Kleos in the Odyssey and Iliad
During the Homeric age, stories of heroes trying to find, protect, and grow their kleos to the point of being considered immortal in the hearts and minds of those who heard of their epic journeys and adventures. The Iliad and Odyssey are two examples of the very foundation of the meaning of kleos; The Iliad is more or less the rage of Achilles and his struggles with his own kleos, and the Odyssey is basically Odysseus struggling to accomplish more great deeds on his journey home and actually make it home to spread his kleos and insure his story is heard by others more or less. The struggle with kleos isn’t necessarily gaining it, it’s the struggle of maintaining it once earned. Often times there are more quarrels than reconciliations, relationships between friends and family usually end up broken or strained, and when it comes to family …show more content…
After sacking an allied Trojan town, Achilles and Agamemnon take Briseis and Chryseis, the daughter of a priest of Apollo, as prizes. The priest curses the Greek camp via Apollo, who send plagues. Agamemnon, knowing the plagues wont cease unless he gives Chryseis back to her father, demands Achilles give up Briseis for him, stating; “Brave you may be, godlike Achilles, but don’t try to trick me with your cleverness. You’ll not outwit me or cajole me. Do you think, since you demand I return her, that I’ll sit here without a prize while you keep yours?” (Hom. Illiad, Book I pgs. 101-147). Of course outraged by this demand and having to comply, Achilles stopped fighting on the side of the Greeks for a period of time. Having felt like his kleos had been wounded by being humiliated from Agamemnon’s demand, Achilles turned against his own comrades. The struggle to defend one’s own kleos strains the social relationships between comrades and even persuade them to make the wrong decisions against their own
During the Homeric age, stories of heroes trying to find, protect, and grow their kleos to the point of being considered immortal in the hearts and minds of those who heard of their epic journeys and adventures. The Iliad and Odyssey are two examples of the very foundation of the meaning of kleos; The Iliad is more or less the rage of Achilles and his struggles with his own kleos, and the Odyssey is basically Odysseus struggling to accomplish more great deeds on his journey home and actually make it home to spread his kleos and insure his story is heard by others more or less. The struggle with kleos isn’t necessarily gaining it, it’s the struggle of maintaining it once earned. Often times there are more quarrels than reconciliations, relationships between friends and family usually end up broken or strained, and when it comes to family …show more content…
After sacking an allied Trojan town, Achilles and Agamemnon take Briseis and Chryseis, the daughter of a priest of Apollo, as prizes. The priest curses the Greek camp via Apollo, who send plagues. Agamemnon, knowing the plagues wont cease unless he gives Chryseis back to her father, demands Achilles give up Briseis for him, stating; “Brave you may be, godlike Achilles, but don’t try to trick me with your cleverness. You’ll not outwit me or cajole me. Do you think, since you demand I return her, that I’ll sit here without a prize while you keep yours?” (Hom. Illiad, Book I pgs. 101-147). Of course outraged by this demand and having to comply, Achilles stopped fighting on the side of the Greeks for a period of time. Having felt like his kleos had been wounded by being humiliated from Agamemnon’s demand, Achilles turned against his own comrades. The struggle to defend one’s own kleos strains the social relationships between comrades and even persuade them to make the wrong decisions against their own