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The Pursuit Of Happiness In The Iliad

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The Pursuit of Happiness
Who I am today has primarily been dictated by the environment in which I have been raised. I will continue to be molded throughout my life, but now I am entering a period of my life where I will be the one deciding who I am. Today, I am not the person I want to be and not the person who many perceive me to be, but am striving to become the man I want to be. In my life, I constantly find myself trying to balance friends, family, school, and sports. In the Iliad, Hector, similarly acted to please others, none more noticeably than when he valiantly fought Achilles to protect Troy. As Achilles charged toward Hector, his “heart was troubled with brooding thought” as he considered laying “down all [his] weapons”, but he fought after he decided he’d “be much …show more content…

While it sounds like a simple goal, many people fail to make themselves happy. My definition of happiness is fairly simple, I want to contribute to something I am passionate about and have a family I love. I want to have the same passion for my career that Mandela had “to replace Apartheid with…non-racial democracy” which was so great that he dedicated his entire life to (Carlin 15). Mandela was so passionate that he endured “the solitude and toughness and quiet routine of prison; [and] the grinding exercise regimen to which he submitted himself behind bars” all “to kill apartheid” (Carlin 17). It is Mandela’s persistence and willingness to suffer because of his passion that I truly admire. Mandela derived his sense of purpose from the passion he had to end apartheid. Mandela’s life work of ending apartheid is finally realized on the morning of the rugby world cup final, when he realized “his whole life had been a preparation for this moment” (Carlin 17). If I have a moment when I know my life’s work is fulfilled after years of work it would surely take me one step closer to achieving my

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