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Honor In The Iliad

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What lesson can you take from Homer?

Homer’s works are classics not only because they are written so eloquently and tell of epic heroes, they have a lasting endurance because they are tales of honor. The Iliad is a story of war, heroes, and honor driven by Achilles’s jealousy from having his sense of honor disrespected by having to give Agamemnon Briesis after the sacking of a Trojan city because Chryseis’s father asked the god Apollo to curse the Greeks if his daughter was not returned.
The events that lead to the beginning of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans is also based upon honor—the honor of Menelaus, king of the Spartans. The Spartan queen, Helen, was kidnapped by a Trojan prince named Paris, which lead to a war between the Greeks and Trojans led by Agamemnon, brother to the king of Sparta, and king of Mycenae (ch. 3-2a). This is another example of one’s honor being attacked, this time a king having his queen stolen from him, much like when Achilles has Briesis stolen from him. …show more content…

This is an example of how honor played a central role in Homer’s works, but this time showing how the desecration of honor can lead a hero down a dark

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