Plato And The Iliad Analysis

Plato’s time which was the classical age of Greece, you would have encountered a new cultural hero Known as Philosophers king. During this period Homers Heroism (way of life) or warriors did not occupy the highest level of achievement rather they were replaced by new type heroism that encompasses knowledge and thinking, where society was not based on man and his actions but was replaced men of thought. This was the great transformation on western thought from men of actions to men of thought which Nietzsche called genuine antagonism. Nietzsche Believed like Homer that there is only one world and Plato believed that there are two worlds which has led to many Philosophical problems. Plato Academy which was first school imparting knowledge and

is the story of the Trojan War. The poem is considered to be an epic to the Greeks. Homers work reverberate so much with the Greeks that they based their way of life, their priorities and even their philosophies off of it. This is same Greece that Plato was born into and lived in. Homeric was the mindset of all of their contemporaries during this time. Plato saw the lasting and influential effect that Homer had on the people and realized the deficiencies that remained. Plato’s Republic was, therefore a response to Homer Plato where he wanted to remake Greece in his own way of thinking. Homer Iliad describes how Ancient Heroes lived. Homeric world view was a two dimensional based on a society which is bound by roles and rules. There is no perspective for mind or

A man place in the society and the duties that he follows are determined by his status. The Central theme in heroic society is power expressed through action. A man in heroic society is what he does and man and his actions are the same. To judge a man is to judge his actions. Ancient heroes lived and died for power and glory and this is what bought honor to their families. He knows his role and what to do in face of the enemy and how to relate other warriors and camp followers. There is clear understanding of standards and ranks. You are judged by your actions and can’t blame anybody but yourself. Performance and results is what matters and no excuses are accepted. Most people disagree with this view. They have allowed people with poor performance to get away without any consequences by letting them blame someone else’s actions. They believe that there lurks in humans a hidden source of actions, someone pulling the strings of actions. This I argue is what Plato gift was to our Modern times. The introduction of mind, soul, psyche, are used to blame for your actions. I disagree with this view because mind, soul can’t be used as an excuse to get away with poor performance and agree with homer view that you