The Iliad Of All Time Essay - 1441 Words

Homer and Virgil authored some of the greatest epics of all time. Clearly, Homer’s original poem, the Iliad, influenced Virgil’s Aeneid to a large degree not only in plot setting and characters, but the similarities manifest at the literary level, for instance devices such as the same heroic meter, illustrious similes, allegory, ekriphas, division into books, even though way that the Greeks and Trojans are portrayed amongst many others are features of both works. However, there are striking differences between the two, while the Iliad relies heavily on repetition, the Aeneid has none. While both poems revolve around destiny, the Iliad’s underlying theme is human nature and man’s quest for glory through war. The Aeneid, however, consistently reminds us that the glory to be sought is the future history’s glories, basically saying commitment to destiny was Aeneas’ role so that Caesar and his line can reach their glory. Virgil’s audience d uring his time would have likely been literate aristocratic patriotic Romans, this allows for allusions to their current state, whether is the way the characters dress, the way they view women, and the way they perceive their ruler and government. Homer does not have this hidden agenda; it purely relates the stories of heroes and gods, to a society that believed in the myths that are revealed. The Homeric poem was meant to be orally narrated to a generally illiterate audience, as was the case for the Iliad. As an oral tradition, it relied onShow MoreRelatedAt the time of Homer, it was normal for gods to meddle in human affairs, and he shows this in The1300 Words   |  6 PagesAt the time of Homer, it was normal for gods to meddle in human affairs, and he shows this in The Iliad. A vast majority of the Greek gods play some role in how the Trojan wars turns out, which is what the poem is all about. Homer uses the gods to deviate from how normal wars are played out. The head god, Zeus, will be the focus as I go through what he did and how it affected the War as well as The Iliad. Zeus tried to stay out of the Trojan War for egotistic motives and was viewed as a father figureRead MoreThe Iliad : Greeks And Their Love For War1568 Words   |  7 PagesAffourtit Affourtit.2 February 10th, 2017 CLAS1101 The Iliad: Greeks and Their Love for ‘War’ It has long been a popular scholarly opinion that the Greeks in the Iliad were lovers of war and violence. The Greeks were most definitely primal beasts, and blood shedders, a fact made abundantly clear in the Iliad. However, I think that the Greeks were not lovers of war, furthermore I think this interpretation is shortsighted. The amount of violence in the Iliad seems to be evidence for their love of war, butRead More Iliad Essay1253 Words   |  6 PagesThe Iliad and The Odyssey are two epic poems with both similar and different styles to the structure of the poems, as well as each poem having the same gods incorporated into the stories intervening with the day to day lives of the mortals. Greek poetry before Homer was all composed orally; therefore it is assumed that Homer’s works are the first written works of art (Joachim Latacz, page 15). Scholars who have spent extensive time researching the origin of Homer’s work cannot verify a specificRead MoreThe Iliad And The Odyssey1498 Words   |  6 PagesAn Influential Poem The Iliad is a poem that provides important stories with insight into early human society. It was an ancient story written centuries ago about two civilizations that battled against each other. â€Å"The Iliad tells the story of the clash of two great civilizations, and the effects of war on both the winners and losers† (Homer 222). In addition to its influence on Greek poetry, the Iliad is a great Homeric epic that has long helped shape critical schools of thought. It is notRead MoreComparison Between The Odyssey And The Iliad1068 Words   |  5 Pagesdescribes an outcry against death; whereas in the Iliad death is portrayed as an accomplishment., Both were in the times that is also known as Before Common Era, or BCE. It is known that Iliad begins 10 years before the great Seige of Troy and eventually the odyssey had begun a couple years after that(Classical Lit). When Homer had written these novels it is clear that they have numerous lines, and Homer had written both. In the novel The Iliad it consists of fifteen thousand, six – hundredRead MoreAnalysis Of The Iliad 915 Words   |  4 Pagesto support this line. One such work of literature is Homer’s great epic, The Iliad. This poem, encompassing the telling of the great Trojan War, is one of the best examples of such a text. Throughout the text, it lays before the reader many separate scenes of violence, rather than grouping all of the battles together into one war like historic anthologies do. There are many scenes of violence throughout the poem, The Iliad, many of which contribute to the complete work, a small selection of these scenesRead MoreSimilarities Between The And The Epic Of The Iliad1570 Words   |  7 Pagesof years that the epic story the Iliad has survived, which is credited to the famous Greek poet, Homer. In the 2004 film Troy, directed by Wolfgang Peterson , the plot resembles and is based from the epic poem, the Iliad. When the movie Troy was released, there was criticism on how even though the movie was based off of the Iliad, there were numerous differences from the Iliad itself. Even with its differences, the movie, Troy, does have many similarities to the Iliad. Even though there are numerousRead MoreHomer’S Two Tales, The Iliad And The Odyssey, Are Both1749 Words   |  7 PagesHomer’s two tales, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are both incredibly well known and widely taught across the world and at many different levels of education. Some call Homer the â€Å"greatest poet to ever live† and although this can be disputed his works truly speak for themselves and have braved the test of time quite well. This paper will cover who/whom Homer is as a person, or persons, and the time period of his writings, the truths versus the dramatizations of the Iliad and Odyssey, how the author’sRead MoreHonor And Glory B y Homer1574 Words   |  7 Pagestakes the lives of many men. Honor and Glory are what define the hero in the epic poem, The Iliad, written by Homer. Throughout the Iliad, honor and glory is the motivation behind the characters, there are different ways to obtain honor and glory, and the different views of honor throughout the epic poem. The idea of honor and glory are essential to understanding the motivation behind the characters in the Iliad. Glory was gained by the heroic actions and deeds. The best opportunity to gain honor wasRead MoreComparison between The Iliad and The Women of Troy Essay903 Words   |  4 PagesThe Iliad by Homer and the Women of Troy by Euripides are both Greek works of literature that look at the Trojan War from different perspectives. Book 6 of the Iliad illustrates that the ultimate glory is to fight for the city with no regard to the impact on the family. The Women of Troy focuses on the negatives that war causes, especially towards the soldier’s wives and children. Whereas the Iliad focuses on the battle itself and centers on the warriors, the Women of Troy focuses on the wrath