The Iliad was an ancient and well know epic poem written by the famous ancient Greek poet Homer. Homer as well wrote The Odyssey; these two epic poems are still told to this day and make impacts of his tales to this day. The Iliad epic poem was set to be told around the Trojan War time and told of the battle between Troy and the Greeks when the Greek came to attack the town of Troy. The constant argument is between the two is who is evil and who was good. Some would find it difficult to decide when it comes to this choice but, both sides equally have good and negative qualities about them.
When you think of a hero, you will think of them having qualities like; being strong, brave, and doing what is best for the ones around them. But these big heroes we may know or wish to know can also have flaws and face hard times, Just like Achilles when he lost his best friend Patroclus it was a definite loss for this hero to lose someone so close to him, but at the end he could have definitely handled the death of his friend differently. When it came to Homer writing this poem, he really shows us the value of different definitions of a good life and where the human mind can go. Peace and good in the world can be the key to a successful or a not so successful life.
The Trojan War had first begun when King Priam of Troy’s son by the name of Paris, decided to kidnap Helen from Menelaus. Who was a Greek and a brother of Agamemnon, who was the King of Mycenae. Achilles was known as the hero of the Trojan War and was also known as one of the greatest heroes in the Greek mythology. Achilles was born into a very well-known family of heroes. Achilles mother was the immortal Nereid Thetis, and his father was the mortal Peleus king of the Myrmidons. With Achilles being born into a very well-known family it made him very confident and made him feel as if he had extreme powers.
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Achilles however did have powers that he was given by his mother, his family had taken him and dipped him in the river of Styx which then made him very immortal. With given these powers Achilles felt unstoppable, especially when it came to his role in the Trojan War. But Achilles of feeling like a super human is short lived when Hector kills Achilles closes and dearest friend Patroclus. With, his best friend died Achilles only feels like the war between the Trojans, and the Greeks has just begun.
Achilles knew in his mind the coward he could be, he would speak “Yea, for I should be called the coward and man of naught, if I yield thee in every matter, howsoe’er throu bid.” (Homer pg. 6). The dichotomy portrayed in this story has been displayed as there are two different visions and versions of the “good life.” When it came to how Achilles and Hector acted with one another and how Achilles had killed Hector, both could have taken the choice to create a life of peace between one another, the feeling of justice, and having respect for one another as human beings and the humanity of their town. Throughout, history creating peace and having word powers that want to get along together has always been an issue. In today’s, time one major one is; the fight over nuclear weapons.
This has been an ongoing issue for decades, nuclear weapons have brought a mass amount of controversy and damage throughout history. “The only Middle Eastern state that refused to sign the NPT and the only Middle Eastern state thus far to have development nuclear weapons is Israel. While Israel has never formally acknowledged that it possesses nuclear weapons, there is a widespread consensus among arms control experts that Israel has up to 200 nuclear warheads complemented with sophisticated medium-range missiles.” (Zunes). Just like in The Iliad when the Greeks came into Troy and angered many of the Trojans, many people in the Middle East and other parts of the world were not and are still not happy with how the United States has handled nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons are also been known to be used during the Cold War. “America’s overwhelming conventional and nuclear arsenals provide an effective deterrent to their actual use, as was the case during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, which possessed thousands of nuclear weapons and sophisticated delivery systems. (Zunes). When it comes to both sides, tensions were tight and if either side tried an attack like how Achilles did it would have escalated like it did for the Trojans and The Greeks.
No matter the time era in our history, trying to create a life of peace has been an issue that a lot of people for a seem to be a constant issue. Not everyone can be pleased with the decisions one makes. Just like Achilles losing his friend Patroclus losing his friend made him feel as if his world around him was collapsing, so by that the only way he felt he could seek revenge is by killing the man who killed his friend, Hector. Glory can sometimes be short lived, Achilles had the choice to either have a long life where he would not be praised and have glory, or he could have chosen the not so long life but have the praise he had always wished for. Peace has away of making it appearances in our life in the most mysterious ways. The choice we must decide is if we want to live the good life or live in a life of constant fight or flight. Achilles will always be considered a hero even though he had done bad, he will always live by the heroic code of that time era, he has earned this by perusing the personal honor above any Greek.
Work Cited
- Zunes, Stephen. ‘Nuclear Weapons.’ World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2019, worldatwar2.abc-clio.com.gmclibrary.idm.oclc.org/Search/Display/758331. Accessed 26 Jan. 2019.
- MLA (Modern Language Assoc.)
- Homer. Iliad. Trajectory, Inc, 2014.
- Jones, Brian Madison. ‘Nuclear Arms Race: Cold War.’ World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2019, worldatwar2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1272009. Accessed 27 Jan. 2019.
