Homer's Glorification of War, the Disrespected Outcomes, and
War is sometimes adored, but the results and personal changes are not. This idea is best illustrated in Homer's The Iliad. Homer's writings were the first anti-war pieces in existence. This shows that not everyone in ancient times wanted war; in fact, most people wanted peace. These pieces were the inspiration that some people needed to no longer continue their foolish ways of settling disagreements. Homer's glorification of war, the disrespected outcomes, and the folly of men show how war is doubled-sided; one side is good the other is evil.The Iliad celebrates war. Characters emerge as worthy or despicable based on their degree of competence and bravery in battle. Paris doesn't like to fight, and likewise receives the disrespect of both his family and his lover. Achilles wins eternal glory by rejecting the option of a long, comfortable, uneventful life at home. The book itself seems to support this means of judging character and extends it even to the gods. The epic holds up warlike deities such as Athena for the reader's admiration while it makes fun of gods who run from aggression, using the timidity of Aphrodite to create a scene of comic relief. To fight is to prove one's honor and integrity, while to avoid warfare is to d
Achilles directly causes the death of his friend by first refusing to fight, leaving the Greeks at a disadvantage, and then poorly advising his friend Patroclus to join the other fighters. Homer's pieces described some of these effects. A closer look at the text shows that Homer describes many deaths in violent, anatomic detail. In the time of the Trojan War, there was an unwritten code of heroic conduct that the bravest warriors followed. Desecration of a dead body was sacrilege to Greek and Trojan society, and it was a great insult. Certainly this was true when Paris abducted Helen, and it remained true throughout The Iliad. Homer shows a little redemption for the horrible effects of war when Priam begs Achilles for Hector's body. Homer reveals each side as having a reasonable reason to fight and illustrates warfare as a respectable and even glorious manner of settling the dispute. The Trojan advisors, when they first looked at Helen, considered it acceptable that the Greek and Trojan armies had endured the hardships of nine years of war for one so beautiful. The mental effects are just as bad as the physical ones. Even the initial cause of the war, Paris' kidnapping of Helen, a Greek woman, is a rash and selfish act. Brave warriors receive fame, gold, food, and women, and the younger Greek fighters thrive on this romantic notion. Diomedes and Odysseus, two respected Greek warriors, sneak into a sleeping Trojan camp and kill many unarmed, dreaming Trojans. War is a tool that is used to change people from their normal selves to complete animal-like figures.
Common topics in this essay:
Iliad Homer's,
Zeus Death,
Achilles Agamemnon's,
Trojan War,
Helen Greek,
Greek Trojan,
Throughout Iliad,
Patroclus Hector's,
Diomedes Odysseus,
Trojans Paris,
trojan war,
throughout iliad,
willing risk,
greek trojan,
effects bad,
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Acceptance Essays
