Post by CynanMachae on Oct 23, 2009 8:28:41 GMT -5
Hey everyone,
I just finished up the first draft of a paper for one of my classes. I thought I would include it here to see what you guys think. Since this is the first draft, I realize it's a bit rough at this point. I'm turning it in today to my professor (the final draft, after he gives some suggestions, will be due in a couple of weeks).
I thought that perhaps some ancient mythology experts - like you guys here on SRL! - would like to read it and see what you think. Perhaps we could discuss the two poems, seeing as how they ARE the greatest epics of all time.
Here you go:
The Honorable Thing To Do
Achilles speeds towards Hector and the walls of Troy, “Like the helmeted God of War himself, / The ash-wood spear above his right shoulder / Rocking in the light” (The Iliad, 22.151-53). Aeneas, though he is deeply troubled with the thought of leaving his wife and leading his men into Italy, suppresses the emotions in his heart, because he knows that the will of the gods is where his allegiance ultimately lies. Hector, courageous until his very last breath, ignores the pleadings of his family and marches out to face the terrifying Achilles in a one-on-one match that he is almost sure to lose. Dido, faithful to her lover Aeneas, works with him to strengthen the city of Carthage and begs for him to remain when he receives the gods’ command to leave. These characters, though each is unique and represents different struggles and victories, all center in their very beings around one principle: being a person of honor is worth more than anything else in the world, and the quest for that honor is the most important task of life (and death).
What is honor, then? What is it that drives these four characters – and everyone they interact with – to search and fight continuously for in their adventures? An answer does not easily come, since honor is such an intricate part of Greek and, centuries later, Roman societies. However, a study of each epic poem opens up possibilities for a multitude of answers; answers to how honor relates within each society to men’s relationships with themselves, others (including women), and the gods. The texts of each poem give many examples of who best represents honor, and reveals clues about questions such as, “In what ways are women honorable in both poems, and how do they relate to men?” or, “How did Roman Stoicism affect the view of honor in The Aeneid as compared to The Iliad?” But before looking at in-depth examples within the texts, a brief definition of honor according to each culture is necessary. Put simply, the Roman code of honor seen in Virgil’s The Aeneid is obviously very much influenced by Greek honor seen in Homer’s The Iliad, just as Roman society mirrored its Greek precursor. However, the two cultures and, subsequently, the two epic poems, were separated by many differences. These similarities and differences can be seen in each tale’s lead characters, Achilles and Hector from The Iliad; Aeneas and Dido from The Aeneid.
The main difference, then, between honor in Homer’s The Iliad and that in Virgil’s The Aeneid is this: in the former, honor is seen in how people view or treat one who is honorable, whereas in the latter, honor is an act, a way one lives his life that outwardly shows how honorable he is. Put another way, honor in The Iliad is based not as much on the choices one makes as it is on one’s reputation. The Aeneid, by contrast, offers the idea that honor is based on one’s choices, and being honorable is directly related to the path that one chooses to follow in life. There are similarities, of course, in the two epics, in that honor is gained in much the same way (through heroic deeds and favor with the gods), but the fundamental definitions presented in each poem remain different. Again, in The Iliad, honor is in one’s reputation. In The Aeneid, honor is in one’s actions.
With the basic definition of honor in each poem clear, as well as the fundamental difference between the two, turning to the text provides examples to help clarify the many different ways in which honor is represented within the two epics. In regards to the basic difference between The Iliad and The Aeneid, a look to each of the poems’ main characters – Achilles for the Greeks in The Iliad and Aeneas for the Romans in The Aeneid – is essential. It is with these two heroes that the ideals of reputation and action are embedded. For Achilles, image is everything. What strikes fear in the heart of Hector in his final confrontation with Achilles is not the choice that the Greek god-like warrior made to challenge him, but his terrible and furious image as he rides towards him:
Like the helmeted God of War himself,
The ash-wood spear above his right shoulder
Rocking in the light that played from his bronze
In gleams of fire in the rising sun.
And when Hector saw it he lost his nerve,
Panicked, and ran, leaving the gates behind,
With Achilles on his tail, confident in his speed. (22.151-57)
At that moment, Achilles’ rage at the death of his friend was so great that the choices he was making meant nothing to him; in his blind fury he saw only the avenging of Patroclus. And, because of his rage, his figure is terrifying to Hector, who turns and runs. Because of the frequent bursts of epic simile that Homer works into the story at this point, it is obvious that Achilles is meant to be seen in a much more powerful and honorable light.
