Term Paper on "Iliad Homer"

Term Paper 6 pages (1985 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

ILIAD by Homer, it is apparent a society that is constantly at war will lead itself to brutalization and destruction of life. "With these words he sat down, and Agamemnon rose in anger. His heart was black with rage, and his eyes flashed fire as he scowled on Calchas and said, "Seer of evil, you never yet prophesied smooth things concerning me, but have ever loved to foretell that which was evil. You have brought me neither comfort nor performance; and now you come seeing among Danaans, and saying that Apollo has plagued us because I would not take a ransom for this girl, the daughter of Chryses. I have set my heart on keeping her in my own house, for I love her better even than my own wife Clytemnestra, whose peer she is alike in form and feature, in understanding and accomplishments. Still I will give her up if I must, for I would have the people live, not die; but you must find me a prize instead, or I alone among the Argives shall be without one. This is not well; for you behold, all of you, that my prize is to go elsewhither" (the ILIAD book 1). Within this story, seemed as if everything was controlled by the government even the way families conducted themselves. Furthermore, there were certain laws that people in this time period had to follow to avoid certain consequences.. However, in modern society, people do not face the same consequences for simple reasons but they are taught how to structure the family according to the society's values. Government is very concrete but very destructive in some sense that hinders human nature.

Analysis

To some degree, the government of modern society tries to control people's lives especially after September 11, 2001 even though they live in the land of the free. Even though the government defines crime and while the government has good intention in protecting U.S. citizens from terrorism, having the authority to go through someone's personal telephone and email communication while searching through their financial and medical records is truly an invasion of privacy, which goes against everything American stands for. By comparing the societies, things have not change that much except for how things are defined as right and wrong. Due to the change in government laws in both societies, they seem to have very destructive behavior that devalues human life

Furthermore, from the following, it is clear that the society in this book clearly demonstrates that people of that time period had choices to live a short life in combat or live until old age. However, if a person does not fight in war, they will not die honorable, which clearly devalues human life and combat was more of an importance.

With these words in Book 9, Achilles rejects the embassy of Achaean commanders come to win him back to the war effort. His response here shows that Agamemnon's effrontery -- which he discusses earlier in his speech -- does not constitute the sole reason for his refusal to fight. Achilles also fears the consequences in store for him if he remains in Troy. His mother, Thetis, has told him that fate has given him two options -- either live a short but glorious life in Troy or return to Phthia and live on in old age but obscurity. As he confronts this choice, the promise of gifts and plunder -- cattle, fat sheep, stallions -- doesn't interest him at all. Such material gifts can be traded back and forth, or even taken away, as his prize Briseis was. In contrast, the truly precious things in the world are those that cannot be bought, sold, seized, or commodified in any way. These include glory and life itself (Sparklenotes).

It is obvious that the author believes there is no personal freedom due to the government's continuous corruption of society as a whole.

The structure of the society is presented as a figurehead of a government that has total control within a negative way, which people lived in complete fear of punishment and death. This regime uses propaganda to instill fear in its citizens to keep the general population in line so that people could not act freely. Even though our society has some similarities to the government in this book, they control people in different ways, considering one is less brutal and puts value in human life.

While gods can presumably manipulate and torment other animals that "breathe and crawl across the earth," humanity's consciousness of the arbitrariness of their treatment at the hands of the gods, their awareness of the cruel choreography going on above, increases their agony above that of all other creatures. For while the humans remain informed of the gods' interventions, they remain powerless to contradict them. Moreover, humans must deal with a similarly fruitless knowledge of their fates. The Iliad's two most important characters, Achilles and Hector, both know that they are doomed to die early deaths. Hector knows in addition that his city is doomed to fall, his brothers and family to be extinguished, and his wife to be reduced to slavery. These men's agony arises from the fact that they bear the burden of knowledge without being able to use this knowledge to bring about change (Sparklenotes).

Even though laws of our modern society help law enforcement to reduce terrorism threats, it gives them the government the freedom to tap into anybody's personal information just on a hunch rather than actual fact, which puts people at the mercy of them. This, unfortunately is how the people in Iliad feel about their society, that they are at the mercy of it. As our modern society is seen, police need that empowerment over criminals so that they can feel a little imitation when they are faced by them. This works because society as a whole does not want to be looked down upon on and will control themselves in public to avoid embarrassment. The criminal justice system can be more effective because people are extremely self-aware when being watched and will behave when they know they are being indirectly controlled. Compared to the society in this book, the two societies are similar to one another, however it is believable the book is making a point about society, which is it can be brutal in the sense human life is not valued, war is.

When, therefore, the morning of the twelfth day had now come, Phoebus Apollo spoke among the immortals saying, "You gods ought to be ashamed of yourselves; you are cruel and hard-hearted. Did not Hector burn you thigh-bones of heifers and of unblemished goats? And now dare you not rescue even his dead body, for his wife to look upon, with his mother and child, his father Priam, and his people, who would forthwith commit him to the flames, and give him his due funeral rites? So, then, you would all be on the side of mad Achilles, who knows neither right nor ruth? He is like some savage lion that in the pride of his great strength and daring springs upon men's flocks and gorges on them. Even so has Achilles flung aside all pity, and all that conscience which at once so greatly banes yet greatly boons him that will heed it. man may lose one far dearer than Achilles has lost- a son, it may be, or a brother born from his own mother's womb; yet when he has mourned him and wept over him he will let him bide, for it takes much sorrow to kill a man; whereas Achilles, now that he has slain noble Hector, drags him behind his chariot round the tomb of his comrade. It were better of him, and for him, that he should not do so, for brave though he be we gods may take it ill that he should vent his fury upon dead clay" (Iliad).

From there, it is apparent that the destroyed itself by engaging in war and corruption, which devalue life. To confirm this idea about the story of Iliad, the following shows another modern day example. People are often mistreated for their beliefs. This has been apparent within the last century due to the fact that many as six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. From there, religious conflicts have continued in Israel and the Middle East.

The importance of this area -- the Holy Land-to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam guarantees that, until the conflict is resolved, it will continue to occupy a position of importance internationally far beyond what would be expected given the small territory, resources, and population involved. Furthermore, the failure of the United States to resolve this ongoing dispute challenges its stature and credibility as a world leader. While international law could provide guidance regarding the shape a permanent resolution might take, it is frequently ignored -- a situation unlikely to change as long as the United States maintains its dominant… READ MORE

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