iliad themes

• Anger


  The theme of anger throughout the Iliad highlights the importance that anger has on an individual's humanity, identity and consequence, and it is shown through the pure consumption of this anger
• Achilles' anger


  Leads to his own nature being discovered, an explanation that he is mortal rather than divine
• Achilles' anger manifests the godlike part of his nature
• The anger of Achilles demonstrates the limits of mortality
• Achilles


  • At the beginning of the Iliad, he behaves like an insulted deity, where Agamemnon accepts offers but Achilles doesn't in fear of the idea of death
  • There are clear parallels with Apollo, as both go on to send a plague when feeling insulted
• The first line of the epic 'Sing, Goddess, the wrath of Achilles, peleus's son' emphasises that Achilles is the son of a mortal man and that we will always be limited by our mortality
• Views on whether Achilles' anger is justified


  • For the beginning of the epic it can be argued that Achilles' anger was justified
  • However the anger for the rest of the epic is unjustified due to the unnecessary hatred and wrath that he inflicts to those around him
  • The continuous anger is inevitable due to the poem starting with this divine sense of anger towards Achilles
• Rapin believed that 'Achilles is a petty and emotional child'
• Graziosi believed that Achilles' anger is not all justified but it has certain aspects that could be nothing but justified
• As a modern reader, do you think Achilles' anger was justified?


  Achilles' anger over being dishonoured by Agamemnon was nothing but justified, however the refusal and acceptance of the honour that Agamemnon tried to right was not justified and led to unnecessary anger and consequences. The anger and wrath of Achilles in regards to receive the revenge of Patroclus's death can be argued to be justified however the treatment and disrespect Achilles showed towards Hector's body can only be said to be unjustified and therefore Achilles' anger stops him from seeing the act of revenge from the act of dishonour
• Consequences of Achilles' anger


  • It led to destruction, death and suffering to all those around him, with the act of dishonour from Agamemnon, Achilles left the wars leading to the death of the Greek warriors as a 'punishment' for the lack of honour he received and the anger he felt towards the action, when Patroclus died his anger then led to the death of the Trojan warriors. It can also be argued that the consequences of Achilles' anger also led to the suffering of himself
• Does Achilles' anger diminish his heroism?


  Achilles' anger does not necessarily diminish his heroism but it does prevent him from restoring or even increasing that heroism, and it can be said that his angry desire for revenge seems to trump the idea of Kleos and Time and the idea that he only acts heroically when it suits his anger can be seen throughout the epic
• Role of other characters' anger


  • Agamemnon's anger was for mainly plot development but also to contrast to Achilles, and the gods' anger was to act as foils for mortal equivalents as the gods are said to never 'cross the line into self-destructive behaviour, divine anger was the main plot development (Apollo and the plague)
• Reconciliation


  The factors that contribute to successful reconciliation are: the initial attempt to gain reconciliation in book 9 did not work due to Achilles' pride, the successful reconciliation is because of his change of psychology after Patroclus's death, Achilles' anger encouraged his reconciliation, the reconciliation between Achilles and Priam was possible due to the link that was already there
• Most important reconciliations


  • Book 1 → attempts to make peace from the quarrels among the Gods
  • Book 9 → Agamemnon's attempt to make peace with Achilles
  • Book 19 →Achilles' reconciliation with Agamemnon
  • Book 24 → Achilles' reconciliation with Priam and himself
• Griffin (1980) says that the reconciliation between Priam and Achilles allows great opponents to meet at a level from which they can see 'the fundamental condition of the life of man: to suffer and die'
• Does reconciliation bring resolution?


  Book 19 reconciliation resolves the quarrel started in book 1, Book 24 reconciliation resolves Achilles' thirst for revenge and vengeance, it also brings an end to Achilles' anger, Book 24 brings closure to the Trojans, especially Hector's family as it assures the hero a fitting funeral. Even though these reconciliations bring resolution the war still goes on and the anger of Achilles may be over, but the fundamental tragedy persists, even after the final reconciliation the Trojans keep watch for attacks
• Divine anger


  • Prominent examples of divine reconciliation occur at Books 1, 4, 16 and (more implicitly) 24, it serves as a foil for the human action, in which the human fall-out between Agamemnon and Achilles is shown up for all of its unnecessary and tragedy actions and consequences, to conclude the plot, the implied reconciliation among the gods in Book 24 helps to round off the story by emphasising the theme of reconciliation
• Homeric heroism


  Modern understanding of heroism range from the superhero idea of endurance of suffering or dedication to a cause, however Homeric understanding of a hero was much narrower and more precise, Homeric heroes were indeed 'supermen' but in the sense that they were regarded as 'better' in terms of strength and closeness to the Gods. Homeric understanding was due to the age in which they lived in. Hesiod, a rough contemporary of Homer, articulates the underlying ideas explaining ever since it's beginning, mankind has become ever weaker as through the generations it has drifted further from the origins with the Gods. The age of Heroes belong to the stage in mankind's evolution just before our own
• To be a Homeric hero


