Theme Of Honor In The Iliad

Honor is one of the major themes in The Iliad. However the concept of honor in The Iliad is not the same as our current understanding of honor. Honor plays a key role in how the characters in the Iliad act, why they make certain decisions, and why the events in the Iliad occur the way they do. Nowadays, we refer to honor as an idea or concept which is closely related to fame, respect, reputation etc. However, in The Iliad, honor is not an idea, but something material. Honor is a material representation of one’s achievements and greatness. This concept of honor being material is first seen in Book 1 of the Iliad, when Agamemnon does not want to give Chryseis back to her father. He obtained her as a prize of war, and giving her back to her father

Because honor is obtained by taking something away from someone, one way to get honor is by dishonoring someone else. We see this when Agamemnon tells Achilles to give him Briseis if he wants him to give up Chryseis. Agamemnon says, “But if they give me nothing I will take a prize myself — your own, or Ajax’ or Odysseus’ prize” (Book 1, line 161). Agamemnon expects to be given someone else’s prize or honor in return for giving up his own honor, Chryseis. Honor can also be given up in return for ransom. Chryses attempts this in the beginning by offering a great sum of money to Agamemnon in exchange for his daughter. Chryses begs Agamemnon, “Just set my daughter free…accept these gifts, this ransom” (line 22). Chryses offers an exchange of money for Agamemnon’s prize or honor. This kind of exchange could have happened, since both money and honor are material goods; nonetheless, Agamemnon refuses. If we consider honor as material, then honor can be postposed. We see this taking place when Achilles is trying to convince Agamemnon to give the girl back to her father. He says in line 150, “We Achaeans will pay you back…if Zeus will grant us the gift, somehow, someday, to raze Troy’s massive ramparts to the ground.” Achilles is offering to repay for his honor later on, when they conquer Troy. Agamemnon refuses again, however, this shows

Achilles is seen to be full of wrath in the beginning of the book. This wrath is not caused only because Agamemnon takes his prize of war. He is angry at the system which allows Agamemnon to play around with other people’s honors and the system which allows him to decide who gets how much honor. In other words, Achilles does not like the idea that someone else can decide what happens to his honor, despite him deserving most of the honor in relation to how much he contributes in war. As the story proceeds, Achilles seems to contradict himself a lot, and the concept of honor helps us understand this better. This behavior is seen most clearly in book 9, when Achilles is asked to fight in the war again. In several parts, Achilles acts or speaks as if he does not care for honor, however he keeps reminding those around him that Agamemnon dishonored him. When Achilles rejects the request of the Achaeans, he says in line 386, “The same honor waits for the coward and the brave. They both go down to Death.” Achilles is implying that no matter how much death or honor one gets, he is bound to die in the end, so honor has no meaning. However, a few lines later he talks again of the way in which Agamemnon took his prize and his honor. Achilles is inconsistent throughout his thoughts and arguments. Similarly he speaks of how he loved Briseis, but later refers to her as a