Summary Of A Champion Arms For Battle

A Champion Arms for Battle, from Book 19 of the Iliad by Homer, is flooded with figurative language and diction, which depict both the horrors and glories of war. The poem tells the tale of the mythical Greek hero, Achilles, as he and his fellow soldiers prepare to enter one of the last battles of the Trojan War.

Homer communicates the enormous size of the Greek army with a simile comparing the men to a swirling snowstorm from Zeus above. Threatening diction is presented in this first sentence through the words “thick-and fast,” “frozen sharp,” and “blasts.” The word choice presents the theme of war. Homer paints even the snow as being harsh and abrasive, thus making the men he compares the snow to also harsh and abrasive. The army is projected

Achilles is grinding his teeth and his “eyes blazed forth in searing points of fire.” The power radiating from Achilles is clear. Achilles is presented as super-human, referred to as “brilliant” and described with a tone of awe and respect. This unrealistic depiction of a man is representative of the expectation of soldiers. They are expected to push aside their most human emotions of compassion and empathy in order to kill the enemy. To commit such horrific acts of war, a soldier must transcend his humanity and ignore these

The armor “glistens” and is “glittering.” This paints a more glorious picture of war. Achilles armor has a sacred air about it since the god Hephaestus has forged it. It is well made and beautiful. The massive shield is compared in a simile to a “full round moon” “flashing far and wide.” It is “well-wrought and blazoned” and “gleaming bright as the light that reaches sailors out at sea.” Homer writes, “the horsehair crest shone like a star.” The glory of the armor connects to the glory and honor associated with war. In reality, armor is present to protect the men from the physical wounds of war. When the armor is referred to as “buoyant wings” it presents a want to be protects and saved, to fly away or be pulled up from the bloody mess of war. The armor represents the glories of war, but armor is only a façade. Therefore, the glories of killing and dying are only a covering for what is truly present: pain, suffering, grief, and