  • One had to belong to the 'right' age and complete other conditions that Homer indicated in the Iliad. They had to be a great warrior, being both male and aristocratic, since no women or non-aritocrats are presented as sharing the attributes of the great warrior of the story. They also was expected to adopt a particular view of life which scholars today call ' the heroic code'. Even at the cost of their lives heroes seek Klēos – glory or renown – which they earn through battle, the assembly and other great public acts. They also seek timē – honour – through the respect of others that sustain their sense of self-worth, whilst doing all they can to avoid aidōs – shame. This means that at core, Homeric heroism is essentially selfish in nature, and is solely about the individual and that other values such as family values are important but do not come close to the notion of heroism
• Before modern scholarship made progress in understanding heroism in light of the original cultural context, critics of the text interpreted it's heroes purely in terms of their own expectations of heroism
• Distinguishing between heroic values and heroic behaviours


  From the core values of kleos and time come all the behaviours that we associate with Homeric Heroes, such as courageous actions, obedience to orders, honouring ones word, protecting one's friends and where appropriate seeking vengeance. But where the values demand it, unusual behaviours emerge
• The plot can be seen to really drive for vengeance: Book 1-16 → Achilles avenging himself for Agamemnon's dishonour, Book 18-24 → Achilles avenging himself on Hector's actions of killing Patroclus. The plot beyond Achilles: Hera and Athena seeking revenge for the judgement of Paris, Apollo seeking vengeance for treatment of Chryses and Chryseis, Book 16-17: warriors seeking vengeance
• Romantic view of Homer's presentation of war


  Romantic readers tended to dislike Homer's presentation of war and thought he was glorifying violence rather than showing the true tragedy of war
• Blake described the heroes of classical epics such as the Iliad as 'silly Greek and Latin slaves of the sword' and strongly showed a dislike for what he described as 'book after book of butchery'
• Book 4, 16, 17 shows Homer's apparent love for glory imagery to provide entertainment and to pay tribute to the glory of warriors
• Book 4 and 16 shows the use of dark humour in the context of killing, indicating that war is entertaining
• The Iliad shows Homer's interest in warriors and warrior virtues
• Harrison had a multivalent view, passages are conveyed in different ways such as: realism, tragic, glorious and comic as there was multiple Homers
• Is the Romantic view wrong?


  The Romantics believed that Homer glorifies war and in some cases makes it humorous and 'entertaining', however Homer's presentation of war can be argued to be tragic due to the key details of his characters. In book 4, Homer described the battle commencing with a sympathetic nature towards those who are suffering, this shows that he has a deep longing sympathy for those involved with war and therefore it shows he clearly does not find all aspects of war humorous. In book 18, Homer described the shield of Achilles where he meticulously depicts war as destructive and not glorious. In book 6, Hector meets his family and shows the bonds of those by blood and friends and then in Book 22, the very family are shown to grieve for Hector's death. In book 22, Priam's summarises the evils of war in his first speech showing that these Heroes involved with the war look with fear, shame and sorrow at the consequences of war. In book 24, the war and it's anxieties continue, despite the reconciliation
• Could Homer have presented war as both glorious and tragic?


  There is evidence to support both the Romantic perspective and the opposing view, this could mean that both views could be considered to be right or to have certain aspects of truth
• Southey complained about the relentless focus on warrior and killing, in which he described as 'wearying' and 'useless'
• Linking themes: war and death

  Death is certainly important to the Iliad and is mentioned prominently in the proem of Book 1. it recurs as a theme repeatedly throughout the text, which tell of 240 battlefield deaths in total these names are given to express Kleos, name is a form of proof. Resisting the dehumanisation of war. It gives the individual identity. The main plot revolves around this theme of death: Achilles' anger leads to the death of both Greeks and Trojans, the death of Patroclus ultimately leads to the death of both Greeks, Trojans, Hector and Achilles himself. The themes of death is strongly linked to the theme of war, if someone views Homer's ideas of war as tragic they will probably argue that he views death as mainly tragic too, but is someone views Homer's ideas of war as mostly of a matter of glory, than they will probably will focus on how he shows glory through death too
• Is death important to the Iliad's meaning?


  Griffin 1980 suggests that the meaning of the poem revolved around what he considered to be the central question posed by the text: 'what is it to be a hero?' He suggests that Homeric duels are designed so as to place emphasis on the core issue: the hero facing death at the hand of another hero and so needing to find 'greatness' within in order to triumph. I believe that due to the contextual knowledge gained from the Iliad about the exploration of the limits of mortal life, that it would give a more precise answer on what it is to be a hero as those limits are tested and shown that a hero is not only great in life
• Homer's Iliad can be argued to be an early nature of 'know yourself' and that it highlights the limit of human nature
• Why does Homer present death graphically?


  Possible reasons include the drive for tragic effect, simple realism and an attempt to entertain the audience. Tragedy → the idea that the gore manifest the awfulness of the killing. Showing the effects of war. Entertainment → Homer might have wanted to entertain the audience with the scenes of bloodshed, this is what the romantics assumed. Simple realism → Graziosi 2016 rejects the previous reason to suggest that Homer simply wants to tell battle as it is. Explores human nature
• Teleology → human life is oriented to something that gives it purpose
• Does Homer present death as depressing?


  Book 22 + 24 → laments for Hector's death are given no hopeful answers, Book 24 → Achilles clearly states that it is human to suffer and die, and describes suffering as evil. Book 24 → Achilles also mentions no one has a life of blessings only. Book 1 → the gods show us by contrast the misery of being 'mere mortals', Book 17 → Zeus pities Achilles' mortal horse, because it must suffer through serving a mortal man, Book 18 → Thetis laments her ladies: to be implicated in mortality by her marriage to Peleu
• Homer presents death as depressing
• Book 22 and 24 have laments for Hector's death that are given no hopeful answers