By contrast, Aeneas seeks honor by a different route – that is, the honoring of the gods by his obedience to their commands. In book two of The Aeneid, as he explains to the Tyrians his escape from Troy, he explains that this obedience came in the form of heeding his family’s pleas to flee from the city, which was destined for destruction. In his recounting of the events that occurred in Troy, Aeneas says that he planned, like Hector, to defend the city until his dying breath, even rushing out to meet the foe head-on, much like Hector did with Achilles. At first, he cannot be swayed, and he is set on facing the Greeks. But slowly his family begins to convince him otherwise, and the turning point comes when Hector appears to him in a dream and urges him to flee. At that time, Aeneas decides to honor the fallen hero and escapes with his family from the city. In this way, Virgil was able to explain how Aeneas abandoned Troy without marring his honor – Aeneas had no choice but to obey the call of the gods.
Here we must pause to compare Hector and Aeneas, because though they were men of similar fame and honor within the city of Troy, there are differences within their ideas of what honor is that offer another example of Homer’s view of honor as contrasted with Virgil’s. Both Hector and Aeneas are faced with the opportunity to prove themselves dedicated to their nation on the field of battle. Their responses are similar, but they differ in that Hector would rather go to certain death than be persuaded to abandon a fight. For Hector, his image and reputation are at stake when he says:
I can’t face the Trojan men and women now,
Can’t bear to hear some lesser men say,
‘Hector trusted his strength and lost the army.’
That’s what they’ll say. I’ll be much better off
Facing Achilles, either killing him
Or dying honorably before the city. (22.120-25)
Here, Hector has his own image in mind. He is more concerned with how the men and women will talk about him if he backs down than what the outcome of the war might be. For him, death is a far more honorable option because with death he still retains his noble image. Aeneas, on the other hand, is able to be persuaded otherwise, for the good of his family and for the hope of establishing a new nation.
Achilles shows a sliver of similarity with Aeneas in that his renewed passion in the war comes with the desire to avenge his friend Patroclus’ death by the sword of Hector. In this avengement, Achilles is not just selfishly thinking about himself, but about the honor of his fallen friend. However, the principle is the same: Achilles is not looking to gain more honor by following any set of rules for avenging dead friends – he simply does not want Patroclus to lose honor even in death. Achilles is faithful to his closest friends (of which there are but a few), but whether regarding the honor of himself or a companion, he is still concerned with reputation. If Achilles had been more like Aeneas in the sense of loyalty to one’s country, he would have been fighting alongside Patroclus instead of sulking behind at the Greek encampment, and may have even prevented his death.
This contrast of the two heroes can also be seen in the relationships they have with the gods. In the case of Achilles, the gods seem to play no important part, unless he needs something in particular. In one instance, after Agamemnon has claimed Achilles’ servant-girl, Achilles’ first reaction is to retreat to solitude and weep by the ocean until his mother, the goddess Thetis, comes to console him. Says Achilles: “Olympian Zeus was supposed to grant me honor. / Well, he hasn’t given me any at all. Agamemnon / Has taken away my prize and dishonored me” (1.368-70). Two things are obvious from these words of Achilles: again, it shows that Achilles is only concerned with how the others view him; the fact that Agamemnon took away his prized servant-girl Briseis in front of the entire army had caused him in his own mind to lose face with the other men. Also, it shows that Achilles thinks of the gods as nothing more than beings who make promises and fail to keep them. His attitude towards Zeus is not one of reverence, but rather one of bitterness and complaint.
