The Iliad of Homer: Glory, Honor, Madness and Futility of War

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2021May 27

The RAGE that made Achilles the most dreaded warrior of the Greeks, the rage that drove him to slay so many noble Trojan warriors, was also the rage which urged him to withdraw from battle, the rage he felt when the main King Agamemnon seized the beloved maiden Briseis from Achilles, Briseis, the Trojan maiden, the prize of war. Then, when Patroclus, his best friend wearing his armor, is killed in battle by the Trojan hero Hector, Achilles goes mad with rage, turning into a killing machine, avenging his friend’s death by killing Hector and many Trojans, even though his goddess mother Thetis revealed to him that if he returned to battle, he would die in battle, rather than live a long life in obscurity if he simply returned home. The Iliad both glorifies the glory and honor the brave warrior earns on the battlefield while also exposing the meaningless and futility of war, with many touching family scenes of husbands and fathers whose fates are doomed. The Trojan War is doubly futile, the Greeks are fighting for the return of Helen of Troy, who was abducted from the Greek Menelaus by the Trojan Prince Paris, and Helen now despises Paris for the long war he was brought on his people. We will sample the epic grandeur of the poetry of the Iliad for many scenes: • King Agamemnon seizes the concubine of Achilles, Briseis. • Aphrodite rescuing Paris from death in a duel in the battlefield. • Then, Aphrodite forcibly reunites Paris and Helen in their bedchambers. • Trojan King Priam asks Helen to point out the various Greek heroes on the battlefield. • Hector says goodbye to his infant son and his wife Adromache, who senses he is doomed. • Agamemnon appeals to Achilles to return to battle, Achilles refuses. • The Trojans fight to the beaches to burn the Greek ships, the Greeks counter-attack to the walls of Troy. • Achilles talk to his immortal horses who are given the power of speech by the gods, but Achilles is not impressed. • This is compared to the Old Testament story where God gives to power of speech to Balaam’s donkey, he is not impressed either. • After killing Hector, Achilles drags his body behind his chariot circling the city of Troy, angering the gods. • The ghost of Patroclus appears to Achilles, asking him to bury him properly. • Helen of Troy eulogizes the death of noble Hector, brother of Paris. Script for this video, © Copyright 2021: https://www.slideshare.net/BruceStrom... The blogs on the Iliad and the Odyssey start with, and include: http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com... http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com... Please support our channel, these books we discuss are available on Amazon, we earn a small affiliate commission: The Iliad, by Homer, Robert Fagles, Translator https://amzn.to/2U255xW The Iliad of Homer, Audible Audiobook, by Elizabeth Vandiver, The Great Courses https://amzn.to/3hiUBmg Masterpieces of Ancient Greek Literature Audible recording, by David J. Schenker The Great Courses https://amzn.to/3BXCwSG Please support our efforts, be a patron, at: / seekingvirtueandwisdom Patrons can participate in online Zoom discussions of draft presentations we prepare for future YouTube videos. As Socrates teaches us, the examined life is a life worth living. We would be fools if we did not desire to learn from our multitude of friends whose words live in the works of the classics that have survived from past centuries and millennia. The Stoic and moral philosophers of Greece and Rome saw philosophy as an evangelical enterprise, seeking to spread the joy of living a godly life for its own sake. This is original content based on research by Bruce Strom and his blogs. Images in the Public Domain, many from Wikipedia, some from the National Archives, are selected to provide illustration. When images of the actual topic or event are not available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration. All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. The ancient world was a warrior culture out of necessity, to learn from the distant past we should not only judge them from our modern perspective but also from their own ancient perspective on their own terms.