In Homeric times, war and the ideas of timé, kleos, and aidos were closely tied to everything in life. Paris, a prince, is the most attractive man in Troy and plays a key part in the creation of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. However, while he has received “the gifts of Aphrodite”, Paris doesn’t receive much respect or honor from his fellow Trojans due to his lack of success on the battlefield. On the other hand, his brother Hector is the bravest and one of the best warriors the Trojans have in their army. In The Iliad, Homer uses tools such as sarcasm and important Greek terms in order to show the contrast in personalities between Hector’s selflessness and strict morals versus Paris’ degrading and shame-free life that he leads.
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Paris says these lines right after he and Helen finish talking about his experience in the war before coming home. It is disturbing that Paris is so shallow that when there is not anything else to talk about, he shifts to his thirst for sex. By “losing themselves in love” it is implied that they both love each other and cannot get enough, but in reality Helen regrets her decision of leaving Menelaus, as she admitted so earlier on to Priam. Also, he “calls for Helen” due to his “hunger for her”, meaning that she is like a servant that answers to him and satisfies all of his needs. But, while Paris is a love-hungry man who cares for only his needs, Hector is a loving husband and father. When Hector takes a small time away from the battle in Book six to get the women of Troy to pray to Athena, he also sees his “generous wife” and his baby boy (pg 208, line 466). Hector is overcome with joy to see them, and when asked to stay back and not go back into the battle, Hector denies the request. But it is not good enough to stop there because his motivations for …show more content…
Sadly, Paris is just another example of somebody that can talk the talk but fails to walk the walk when it comes to being a warrior. Ever since Paris stole Helen’s heart from Menelaus, Paris always boasts that he is a better warrior than Menelaus. And one would certainly believe that statement because of Paris’ appearance, “magnificent as a god, the skin of a leopard slung across his shoulders, a reflex bow at his back and battle-sword at hip and brandishing two sharp spears tipped in bronze he str[ides] forth,” (pg 129, lines 17-20). In the description of Paris’ outfit he appears to be some master hunter because he has “the skin of a leopard”, a very hard animal to kill. Paris also comes off as a true master of war because he not only has a reflex bow, but he has a “battle-sword” and “two sharp spears”. The fact that he has so many weapons makes everybody believe that he is prepared to take down any quantity of people and is more than confident in his skills as he “strides” across waiting for a challenger. It is also interesting to note how much detail Homer goes into just to describe Paris’ clothing. Homer choses to expand on Paris’ appearance because he wants to show that it is not about the fighting at all for Paris, rather it is about putting on the armor and how nice he looks. However, “soon as magnificent Paris marked Atrides shining among
Paris says these lines right after he and Helen finish talking about his experience in the war before coming home. It is disturbing that Paris is so shallow that when there is not anything else to talk about, he shifts to his thirst for sex. By “losing themselves in love” it is implied that they both love each other and cannot get enough, but in reality Helen regrets her decision of leaving Menelaus, as she admitted so earlier on to Priam. Also, he “calls for Helen” due to his “hunger for her”, meaning that she is like a servant that answers to him and satisfies all of his needs. But, while Paris is a love-hungry man who cares for only his needs, Hector is a loving husband and father. When Hector takes a small time away from the battle in Book six to get the women of Troy to pray to Athena, he also sees his “generous wife” and his baby boy (pg 208, line 466). Hector is overcome with joy to see them, and when asked to stay back and not go back into the battle, Hector denies the request. But it is not good enough to stop there because his motivations for …show more content…
Sadly, Paris is just another example of somebody that can talk the talk but fails to walk the walk when it comes to being a warrior. Ever since Paris stole Helen’s heart from Menelaus, Paris always boasts that he is a better warrior than Menelaus. And one would certainly believe that statement because of Paris’ appearance, “magnificent as a god, the skin of a leopard slung across his shoulders, a reflex bow at his back and battle-sword at hip and brandishing two sharp spears tipped in bronze he str[ides] forth,” (pg 129, lines 17-20). In the description of Paris’ outfit he appears to be some master hunter because he has “the skin of a leopard”, a very hard animal to kill. Paris also comes off as a true master of war because he not only has a reflex bow, but he has a “battle-sword” and “two sharp spears”. The fact that he has so many weapons makes everybody believe that he is prepared to take down any quantity of people and is more than confident in his skills as he “strides” across waiting for a challenger. It is also interesting to note how much detail Homer goes into just to describe Paris’ clothing. Homer choses to expand on Paris’ appearance because he wants to show that it is not about the fighting at all for Paris, rather it is about putting on the armor and how nice he looks. However, “soon as magnificent Paris marked Atrides shining among