The Role Of Honor In The Iliad

Honor is defined as regards with the greatest respect and is central to the Greek character; this could have even been valued more than life itself and was the essence of the city-state from which they come from (“Honor”). The concept of honor is critical to understanding the motivation of Athenian and Spartan men. They lived their lives according to this honor that was gained through warrior acts in battle. Homer believed in having a glorious reputation of honor and it was of the highest importance, which was seen in many situations and played a major role in the outcome. In Homer’s Iliad, we see arête is defined as honor and this is the foundation for everything that comes to pass. The concept of honor is critical to understanding the motivation of the …show more content…
Lycurgus was known for the development of the Spartan army and this was the main focus in the city-state. In Lycurgus by Plutarch, it said, “as soon as they were seven years old they were enrolled in certain companies and classes, where they lived all under the same order and discipline… so that the whole course of their education as one continued exercise of a ready and perfect obedience”. The boys would leave their homes and move to training camps where they began to mold the young minds and train them for battle. Education in Sparta focused on sports and war tactics, rather than arts, science, and math. A Spartan man was considered to be a fearless warrior who would fight until the end. In Lycurgus, the idea of arête: “fighting courageously for Sparta,” was the heart of everything. Only the boldest were chosen to then help shape the others into better warriors, this is shown in the reading when it states, “arranged them in several bands, and set over each of them for their captain the most temperate and boldest of these they call Irens… This young man, therefore, was their captain when they fought and their master at