The Illiad Essay

A central theme in the book “The Illiad” celebrates the glory of war. Strong characters prove themselves as worthy based on how they perform during battle. Paris is selfish and cowardly as a character because he sparks the Trojan war when he abducts Helen, yet lacks the spirit for battle. Because of this, Paris receives contempt from both his family and his lover.
Paris is the child of Priam and Hecuba, the king and queen of the city of Troy. When pregnant with Paris, the queen dreams of giving birth to a flaming torch. This is interpreted to mean that this child will be the downfall of Troy. It is decided that the child should be killed, but no one can bring themselves to harm the infant. Instead he is brought to Mount Ida, with the hopes that the child would be exposed to the harsh elements and pass away there. After nine days, Agelaus returns to find the child still alive. When he discovers that …show more content…
Early in the story, Paris is told to pick the “fairest” of all goddesses. To bribe Paris, each goddess offers him something. Paris is described as woman crazed, so he chooses Aphrodite’s offer of the most beautiful woman in all the land, Helen. However, Aphrodite’s forgets to mention that Helen is already married to the King of Sparta. Helen is famous for her beauty, and has many suitors that would also like to have her. Helens father, Tyndareus made all the suitors promise that they would defend Helens marriage to the man he chose for her. When Paris abducts Helen, all the suitors with extreme abilities are obligated to bring her back. This creates much of Greece to move towards Troy with force. Paris becomes aware that Helen is already married, but wants what has been promised to him so he decides to abduct Helen to keep her as his own. In doing this, he endangers the Trojan army and the entire city of Troy when he breaks into Menelaus’s place to retrieve Helen. This is an example of Paris’s extreme