Homer's the Iliad and its literary significance

Homer "the Iliad"

Achilles and Hector could not be more opposed, both as individual characters and in their relationships with many of the other characters of the play. First of all, Hector is entirely subordinated to his family, his king and his city, Troy, and all his acts are acts that help his commitment to these entities. We see him throughout the play as a loving family and husband, as well as a devoted parent and son, but, especially, through his dedication to the city he lives in and its people. This dedication makes him take the final sacrifice: although he is aware that he can never defeat Achilles in battle, he does not refuse it only because it would bring shame to his city.

On the other hand, Achilles is the true portrayal of a complete individualistic character. There is nobody as important in the world s himself, apart, perhaps, from his mother. All his acts are not directed towards the fulfillment of a commitment in any way, but towards achieving his own individualistic and egocentric goals, to convince himself of the infallibility of his way of life and his way in battle. For him, war is a goal in itself: the associations between Menelaus and his honor and Achilles are minimal at most; the only reason for which Achilles decides to participate to the war against Troy is because he does not want to refuse a challenge and because he is willing to participate to what seems like a glorious feat.

This leads to the final conclusion as to how each relates to his superiors. Achilles does not recognize his commander, Agamemnon, as being his military superior and his actions are often not in line with the usual approach promoted in times of war during those times. On the other hand, Hector fully accepts all such commitments to his superior, Priam, King of Troy.

Part 2 have chosen Achilles and Agamemnon. For Achilles, his modern equivalent could be Gordon Gekko from the movie "Wall Street." There are so many things that these characters have in common. First of all, they are both unreasonably proud and willing to go to any length to achieve their goals, even if that means hurting people and individuals around them, breaking society rules (in Gekko's case, these are legal rules of the society, in the case of Achilles, these are conventions that he needs to respect) or destroying people around. There is no law or rule for these characters except the one they decide to make for themselves.

At the same time, both show a strange candor in different moments of their lives. Achilles has a special friendship for Patrocles that makes him go to all length to avenge his death. He is also generous in recognizing that Hector was a true and honorable opponent and in returning his body to Priam. Gordon Gekko also seems a tender father and plays with his kid in several scenes in the movie. He is generous in giving money to his protege, Bud Fox.