Greek Leadership And Government In Homer's Iliad

In Homer’s Iliad, Greek leadership and government was portrayed as a hierarchical structure that ranked from ordinary humans (at the bottom) to the mythical Olympian Gods (at the top). In between these two extremes, many varieties of leadership positions were presented. For example, the central monarch or king would be viewed as a sort of intermediary or messenger between gods and men. In this essay, I will begin by explaining some of the forms of leadership presented in Homer’s Iliad. I will also show how the Homeric view of Greek leadership and government in general was in some aspects related with actual historical evidence, as provided by the late classical scholar and ancient historian, Raphael Sealey. In the Homeric world of the Iliad, …show more content…
In the Iliad, King Agamemnon played the role of commander of the Greeks, and King Nestor played the role of an elder council (an advisor). In the scene between Achilles, Agamemnon, and Nestor; Homer does not portray Agamemnon as somebody who would directly be in opposition to Nestor’s words of wisdom. In his book, Raphael Sealey commented that in Homer’s Iliad, “Decisions are taken by the king, but the poems avoid the question whether the king could override determined opposition from his advisers” (24). Kings appeared to have had the power to overrule the Nestors of society, however, according to Sealey, customs and conventional wisdom probably restrained Kings from doing so. Thus, the role of Kings (basileis) and council of elders (boule geronton) were both intertwined and interchangeable in terms of power both throughout the Iliad and actual historical evidence of ancient Greece; although the former (Iliad) appears to only show implicit indications of doing …show more content…
In the Iliad, a homeric battle included a duel between two noble (agathos) and respected members of their particular societies. Aristocrats are presented in this way through the entire story. For example, during an exchange between two enemies, they come to peace with one another since they they shared a common ancestor: ‘Let’s trade armor. The men must know our claim: we are sworn friends from our fathers’ days till now!’ (6. 276-7). As Aristocrats, their value of mutual reciprocity of hospitality and respect with one another (xenia), prevented them from battling one another. The two enemies established a friendship that transcended their differences (the fact that one was a Trojan and the other was an