Revenge Theme In The Iliad And The Odyssey

Revenge theme in the Iliad and the Odyssey
The Iliad and the Odysseus are epic poems of Ancient Greek, which are defined as central works of Ancient Greek literature. The Iliad, sometimes referred to as “Song of Ilion” is about a war between two groups, which are the Achaeans and the Trojans. A reason for this war was that Paris, a prince of Troy had taken the most beautiful woman in world, which was a wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta. Due to this steal, Menelaus decided to avenge and take Helen back. He teamed up with his brother Agamemnon king of Mycenae then attacked Troy with their great army. Odyssey is an epic about journey home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, after a fall of Troy. It took Odysseus 20 years to reach his home country.

In Iliad, the first revenge action was made by Menelaus, the king of Sparta. He enraged and decided to take a revenge from the Trojans, because of loss of his wife, Helen. When he went to war, plenty of his companions joined him, such as Achilles, the leader of the Myrmidons, Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, Ajax the Greater, the king of Salamis, etc. After that, in book 16, Achilles lends Patroclus his armor, sends him off with a stern admonition to not to pursue the Trojans. However, Patroclus ignoring Achilles’ command, pursues and reaches the gates of Troy and is killed by Hector. As a result, Achilles fills with such a grief and rage that he rejoin battle. After slaying many Trojans and fighting God of river Xanthus, Achilles slays Hector. Then he lashes his body to back of his chariot and drags it across the battlefield to Achaean camp. That was the second revenge action, which happens in the Iliad. Additionally, in the last day of the battle, Paris, the prince of Troy shot an arrow in Achilles’ heel and killed him. In the myth, Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel, because when his mother Thetis dipped him in a river Styx, which is the river that forms boundary between the Earth and the Underworld, she held him by one of his heels. According to the “Revenge” theme in the Iliad, avenging for someone or something can be start and end of something

Not only they made poems readable, but also they have commitment to make them unforgettable. In addition, majority of people’s view on revenge can be repulsed. People believe that avenging is waste of time and backfire. However, from conclusion of Iliad, it can be start of something great. By the way, in ancient Greek culture, vengeance was normal and sometimes it was encouraged by others. Ancestors from Ancient Greek thought that revenge was form of justice and that was of prime importance as a means of survival for the people of early