Aeneas offers the complete opposite standpoint. Not only does he demonstrate reverence to the gods and their will, but he also proves himself to be wholly submissive to their calling. This is best seen in two different scenes in the Aeneid, both of which deal with the same subject. In the first, when Aeneas is called by the gods to leave Dido and Carthage and claim his rightful ownership of Italy, he is torn when faced by his lover. When Dido realizes Aeneas’ plan to leave, she begs him not to go. But, according to Aeneas, he has no choice – his path is already laid down before his feet. Before responding, Aeneas “fought down the emotion in his heart” (4.457), and then, at the end of his words to Dido, he says, “So please, no more / Of these appeals that set us both afire. / I sail for Italy not of my own free will” (4.496-99). Aeneas may have had more to gain by staying with Dido; he had a good home, a woman who loved him, and a rising city of his own. But nevertheless, the call of Zeus in his mind was so strong that it was as if he had no say in the matter. In the second instance, Aeneas meets Dido in Hades after he has discovered that the rumors of her suicide are true. He approaches her, and once again says the same thing: that he had no choice, and that he was sorry for everything he had caused her to go through. He is even more distraught at seeing her dead than he was before; however, he does not mention anything about regret for following the gods’ call. This dedication to the gods offers a much different look at how honor is gained than is seen in the life of Achilles.
Another aspect of the varying codes of honor to consider lies in the Roman tradition of Stoicism, seen in Aeneas’ fighting down of his emotions when he leaves Dido. Unlike Greek culture, which gave way to many passions, the Romans saw lack of control over emotions as a sign of weakness, and therefore, dishonor. While Aeneas does not deny or ignore the passions welling up inside of him when he parts from his lover, he works hard to subdue them, and he moves on. The same thing happens in Hades, except on a much greater scale. After realizing that Dido killed herself most likely because of his absence, Aeneas “still gazed after her in tears, / Shaken by her ill-fate and pitying her” (6.276-77). And yet, as the very next line indicates, “With effort then he took the given way” (6.278). Though it took him more time and effort than the last time he had seen Dido, he was still able to control himself and continue on. This speaks volumes about the contrast of honor in the cultures of the Romans and the Greeks, who often found themselves carried away with their emotions (such as anger or lust).
By way of a final example, a study of honor in the two poems must include a discussion of the treatment and place of women within the Greek and Roman cultures. Women can offer a completely different angle on many of the same issues. So, what was the place of women in The Iliad and The Aeneid? First, consider The Iliad. In the much more crude culture of the Greeks, women really are no more than objects, or symbols of men’s honor. Returning once again to Achilles’ complaint to his mother, he calls his servant-girl his “prize” (won in a previous battle), and makes a direct connection between Zeus’ failure to give him honor and Agamemnon’s taking of the said prize. With this picture in mind, women are seen in The Iliad as honorable only in that they add to or enhance the honor of soldiers and other men.
In The Aeneid, women certainly do not play a prominent role above or even at level with men, but neither are they passed around and treated like items as seen in The Iliad. Dido has quite an influence of Aeneas’ life, and it is painful for him to see her hurt. For women in The Aeneid (Dido being the chief example), honor comes by remaining faithful to one’s husband and lord, and serving him dutifully. While this may not turn the heads of many modern readers, it is undoubtedly a step up from the savagery of Greek culture.
It is important to remember that though these two cultures seem worlds apart (and in many ways they are), neither story can be looked to as a definite example of what a better honor system looks like. To many people, the noble, high-standing qualities of Roman society far outweigh the crude, savage culture of the Greeks. However, it may simply be that the two did have a different outlook on life (and, subsequently, honor), and therefore neither one would see themselves as in the wrong. A difference does not necessarily mean that one code of honor was better than another; each served the purposes of the cultures present in their respective stories.
The difference, then, does not lie in how Achilles and Aeneas seek after honor. They both see a need to pursue honor by doing those things that they think are best in the times when decisions must be made. The distinction of the two lies in their motives; once again, Achilles seeks a better image, and Aeneas seeks the will of Zeus and the gods. But all the same, once honor has been achieved by these two individuals, they become larger-than-life figures in ancient mythology. Honor, and a lifestyle dedicated to being honorable, were the key fundamental undertones of Greek and Roman cultures. Whether Achilles is grumbling about Agamemnon’s blatant attack on his image in front of their fellow soldiers or filling the souls of the Trojans with fear with his god-like fury, or Aeneas is willing to leave everything – such as his city, wife, or emotions – behind to pursue a path that is most pleasing to Zeus, these two giants of literature are both after the same thing. Though death may come at an early age (as it did for Achilles), an honorable name was the greater cause to live and die for, because with it, a hero’s name would forever be remembered. Achilles and Aeneas certainly are two excellent examples of that underlying Greek and Roman ideal.
