Patroclus

Heroism has evolved from ancient Greek society to present day, modern society. To be a Greek hero, it is known to be a person(s) who achieves honor through the engagement of life threatening activities. While on the other hand, when today’s society thinks what a hero is, it is more accurately described as an ordinary individual partaking in an extraordinary act of bravery. The ancient Greek heroes were honored through great publicity and connected through the power of one or multiple…

Into the Wild vs Walden Into the Wild, a book about a man who ran away from childhood problems and decided to walk into the wilderness by himself after getting rid of all of his materialistic items including his car and money, and Walden, a book about a man who fled towards simplicity and solitude to understand what life was really about, are two incredible books. The stories are timeless and will likely still be talked about in fifty years. The protagonists, Thoreau and Chris, shared many…

During my initial research on Greek legends, I was most interested in the tale of Achilles and Patroclus, which lead me to the myth of Ianthe and Iphis. Theirs a tale is a familiar one now, after the advent of studies in Queer Theory in the last couple of decades. But before that it remained a tale of how a woman is turned into a man so that they could marry the woman they loved. The myth follows a couple Ligdus and Telethusa, who were expecting a child. Ligdus was a farmer and wanted a son…

In the book The Inferno by Dante Alighieri, the author himself is the protagonist of his own poem where he travels inside hell with a companion named Virgil. Dante travels downwards the center where he passes “circles” that represents the different type of floors with different sins. As they go downward, the sins become worse for each circle until they reach where Satan is located where everything is frozen and surrounded by ice, unlike the imagery of hell in the bible where everything is…

Christopher Reeve said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” Some heroes hold that title because of the greatness of their deeds while others hold it because of the strength with which they face these challenges. Odysseus and Achilles are two well-known heroes that have some common but also some varying traits that bring about their heroism to allow them to endure overwhelming obstacles. In Homer’s epic poems Iliad…

has the Achilles heel which makes him almost immortal which, means that Hector has little to no chance to defeat him. Achilles will fight anyone to show his power and to have glory to his name that would be remembered forever. Since Hector killed Patroclus, thinking it was Achilles, he thought he was even more powerful. Then he realized it was not Achilles so he became even more determined to kill him which, also made Achilles mad that Hector killed his cousin. Hector then says, “For me it would…

The unjust act of taking Briseis from Achilles alienates the greatest Achaean warrior from his fellow Achaeans and causes him to pull out of the war. As the Trojans triumph repeatedly, Agamemnon seeks to correct his wrongdoing by sending an embassy to Achilles with a goal of persuading Achilles to return to the battle. G. Mitchell Reyes states that there are “four dominant sources of appeal: honor, material, power, and justice” (23). While Achilles does value honor, material, and power; to…

Over the years, poetry has consistently been used as a writing medium for artistically expressing emotions and thoughts. While the classic poets, such as Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson are well known and admired, there are many underrated current poets that are equally talented. One of the most skillful contemporary poets is Louise Glück, who took full advantage of her creative abilities and wrote eleven books of poetry throughout her career. Her poetry invokes strong emotions, and although it…

Homer’s Iliad is an epic poem describing the last year of the war between Troy and the Greeks. It contains elements of warriors, such as Achilles and Hector, death on the battlefield like that of Patroclus, and meddling gods like Aphrodite saving Paris from battle. Soldiers and warriors on both sides are presented in such a way that they are merciless, strong, and courageous. In order to win and defend your country, you had to destroy your enemy. Homer describes different battles of blood, gore,…

The Ancient Greek era was a time of great development, in fact, it is often referred to as the birthplace of western civilization. During this period there were many advancements as the Ancient Greek people began to explore topics such as philosophy, science, art, theatre and more. From Socrates and Plato to Herodotus and Euripides, the Greeks did great things that furthered thinking about life, the universe and beyond. Another major advancement was with regard to literature, with the first…