Glory In The Iliad Analysis

Immortality through Glory One of the most common tools writers use to put certain ideas into the spotlight is repetition. In Homer’s Greek epic, The Iliad, he applies the employment of repetition to the old horseman Nestor’s speeches. The context and tone of Nestor’s reiterated speeches serve as a window into Homer’s underlying message that in the context of war, glory is the key for men to gain some form of immortality. In order to demonstrate Homer’s message, Nestor’s speeches dial through two methods in which Nestor advises the Achaean men throughout the book. The first consists of speeches delivered in a nostalgic, prideful flavor as he speaks of his heroic past, using himself as an example. During Nestor’s first campaign “fighting Epeans over a cattle-raid”, he “charged their lines like a black tornado…[capturing] fifty chariots there, and each time two men bit the dust, crushed beneath [his] spear”

In Book 3, Hector spurs Paris by taunting and insulting him, calling him a “curse to [his] father, [his] city, and all of [his] people” for his lack of courage and perseverance (3.58). This prompts Paris to present the idea of a duel against Menelaus, in which they will “fight it out for Helen and all her wealth” (3.86). Other times, this fighting spirit is regained through leaders’ compliments and encouragement. Before the war begins again after the duel between Menelaus and Paris, Agamemnon was “quick to salute [Idomeneus] and sing his praises” (4.292). He urges Idomeneus to “be that fighter you claimed to be in all the years gone by,” which spurs Idomeneus to “cut down Phaestus” (5.48). Overall these different methods of advising lead the soldiers to fight in a way such that glory can be obtained, leading them to be another step closer to leaving their name in