Pride in Homer's Iliad - Term Paper Example

Pride in Homer’s Iliad For the reader to better understand the character flaw of “pride” in Homer’s Iliad, it must first be emphasized that during the time of the story “Iliad”, both the Greek and Trojan people were still a warrior society. This is not a peculiar characteristic among the Greeks and Trojans because almost all societies first started as a warrior society until it evolved to a more mature and civilized society that would avoid war knowing its destructiveness. Being a warrior society, the Greeks and Trojan’s value system revolved on the virtues of a good warrior such as the primacy of honor, glory and legacy. While these value systems are not bad by themselves, they could prove to be destructive when taken to the extreme because it would lead to “pride”. A sense of honor and dignity might be healthy but when pride takes over, this is where trouble begins because it consumes a man to be foolish. True enough, pride was almost the sole cause of the downfall of almost all of the main protagonists in the Iliad that caused them their lives and those troops they are in command. Pride was prominent between the three main characters of Homer’s Iliad which caused the Trojan War. First, it was with King Menelaus of Sparta who was outraged when Paris seduced his wife Helen who eloped with him. True, King Menelaus of Sparta had every right to be mad against Paris with the taking of his wife, but it is not enough reason to wage war on another country that would kill soldiers and civlians alike who has nothing to do with his quarrel not to mention the destruction that his waging of war will bring. But being a cuckold King, Menelaus pride was slighted so he called on his brother Agammemnon to help him wage war with the Trojans and so the Trojan War was set in motion killing fine men and women and even heroes in the process. Agammemnon on his part was also full of pride. When his war bride Chryseis was returned to her father Chryses, the Priest of Apollo to pacify the god Apollo and end the plagued that pestered his army, he coveted another man’s wife. Of all people, it was the bride of his best warrior undermining their war efforts against the Trojans. Agammemnon was quoted; “Still I am willing to give her back, if such is the best way. I myself desire that my people be safe, not perish. Find me then some prize that shall be my own, lest I only among the Argives go without, since that were unfitting (1.116-119)” He spoke of a woman as if it was a trophy to bolster his pride and when it was taken away from him, he coveted the woman whom he thought to be the next best prize which is Briseis, the war bride of Achilles. To the modern mind, this is very ridiculous because it would surely create an internal conflict within the Greek army that would weaken their force when they attack the Trojans. But never mind the consequences as long as Agammemnon’s pride is fed by having the second best wife around. In fact, pride seems to be the only language that Agammemnon can talk because he also used it to challenge Odysseus to fight harder by calling him a slack that Odysseus out of his ilk of Agammemnon’s picking on his fighting ability replied; “What is this word that broke through the fence of your teeth, Atreides? How can you say that, when we Achaians waken the bitter war god on Trojans, breakers of horses, I hang back from fighting? Only watch, if you care to and if it concerns you, the very father of Telemachos locked with the champion Trojans, breakers of horses. Your talk is wind, and no meaning” (4.350-355) Also, when Agammemnon has to do his preparatory talk to his army to motivate them before going to war, he appealed to their sense of pride to fight harder for them to be victorious and get out of the war safely thus appealing; 'Be men now, dear friends, and take up the heart of courage, and have consideration for each other in the strong encounters, since more come through alive when men consider each other, and there is no glory when they give way, nor warcraft either.' (5.529-532) Agammemnon’s finest warrior Achilles, being a warrior hero is also prone to pride. When his war bride was taken away from him, he sulked like a child and withdrew his Myrmidon army from the war and beseeched his mother Thetis to ask Zeus for the Greek army to reach a breaking point so that Agammemnon will become desperate and will realize the wrong he has done to him quoting as “And now my prize you threaten in person to strip from me, for whom I labored much, the gift of the sons of the Achaians. Never, when the Achaians sack some well-founded citadel of the Trojans, do I have a prize that is equal to your prize. […] Now I am returning to Phthia, since it is much better to go home again with my curved ships, and I am minded no longer to stay here dishonoured and pile up your wealth and your luxury (1.161-164, 169-171)”  Achilles pride was not only confined to being slighted and withdrawing from the war when his war bride was taken away from him. Even as he withdrew from the Trojan War giving the impression that he is no longer interested to fight, he still wanted to salvage the glory of defeating the Trojans when sent he his cousin Patroclus to fight. He cautioned Patroclus not to pursue the Trojans because he feared of his safety admonishing him; “Once you have beaten off the lethal fire, quick, come back to the ships-you must not  battle Hector!" But instead of going back to the ship, Patroclus brandishing Achilles’s armor pursued the Trojans to seize glory to pride it for himself which ultimately caused him his demise in the hands of Hector. Despite of him being a lesser