir all that you say is fair and right. But this man wishes to be above all to rule everyone, to be King over everyone to order everyone-

The Iliad by Homer, the Odyssey poem written by Homer and the Prometheus mythology are classical texts that reflect the historical and cultural background of the Greek and Roman literary skills. The Odyssey and the Iliad are Homer’s epic poems that portray Greek and Western culture. The three texts give an insight of the ancient Roman myths, culture and the literature during both the 17th and 18th century. The two texts by Homer and the Prometheus mythology represent a classical period that consisted of the cultural history and the civilization of the Romans and Greece hence known as the Greece-Roman World. Homer’s narratives, the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey”, and Aeschylus mythical story “Prometheus” have cultural and mythological similarities