War Changes In The Iliad

War is an awesome force for change. It drives history, creates empires, and fells dynasties. War changes the world. However, not only does it induce change on at a macroscopic level, but it also changes the individual lives that get caught up as well. People are revealed as cowards or branded as heroes, but oftentimes these are not who these people are everyday because war changes people, down to their very character and psyche. It is this idea that Homer explores in The Iliad. Throughout the story, Homer portrays Hector as a noble man who respects his enemies even in the midst of war, a characterization that is prominent in Book 7. However, this view and character of a noble, respectful Hector is challenged in later books, especially in regards to how …show more content…
Respect for funeral rites requires a rational mind. Bodies are to be given back to friends and family, regardless of which side of the war one is fighting on, so that men and women can “do...honor with fitting rites of fire” (Fagles 7.93-94). Funerals and rites are important, enough that bodies should not be treated carelessly but rather with respect. It requires a civilized mind to go through with these tasks, to care for and prepare the bodies. In a way, then, the treatment of the corpses can reflect the mindset of the one who did the killing. It is easy to mindlessly hack at flesh and leave bones forgotten in the dust, but it requires thought and thus rationality to respect the fallen. Many times Homer refers to men in battle with animal-like imagery, describing them as like a “marauding lion” and so forth (Fagles 16.575). It is easy for a lion to simply kill and maul bodies, but lions do not hold funerals and rites for the dead. Proper preparation of the body is thus a human thing. So the treatment of the dead directly reflects upon the one who killed and reflects upon their