Dehumanization In The Odyssey

In Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, Homer describes nine days of the Trojan War, focusing on Achille’s anger. Achilles, the best Greek warrior, becomes furious at the Greek commander Agamemnon due to a power struggle. Achilles decides not to fight, with the Greeks fighting the Trojans without their best warrior. Both sides battle gruesomely, with Homer often using literary devices to develop the brutality of war. Not only does Homer uses these literary devices to convey the gloriousness of the people fighting in the war but also some of the most horrific parts of the war. Homer uses epic similes and sympathetic backstories to describe the dehumanization and scars of war.

Homer uses epic similes to show the dehumanization of war. When Zeus tricks

To his dear parents he never made return for all their care, but had his life cut short when Aias shaft unmanned him.” (IV, 572-599)

Ajax kills Simoeisios, whom his mother named after the river Simoeis. He tended the flocks and never returned to his parents after the war. Simoeisios’ parents cared for him, gave him a pretty name, and contributed to the family, only for him to die in this frivolous war. This shows that war breaks down what took years to build up, including children, only to leave nothing in return. Consequently, Homer also uses a sympathetic backstory for Xanathos and Thoon. After total war breaks lose, Pandaros wounds Diomedes, a Greek warrior. Diomedes prays to Athena to help him recover and return to battle, with Athena accepting his request. Athena wipes the mist off his eyes, allowing him to see the gods and excites him with fury to annihilate the Trojan lines. He returns to the battle with incredible strength and kills Xanathos and Thoon. Homer describes, “Xanathos and Thoon, two dear sons of Phainops a man worn out with misery and

Phainops only gave birth to these two sons, leaving him with despair that this ended the family tree and bloodline since no other sons exist. Homer shows how the brutality of war includes more than death but the destruction it causes those who do not even participate in it. It shows how war breaks up families and scars multiple generations, making it more frightening to go or become indirectly involved with the war. Homer uses sympathetic backstories for Xanathos, Thoon, and Simoeisios to portray the horrors war causes for the