“My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger. My quiet Penelope—how well I know—would seem a shade before your majesty, death and old age being unknown to you, while she must die. Yet, it is true, each day I long for home…”, (Homer 56); (2) To expand, Odyssey always knew that he would get himself home, “She enchants him and wants him to stay and become her husband, but eventually Athena persuades Zeus to command her to let him return to Penelope.”
In Greek culture, honor was immensely important and the Cyclops has none. In contrast, Odysseus brags about the great feats of Agamemnon yelling, “So great a city he sacked, such multitudes he killed”(9.298-299) That Odysseus sees pride in killing, shows that the Greeks valued killing, but only if honorable. There is a stark contrast between the killings of the Cyclops and those of King Agamemnon. In the eyes of the Greeks, Agamemnon’s killings were for his country, his people, and the greater good of society. These murders had a selfless purpose.
In Greek culture honor and shame is everything to them. With honor brings great joy, but with shame disgrace us brought upon the person and their family. The Iliad opens up with this line, “Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilleus and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians” (75). This summarizes the whole story of the Iliad, that Achilleus will becomes greatly angered which will bring horrible atrocities upon the Achaians.
In contrast, in the Oresteia, the myth demonstrates an overwhelming theme of justice. Agamemnons’ death here shows the curse hunting his household from generation to generation, starting from Agamemnon’s father
The Iliad by Homer The Iliad was a really good representation of the chaotic war-torn times of the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea; this includes the countries Rome and Greece. It was a time where nations were trying to expand their power and influence and warriors were claiming their spoils of war. I mean the beginning of book I of The Iliad, Achilles and Agamemnon are arguing over the rewards and the spoils of war. Agamemnon didn’t want to give up his prize girl Chryses in order to please the God Apollo and stop the plague and the rain of arrow falling from Olympus.
The Iliad is a riveting tale of violence and rage amongst heartbreak and tragedy, where a range of emotions are evoked through various events and decisions made by the characters throughout. Some of these characters act on impulse, while others think over with others and themselves to find the best course of action and do what they feel would be the best, be it for their families or their people, or for themselves alone. Through such feelings, certain events play out that either work out to the favor of the characters, or the exact opposite. Characters like Achilles and Agamemnon act on their anger, often going beyond what would be deemed reasonable and even affecting the events following. Achilles’ anger was triggered by Agamemnon’s arrogance
Indeed, too often they only create more grandiose problems in the long-term. Throughout classical literature acts of senseless violence have been a common thread. In Homer’s The Iliad several instances of such violence are revealed. As Trojans and Achaeans engage in a brutal battle, neither mortal nor immortal is safe from the conflict.
In an attempt to win his daughter back, Chryses offers Agamemnon a ransom. Agamemnon, however, declines the ransom causing Chryses to seek help from Apollo. Apollo hears this cry for help and sends a plague to
Wicca is a rapidly growing neopagan religious movement that is a nature based religion that celebrates the changing of the seasons and with a belief in a Divine that it is manifested into two aspects; the God and the Goddess that is revitalizing the “Old Ways”. There are generally two schools of thought about the history of Wicca as a religion. One is that Wicca is a continuous hidden witchcraft religion that had its start in paleolithic times then went underground and remained hidden during the Burning Times where Christianity came to the forefront, and the other is that Wicca is a modern reconstruction of the old pagan religions. The word wicca finds its roots in the old Anglo-Saxon word wicce that means one who practices sorcery with
Revenge is an emotion that has not only consumed many, it has been simplified that in all fairness one turn deserves another. Within the Iliad and its ever-present themes, the theme of revenge is against the Trojans due to Paris taking Meleanus ' wife Helen who was claimed to be the most beautiful woman in the land. Also, Achilles goes against Agamemnon who to take revenge on Achilles takes away his prize that he rightful deserved and
Agamemnon’s taking of Briseis enrages Achilles and spurs him to remove himself from the war, leading to a massive death toll in the Achaean forces. In stealing Briseis from Achilles, he is not only robbing of him of a material prize, but also a symbol of honor, his geras, in Greek culture. In retaliation, Achilles removes himself from the war and prays to his mother, Thetis, that she will ask Zeus to damage the Achaean forces. Achilles’ only goal is that “even mighty Atrides can see how mad he was to disgrace Achilles” (1.488-490). Despite having no true grievance against the Achaean army as a whole, Achilles’ rage blinds him from the potential harm that may befall his troops.
However, in The Iliad, honor is not an idea, but something material. Honor is a material representation of one’s achievements and greatness. This concept of honor being material is first seen in Book 1 of the Iliad, when Agamemnon does not want to give Chryseis back to her father. He obtained her as a prize of war, and giving her back to her father
Hubris is one of the many themes that were brought up in the Iliad. Its definition is extreme pride and arrogance shown by a person that will bring downfall to that person or to others. The first time this theme is brought up is when Helen leaves with Paris. Agamemnon uses Helen as an excuse to rile up all the Greek kings. Agamemnon knew that if they beat Troy, then he would control a major passage of trade which would make him the undisputed ruler of all of Greece.
Lysistrata, a middle-class woman and wife of one of the Athenians soldiers, decides to hold a meeting with all the women within the Greek territory and discuss a way to end the terrible war afflicting
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.
