The Iliad is a Greek story of courage and heroism in the most certain dangers of war. Men on both sides fight for honor for their countries and their families. However, even the greatest heroes are still human, and still have flaws that make them human. What makes us human isn’t necessary the physical strength that we may or may not possess, but rather the strength that lies within us. Emotions are both seen as good, or may also seen as detriment to our successes. In Book XXII, Hector stands outside the city walls where Achilles finds him. Achilles chases Hector around the city three times before the gods intervene. Before they engage in battle, Hector requests that if he were killed that his body be respected. With so much anger, Achilles
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The actions we take or not take tend to be because we had a reason to do them or not. Achilles anger to kill as many Trojans as he could was motivated by the death of his friend Patroclus. On the other hand, Hector’s motivation was in the name of honor and duty. What I gathered from reading the Iliad is that there’s really not one side is good versus another side that is bad, as we are accustomed to believing when it comes to war. It’s all perspective.
It would appear to Homer heroism consists of having mortal men fight through adversity, such as a man challenging a god. An example would be in Book 5 where Diomedes fearlessly charges into battle and drives a spear into the belly of Ares, the god of war. The Gods and Goddesses themselves were in conflict with each other and were also divided on what side to be on. Apollo, Ares, Artemis, and Aphrodite assisted the Trojans, while the Greeks were supported by Athena, Hermes, Hera, Poseidon, and Hephaestus. Even today’s war, we believe that God is on our side, as does our enemies. War can wage on for periods of time because both sides believe they will be victorious because God is on their side. There are various types of battles in the story. There’s the war between man versus man, war between god versus man, war between god versus god, and the war each man had to face was the war they had within
The actions we take or not take tend to be because we had a reason to do them or not. Achilles anger to kill as many Trojans as he could was motivated by the death of his friend Patroclus. On the other hand, Hector’s motivation was in the name of honor and duty. What I gathered from reading the Iliad is that there’s really not one side is good versus another side that is bad, as we are accustomed to believing when it comes to war. It’s all perspective.
It would appear to Homer heroism consists of having mortal men fight through adversity, such as a man challenging a god. An example would be in Book 5 where Diomedes fearlessly charges into battle and drives a spear into the belly of Ares, the god of war. The Gods and Goddesses themselves were in conflict with each other and were also divided on what side to be on. Apollo, Ares, Artemis, and Aphrodite assisted the Trojans, while the Greeks were supported by Athena, Hermes, Hera, Poseidon, and Hephaestus. Even today’s war, we believe that God is on our side, as does our enemies. War can wage on for periods of time because both sides believe they will be victorious because God is on their side. There are various types of battles in the story. There’s the war between man versus man, war between god versus man, war between god versus god, and the war each man had to face was the war they had within