Since the beginning of time man has waged war with catastrophic outcomes for many reasons. The Trojan war was the brutal fight for Helen, the fairest woman of the known world. Was it the revenge seeked by Gods and mortals? Or was it the justice seeked by Gods and mortals? Gods and mortals fought a brutal war for what they thought was right and to get back at past evils. The actions inspired by vengeance and justice in Homer’s Iliad shows how detrimental the effects can be on others. The Justice seeked by warlike Menelaus causes pain and suffering to many on all sides of the war. Paris by abducting Helen hurt Menelaus’s pride, “Menelaus had in mind taking revenge on the man who’d injured him” (Homer, Iliad 3. 26-27). Seeking this revenge Menelaus …show more content…
Patroclus was killed by Hector while he was under the impression Patroclus was Achilles, “But I’ll tell you something else— bear this in mind—you’ll not live long yourself. Your death is already standing close at hand, a fatal power. For you’ll be destroyed at brave Achilles’ hands, descendant of Aeacus” (Homer, Iliad 16. 989-993), this foresight shared by dying Patroclus shows Achilles will kill Hector in search of retribution. Since Hector killed Achilles best friend Achilles doesn't care about pride anymore, just revenge. “Wolves and lambs don’t share a common heart—they always sense a mutual hatred for each other” (Homer, Iliad 22. 327-329), this epic simile shows, Achilles’ actions brought on by justice for Patroclus’ death scream for blood. Achilles’ actions after killing Hector hurt Priam and his family, leaving them emotionally distraught and furious furthering the raging battle into Troy for fair Helen. Mortals have been shown to fight a war of vengeance and justice but the Gods also had a part in this …show more content…
During the Trojan war Gods picked sides depending on who they thought was justified or to get revenge. The Gods used mortals as pawns in their game of the revenge and justice. Aphrodite saved Paris in an act of justice, rather than letting the cowardly Paris die at the hands of Menelaus. This angered the Greeks and even ones close to Paris. Helen expresses what everyone thinks of him, “‘You’ve come back from the fight. How I wish you’d died there, killed by that strong warrior who was my husband once’” (Homer, Iliad 3. 480-482), this stirred up conflicts on the ground between the mortals and made Helen and other Trojans dislike Paris even more. Goddesses like Athena were out for revenge in the Iliad because Paris did not see her fit for the golden apple that was to be given to the fairest Goddess, in the Judgement of Paris. So Athena and Hera, who mainly used her marriage to Zeus to do her dirty work, plotted against the Trojans. Athena seeking revenge approaches Hector with the guise of Deiphobus, Hector’s brother, while Hector was being hunted down by Achilles, “‘Now, let’s go straight for him. Let’s fight and not hold back our spears, so we can see if Achilles kills us both, then takes the bloodstained trophies to the ships, or whether you’ll destroy him on your spear’” (Homer, Iliad 22. 301-305). This action was brought on by revenge in divine
“Three times from to dawn to dusk she spews it up and sucksit down again three times, a whirling maelstorm; if you come upon her then the god who makes the earth tremble could not save you.” This shows the merciless actions of revenge that takes place in the values of the ancient Greeks. Revenge was an important attribute, and was often exposed, but most importantly, the Greeks valued courage in a person or
Helen’s character is balanced by personal guilt and self-preservation which together define her as a woman with her own agency and power to act. In the initial chapters of the Iliad, Helen is wracked by intense guilt and self-loathing that stems from her involvement in the conflict between the Achaians and the Trojans. Her shame is first displayed after she is called sit beside Priam and view the duel between Paris and Menelaus. When Priam asks Helen to identify the leader of the Greek forces, she takes a moment to express her remorse and mentions that she wished she had chosen “bitter death” over departure from her homeland (Iliad 3.173). Helen admits her culpability in this conflict and reveals that the extent of her shame is so great
In the epic poem The Iliad, armies and individuals on both sides of the Trojan War are compared to animals through a figure of speech called, simile. The similes reveal qualities about the nature of honor and leadership. Through out the epic, both Gods and mortals have made decisions in battle that are considered honorable or dishonorable. While the narrator does not directly say an action is honorable or dishonorable, it is implied through simile that an action is to be viewed a certain way.
