Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The Role of the Hero
In ancient cultures, heroes were those men who embodied the values of their civilizations. What is one value the Greek civilians held that Achilleus possessed? Or, what is a characteristic of Hektor's that the Trojan culture revered? And why? Provide textual evidence to support your claim.
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Achilleus embodied the Greek hero. He was a great warrior who honored his commitment to Menelaus by fight the Trojans. He was not perfect, though. He got in a dispute with his commander Agammenon over "spoils of war" (a woman). Many of the ancient listeners would have identified with Achilleus's quest for honor and glory. After Achilleus's close companion Patroklos was slain, he realized his mistake and returned to the fight. His only moment of dishonor was the mistreatment of Hektor's body after he had slain Hektor. In Greece, the hero also had something more than ordinary men. Achilleus was never defeated in open battle, and he was nearly invincible, being only vulnerable in his Achilles heel. When Achilles had caught up to Hektor he "charged, the heart within him loaded with savage fury." This exemplifies the honorable nature of Achilleus. That was one of the most important parts of a hero according to the ancient Greeks. He defended his honor and that of his people at all cost.
Hektor has one thing that many people wish to posses. That is courage. When at first Protroklos came out in the battle field with Achilleus's armour, all of the men started to run. Hektor though, said for evryone to stay and kill him. In the end they kill Protroklos and Hektor gets to have his armour. Many of his men probably want to have this characteristic that Hektor posseses. Then the next time when the real Achilleus came out, he said not to back away. Although Achilleus ends up killing Hektor, at least he had the courage to tell his men to stay and in the end turn and face Achilleus himself.
Achilleus was seen by the Greeks as the epitome of greatness--with good reason. He was strong, fast, determined, and above all honorable. He continued with his promise to fight the Trojans, stopping only when his honor was violated, and returning after he realized that the honor of his people was more important than his own. He refuses to allow other men in his army to throw projectiles at Hektor as the chase between the two unfolds, wanting the glory and honor for himself of killing Hektor in an open fight. In the course of the full Iliad, Achilleus is eventually slain--albeit by an arrow aimed by the gods themselves at his only vulnerable spot, which was his heel. The ancient Greeks would have approved of the sentiments Achilleus carried with him all of his life, which in their minds are the characteristics of a true hero.
Achilleus was the ideal Greek hero. He was strong, a leader in the army, and seemed to be indestructible. This can be seen when he is referred to throughout the text as "Achilleus of the swift feet". At the beginning of the Iliad, Achilleus has withdrawn from the battle because he was insulted. Eventually, after his dear friend Patroklos, was killed, he comes back to fight. This also showed how much of a hero he was. He didn't just give up, he came back to fight. When Achilleus is in battle, nobody seems to be able to kill him, giving him another characteristic of a Greek hero. At the end of the story, Achilleus is slain, by the gods themselves, but this only makes him more of a hero because heroes are supposed to die for their cause.
During Greek times a man's place was on the battle field. Achilleus honored his place. He was more than the ordinary man in the respect of that he was strong and almost invincible. He honored the war and knows he owes his land his life. In book XVIII Achilleus knowing he is going to die still goes into battle because it is what his people do. He is so heroic and understands that he must give his life for his people. In his eyes there is no greater death that one given in the mist of the battle field.
Of the many attributes Achilleus possesses, honor affects the epic the greatest. Were it not for his honor, Achilleus would have never come back to the fighting. Although Achilleus was extremely angy at Agamemmon, he states, "Still we will let all this be a thing of the past, and for our sorrow beat down by force the anger deeply within us. Now I shall go, to overtakethe killer of a dear life, Hector..."
Achilleus refuses to rest until he has revenged Patroklos's death. There are several reasons the Greeks would embody this feature of Achilleus. One, If the Greeks felt someone had done wrong to them, in this case Patroklos's death, they would want revenge. Therefore, a hero, Achilleus, comes riding to the rescue to save the day. Two, the Greeks saw their heroes as galant people, not hot headed fools. If Achilleus had never returned to battle, this is exactly what he would have been considered. Instead, like a hero, Achilleus forgets all his troubles behind him for the sake of a friend. And frankly, is that not what we all want our heroes to be like?
Throughout all of the books of The Iliad we have read, there has been one person who stood out as a hero. Achillieus was brave, noble, and fought for his people. He did take a little bit of a break in the middle from all of the fighting because he was shamed by his brawl with Agammenon, but eventually he got back on his swift-feet and got revenge from Hecktor. He needed that break to realize that he needed to fight because he had to. He didn't have a choice. He needed to fight to get over Patrokolus's death. But out of all of the characters, Achillius is the most heroic. He is also the one that has the most similar qualities to a person today. Many men join the military to show their own self-strength, not necessesaruly to prove themseleves to anybody. That is what Achilleus did. He got back on the batttle field for himself, not to prove that he could to anybody. That is a quality that Greeks liked in their heroes.
