The idea of fighting is not just a daily task for the Greeks, but is a necessity for them. In Homer 's The Iliad, war is what makes a person who they really are. The wealth, honor, and power that each victor receives makes the society glorify war. The soldiers of The Iliad must join the war in order to bring honor to themselves and their family, even if it means losing their own lives. "If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies"(Homer Book 9, lines 498-503). The society values glory from war so much that the idea of glory and death becomes synonymous with each other in the ancient world to the point where it is better to have lived a short life filled with glory than a long life with your family and friends. The valuing of war makes it so that the fight for glory is more of an individualistic task rather than fighting for honor and glory for your country. This individual valuing of war is what drives forward the idea that it is not the society that values conflict, but each member of the society. Each soldier enters the field with the sole goal of killing as many enemies as possible before they themselves are
The idea of fighting is not just a daily task for the Greeks, but is a necessity for them. In Homer 's The Iliad, war is what makes a person who they really are. The wealth, honor, and power that each victor receives makes the society glorify war. The soldiers of The Iliad must join the war in order to bring honor to themselves and their family, even if it means losing their own lives. "If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies"(Homer Book 9, lines 498-503). The society values glory from war so much that the idea of glory and death becomes synonymous with each other in the ancient world to the point where it is better to have lived a short life filled with glory than a long life with your family and friends. The valuing of war makes it so that the fight for glory is more of an individualistic task rather than fighting for honor and glory for your country. This individual valuing of war is what drives forward the idea that it is not the society that values conflict, but each member of the society. Each soldier enters the field with the sole goal of killing as many enemies as possible before they themselves are