I just finished up the first draft of a paper for one of my classes. I thought I would include it here to see what you guys think. Since this is the first draft, I realize it's a bit rough at this point. I'm turning it in today to my professor (the final draft, after he gives some suggestions, will be due in a couple of weeks).
I thought that perhaps some ancient mythology experts - like you guys here on SRL! - would like to read it and see what you think. Perhaps we could discuss the two poems, seeing as how they ARE the greatest epics of all time.
Here you go:
The Honorable Thing To Do
Achilles speeds towards Hector and the walls of Troy, “Like the helmeted God of War himself, / The ash-wood spear above his right shoulder / Rocking in the light” (The Iliad, 22.151-53). Aeneas, though he is deeply troubled with the thought of leaving his wife and leading his men into Italy, suppresses the emotions in his heart, because he knows that the will of the gods is where his allegiance ultimately lies. Hector, courageous until his very last breath, ignores the pleadings of his family and marches out to face the terrifying Achilles in a one-on-one match that he is almost sure to lose. Dido, faithful to her lover Aeneas, works with him to strengthen the city of Carthage and begs for him to remain when he receives the gods’ command to leave. These characters, though each is unique and represents different struggles and victories, all center in their very beings around one principle: being a person of honor is worth more than anything else in the world, and the quest for that honor is the most important task of life (and death).
What is honor, then? What is it that drives these four characters – and everyone they interact with – to search and fight continuously for in their adventures? An answer does not easily come, since honor is such an intricate part of Greek and, centuries later, Roman societies. However, a study of each epic poem opens up possibilities for a multitude of answers; answers to how honor relates within each society to men’s relationships with themselves, others (including women), and the gods. The texts of each poem give many examples of who best represents honor, and reveals clues about questions such as, “In what ways are women honorable in both poems, and how do they relate to men?” or, “How did Roman Stoicism affect the view of honor in The Aeneid as compared to The Iliad?” But before looking at in-depth examples within the texts, a brief definition of honor according to each culture is necessary. Put simply, the Roman code of honor seen in Virgil’s The Aeneid is obviously very much influenced by Greek honor seen in Homer’s The Iliad, just as Roman society mirrored its Greek precursor. However, the two cultures and, subsequently, the two epic poems, were separated by many differences. These similarities and differences can be seen in each tale’s lead characters, Achilles and Hector from The Iliad; Aeneas and Dido from The Aeneid.
The main difference, then, between honor in Homer’s The Iliad and that in Virgil’s The Aeneid is this: in the former, honor is seen in how people view or treat one who is honorable, whereas in the latter, honor is an act, a way one lives his life that outwardly shows how honorable he is. Put another way, honor in The Iliad is based not as much on the choices one makes as it is on one’s reputation. The Aeneid, by contrast, offers the idea that honor is based on one’s choices, and being honorable is directly related to the path that one chooses to follow in life. There are similarities, of course, in the two epics, in that honor is gained in much the same way (through heroic deeds and favor with the gods), but the fundamental definitions presented in each poem remain different. Again, in The Iliad, honor is in one’s reputation. In The Aeneid, honor is in one’s actions.
With the basic definition of honor in each poem clear, as well as the fundamental difference between the two, turning to the text provides examples to help clarify the many different ways in which honor is represented within the two epics. In regards to the basic difference between The Iliad and The Aeneid, a look to each of the poems’ main characters – Achilles for the Greeks in The Iliad and Aeneas for the Romans in The Aeneid – is essential. It is with these two heroes that the ideals of reputation and action are embedded. For Achilles, image is everything. What strikes fear in the heart of Hector in his final confrontation with Achilles is not the choice that the Greek god-like warrior made to challenge him, but his terrible and furious image as he rides towards him:
Like the helmeted God of War himself,
The ash-wood spear above his right shoulder
Rocking in the light that played from his bronze
In gleams of fire in the rising sun.
And when Hector saw it he lost his nerve,
Panicked, and ran, leaving the gates behind,
With Achilles on his tail, confident in his speed. (22.151-57)
At that moment, Achilles’ rage at the death of his friend was so great that the choices he was making meant nothing to him; in his blind fury he saw only the avenging of Patroclus. And, because of his rage, his figure is terrifying to Hector, who turns and runs. Because of the frequent bursts of epic simile that Homer works into the story at this point, it is obvious that Achilles is meant to be seen in a much more powerful and honorable light.
