The interpretive concept of human agency is a topic greatly referenced to by Homer in the Iliad. Agency can be defined as the capacity to act in ways that matter, insofar as they act autonomously and without the determining of outside forces (gods, force, fate, etc). Reason, deliberation, and judgments are traits needed to assert free will, and in the Iliad many characters do not exercise them fully due to divine intervention. Such passage where we can see conflicting human agency at play is Book
Zeus’s will was shown in the battle between Xanthus and Hephaestus. Xanthus, the river god, becomes frustrated with Achilles because he is continuously dumping dead Trojan men into his sea. Achilles continues slaughtering Paeonians one after another, who are instantly killed as they run due to terror. Xanthus tells Achilles to stop depositing corpses into his water. Achilles tells Xanthus that he will obey his orders, but not at this very moment. He tells him he will kill Trojans until they are driven
Who was responsible for the Trojan War? The Trojan War is caused by either Helen, Paris or Menelaus because one, Helen had an affair with Paris, then ran away and angered Menelaus, Paris could have caused the war because he was promised the most beautiful wife which was Helen and eloped with her which angered her husband, also Menelaus who brought soldiers and army’s since he had to follow the words of his oath to save Helen. First Helen was reasonable for the Trojan War since she secretly eloped
The three main people that caused and were responsible for the Trojan War were Aphrodite, Paris, and Helen. Firstly, the main reason why the Trojan War took place was because of Paris. He had made a big mistake when choosing the goddess to be the fairest. There were three choices for him. They were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. If he had chosen Hera, his life would have been more powerful and the Trojan War would have been not taken place. People wouldn’t have to risk their lives or have to die. For
Ransoming Children Intro to comparison and contrast of ransoming children or something. In this essay, this sucks I knw, but anyway, I am discussing the similarities and differences in the two instances of ransoming children back from their capturers in the Illiad. In both situations, a father seeks to ransom back his child from the capturer. One for his stolen daughter, and the other for the body of his son. Both men offer extravagant and numerous gifts for the return of their children. Chryses
In the movie Troy, Achilles, a young ambitious, good looking, muscular, Greek demonstrates a clear heroic quest. A warrior who wanted to be known, thrived for the remembrance of his name. Achilles goes from a self prideful warrior to a warrior of love with a sense of compassion. The normal world for Achilles is being a warrior, fighting in small battles for Greece and training his cousin Patroclus. He serves as a mentor for Patroclus, preparing him for battle, and making him a strong warrior
Fate is when an event happens beyond someone’s control, it was destined to happen. Epic of Gilgamesh is a story that is all about fate and free will. Gilgamesh is a man who wanted to change his destiny as a mortal and obtain immortality. Eventually, he did not achieve his goal. Destiny predetermined his fate. This is related to Julius Caesar in the fact that both Gilgamesh and Caesar wanted to be immortal but failed to achieve this. Due to Calpurnia’s dream, the animal with no heart, and Artemidorus’s
In Book 4 of Homer’s Odyssey, Menelaus and Helen are having dinner with Telemachus and their guests. During their dinner, Menelaus and Helen each tells story to tell about Odysseus at Troy. However, between their stories, there seems to have slightly different point they are trying to share, other than about Odysseus; Helen seems to appear mainly in both of Menelaus and Helen’s story. In Menelaus’ story, Helen seems to appear as persuading and her craftiness against Greek while Helen states she
Heroism and Humanity in Virgil’s Aeneid and Ovid’s Heroides Understanding human identity is a complex process that must exam the human capacity to think and act independently— individual agency. In this process, one discovers that external factors such as gender affect how human capacity is viewed. And through this, a question of heroism arises: What is truly heroic, to ignore human desires or to follow them? This question is addressed in many literary works as philosophers and authors struggle to
Do people have free will or is fate inevitable? This question confused the Greeks for many years. Some of the Greeks thought fate was unavoidable tragedy, others thought fate could be changed by their choices. A few Greeks predicted their tragic fate and accepted it. Modern readers should read Greek literature to gain understanding about the role fate plays in the lives of the Greeks. Once the reader understands what fate is, they can decide whether or not they believe fate plays a role in their