"I for my part did not come here for the sake of the Trojan spearman to fight against them since to me they have done nothing" (The Illiad, I, 148-150).
Achilleus was the true definition of the Greek hero. Possibly his best quality is his strength. He respected his people and fought for his community. In addition, he was a courageous and fierce warrior in battle. His was trong-willed when he was insulted in the Trojan War. However, he realizes only after his dear friend Patroklos was killed that he belongs in the battle. It took a great amount of strength to return to battle after Patrokolas was slain. In the end, Achilleus is fatally injured by an arrow shot in his heel. However, throughout the Trojan war Achilleus showed that his strength is part of what makes him a true hero.
The Greeks greatly valued their community. Hektor displayed this value greatly. He valued his community and his people so greatly he was willing to risk his own life for it. Hektor knew there was a good chance that he would die, but he still went into battle for his people and did not hide like Achilleus did. Even when his wife, Andromache, begged him not to fight for her own good and the good of their son, Hektor said that he was unable to watch others fight and die while he cowered away. He could not deal with the way his community would look at him if he did so and would much rather be viewed as a hero by dying in battle. Hektor truly valued his community as much, if not more, than any other Greek and embodied this value prefectly.
Achilleus in many ways embodied what the Greeks looked for in a Hero. Not only was he a good warrior, but he could lead and army....he has the added side bonus of being the son of a goddess which really can not harm him in the polls. The Greeks admired good leaders, worshiped the gods and all around Achilleus was the model citizen to them. The Greeks also must have admired passion, which is something Achilleus was not short on. When Achilleus takes after Hecktor he not only embodies a Greek hunter but he hunts with a passion "As when a hawk in the mountains who moves lightest of things flying makes his effortless swoop for a trembling dove..." The Greeks truly had their hero in Achilleus.
I believe that almost every character in the Iliad was written in to have heroic qualities, but Hektor and Achilleus were depicted as being the "true" heroes. Throughout the epic, Achilleus makes sacrifices to benefit the community, which was one things that the Greeks admired in Homer's time. Hektor also does the same thing a few times. However, human nature shines through when Achilleus hides from battle and Hektor ignores his wife's pleas for him to stay home. Both action cause death, which shows that even the truest of heroes has faults.
Every Greek found strength to be a great value and Achilleus was literally their symbol for strength. Achileus was intelligent and fairly agile, hence the name "Achilleus the Swift-Foot" in the text. Achilleus was a fairly skilled warrior that all enemies feared. Achilleus would kill everyone in his path and there was no mercyor escape for anyone. When he killed Hektor he didn't listen to what he wanted done to his body. He disgraced his body and mocked him right in front of the city he was defending because of what Hektor had done to a loved one of his. Achilleus was also considered to be Godlike because he was dipped into a pond and from that day on he was blessed by the gods and he was gifted with the strength every Greek wishes they could have. His only weakness was his ankle that everyone now refers to Achilleus' ankle. Even with that disadvantage he was always on his feet and ready for anything. Never forget who your messing with when you come across Achilleus the Swift-Footed.
In any society a hero is looked at in many different views – there are different characteristics that a being must possess to become a ‘superhuman.’ Hektor carried buoyancy, pride, and a drive to be respected which likely turned Trojans the other direction. When he is sparring against Achilles he has the valor to tell his men to return and fight back, and especially when he, himself, gets the courage to go against the actual Achilles. Though he gets killed in the end, it was not because he was sitting lazily somewhere but he was on the battle field combating against the one and only Swift-Feet. Even when his wife tries and persuade him from what he wants – he would much rather die with the respect than life with a normal life. Even though, he is disrespected in the end – Hektor takes the chance that not many people would. In a way Hektor is a watered-down hero compared to Achilles, but he is a hero nonetheless and should be appreciated for the great menace he had taken.
Although he may have shown a few flaws and cowardly actions throughout the Trojan war, Achilleus clearly demonstrates heroic triats that were valued by the Greek civilians. He remains true to his people and fought for their rights showing honor of his community which was very important to the Greeks. He was known as "Achilleus of the swift feet", which is a reapeated epithet of the story explaining his courage and stregth as a warrior. After being insulted by Agamemnon during the war, he withdrew from fighting for being ashamed. This was a cowardly move on his part, yet his true dedication to being a warrior was shown when he reentered the war to personally deal with the death of Patrokolas. Once back in fighting Achilleus was strong and determined and was almost unbeatable with an acception to his wounded heal. Homer compares Achilleus's heroic acts to to strong and swift animals such as the hawk, "as when a hawk...makes his effortless swoop for a trembling dove", which is his way of stating Achilleus's true stregth in fighting and as a warrior.
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