Iliad, the epic poem is written by a great epic poet Homer. This poem is a classic in real terms and recounts some historic facts about the last ten years of Trojan war and the Greek siege city of Troy. Tracing back its history, Iliad is thought to be written back in 8th century B.C. and it is considered one of the earliest works in western literary tradition. It captures the scene of blood, abductions, murders, wrath of Achilles, revenge, anger and intervention of gods.
Aristotle, in his Poetics considers poetry a mimes form that has language, rhythm and lyrics. Moreover, in those days, any literary piece of work could be written in lyrics. The using of delicate forms of transmitting the message distinguishes poetry from other forms of literary texts. (Billy Mills,2008) Samuel Taylor Coledrige has a famous quote: "I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose - words in their best order; poetry - the best words in their best order." Well, I do not think there could be something more added, as long as we are all aware of the fact that poetry is a fine art that requires not only a developed vocabulary, but also a brilliant mind to put all those words in a specific order.
Epic is narratively long poems that tell about a heroic feat or event that are important to the poet’s culture(Fogie). This leads to influencing other cultures which can influence other poets, which is why you can see allusions to many different epics in poetry. Epic poems were common in ancient times because they were ideal for expressing stories orally(Fogie). To this day epics are discussed and taught in schools and are still held to a high standard this shows the influence of these Epics. The story of Gilgamesh written by Sin-Leqi-Unninni was one of the first recorded epics in history.
The Odyssey is a Greek myth, showing clear signs of an epic poem because of the invocation of the muse, beginning in medias res, and a larger than life hero. One of the major key factors of an epic poem is having the invocation of the muse. The invocation of the muse is the retelling of a blessing of knowledge or inspiration.
In these poems, Homer introduces the concept of Virtue (aretê in Greek), excellence, the ideal of perfection of the epic heroes’ bravery, cunning, strength, nobility, and achieving immortal glory. The virtue of courage and competition is also introduced with the famous phrase, derived from the sixth book of Iliad translated as: “to strive always for the highest aretê, and to excel all others” or "ever to excel and be better than the rest" Homer, per Kitto, “enshrined all wisdom and all knowledge…combined with his hopeless fatalism, with the fierce joy in life and the exultation in human achievement and in human personality. We hear in the Iliad and in most Greek literature, the tragic note produced by the tension produced by two forces: passionate delight in life and clear apprehension of its unalterable framework:” The following few lines of the Homeric poetry of the Iliad describes man’s generations on earth, and their fate. “As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity, The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber; Burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring
Honor is one of the major themes in The Iliad. However the concept of honor in The Iliad is not the same as our current understanding of honor. Honor plays a key role in how the characters in the Iliad act, why they make certain decisions, and why the events in the Iliad occur the way they do. Nowadays, we refer to honor as an idea or concept which is closely related to fame, respect, reputation etc. However, in The Iliad, honor is not an idea, but something material.
The epic’s main function was to stir the spirit of the Warriors, back in the heroic age. The poetry style helped the people to memorize the poems easier. The rhythm that was most commonly used is saying two syllables, pause, and two more syllables, until the poem was finished.(Yoshida). Beowolf is one of the best examples of a epic hero. There are certain things you look for when you read a literary epic, to see if it matches up with the characteristics
Throughout the Iliad Achilles occasionally called upon his mother for advice and consultation, Thetis often referred back to Achilles’ fate of dying young, telling him not to fill his life full of concern and sorrow. Fate is predetermined by the gods, meaning that the individual does not know when they will come face to face with their death. Therefore the act of knowing ones fate and continuing to walk out on to the battle field shows a great deal of honor and grid. Achilles knowing that he is fated to die young continued to stand by his men on the field of battle waiting for the day for fate to strike him down. In the Iliad Hector’s fate is depicted when Zeus weighs out his and Achilles’ doom on his golden
The Odyssey is one of the most famous pieces of writing to this very day. Most have either heard of or have read this work within their high school or college years. This writing is what is called today an epic poem. An epic poem is a long narrative that normally entails the journey or struggles of an ancient hero. In The Odyssey the hero is Odysseus, and his adventures of being held captive and his escape back to his home are detailed in this narrative.
Concurring, The Iliad is a poem that indicated Achilles has an incredible love to his mother and his dear fellowship with Patroclus and Briseis. Hector is a genuine patriot. As indicated by a few faultfinders he is more human than Achilles (Homer, Iliad 102). He lover his country in particular and he is prepared to sacrifice his life for the interest of country individuals. He demonstrates his deep love towards country through his refusal to take wine from his mother who attempted to revive her son with wine.