Helen Keller International

Over three thousand years ago, a bloody battle was waged between Greece and he powerful city of Troy. This battle was ignited by the sudden abduction of Queen Helen of Sparta by Prince Paris of Troy. Helen and Paris were star-crossed lovers, in which, nobody could separate them. You could compare them to the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, where the Montagues and Capulets fought, again, sparked by the love of two young lovers. Back in mythological times, Zeus, the father of the gods and god…

Within Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis, and Seneca’s Medea, a variety of atrocious acts take place, sparing no violence and certainly no mercy. Although Seneca and Euripides hail from much different time periods, many parallels can be drawn between the atrocious acts depicted within their works. While the scenarios that lead up to the atrocious acts that take place within Medea and Iphigenia at Aulis differ, many similarities can be found between both antagonists. In addition to the similarities,…

goddess of wisdom and warfare, offers success in battle. Aphrodite, goddess of love, offers the most beautiful wife in the world. Paris chooses Aphrodite, however she states that the most beautiful wife is Helen, daughter of Zeus, who is already married to King Menelaus of Sparta. Paris then wins Helen heart and eloped back to Troy, which starts a war. Greek cities banded together including Argos, Athens, Corinth, Arcadia,…

authoritarian leader; his people are not happy with him in power. The journey he forgoes is to look for the plant of immortality, and he has to learn to deal with eventual mortal death. The Iliad is the epic occurring during a part of the Trojan war. Helen of Troy is captured by Paris and is the reason for the start of the Trojan war. The roles of women…

we can the gods drive the plot with their interactions and by changing the fate of the characters. The human however do practice free will. The war of the Trojans was started by the actions of Paris, a prince. If Paris gave Menelaus back his wife, Helen, maybe this the war might have not happened. However, the humans exercise their right to free will as little as possible because the fate of their actions are not only controlled by their actions but the god’s actions as well. The gods alter what…

Messengers are always conveying the messages, never making the originals. It is a humbling position. We know that Hermes is the messenger of the gods and that he is a man. However, in the Iliad, all the messages are conveyed by Iris, a woman. "Away, Iris! / Quick as you can to the grand sea lord Poseidon. / Go, give him my message, start to finish-- / and see that every word of it rings exactly so" (15.198-192). This quote shows the typical attitude towards women in the Iliad. Zeus is giving…

Throughout The Iliad, mortal women are portrayed as property of man in the male-centric epic. They are confined to outdated gender roles; mortal women have little or no control over their own destiny. However, the immortal world creates a platform for Homer to exemplify and examine women personas thorough the Olympian goddesses. The three main goddesses presented in The Iliad are Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera. During the Trojan War, Athena and Hera fight with the Achaeans, while Aphrodite favors…

a young girl, an allusion to Helen of Troy, and the free verse style to represent the female desire to be desired. Subsequently, Szymborska choses to write about young girls in the stage of life where they have graduated from being cute children without a care, to gawky young adult girls with vast insecurities. The use of protagonists at this age creates…

Odysseus, a household name thanks to English class in high school. Students spend weeks analyzing his character and journey. Learning that Odysseus fits all the characteristics of the classic hero; strength, courage, nobility and his most distinguishing strait, intelligence. Many view Odysseus as the hero of the Odyssey but there is another character that has the same traits as Odysseus and that is Penelope, his wife. She is often forgotten in the shadow of her husband even though she is…

Pride is something that effect all manner of human nature. Pride is normally described as a deep satisfaction in one’s own achievements, abilities or qualities that are greatly admired. In a study done by Prisca Brosi, Matthias Spörrle, Isabell M. Welpe and Madeline E. Heilman called “Expressing Pride: Effects on Perceived Agency, Communality, and Stereotype-Based Gender Disparities” it says “Pride is closely connected to the achievement of personally or socially valued outcomes. Given the…