The Iliad is primarily a war epic. In your view, is the Iliad a condemnation of the brutality of war, a celebration of the heroism that war can inspire, or an evenly developed examination of both of these aspects? Justify your answer with examples from the epic as well as from life. Your response should be a minimum of 100 words. Be mindful of grammar and spelling. You should also respond to at least 1 classmate with something more thoughtful than merely, "I agree. Great point."
25 Comments
Cody Starkel
9/11/2014 05:48:16 am
I believe that it is a mixture of both. It does show the brutality of war with the killing of Hector in such a violent manner. However, it also celebrates heroism because both of the characters are heroes. Hector is killed in a very violent manner, stabbed in the neck. He is then taken away and repeatedly stabbed and mangled, then thrown into the woods for the dogs to eat. This shows how brutal and horrible war is. At the same time though it is glorifying Achilles and also somewhat glorifying Hector. Achilles is given high praise and is talked about a lot and although doesn't follow all of the rules that a hero should follow, the story makes him out to be a heroic figure.
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Ashley Venable
9/12/2014 06:05:43 am
I agree that Achilles is known as a warrior and is heroic, but with the crime he committed and also breaking the trust of Hector, I do not think he really deserves the title of a hero. He may have some qualities, but not all of what require to be heroic. After Achilles gave Hector his word of not killing him viciously, he did anyways. He was a great warrior, not so much a great hero.
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Janell Johnson
9/13/2014 02:35:34 pm
I think that Achilles isn't much of a hero because he did give Hector his word that he would give Hector an honorable death but he didn't. Achilles might be a good warrior but in my opinion he is not much of a hero.
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Cole Hanken
9/14/2014 05:24:49 am
Yes Achilles doesn't follow the hero code but I still consider him a hero. Especially because he killed Hector. The only other person to look up to protect you is Achilles.
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Jaydon Evans
9/14/2014 02:17:11 pm
I think of Achilles as more of a villain figure. I think of him as a strong enemy to the heroes, not a hero at all.
Nicole Gieselman
9/11/2014 05:50:47 am
The "Iliad" glorifies heroes and their prowess in battle. It depicts characters like Hector and Achilles as shining beacons of what humans should strive to be: strong, swift, courageous, and honorable. They are the ancient Greek version of Marvel's larger-than life Avengers team. However, it also examines the horrors of war. The "Iliad" doesn't gloss over the tragic death of Patroclus. It doesn't hide that even champions like Achilles can be twisted with the hardships of war and commit crimes like the desecration of Hector's body. This epic poem does acknowledge that war changes people, mostly for worse. Like modern-day soldiers who return with amputated limbs or PTSD, or even the ones that don't return at all, the characters in Homer's "Iliad" will be forever changed by the Greek and Trojan war.
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Abby Hughes
9/14/2014 10:28:31 am
I like your reference towards the Avengers team. It gives people an idea of how Hector and Achilles were truly looked upon, just like the way people in the movies looked upon the Avengers team. Relating Achilles to "champions" in war gives a good insight on the effects war has on soldiers today. I agree with you that war twists and changes people for the worse.
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Ashley Venable
9/12/2014 06:01:47 am
The "Iliad" is an example of both war and heroism, by telling a tale about the struggles of being a hero and the effects of war. The main two characters, Achilles and Hector, are supposedly depicted as heroes, and expected to be the greatest set example of who a person should be. Both emotionally distraught and revengeful against each other, they both are caught up in a horrible battle to where Hector is slaughtered by Achilles, and Achilles breaks Hectors trust. In today's world, soldiers are to report to duty and do whatever it takes to protect their country. Many are proud to serve, and some go home safe but with tragic memories. Achilles was in the same mindset, he was victorious, but had horrific memories of the crime he committed.
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Michael McKinney
9/12/2014 06:05:52 am
The example you used for the real world is great! It directly compares how military is today to the brutal world of the early years in the world's history. I do think, though, that Achilles had very few thoughts of how bad a tragedy he had caused.
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Michael McKinney
9/12/2014 06:02:44 am
The Iliad is a combination of both brutal war aspects and Heroism. The brutality comes, first, from the death of Achilles' best friend after Hector mistakes him for being Achilles. When I hear the word, brutality, I think of blood and gory events, that is my life example. The second example of brutality is Hectors slaying by Achilles, I say "slaying" mainly due to the fact that after Hector was killed by the sword, his body was mutilated into many small pieces by Achilles' men and then paraded around the city as a trophy, leaving the separated body out for the dogs to eat. The small example of Heroism is Hector dying honorable, at least in my opinion, even though he did try to change fate and was quite over confident. In my eyes, a hero is somebody who works hard everyday, and is brave enough to do something that nobody else will do, something that is achieving and respected.
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Cassidy Wedel
9/12/2014 06:11:57 am
Your opinion of the small example of heroism Hector shows I agree with. He did die honorably, but he wasn't seen as a the hero, and the more brutal one, Achilles, was. This whole story is just a big example of the brutality of war in my opinion.
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Cassidy Wedel
9/12/2014 06:03:36 am
The " Iliad" to me is more of condemnation of the brutality of war. The way Achilles kills Hector is not only disturbing but brutal. The way the whole situation was handle was brutal and really shows the brutality of war. Hector was stabbed, and then thrown to the dogs. That's not very heroic at all. Even though Achilles is the so called "hero" because he won. His actions weren't heroic at all.That's how war is today. Soldiers coming back without limbs, and some not coming back at all.
