“Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage, black and murderous, that cost the Greeks incalculable pain, pitched countless souls of heroes into Hades’ dark, And left their bodies to rot as feasts for dogs and birds, as Zeus’ will be done” (1:1-8). These are the first few lines of the book and we are already given dark imagery such as “black and murderous” and “incalculable pain” to explain the war to come. This remains a constant theme throughout the story which signals the act of war, and the death it brings, as negative and dreary. Though the poem never explicitly chooses whether it is anti-war or pro-war, there is visible evidence that puts it more favorably with the former. The Iliad is an anti-war poem because of how Homer depicts the harsh realities
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Heroes feel this when they lose their close friends in battle. For instance, the intense pain that Achilles feels when Patroclus dies that causes him to stop functioning as a human being. The Iliad does not mention him eating, sleeping, or making love until Hector dies from his hand (Dr. Cook’s Lecture, Sep 6th). Such an exaggerated reaction shows the realism of losing someone dear to you, which in reality, is the result of war.
The woman and children outside of the war feel the pain of losing their husbands and dads, but there is also another dimension it. As Hector’s wife says, “...All the solemn wives and children you guarded will go off soon in the hollow ships, and I will go with them. And you, my son, you will either come with me and do menial labor for some cruel master, or some Greek will….throw you form a tower…” (24: 182-188). Since Troy is doomed to fall because of Hector’s death, they must face hardships for the rest of their life. Even the people who didn’t participate in the war, must face dire …show more content…
“These Trojans, with their reckless strength and insatiable appetite for the horrors of war. When it comes to getting enough, everyone else would rather have all they want of sleep or love, of sweet song or fine dancing.” This is Menelaus’ speech when the Trojans are pushing back the Greeks. He brings up the fact that at the end of the day, the Greeks would much rather be enjoying life rather than fighting for it. This is idea is brought up again with imagery shown on the shield made by Hephaestus. On it, there is only one seen depicting wars of any kind. The rest of them are about farming, dancing, nature, and love; regular activities that make up the most of our life (18: 478-608).
The Iliad is shown to be an anti-war poem because it portrays evidence of war as an activity that: serves no real purpose, causes massive amounts of to pain to everyone involved, and shows that in fact people would rather be doing something else entirely. The poem makes the idea of war seem totally illogical. That war just amounts to “sudden death or injury on both sides”(Dr. Palaima Lecure, August
Heroes feel this when they lose their close friends in battle. For instance, the intense pain that Achilles feels when Patroclus dies that causes him to stop functioning as a human being. The Iliad does not mention him eating, sleeping, or making love until Hector dies from his hand (Dr. Cook’s Lecture, Sep 6th). Such an exaggerated reaction shows the realism of losing someone dear to you, which in reality, is the result of war.
The woman and children outside of the war feel the pain of losing their husbands and dads, but there is also another dimension it. As Hector’s wife says, “...All the solemn wives and children you guarded will go off soon in the hollow ships, and I will go with them. And you, my son, you will either come with me and do menial labor for some cruel master, or some Greek will….throw you form a tower…” (24: 182-188). Since Troy is doomed to fall because of Hector’s death, they must face hardships for the rest of their life. Even the people who didn’t participate in the war, must face dire …show more content…
“These Trojans, with their reckless strength and insatiable appetite for the horrors of war. When it comes to getting enough, everyone else would rather have all they want of sleep or love, of sweet song or fine dancing.” This is Menelaus’ speech when the Trojans are pushing back the Greeks. He brings up the fact that at the end of the day, the Greeks would much rather be enjoying life rather than fighting for it. This is idea is brought up again with imagery shown on the shield made by Hephaestus. On it, there is only one seen depicting wars of any kind. The rest of them are about farming, dancing, nature, and love; regular activities that make up the most of our life (18: 478-608).
The Iliad is shown to be an anti-war poem because it portrays evidence of war as an activity that: serves no real purpose, causes massive amounts of to pain to everyone involved, and shows that in fact people would rather be doing something else entirely. The poem makes the idea of war seem totally illogical. That war just amounts to “sudden death or injury on both sides”(Dr. Palaima Lecure, August