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Duty And Honor In The Iliad

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The concepts of duty and honor are displayed thoroughly throughout Homers’ the Iliad. The way in which the two concepts are represented and displayed vary greatly, whether it be through war or through personal turmoil and triumph. The two main characters that display the concepts of duty and honor in the Iliad would be Hector of Troy and Achilles of Greece. These two characters are idolized by those who follow them and whom they protect. Throughout the Iliad, these two fierce heroes are ones that never back down from any single adversary nor any obstacle that the gods have placed upon them – whether it be the loss of loved ones, enduring a perilous journey, or even sacrificing one’s life. In the epic the presence of the loss of loved ones is extremely prevalent among the two characters, granted that Achilles encounters a much more personal loss than Hector both characters encounter losses throughout the war. Achilles suffers from the loss of his dear personal friend Patroclus whom was slain in battle by Hector and his men. Crying out in pain and agony Achilles’ mother Thetis arrived to consul her son. While there Thetis …show more content…

Throughout the Iliad Achilles occasionally called upon his mother for advice and consultation, Thetis often referred back to Achilles’ fate of dying young, telling him not to fill his life full of concern and sorrow. Fate is predetermined by the gods, meaning that the individual does not know when they will come face to face with their death. Therefore the act of knowing ones fate and continuing to walk out on to the battle field shows a great deal of honor and grid. Achilles knowing that he is fated to die young continued to stand by his men on the field of battle waiting for the day for fate to strike him down. In the Iliad Hector’s fate is depicted when Zeus weighs out his and Achilles’ doom on his golden

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Achilles dies a noble death fighting with his fellow Achaeans, whereas Elpenor dies a shameful death. During the Trojan War, Achilles dies honorably in combat, while the drunk Elpenor falls off Circe’s roof, resulting in a broken neck. Throughout their life’s, Achilles attains the maximum amount of glory, while Elpenor achieves only a small portion of Achilles’ glory. Achilles, a man who is “honored” as “a god” (11.551), is buried with an impressive reputation and becomes the ruler of the dead. On the other hand, Elpenor begs Odysseus to give him a proper funeral.

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It is so deeply rooted that it encompasses Achilles, becoming a characteristic of this great warrior, influencing his actions and chooses throughout the story, such as leaving the fighting and considering the idea to return to Pythia. The depth of Achilles rage and hatred is demonstrated through in his response to Agamemnon, concerning the gifts he offered as compensation for his wrongs, saying that “not if his gifts outnumbered all the grains of sand and dust in the earth, no not even then could Agamemnon bring my fighting spirit round” (9.470-472). The true rage of Achilles is extremely important to the entire story of The Iliad, as from Book One through Book Nine Achilles allows this rage to control his actions, causing him to Achilles remains absent from the fighting as well as causing him to pray to Zeus that Trojans may receive the upper hand in the fighting so that the Greeks may suffer for Agamemnon’s actions. Therefore, this profound rage is an extremely important aspect of The Iliad, as it ultimately effects not only Achilles actions but also course of the

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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

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One of the major consequences of war is the horrific tragedies that occur. In the Iliad, in book eighteen, when Achilles hears that Hector killed Patroclus he is filled with rage and enters the war seeking vengeance. His rage causes him to kill hundreds of trojans and seek

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In Homer’s The Iliad, epic hero Achilles serves as an example of how rage, when unchecked, leads to disastrous repercussions. Achilles, though nearly superhuman in his physical abilities, struggles repeatedly to contain his anger. Throughout The Iliad, as Achilles’ fury compounds, the consequences of his actions become catastrophic, eventually leading to the death of his best friend, Patroclus. Although Achilles ultimately chooses to avenge Patroclus’ death and achieve his own kleos, or honor, his rage-driven actions lead to the death of many Achaean soldiers, and change the course of his fate.

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If I stay here and fight before the city of Troy, there will be no home- coming for me but my fame shall never die; if I go home to my native land, there will be no great fame for me, but I shall live long and not die an early death.” (Homer 110) This shows that he is selfishness and fearful at the same time of losing and dying in the war. In the very beginning of the Iliad, King Agamemnon and Achilles have an argument for a couple of different reasons. After, the Achians won a battle against a city that was allied with the Trojans each of them received a prize consisted of a young woman from the war.

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Also, although not describe in The Iliad, Achilles went to such extremes after killing Hector, that he even lost his own life in battle (Krause). Not suffering a valiant death as a result of the war, Achilles died once his pride consumed him and encouraged him to kill for entertainment. Completely controlling Achilles, the pride resulting from victory, combined with arrogance and anger create an epic downfall for the once worshiped

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Now I must go to look for the destroyer of my great friend. I shall confront the dark dear spirit of death at any hour Zeus and the other gods may wish to make an end (Q 65-68). Here, Achilles shows fearlessness and audacity in his acceptance of death. However, he accepted his fate, to avenge the killer of his friend Patroclus.

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Honor is one of the major themes in The Iliad. However the concept of honor in The Iliad is not the same as our current understanding of honor. Honor plays a key role in how the characters in the Iliad act, why they make certain decisions, and why the events in the Iliad occur the way they do. Nowadays, we refer to honor as an idea or concept which is closely related to fame, respect, reputation etc.

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Achilles is maddened and appeals to his goddess mother saying, “If I am to die soon, shouldn’t I have what I want?” Feeling only sorrow for her son, Thetis requests Zeus to cause to Greeks to lose until Achilles fights again. Slowly the Greeks are pushed back farther and Agamemnon pleads with Achilles, offering Briseis back. Achilles declines due to his pride and the Trojans come close to burn the Greek ships. Even when a ship was burning, Achilles refused to fight and instead sends out Patroclus.

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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.

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The epic poem, The Iliad written by Homer shows the conflicts and events that occurred between the Greeks and Trojans during the Trojan War. Among both sides there are warriors who follow a distinct code, known as the heroic code. This Heroic code helps portray the characteristics of the warriors and their perspective on war. This distinct code is composed of many elements such as arete, acceptance of fate, honour, excellence in war, leadership, courage and power. These traits are shown within the main warriors, Hector and Achilles throughout the epic war poem and helps to guide their decisions.

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Priam, King of Troy, falls to his knees in front of his subjects and weeps for his son. He begs his men to allow him to go out onto the battlefield, where he would most likely be killed, if only for a chance to beg Achilles for his son’s body. Hector’s mother weeps, “ Oh my child - my desolation! How can I go on living? What agonies must I suffer now, now you are dead and gone?”(22.507-508).

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In grief Achilles wants to fight Hector for what he did. Hector has two choices, either to fight Achilles or hide behind the walls of Troy. Hector exclainms doubtedly “What shall I do? If I retreat behind these walls, … And now that I have ruined them all by my rashness, I am ashamed to face the men and women of Troy, or some base fellows may say-Hector thought too much of his own strength, and ruined us all!”

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Iliad is recognized as one of the most famous ancient monuments of literature. The full understanding of this epic poem is hardly possible without thorough analysis of its main characters. Among all the episodes of the Trojan War, Homer chooses the moment of Achilles’ wrath and thus creates a poem in which he becomes the central figure. From the Ancient Greeks’ point of view, Achilles represents the ideal of manliness and pure heroism, for he is brave and fights for heroics, not profits. Today, one can agree with this interpretation, yet Achilles is probably the most controversial character because he combines various personality traits and acts in accordance with his ambiguous nature.

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