Free Essays - The Message of Homers Iliad :: Iliad essays

The Message of Homer's Iliad          In Homer's Iliad, Homer shows his views on heroes, villains, and war. He shows that heroes have great qualities to them and that villains have evil qualities to them. He also shows that even heroes have villainous qualities. Homer also tries to convey that all warriors have a choice between a life of war and a life of peace.    Homer's view of a hero displays bravery, martial skills, and even friendship. Hector is portrayed as the perfect hero in The Iliad. He displays amazing martial skills by being one of the Trojans' top warriors. Hector also shows that he loves his family, he's seen as a man who can be a great warrior and a loving father. He's very devoted to his wife and loves his children. In one scene in the poem, his son was scared of him because of his great helmet. Hector, seeing this, soon removed his helmet and let his son comes to him. This shows that even though he still fights in a war, he still has time to care for his family. Odysseus is another hero who is unwavering in his devotion to his people. Throughout the epic, he shows that he will never betray his people; he even does a marvelous job in rallying up his troops. Priam was also portrayed as a hero. He was a leader who always cared for his men. He even cared about his son Paris who was basically the reason why the war had begun. Even the unnamed warriors were heroes. They gave away 10 years of their life to fight for their leaders.    Homer's view of a villain is petty, selfish, and disloyal. Achilles is shown as an extreme villain in The Iliad. In almost three quarters of the epic, he stays home and just continues to argue with Agamemnon. He may display incredible martial skills on the battlefield, but he still will not fight in the war. He's petty because he's not fighting in his country's war just because he is in a small argument. It also shows that he is disloyal because he is not serving his leader by not fighting in the war.