The Iliad by Homer - Essay Example

The conflict between the three gods Athena, Hera and Aphrodite, are because of the beauty. Aphrodite in a bid to win the coveted golden apple, bribes a Trojan, Paris, to vote her the winner in a beauty contest between the three goddesses. In return, Aphrodite grants Paris the most beautiful girl in the world, Helen. The conflict between these three gods causes them to take sides in a war that they should have otherwise remained neutral. Aphrodite sides with the Trojans on account of Paris while Hera and Athena side with the Greeks.

Gods have other advantages such as immortality, but they still value beauty and, therefore, seek the consort of humans to validate them (Homer book IV).From Greek mythology handsomeness and beauty are not mans doing. For instance, most of the handsome people are direct or indirect descendants of gods. Helen is the daughter of Zeus; Achilles is the son of Paleus who descends from Zeus. The conflict in the poem results from the actions of a handsome man, Paris, who kidnaps the beautiful wife of Menelaus.

Though, Homer does not explicitly mention this fact beautiful people stand in favor of the gods and people go into war for them as seen with Helen. In the current world, there is high regard for beauty and people go to extreme extents to maintain or acquire beauty. Like in the Iliad setting, people in the modern world have little say on how they want to look when born. This is subject to genetics. Beautiful and handsome people are popular, and seem to get things the easy way. Research shows that, in leadership, an individual’s level of attractiveness increases their likelihood of have many followers.

This is also evident in biblical accounts for characters such as David, Saul and Joseph. In view of my argument, the quest for beauty is the source of many conflicts. These conflicts take the form of social dilemmas and even diseases. For instance, in the 21st century, beauty for ladies stems from ideas such as petite figures, flat tummies and high cheek bones. The need to appear skinny, slim or model like has brought on issues such as anorexia in regard to diseases. Social dilemmas such as bullying in schools and being denial of job opportunities because of how one appears are also rampant.

In the quest for beauty, therefore, either real or imagined, for personal pleasure or otherwise, there is always a price to pay. The situation gets a twist from the fact that in the 21st century beauty associates with certain characteristic. The individual may lack these characteristics, but assumptions related to level of attractiveness define that these qualities exist. These attributes include wisdom, honor, loyalty and social competence. However, the Iliad provides fertile ground through which beauty expresses the basic possession of attractive physical attributes.

As such, bravery and honor have little correlation with beauty. In view of the main characters, Paris and Helen are the most handsome and beautiful persons respectively. However, Paris is a coward as he refuses to fight for a cause he instigated. He stands aside and lets his brother and the goddess Aphrodite fights his battle. Helen, on the other hand, has lost her honor during the ten years spent in Troy. Granted Helen’s actions stem from the control goddess Aphrodite exercises over her, but she does not seem to seek help