Helen

rhetoric of its model. For Menelaus belies Helen’s claim of new-found loyalty to the Greeks, when he mentions (apparently en passant) her second Trojan husband, the man she married after the death of Paris (Odyssey iv 276). Before beginning her tale, Helen had said “Enjoy these speeches (μύθοις). For I will narrate fitting, seemly things (ἐοικότα)” (Odyssey iv 239). But after Menelaus’ response,…

mortals, Helen and Clytemnestra, who one day have a great impact on what is now known as southeastern Europe. Though Leda’s rape may be seen as a small incident when compared to occurrences in the world, it results in the Trojan War, Agamemnon’s death and the ultimate formation of the Roman Empire. These events may have happened long after the rape, but they are undeniably connected.…

After helping Paris in his single combat with Menelaus, Aphrodite disguises herself as an old woman when approaching Helen. Homer’s contrast in word play when painting Aphrodites’ physical attributes portrays her to be creative in asserting power. The phrases “a withered hand” and “an old woman” and later on “beautiful neck,” “irresistible line of her breasts,” and “iridescent…

with his best friend Helen when they were younger. He took off his helmet and lay it in the ground and continue thinking about the promise that he made to her on the night before he left to become a soldier. He was 16 years old when he made that oath that he will come back once he become a famous soldier just like Achilles. Now at the age of 24, that dream is still far from reality. Not far away, he heard people running and screaming away from the town. He…

and people come back home a completely different person. War is most definitely not something beautiful to celebrate. People fight to protect what they love. Hector fights to protect his wife from a life of slavery; Menelaus fights for his love, Helen. Achilles goes to battle because Patroclus, a close friend, has died. Even though friends are a different love than lovers, it’s still…

The relationship between the gods and the men in the Odyssey is a unique relationship. Sometimes the way the gods treat the men make the gods seem mortal although most of the time they grant help and wisdom to certain people. In a way, the change in the behavior of the gods between the two stories is extremely significant. The gods and the men in the Iliad and the Odyssey help each other most of the time and they both have similar traits and views. In the Odyssey Homer portrays the gods as…

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…

Hector, Paris’ older brother, comments on the stupidity of such a long war over a woman. However, the reason for this irrationality is simply Helen’s immense attractiveness, which compels every male gaze. Both Menelaus and Paris’ sexual yearning for Helen is so great, that they are willing to sacrifices innumerable amounts of troops in order to feel the satisfaction of her sex. Even in Lysistrata, it is referenced that Menelaus became so enchanted by Helen’s bare chest, that he dropped his sword…

In Homer’s The Iliad not only is Achilles the main character, he is also the perfect depiction of what a self-sufficient man looks like. Sometimes we get the idea that we are able to accomplish and conquer anything without help. To add on, the point of human interaction is to create human empowerment. Human empowerment is the ability to come together as a unified whole. Thus when you are unified together as a group you can conquer, solve and learn from one another. Human interaction is also…

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…