Violence, Violence And Violence In Homer's The Iliad

The violence, rage, and gruesomeness of the Homeric Greeks and their wars is pictured vividly in Homer’s classic The Iliad, full of scenes of battle and dying corpses. While Homer seems to view war as glorious and enchanted by the Gods, who themselves do join in many battles, is this how we view war in our present time? Do we see violence as a glorious activity with either crushing defeat or victory at the conclusion, or are we more sensitive to violence and its atrocities in today’s time? In our modern society, due to the desensitization of the men and women of the United States, my opinion is that violence is viewed with the same lens of gloriousness as it was viewed with in Homer’s time.
To begin with, in book twenty of Homer’s, The Iliad, Homer paints a striking …show more content…
Achilles and Hector then exchange insults, Achilles furious because of his best friend dying at the hands of Hector, and Hector furious over his brother’s death, then engage in swift combat, only to be interfered with by the Gods when Athena blows Hector’s shaft away from him. Shortly after that, the God Apollo comes sweeping in and whisks Hector away from the battle, leaving Achilles in a blinding rage. Achilles takes out his vengeance on the Trojans and “slit open [Tros’] liver, the liver spurted loose, gushing with dark blood, drenched his lap and the night swirled down his eyes as his life breath slipped away.” (Homer 518) Achilles continues to rage in battle with “bloody filth splattering both strong arms.” (Homer 519) Achilles triumphs through the battle, killing many Trojans before and after Hector and Tros. In short, the rush and thrill of the battle with the Trojans in book twenty of The Iliad leads Achilles to many confrontations, which ultimately end up in death for most of Achilles’ opponents.
Continuing, Achilles’ brutal combat in The Iliad demonstrates the way the Homeric Greeks viewed violence. They viewed violence as just a way of life that was enchanted and