Morality In The Odyssey

Throughout life, regardless of a person’s belief system, a majority of the ideals and concepts that people come in contact with are categorized and defined based upon truth, goodness or beauty. Literature is no exception to this rule. Homer’s work of the Iliad provides a well-rounded perspective of truth because the several the characters demonstrate qualities that exemplify that they struggle with morality similarly to the rest of humanity, but situations are not always plainly painted black and white. Homer tends to demonstrate these walks along the fine line between right and wrong through the characters of Hector, Achilles and the gods, which leads to suggest his own personal perspective of morality. In the Iliad several of the characters

On multiple occasions throughout the poem, the idea is presented about the possible return of Helen to her husband in hopes that the fighting may end. In Book 3, Paris, insulted by Hector for being too much of a Casanova and not enough of a warrior, decides to challenge Menelaus to a dual to settle once in for all who will have Helen. While this may have seemed like a good idea, the gods become vested in the outcome, so they decide to interfere causing Helen to remain unreturned from her husband (Homer & Lombardo, 2000). Hector; despite the fact that he does not always agree with his brother’s motivations of actions, he remained loyal towards his brother. Paris chose to act on selfish desires instead of thinking about the long term repercussions, which is one example of his own morality issues. Hector seems to be one of the more selfless main characters within the Iliad because he was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save those he loved most, which is a significantly more admirable quality than Achilles or the gods demonstrated. It is through Hector’s personal sense of obligations and devotion that guides his priorities when it comes to taking the moral high ground within situations that he is faced