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
There is weariness also in keeping wakeful watch the whole night through; and even now shalt thou come forth from out thy perils” (http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomerOdyssey20.html), which is a quote from Athena. Poseidon’s influence is shown in the quote, “We are from Troy, Achaeans, blown off course by shifting gales on the Great South Sea…” (661, 249-250). These two quotes show how both of the gods used as alter egos for Odysseus have cruel sides. Athena, whom is usually known for her tactics and wisdom, believes that killing the suitors would be the right thing to do. By today's standards, what the suitors did was unacceptable, but not worthy of death.
Just as demonstrated through the hero archetype, each mentor depicts its culture’s present values. In The Odyssey, Athena is seen as the supernatural mentor of Odysseus as well as his son, Telemachus. Being a goddess, Athena represents what Greek culture perceived as supernatural and displays the role model figure of Odysseus. In King Arthur, the wizard Merlin is revealed to be the mentor of Arthur, guiding him through challenges and supporting him through peril. With the mentor being a figure of guidance and counsel, Merlin and Athena each show this trait in each of their actions towards their disciple, who carries the hero archetype.
Hector is a good man and has always praised the gods and its respected by them. Achilles in the other hand is the exact opposite to the gods but he is praised because they are afraid of his anger. Is not weird that anybody will fear his anger at the end of the book even he Achilles himself fears it. The gods fear and praise his anger and even balance it sometimes like in the first book when Hera stopped Achilles from killing Agamemnon“It was to check this killing rage I came from heaven, if you will listen. Hera sent me, being fond of both of you, concerned for both.
Again, there are stylistic similarities, the invocation of the Muse, the short description of the events to follow, and an emphasis on divine meddling, etc. However, the principal focus of The Iliad, “The anger of Peleus’ son Achilleus” (Iliad 1.1) differs significantly from the focus of The Aeneid, introduced as a song “of arms and of a man” (Aeneid 1.1). Firstly, Aeneas is not yet named, he is just “a man”, while Achilles is both named and given a lineage. Furthermore, since the anger of Achilles is the central theme, the conclusion must be the conclusion of Achilles’s anger, which is only actualized once he is able to let go of his rage against Hektor, hence the necessity of the Iliad’s ending. There is no such imperative in The Aeneid, the story ends when the “arms” of the war end, which is the implied result of Turnus’s death, so any personal growth of Aeneas is irrelevant to the epic’s
Throughout the novel Achilles is assisted by the Gods Zeus, Athena and Hephaestus, his shield created by Hephaestus is his talisman. The hero faces many obstacles. For example, his closest ally is killed in battle by Troy's greatest warrior Hector. Enraged he kills Hector in combat and avenges his best friend Patroclus.
What greatly distinguished the Greek culture from other cultures was that its authentic stories were not derived from the mythology of other cultures. The universal myths that constantly appear in different cultures such as the creation, the flood, and the hero stories are believed to have been passed by oral tradition, but the true stories behind the myths remain a mystery. The truth on whether Greek Mythology was inspired by true events or by pure imagination was left interred somewhere in the
The Greeks were strong and powerful but they were also skilled warriors. These are those ideas that still remain to us today and that we will remember for the rest of our lives. The Greek Golden Age was the most flourishing period in the history of a nation and was also a big influence of the Western Civilization. During this period of time, significant advances were made in many different fields. The Greek Golden Age was that time in history where the ancient Greek offered a lot of contributions and achievement to
First, the greed of the epics’ heroic characters alters the journey and fates of the mortal characters. For example, in the beginning of The Iliad, Achilles is dishonored when his war prize, Briseis, is stolen by King Agamemnon. In turn, Achilles goes to his mother, Thetis, to utilize her immortal influence to help the Trojans defeat the Achaeans; “Let [Zeus] give help now to the Trojans. Let them drive the Greeks in among their very ships on the sand, killing them there” (Homer 43). In doing so, Achilles intends the Greeks will realize how important he is, and regret taking away Briseis.
Depiction of a hero in the Iliad differs from Troy. Achilles can be considered the hero of both the Iliad and Troy, but there are differences in his portrayal (some of them were discussed above). Due to the change in cultural expectations of a true hero over the years, Hector is more convincing than Achilles as the hero of Troy. During Classical times, a hero was usually born or conceived in unusual circumstances, faced opposition from the very beginning and undertook a series of extremely difficult tasks. Generally, a hero had a special weapon or clothing, earned fame for his quests and died in an unusual way.