Agamemnon

Achilles battles constantly with his king Agamemnon. This causes many of the problems that face the Greeks as they battle against the city of Troy and the Trojan soldiers. Agamemnon offends Achilles severely when he requires Achilles to give him his woman Briseis, whom Achilles loved. Achilles withdraws from the battle knowing that the Greek armies cannot win without his participation. Achilles has several flaws, though he has lived by the heroic code all of his life. He is too proud, which…

The Iliad is the epic poem of war between the Achaeans and Trojans; the cause of the war is credited to Helen running away with the Trojan Prince Paris. There are myths that state that Helen and Paris were in love and Paris kidnapped her and they eloped, causing Menelaus, Helen’s husband, to begin the war. Although this myth uses the illusion of love to justify the beginnings of the war, Helen expresses to Aphrodite that she is only with cowardly Paris due to the goddess. When Aphrodite appears…

In the Odyssey, Homer discusses various topics significant for the Greeks of that era such as hospitality, devotion to gods, faithfulness to one’s spouse, or determination to return home. On the other hand, Virgil’s Aeneid is focused on war and ancient Roman values such as pietas, which stands for loyalty or devotion, or gravitas, which is one’s ability to speak with authority. Furthermore, Sophocles’s play Antigone deals with a character that has to choose between the contradicting laws of the…

Sophocles' Oedipus The King tells the story of Oedipus, destined from birth to kill his father and marry his mother. It was first performed in Athens in the year 429 BC (Mastin), at a time where law was strictly carried out and courts were conducted with a trial by jury. This strong view for carrying out justice is a theme in the play and is reflected in the form of Oedipus being charged with several crimes he has allegedly committed. Whether the reason for these punishments is justifiable or…

Ever since I started understanding philosophical ideas, one of the most feared things for me was karma. When people follow their bliss, they forget that the sins they commit in order to attain their bliss will follow perpetually. Dante Alighieri’s Inferno is a prime example of karma which conveys to the audience what to avoid when “following one’s bliss,” an idea of Joseph Campbell. Campbell believes that myths “won’t tell you what makes you happy, but it will tell you what happens when you…

The production of Iphigenia and Other Daughters, an adaptation by Ellen McLaughlin and directed by Marya Sea Kaminski, is about a family set on avenging deaths that have wrecked their lives. It takes place in both Ancient Greek and World War 1. In Ancient Greek woman were inferior to men. They did not have any say in their lives and were viewed as property. In this case they were not allowed to exact revenge on behalf of their loved ones that was a man’s right. The fact that Clymnestra did…

The story of the great artists of literature is glorified by history tells their tale. Homer is such one great poet. He is the author of the epic-tale of the Greek-Troy war entitled the Iliad. Homer immortalized it and its epic heroes .In this essay, I will examine the similes, that immortalize Homer as a poet, consider the canonization of his work, and end up offering a short poem as an example of how a literary work can become canonical. Homer’s similes characterized that they are long,…

Systems that describe general rules in which good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds are punished are the foundation of a culture’s moral code. Within this code are predetermined ideas of what is right and wrong. Due to the negativity bias, the focus on the bad and how it can be punished tends have a greater effect on one’s psychological state than how kindliness is rewarded. While the two are equal counterparts, the redress of wrongs take precedence over the enforcement of rights. Retribution…

In the Greek myth "Athene", Athene challenges a young girl, Arachne, to a weaving contest. Athene knows she will lose and perish, "Poor child. You are being destroyed by your own worth. Your talent has poisoned you with pride like the sting of a scorpion. So that which makes beauty brings death" (Evslin 11). This simile represents how full of her own pride Arachne is in Athene's perspective, how she is wasting her talent on a contest which she will lose to a goddess and be forced to death.…

The white-armed goddess, Hera, sent her, being fond of both, concerned for both men." (Book 1, 227-230). It shows, yet again, Hera and Athena's sympathy to both Akhilleus and Agamemnon. Hera sends down Athena to try to stop the quarrel and ask Akhilleus to surrender for a better exchange for it. Finally, is when Akhilleus prayed to his mother Thetis to help him with the conflict that is going on around him. Then, Thetis replies…