Role Of Characters In The Iliad

The characters in a story are the first thing that a reader will look upon if not the theme or the plot. As for the first six books of the Iliad, Homer introduced to us many characters both the mortals and the gods with each of their own personalities. These characters can be divided into three main groups; the Achaeans, the Trojans, and the Gods. Understanding the personalities of these characters and their struggles in achieving their goal may help us better in knowing the consequences of their actions. The first group are the Achaeans. The prominent characters in the first six books are Agamemnon, Achilles, Helen, Menelaus, and Diomedes. In the first book, Agamemnon was introduced as the king of Mycenae and the commander of the Achaean …show more content…
The evident people in the first six books are King Priam, Paris, Hector, Pandarus, Glaucus, and Aeneas. King Priam is a ruler and a father to many Trojan warriors including Paris and Hector. Even though he might be too old to fight, his wise decisions are respected by many people. However, his son Paris seems to not possess this kind of character. Paris is self-centered and a coward. The war has been going on for several years but because of the abduction of Helen by Paris, it adds more fuel to the fire that has been going on. Paris is a coward because while others are fighting the war that he instigated, he prefers to stay at his room and make love with Helen, which made them despise him. On the other hand, Hector can be considered as the Achilles version of the Trojans. He is the mightiest among the Trojan warriors but his bloodlust is not that same as that of Achilles who hungers only for glory and fame. The next character who is Pandarus is almost similar to Paris in role. Since Pandarus is the one who tried to kill Menelaus by trying to hit him with an arrow, he breaks the temporary peace between the two sides aggravated the war evens more. What happened between Glaucus and Diomedes during the battle wherein they exchange armors even though it is not of the same level, one is gold and the other is bronze, simply shows us that in the past, if you’re ancestors are good friends, their descendants should also be comrades whatever their race is. It shows us that sometimes, strong friendships can even transcend a lifetime. After that, the character of Aeneas can also be similar to that of Achilles because Aeneas is also a strong warrior and has a connection to some of the gods particularly to his mother, Aphrodite, which help him during the