The Iliad
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Poetry, as has been remarked on more than one occasion, is a metaphorical expression of life - and "War," says Thucydides, "is a violent teacher" (xxix). What better way to express the lessons of life that history encompasses than via the medium of epic poetry? This is what the ancient Greeks thought when considering Homer's Iliad (Knox 23). Indeed, even in the work of the seminal Greek historian Thucydides, credited by contemporary historians with "sweep[ing] myth away from old stories" (Woodruff ix), the comparison is made that his History of the Peloponnesian War bears strong resemblance to creations of the "tragic poets" (Woodruff ix). Taking the Greek orientation to history and epic poetry as a starting point, then, it is not a difficult stretch of the imagination to consider this proposition: What Athens was to the Peloponnesian War, Achilles was in The Iliad. Homer is our primary source for the Trojan War; Thucydides is the primary source for accounts of the Peloponnesian War. From the perspective of these two writers' works, the Achilles-to-Athens portrayal appears an accurate comparison. It will be the purpose of this paper to examine how the poetic metaphor supports the historical interpretation. A few assumptions and qualifiers must be established at the outset. For the purpose of argument, it will be assumed that Homer is a single, historical persona. This is the consensus opinion among literary researchers, but it is by no means unanimous (Knox 8-10).
. . .
iend, Patrocles, to go into battle without his support, where Patrocles is killed. In a rage now directed against the Trojans, Achilles wreaks horrible vengeance upon them - "Die, Trojans, die/ Till I butcher all the way to sacred Troy" (Iliad 21: 146-147) - revenge far beyond ordinary rules of battle. It is an action that leads him to kill the Trojan's prince-general, Hector, despite the fact that Achilles knows that he is foreordained to die himself shortly after Hector does. The self-interest of Achilles' pride, then, leads to his self-destruction.
Thucydides, in analyzing Athens' eventual defeat in The History of the Peloponnesian War, also sees through the sham of an "honorable war" that masks destructive self-interest. Personally, Thucydides was allied with the Athenians' Delian League against the Spartans and their allies in the Peloponnesian League; he was a general charged with the failed defense of the city of Amphipolis (Woodruff xi), Thucydides' account of Athens' behavior, however, is not flattering, and strikes a remarkably similar note to that of Achilles' actions in The Iliad.
The great lawlessness that grew everywhere in the city [Athens] began with this... they dared to do freely things they would have
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Peloponnesian War, Amphipolis Woodruff, Delian League, Achaeans Trojans, Trojan War, League Athens, Troy Iliad, Bronze Age, Achilles Athens, War Thucydides, peloponnesian war, history peloponnesian war, history peloponnesian, delian league, thucydides' history, human nature, thucydides iii, achilles athens, trojan war, thucydides' account, thucydides' history peloponnesian, iliad translated robert, account peloponnesian, homer iliad translated, translated robert fagles,
Approximate Word count = 1765
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
More Essays on The Iliad
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
