Shame Culture In The Iliad

The Iliad is an epic poem set in the Trojan War about a decade into the war; mainly centered on the hero Achilles. Throughout the complete tale, the societies and cultures experienced many difficulties due to two types of culture. These two type of culture would be both honor and shame culture. The honor culture consist of being the mightiest warrior, to have glory and fame and to exact revenge on those who have wronged you. This culture is usually followed by the majority of the Greek heroes. While the shame culture entails more of a peace, justice, morally right type of culture, followed by only an insufficient amount of people and is the ideal way of living. A big issue in Iliad society was the hero commonly making reckless decisions instead …show more content…
In present day, through the entire world, the shame culture is now thriving. It is widely accepted unlike the honor culture which is not as accepted anymore as it was centuries before, signifying how the shame culture has evolves since its birth. In the Trojan War era, Even though the mass majority of individuals were a part of the honor culture a few were associated with the shame culture. An excellent representation of this would be Hector the son of Priam. Unlike most Greek warriors, he has no interest in lust, greed and material items but in justice and rightful doings. Furthermore, not only was he courageous, honorable, and a remarkable warrior but he was also loving and caring person, especially towards his family. That even though his brother has caused much trouble to everyone, and the one who initiated the Trojan War, he was able to put it aside so that his brother may redeem himself and gain some of his lost honor. "Impossible man! How could anyone fair and just underrate your work in battle? You 're a good soldier. But you hang back of your own accord, refuse to fight. And that, that 's why the heart inside me aches when I hear our Trojans heap contempt on you, the men who bear such struggles all for you. Come, now for attack! We 'll set all this to rights…!” (Homer 213) Stated by hector, obviously showing elements of the shame culture. The act of his love for his brother who did his whole city wrong, his immense …show more content…
It is clear that the majority of difficulties faced in the Iliad could’ve have been completely circumvented if the shame culture would have adapt the shame culture more in that era instead of the honor culture. It is a real shame isn’t