/ When he dismissed me from the camp, Achilles / told me clearly they will not harass us, / not until dawn comes for the twelfth day") (443), one perceives that respect has been shown between Greek and Trojan -- that honor has been paid. There is, of course, a price that comes with paying it. That price may be tallied in the loss of Troy's favorite son -- or it may be tolled in the humiliation of Priam before Achilles. Indeed, Priam's obeisance before Achilles brings the entire work into focus -- it evokes, as Aristotle judged a drama should, pity and fear: says Priam: "Achilles, / be reverent toward the great gods! And take / pity on me, remember your own father. / Think me more pitiful by far, since I / have brought myself to do what no man else / has done before -- to lift to my lips the hand / of one who killed my...
Priam's supplication strikes right at the heart of the proud Achilles -- and Achilles' wrath is finally allayed: "When Achilles' heart / had known the luxury of tears, and pain / within his breast and bones had passed away, / he stood then, raised the old king up, in pity / for his grey head and greybeard cheek, and spoke / in a warm rush of words: 'Ah, sad and old!'" (435). It is the pain of human suffering and the common loss of loved ones that the two proud men now share. They are meeting, not as warriors on the battlefield, but as equals under one roof of suffering.
Lysistrata stands in the foreground, guiding the men to peace, despite the fact that neither side wants to admit blame. She reminds the Spartans of Athenian assistance in the wake of the quake, and she likewise reminds the Athenians of Spartan assistance in overthrowing Hippias. "Why on fighting are your hearts so set? / For each of you is in the other's debt" (228). The Spartan and Athenian make
Hector is valiant, and can show great anger in the thick of battle when it is necessary. But behind the walls of Troy, during times of counsel, he is able to show coolness and forthrightness. He urges Paris to fight Helen's legitimate husband Menelaus alone, which would have prevented more people from dying if Paris had not acted like a coward and fought unethically in the one-on-one battle. Hector regrets
Homer is particularly fond of the pastoral pastime of stargazing, contrasting it with Achilles' warpath: "…as he swept across the flat land in full shining, like that star which comes on in the autumn and whose conspicuous brightness far outshines the stars that are numbered in the night's darkening." He also contrasts the image of the brightest star with the image of Achilles' spear: "And as a star moves among
The conflict over Palestine is a dangerous situation that shows little evidence of being resolved in the near future (History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict). The conflict with the Holy-Land is only a resemblance of what took place in Iliad because the society destroyed itself by going to war, which is something that Israel is doing to itself. Furthermore, it is as if Israel values war rather than human life, which
Religion in the Odyssey of Homer Homer has the reputation of having "given the Greeks their gods." In so doing Homer has created a type of religion that does not have one god, but one that has many. Each god governs over one or more aspect of the world. This type of religion is known as polytheism, more than one god, as opposed to monotheism, one supreme God. Because there are
However, he makes it equally clear that he feels no obligation to help Agamemnon's men. Achilles' responses to all three ambassadors make it clear that he feels that Agamemnon has not treated him fairly or with respect. He feels like he has repeatedly put his life at risk and accomplished much as a warrior, only to be spurned by Agamemnon. Moreover, Achilles countered the arguments made by the ambassadors that
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