warrior, Patroclus is also not immune from the lure of pride which is common among Greeks’ great warriors. When he successfully routed the Trojans away from their ships, he got overzealous and pursued the Trojans to prove himself as a great warrior. Upon reaching the gates of Troy, he was killed by Hector which set Achilles in a rampaging fury. Again pride destroyed him and in a way Patroclus pride started the mayhem between these two countries as Achilles became outraged beyond consolation with the death of his cousin which is of his own making in the first place. Had he heeded Achilles admonition not to pursue the Trojans, he would have been still alive. Hector also displayed the same folly of being too proud beyond his capacity. He too was admonished to stay within the Trojan walls because Achilles is outraged at him beyond consolation and is out to kill him. Hector instead ignored the warning of Poulydamas to keep them camped out on the plain. But instead of avoiding Achilles and seeking refuge behind the Trojan wall amongst his men for his safety, Hector chose to face Achilles in a mortal combat out of sheer pride. Hector was eventually slain by Achilles to avenge his cousin Patroclus. But Achilles would not had the opportunity to slay him had Hector stayed within the walls of Troy. Hector was already admonished that he will be killed by Achilles but pride lured him to confront Achilles who the latter desecrated his body after killing him. Had Hector heeded the advice and stayed within the Trojan walls, Troy may have might not have fallen as Hector would be there to lead its defense against the siege of the Acheans and win the war against their attackers. Again pride got the better of Hector despite of the warnings that Achilles could and will kill him. And when Achilles did, his body was desecrated which was unfitting for his social stature in life. Homer’s Iliad is not really about the story of the bravery of heroes and war of epic proportion but rather, how men fall because of pride. Perhaps the only thing that is good with pride is that it emboldens the resolve of the warriors to fight. But still, the war was really uncalled for because it was just initiated by the slighted ego of cuckold Menelaus when his wife Helen gave in the seduction of Paris and eloped with him to Troy. The husband Menelaus, was of course furious and waged a war against Troy which precipitated the Trojan War causing the deaths of thousands of men and women not to mention the emotional distress and grieving it has wrought on both sides. It is hard to imagine that the pride of one man is equivalent to thousands of lives many of which many held important social positions such as Hector. Pride is also destructive, not only amongst men and their once amiable relation but also on important structures. Troy went under seige by the Acheans destroying many of its important buildings during the process of besieging. And this is done to pacify Menelaus anger whose pride was slighted by the infidelity of his wife. Thus, the Iliad of Homer, if there is any important lesson that can be learned from it, is to realize how pride can make a man and a country fall. It is such a destructive force that drives men to folly and anger that makes them ignore any sober admonishment for safety and strategy. This was the case of Patroclus and Hector who both went against advice not to face and pursue their foes. Patroclus was warned by Achilles not to pursue the Trojans but still he did and was slain by the hands of Hector upon reaching the gates of Troy. Hector on the other hand was also advised not to confront Achilles. Common sense dictates that if the man is invincible (except for the small portion of his heels of which his mother Thetis held him as a baby to make him invincible when he was dipped in river Styx, the river that souls must cross before entering the underworld), the probability of defeating him is virtually nil and therefore it is more prudent to avoid him. Strategy wise, Troy might had better defense had Hector stayed within its walls and fought with his army. They might have driven off the besieging Acheans and saved the city and won the war. The folly of his pride caused him his life when he faced Achilles where his body was later desecrated when he was slain. Above all, the character in Homer’s epic Iliad who is so consumed with pride that it governed all his ways and language was the cuckold Menelaus. Just because his ego was slighted when his wife Helen eloped with another man, he waged war on a country taking with him thousands of men who died in the process who has nothing to do with his quarrel with Paris who took his wife. When he motivates men to go to war with him, he does not talk of visions, of just cause or better lives, but rather appealed on their sense of pride just as when he pick on Odysseus to fight with him against the Trojans. The same method was also used to pep talk his army in going to war with him. Perhaps the biggest casualty of pride in Homer’s epic is Achilles, the invincible hero. Achilles virtually cannot be killed except for a small portion in his heels where his mother held him when he was dipped in river Styx as a baby. But because of his quest for glory that feeds his pride, an arrow (shot by Paris) struck that very little portion in his heels that cause him his death. Indeed the very lesson or the most appropriate theme in Homer’s Iliad is that even the mightiest and the most invincible of men will fall once pride has consumed him. Work Cited The Iliad of Homer. Translated by Richmond Lattimore. University of Chicago Press, 2011. Read More

 

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