By contrast, Aeneas seeks honor by a different route – that is, the honoring of the gods by his obedience to their commands. In book two of The Aeneid, as he explains to the Tyrians his escape from Troy, he explains that this obedience came in the form of heeding his family’s pleas to flee from the city, which was destined for destruction. In his recounting of the events that occurred in Troy, Aeneas says that he planned, like Hector, to defend the city until his dying breath, even rushing out to meet the foe head-on, much like Hector did with Achilles. At first, he cannot be swayed, and he is set on facing the Greeks. But slowly his family begins to convince him otherwise, and the turning point comes when Hector appears to him in a dream and urges him to flee. At that time, Aeneas decides to honor the fallen hero and escapes with his family from the city. In this way, Virgil was able to explain how Aeneas abandoned Troy without marring his honor – Aeneas had no choice but to obey the call of the gods.
Here we must pause to compare Hector and Aeneas, because though they were men of similar fame and honor within the city of Troy, there are differences within their ideas of what honor is that offer another example of Homer’s view of honor as contrasted with Virgil’s. Both Hector and Aeneas are faced with the opportunity to prove themselves dedicated to their nation on the field of battle. Their responses are similar, but they differ in that Hector would rather go to certain death than be persuaded to abandon a fight. For Hector, his image and reputation are at stake when he says:
I can’t face the Trojan men and women now,
Can’t bear to hear some lesser men say,
‘Hector trusted his strength and lost the army.’
That’s what they’ll say. I’ll be much better off
Facing Achilles, either killing him
Or dying honorably before the city. (22.120-25)
Here, Hector has his own image in mind. He is more concerned with how the men and women will talk about him if he backs down than what the outcome of the war might be. For him, death is a far more honorable option because with death he still retains his noble image. Aeneas, on the other hand, is able to be persuaded otherwise, for the good of his family and for the hope of establishing a new nation.
Achilles shows a sliver of similarity with Aeneas in that his renewed passion in the war comes with the desire to avenge his friend Patroclus’ death by the sword of Hector. In this avengement, Achilles is not just selfishly thinking about himself, but about the honor of his fallen friend. However, the principle is the same: Achilles is not looking to gain more honor by following any set of rules for avenging dead friends – he simply does not want Patroclus to lose honor even in death. Achilles is faithful to his closest friends (of which there are but a few), but whether regarding the honor of himself or a companion, he is still concerned with reputation. If Achilles had been more like Aeneas in the sense of loyalty to one’s country, he would have been fighting alongside Patroclus instead of sulking behind at the Greek encampment, and may have even prevented his death.
This contrast of the two heroes can also be seen in the relationships they have with the gods. In the case of Achilles, the gods seem to play no important part, unless he needs something in particular. In one instance, after Agamemnon has claimed Achilles’ servant-girl, Achilles’ first reaction is to retreat to solitude and weep by the ocean until his mother, the goddess Thetis, comes to console him. Says Achilles: “Olympian Zeus was supposed to grant me honor. / Well, he hasn’t given me any at all. Agamemnon / Has taken away my prize and dishonored me” (1.368-70). Two things are obvious from these words of Achilles: again, it shows that Achilles is only concerned with how the others view him; the fact that Agamemnon took away his prized servant-girl Briseis in front of the entire army had caused him in his own mind to lose face with the other men. Also, it shows that Achilles thinks of the gods as nothing more than beings who make promises and fail to keep them. His attitude towards Zeus is not one of reverence, but rather one of bitterness and complaint.