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Cassidy Wedel
9/12/2014 06:07:16 am
(accidentally submitted without enough words) There is no hero in the 'Iliad" in my opinion. This whole story is based off war, and " who's gonna win?". The way it was handled was too extreme, and the results were horrifying. This really does shows the brutality of war.
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Camry Holle
9/14/2014 01:14:21 pm
I agree with you how the Iliad shows the brutality of war. Achilles definitely shows the brutality of war when he killed Hector.
Adam Rush
9/12/2014 06:09:08 am
I believe the Iliad glorifies both heroism and the brutality of war. In the story Hector heroically fights Achilles until the end while knowing what his fate would be. I do not think Achilles is a great example of heroism, because he did not follow the code of conduct that heros followed at that time. In my opinion Achilles is the one who brings the most brutality to the story because of the manner in how he handled him self after Hector was dead. Meaning how he had his men desecrate Hectors body and how Achilles fed Hectors mangled body to the dogs.
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Janell Johnson
9/13/2014 02:21:50 pm
I believe that the “Iliad” is a combination of both heroism and brutal war. In the battle that Hector thought he had killed Achilles but he had actually killed Achilles best friend because he had saw Achilles armor. After Achilles found out that Hector had killed his best friend he wanted revenge on Hector, so when Hector’s fate was to die Achilles didn’t give Hector the “heroic death” that he was suppose to get. Although, Hector did die a hero in my opinion because he did try to change his destiny, and Hector had fought to his death for his country. In today’s world most soldiers that go into battle will fight to their death for their country.
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Cacey Winter
9/14/2014 05:23:12 am
I love that you included a note that Hector killed Achilles' best friend. I feel that made Achilles' actions more personal. Your example to today's soldiers really ties today's world to past times in my opinion.
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Cacey Winter
9/14/2014 05:16:09 am
To me, the Illiad is a well blended mix of both. It goes through the aspects of how cruel war can be by Hector being violently killed and then his body being chopped up and fed to dogs. Today things like that still happen in war. For the heroism aspect, I think to Hector's death. He knew pretty quickly he was going to die but he fought on anyway, though maybe too confidently. He was still quite brave under the circumstances. He understood that he could not change his fate and continued on. Achilles was seen more as a hero to the people because he survived the battle and was talked about much more. It seems as though the one who was killed is viewed as a coward and dishonorable.
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Cole Hanken
9/14/2014 05:21:07 am
I believe it is a mixture of both. It shows the brutality of war and the heroism of the characters. It shows the brutality when Achilles shows so much hate towards Hector when he kills him. Achilles is looked at as a hero by everyone even though he doesn't follow the hero code.
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Nathan Nutter
9/14/2014 06:00:08 am
I believe it is a little bit of heroism and the brutality of war in the story. When Achilles killed Hector and had his body , he wanted to do anything and everything bad to it. Achilles was mad at Hector, and wanted revenge , and went to whatever measures it was to get it. this shows when it comes to Achilles. They went out in style not running but standing there and fighting to the death. That makes them heros
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Abby Hughes
9/14/2014 10:21:33 am
The "Iliad", in my opinion, is a combination of both the brutality of war and heroism. The two main characters, Hector and Achilles, are looked upon as important figures whom everyone should aim to be with attributes such as courage and bravery. These qualities are greatly needed in war and Hector and Achilles definitely possess them. Not only does this epic poem honor heroes, it also portrays the mental and physical struggles and hardships that war can cause. As Achilles kills Hector and desecrates the body, we the readers gain the knowledge that there is no such thing as a true winner in war. Just like Achilles, soldiers today will change for the worse. War's effect on people is horrific and there shouldn't be celebration for it.
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Camry Holle
9/14/2014 01:10:33 pm
I think that the "Iliad", in my opinion is a combination of both heroism and the brutality of war. Hector and Achilles, both have traits of heroism. However, the "Iliad" also shows how war can be brutal. For example, Achilles killing Hector. The book tells you how Achilles kills Hector which shows the brutal side of war. War is not meant to be pretty. War can also bring out the ugly side in people but also bring out the heroic side of people also. War changes people for the worst. Most soldiers’ that come back from war their personalities change.
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Dalyn Chapman
9/14/2014 01:41:14 pm
"War is not meant to be pretty" was a good statement used for this. War really isn't pretty and will never be a pretty site. I agree with you on how war changes people for the worst. Over all you made some really great points and I agree with all of them.
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Dalyn Chapman
9/14/2014 01:38:20 pm
Illiad shows both heroism and the brutality of war. Both Hector and Achilles show heroism but it also shows how the war was brutal. There are many examples that show this but for one example is when Achilles kills hector. Heroism for example is shown when Hector realizes that he's been running away all this time and now that he is caught he has no other choice than to die. Now a day soldiers come back changed men. War changes everyone.
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Jaydon Evans
9/14/2014 02:14:48 pm
These are both points that a reader could take from the story. I can see both. It is a condemnation of war in that it shows Achilles and his anger he has, and his lust for revenge. It makes war seem horrible and you start thinking "none of this would've happened if...". On the opposing side it is a celebration of war because that's what the whole passage we read was about. The story also goes into deep detail glorifying the hate found in Achilles, and many other elements of war. The story has both elements in it, it just depends on the readers personal opinion of war.
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