Duty And Honor In The Iliad

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

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