Homer's Iliad as an Anti-War Statement - Essay Example

However, through Homer's depiction, another side of the story is visible. As he shows each of the two heroes, Homer reveals that they are not such great heroes as they seem. Both Achilles and Hector demonstrate very childish behavior, reducing their ability to be seen as leaders of men, negating the bravery of war and questioning the value of battle. Achilles is presented as a natural hero, but his behavior reveals that he is little more than a petulant child. In Book 1, Hector describes Achilles as one of the greatest heroes of the Greek army.

He is a hero because of his strength in battle and his unwavering courage. His courage and strength earn him the reward of one of the two captured Trojan girls following the sack of one of the Trojan cities. However, Achilles is also seen to be a very spoiled child in his argument with Agamemnon over the captured Trojan girl Briseis. Acting like a spoiled child, Achilles refuses to lead his men into any more battles with Agamemnon because Agamemnon took Briseis away from him. Achilles's actions have nothing to do with any personal feelings he has for the girl; it is simply a matter of pride because she was his prize.

Achilles also asks his mother, the sea-nymph Thetis, to punish the Achaean Greeks for their participation in taking this prize away from him. This early example of his childishness sets up the later battle scene with Hector in which Achilles again fails to honor the warrior code. Instead of honoring the body as Hector asked him to do and as Hector had done for Patroclus, in Book 22, Achilles kills Hector and allows his soldiers to desecrate Hector's body. Indeed, Achilles's decision to re-enter the war had nothing to do with honor or duty.

It was only to take revenge on Hector for killing Achilles's friend. Through Achilles's actions, Homer shows that battle is nothing more than a means for grown men to act out childish behavior. Hector is also considered to be a hero of Troy because of his noble character and his leadership of men, but Homer shows that he, too, is inadequate. Hector does appear to be the nobler of the two men. He enters battle simply as a means of protecting his homeland and his family which are under attack. He is honorable in that he returns Patroclus's body to the Greek camp undefiled and he insists on standing in front of his soldiers rather than leading from behind.

He does not have the strength of Achilles, though, and it is up to Apollo to save him from Achilles's sword several times before their final battle. He ignores his wife's foreknowledge of his death in Book 6 and he is unwise in advising his men to lead another assault on the Greeks in Book 18, even though he is aware that Achilles will be returning to fight. His pride leads him to wear Achilles's captured armor to battle even though it is obvious that Achilles would know of its weaknesses and thus greatly reducing its effectiveness.

It is also pride that forces him to stay outside the gates when the rest of his men have retreated inside. This pride evaporates in the face of Achilles's rage, though, and Hector leads a cowardly chase around the city three times before the gods fool him into trying to make a stand. Through Hector, Homer shows that battle does nothing more than expose men's weaknesses. Even though it would seem that battle is a heroic endeavor because of the drama presented in the poem, Homer is careful to show that nothing has really