Homers Heroes
In the world of Greek heroes, there are no unspoiled souls, but manygreat men; Homer's two works, the Iliad and the Odyssey, both tell thestory of war heroes whose personal flaws create overwhelming chaos andmemorable plots. The three Greek heroes of the Trojan War are Achilles the(almost) invulnerable, Agamemnon the prideful commander, and Odysseus thetrickster; they are all typified by womanizing, anger and murderous rage,and not infrequent disloyalty or dishonesty. Even Hector, who is describedby one modern bard as the one who was "The greatest of the Trojans, ourchampion, the warrior that stood and fought for us all, for home, forcountry, for family," (Rogue) is shown in moments of extreme cowardice. Insome ways, these books can be read it seems as a critique of the values ofwar and heroism -- and yet at the same time, Homer treats each of theseheroes as innately sympathetic and honorable even in their foibles. Arguably the greatest hero in the Iliad is Achilles, "the greatestwarrior of the Ageans, born of a god..." (Rogue) Yet despite his role asthe central hero, and the only one capable of defeating the Trojanchampions or turning the tide of the city's assaults, it is his childish
He is also repeatedly and sustainedlyunfaithful to his wife, and yet so jealous of her suitors (who have noteven accessed her sexually) that he kills them all without mercy. Yet despite his angerand childishness, Achilles dies with great honor because he remains a bravewarrior and chooses to die fighting for his honor rather than to seekimmortality and dishonor. UnlikeParis, he does not generally come across as an effeminate coward. "Sing, Ogoddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless illsupon the Achaeans" (Homer) read the opening lines of the Iliad, and indeedall the tragedies of the story can seen to spring directly from Achilles'rage. All of the heroes are seen as frail and petulant, and evenhonorable death is somehow less than honorable. He is a liar, a thief and son of a thief(he is condemned by the gods for being among "fools, who devoured the oxenof Helios" [Homer, Odyssey]), and so poor of a leader that all who followhim on the journey home are killed. This terrible rage springs first from the insult to his honor whenAgammemnon takes his captive slave girl from him, so that he can no longerrape her at will. In many ways these two stories seem to mock the conception ofheroism. He is prideful, and his pridebrings destruction to his warriors. "Agamemnon," he cries, "has done me dishonour" (Homer)For this reason, he turns against his fellows and prays for the Trojans,which leads to the death of his friend. This inturn also escalates the war, and leads to his death. "Agamemnon is mad with rage," (Homer) and in thisfails as leader. For all ofOdysseus' cunning, it takes him a decade to get home, and then only to findhis house in shambles and over-run with suitors. Hefights with his wits rather than his mere skill, though his skill is sogreat that he is capable of killing dozens of suitors single-handedly.
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