Motivation In The Iliad

Mythology, saturated with stories of war, lust, and death gifted the world with the Iliad by Homer, an epic poem which includes the story of Troy’s noble prince Hektor. The Trojan hero fights against his sworn enemy, Achilles, in the tragic Trojan War. Though Hektor’s death is the climax of the poem, various questions arise ranging from why he chose to fight Achilles, to why the robust gods interjected exceedingly in the mortals lives. Modern-day reader miss the depth of plot line and content if they don 't familiarize themselves with the story of Hektor.
Before diving into the inquisitions, it 's important to look at the origins of the Trojan War. Crown prince Paris, brother of Hektor, was asked to choose who was the most beautiful goddess: Hera, Aphrodite, or Athena. This conflict emerges at a celebration in honor of the marriage of Achilles 's parents, Peleus and Thetis. Zeus invited everyone single important …show more content…
Author Graham Zanker in his novel The Heart of Achilles, talks about the relationships of the characters in the Iliad, the standards they uphold, saying, “Among both mortals and immortals (at least in the mortals’ view of them), three types of motivation can be discerned in attitudes to relationships: the resulted-oriented, the emotional, and the mortal.” After Achilles’s allowed him to lead an army into battle to help dwindling Greek soldiers, Patroclus wore the armour Achilles’s received from his father so he could impersonate his friend. Patroclus and the army charged into battle, killing a multitude of Trojan soldiers. The god of the sun, Apollo, sees the chaos occurring on the battlefield and intervenes by hitting the armour that comes of, and has Hektor oblivious to the identity of the man he was battling killed Patroklo. elaborates deeply the demigod’s hatred for Hector after the slaughter of his loyal friend. Homer elaborates the pain Achilles feels after hearing word of Patroclus