The Iliad

This is the first essay out of many that I am gonna post about the books that I read last semester and am reading this semester. I think I will be posting one every Wednesday or Friday.

Iliad Pull Question

On the Proper Response to Homer’s Iliad

Pirous who heaved the rock

Came rushing in and speared him up the navel –

His bowels uncoiled, spilling lose on the ground

And the dark came swirling down across his eyes.[1]

This is just one small example of the violence displayed in the Iliad. In fact, the Iliad is so saturated in violence that there almost seems to be no point in reading it. However, we cannot ignore this book. It is only recent phenomenon that one does not have to read homer to be considered educated. For the past several thousand years, Homer has been a part of the educational curriculum of western civilization. His works did not survive through the ages simply because he was good at describing gore. No, there must be something more to the Iliad than how so and so speared so and so, something beyond the violence.

Homer very carefully guides our emotions as we read the Iliad. There are specific points where our loyalties shift (for instance when Hector is talking with Andromache[2] and the death of Patroclus[3]). This can hardly be accidental or without purpose. These points illustrate what is good and what is evil, what is honorable and what is shameful. Homer seems to be very deliberately training us, shaping our emotional responses to fit his moral standards.

Sometimes Homer’s shaping our emotions can be very uncomfortable because his standards are not our own. This is important to notice, because when someone else is influencing us sometimes what we are being taught is true and good, but sometimes it may go against everything we believe. However, in Homer most of the things that make us uncomfortable are true and good, at least on a surface level. One ought to be wise and discerning concerning the Homeric worldview, but also, one also ought to be careful not to throw out ideas and emotions simply because they make us uncomfortable.

For instance, honor plays a major role in the Iliad. Most of the plot centers around the honor of Agamemnon, Achilles, and Hector. However, in today’s culture, honor is not seen as being very important. People don’t fight duels to defend their honor anymore. The concept of honor being one of the most important things in life seems very foreign. Because of this, when Homer guides our emotions about someone based on their honor or lack thereof, it is very uncomfortable for us. Because this is uncomfortable, it is very easy to try to ignore it, to say that honor is not important and that Homer doesn’t apply anymore. This is not a good response. Whether or not honor is important, whether or not his works apply to our lives today, decisions about rational things ought to be made based on reason, not based on personal preference.

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[1] Homer, The Iliad, 4.607-609

[2] ibid., 6.482-588

[3] ibid., 16.914-1009