Aeneas offers the complete opposite standpoint. Not only does he demonstrate reverence to the gods and their will, but he also proves himself to be wholly submissive to their calling. This is best seen in two different scenes in the Aeneid, both of which deal with the same subject. In the first, when Aeneas is called by the gods to leave Dido and Carthage and claim his rightful ownership of Italy, he is torn when faced by his lover. When Dido realizes Aeneas’ plan to leave, she begs him not to go. But, according to Aeneas, he has no choice – his path is already laid down before his feet. Before responding, Aeneas “fought down the emotion in his heart” (4.457), and then, at the end of his words to Dido, he says, “So please, no more / Of these appeals that set us both afire. / I sail for Italy not of my own free will” (4.496-99). Aeneas may have had more to gain by staying with Dido; he had a good home, a woman who loved him, and a rising city of his own. But nevertheless, the call of Zeus in his mind was so strong that it was as if he had no say in the matter. In the second instance, Aeneas meets Dido in Hades after he has discovered that the rumors of her suicide are true. He approaches her, and once again says the same thing: that he had no choice, and that he was sorry for everything he had caused her to go through. He is even more distraught at seeing her dead than he was before; however, he does not mention anything about regret for following the gods’ call. This dedication to the gods offers a much different look at how honor is gained than is seen in the life of Achilles.
Another aspect of the varying codes of honor to consider lies in the Roman tradition of Stoicism, seen in Aeneas’ fighting down of his emotions when he leaves Dido. Unlike Greek culture, which gave way to many passions, the Romans saw lack of control over emotions as a sign of weakness, and therefore, dishonor. While Aeneas does not deny or ignore the passions welling up inside of him when he parts from his lover, he works hard to subdue them, and he moves on. The same thing happens in Hades, except on a much greater scale. After realizing that Dido killed herself most likely because of his absence, Aeneas “still gazed after her in tears, / Shaken by her ill-fate and pitying her” (6.276-77). And yet, as the very next line indicates, “With effort then he took the given way” (6.278). Though it took him more time and effort than the last time he had seen Dido, he was still able to control himself and continue on. This speaks volumes about the contrast of honor in the cultures of the Romans and the Greeks, who often found themselves carried away with their emotions (such as anger or lust).
By way of a final example, a study of honor in the two poems must include a discussion of the treatment and place of women within the Greek and Roman cultures. Women can offer a completely different angle on many of the same issues. So, what was the place of women in The Iliad and The Aeneid? First, consider The Iliad. In the much more crude culture of the Greeks, women really are no more than objects, or symbols of men’s honor. Returning once again to Achilles’ complaint to his mother, he calls his servant-girl his “prize” (won in a previous battle), and makes a direct connection between Zeus’ failure to give him honor and Agamemnon’s taking of the said prize. With this picture in mind, women are seen in The Iliad as honorable only in that they add to or enhance the honor of soldiers and other men.
In The Aeneid, women certainly do not play a prominent role above or even at level with men, but neither are they passed around and treated like items as seen in The Iliad. Dido has quite an influence of Aeneas’ life, and it is painful for him to see her hurt. For women in The Aeneid (Dido being the chief example), honor comes by remaining faithful to one’s husband and lord, and serving him dutifully. While this may not turn the heads of many modern readers, it is undoubtedly a step up from the savagery of Greek culture.
It is important to remember that though these two cultures seem worlds apart (and in many ways they are), neither story can be looked to as a definite example of what a better honor system looks like. To many people, the noble, high-standing qualities of Roman society far outweigh the crude, savage culture of the Greeks. However, it may simply be that the two did have a different outlook on life (and, subsequently, honor), and therefore neither one would see themselves as in the wrong. A difference does not necessarily mean that one code of honor was better than another; each served the purposes of the cultures present in their respective stories.
The difference, then, does not lie in how Achilles and Aeneas seek after honor. They both see a need to pursue honor by doing those things that they think are best in the times when decisions must be made. The distinction of the two lies in their motives; once again, Achilles seeks a better image, and Aeneas seeks the will of Zeus and the gods. But all the same, once honor has been achieved by these two individuals, they become larger-than-life figures in ancient mythology. Honor, and a lifestyle dedicated to being honorable, were the key fundamental undertones of Greek and Roman cultures. Whether Achilles is grumbling about Agamemnon’s blatant attack on his image in front of their fellow soldiers or filling the souls of the Trojans with fear with his god-like fury, or Aeneas is willing to leave everything – such as his city, wife, or emotions – behind to pursue a path that is most pleasing to Zeus, these two giants of literature are both after the same thing. Though death may come at an early age (as it did for Achilles), an honorable name was the greater cause to live and die for, because with it, a hero’s name would forever be remembered. Achilles and Aeneas certainly are two excellent examples of that underlying Greek and Roman ideal.