This is like Hector’s struggle because why should Hector die defending his brother’s wife/girlfriend (Iliad VI, 427-460). More importantly, why should other Trojan men die for such a small insignificant cause? All of the thousands of men that have died fighting this war have died in vain because this in Achilles eyes was not a just cause for
Other times she does not like him, and wishes he never existed. Helen believes she was the cause of the war, and shows remorse throughout, but that does not stop her from causing it to happen. She continually stirs up drama, and does everything in her power at times to betray Paris. As most of the Iliad focuses on the Gods and the war, Homer also takes time to add in the importance Helen had. She was a
Some might say Paris only judge for the fairest goddess, how could he start the war. Don’t forget that the judgment of Paris led to conflict between the Olympians. Moreover, this judgement also led to the great war between the men, Trojan War. Throughout the war, many of the gods and goddesses favored one side or the other. This is not everything he did, he also did one more thing that was the main cause of this war.
Third, rage spreads to others. Before Achilles leads his army out for battle against the Trojans, he starts trying to make his army angry, so they will be more brutal. By Achilles own rage, the whole army is obsessed with murdering the enemy. The soldiers have gory images and plans in their heads that Achilles places their through his pep talk. The men are fiercely brutal in battle, and kill hundreds of the enemy.
In ancient Greek ideology and mythology there is a common theme of characters ‘getting what they deserve’. In Homer’s graphic novel The Odyssey, there are several occasions where this theme of reciprocity is occurring. Revenge and justice are something that the romans held highly in their culture, so characters in their stories often had fates that was deemed fit for their ‘crime’. Odysseus crew was told before their journey to the island of Thrinacia, that they had to steer clear of this island.
I am spiteful and vengeful; I do not forgive easily. I have not forgiven my husband, Agamemnon, for sacrificing our daughter, Iphigenia, in order to secure safe passage to Troy. I have been left alone; my son has been sent to stay with Strophios the Phocian should the people of Argos rise up in anarchy, my husband has gone to war with the Trojans, and my daughter lays dead. I have engaged myself in pursuing a course of action that will satisfy my lasting grief and loneliness, which is to avenge my daughter’s death. I have sought meaning to my life, and it is now to fulfill the fate of this cursed house of Atreus, “… with kinsmen murdering kinsmen.”
Achilles returns the body of Hektor and Priam is able to give him the proper burial as tradition would call for. The Iliad in this way shows us all that the mortals go through due to the whim or omission of the gods in their lives. The war originally started because of the promise by Aphrodite to Paris of the most beautiful woman which happened to be Helen, wife of Menelaus. The Iliad has been able to depict the strong connection between gods and mortal and the gods are always in favor of
The Trojan War originated when Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman, if he said that she was the most beautiful of three goddesses. Paris took Helen as his ‘prize’ despite the fact that she
The Trojan War begins in vengeance and vanity. It all starts when Paris the prince of a foreign land steals the bride of a king named Menelaus. To see why Paris choose to steal the bride of king which the act of doing so caused one of the greatest wars in history we have to look back a few years. Back first to the celebration of two nobles getting married.
While Hera offers to make him king and Athena offers him wisdom in war, Aphrodite offers him the most beautiful woman in the world. He picks Aphrodite and she tells him he will receive Helen, the wife of the King of Sparta, for his prize. His kidnapping of this woman begins the Trojan War. Not only are the three goddesses completely selfish and naive in their quest for beauty, but so is Paris. He neglects the moral code of the Romans just because he believes he is entitled to the wife of another man.
Homer underlines that this behavior is foul, for Achilles allows his soldiers to wound the body and then bounds Hector’s feet to his chariot in order to harm the body. Although Hector asked him to give his body to his family, Achilles ignores the last will of the dying Trojan hero because he is still obsessed with his revenge. One should remember that the Greeks believed it was the issue of primary importance to bury a person’s body in a decent way so that their spirit would find the sanctuary. In other words, Achilles takes revenge in the most horrible way
A hero is one who takes risks and earns respect from others around him. In Greek mythology, heroes came and gone; they fought with bravery and were respected. In the Trojan War, Menelaus was one of the most significant Greek heroes. Menelaus clearly exemplifies the qualities of the courage and respect in a hero. As the King of Sparta and husband of Helen of Troy, he played an important role in the duel with Paris, the Prince of Troy, to win back his wife from her abduction to Troy.