The Value Of Family In Homer's The Iliad

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The Greek, Trojan, and Indian families all have different views of seeing family and most of the time put other things over family. Take for example how the Greeks and Trojans in The Iliad both valued glory over family, unlike the Indians who did not. The Indian families in The Ramayana are traditional and follow a caste system in which everyone has a dharma or duty. They value this system and honor their roles, like women who are to submit to their husbands.
In The Iliad, the Trojans and Greeks appear to value glory and honor over family. Characters like Achilles and Hector decide to leave their homes to attain fame and glory at war are perfect examples. In addition to the Greeks and Trojans, the gods as well are “anything but selfless, and
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However, the Trojans appear to some importance in the family unlike the Greeks, like Hector, who is an excellent example. Even though Hector cared about his family his heart was still “out there with [his] fighting men”(Homer.380). Andromache, Hector’s wife, of course, was not thrilled with the idea that Hector would return to war leaving her and her son behind. She believed that courage was going to kill him if he went back to war with the Greeks. Andromache pleaded Hector to stay, but he replied to her with, “I worry about all this myself, but my shame before the Trojans and their wives...would be too terrible"(Homer.463-65). Hector felt that if he hung back from battle, he would look like a coward to the rest of the Trojans. At the same time, Hector believed he was defending his father 's honor if he went to battle, as well as his own. However, before Hector left to fight the battle, he prayed to Zeus and other gods for his son to "become, as I am, foremost among Trojans, brave and strong”(Homer.501-3). Ultimately, this illustrates that the Trojans did care about their families, but still preferred their glory just like the …show more content…
In Indian culture, each person has a specific dharma or duty. Most women in Indian culture all have the same dharma, which is to obey a man. If she is married, then she is to submit to her husband until death do them apart. In the Ramayana, each character appears to fulfill their dharma. The story begins with Rama 's crowning day. A sudden turn of events gets him kicked off the throne by his father, after promising his wife "boons" or requests. Rama was asked by his step-mother to leave the city and go away to the forest for fourteen years. Without delay, he obeys his father 's commands with no hesitation. It is interesting to see that he was willing to leave Sita, his wife, behind. However, Sita knew that a woman 's duty was that "“neither father nor son nor mother nor friends but the husband alone is her sole refuge here in this world and in the other world too”(Valmiki.1178). Throughout Indian culture, the Ramayana epic has taught the women 's dharmic duty is to "worship her husband as a god, devoting herself completely to his needs." As can be seen, the Indian culture values family more than glory. Rama could have ignored his father 's commands and tried taking the throne away from his brother. Sita did not have to leave the city and eventually get captured in the forest as later seen in the story. They see family as an important element in their

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