Homer Construction on the Human Experience - Term Paper Example

Introduction Humanities are a discipline that studies the human conditions and behavior through critical analysis and speculation. Humanities normally encompass various fields such as ancient and modern aspects of languages, literature, philosophy, religion and history as well as performing arts such as music and theatre studies. Humanities is a particularly critical aspect of the Western life particularly the American lifestyle. The ideas that were used in the ancient societies such as Egypt, Greece and Rome still have an influence in the culture of the American people to date and are normally used to govern the behavior, mannerisms as well as to explain some of the norms in the society (Woodhull 121). . To date there is still a keen research and emphasis of the study of classical ideas in the American institutions as they form the corner stone for various disciplines such as Law, literature, music, performing arts, religion, philosophy and Sociology. Such deep and historical understanding of the classical disciplines helps understand humanities. Humanities normally help us to understand what it means to be human as it studies the various aspects of the Human lifestyle. They normally offer paths and clues to such questions and also explain human emotions and behaviors such as feelings, and though humanities never offer the complete answers, they reveal moral and intellectual sense of the aspects. Humanities have time been said to aid in self reflection, which hence make an individual develop personal consciousness. Scholars in the late 20th and early 21st centuries extended “narrative imagination” to the ability to understand the records of lived experiences outside of one’s own individual social and cultural context. As earlier stated Humanities normally help one to fully understand meaning, purpose and the goals of a given phenomenal, the narrative imagination is one of the aspects as it normally helps figure out and exploit the ideas and the thoughts of the various individuals who lived in the earlier times. The narrative imagination is meant to help invoke the memories and the thoughts of various individuals based on the happenings and the various aspects of life. It is also a crucial aspect as it helps us figure out historical phenomenal which are a divine part of us. Literary works are normally divided into various genres based on the content and form. The lliad normally belong to epics which are long poems that are heroic and legendary in nature and normally tell stories on gods and heroic exploits. The events that are normally narrated in an epic are usually drawn from the creativity of the poet as was in the case of the lliad. The lliad is a poem that relates to an important incident in the Trojan War and is based on a war hero. The Trojan War is the most acclaimed and celebrated Greek war legend (Woodhull 121) . The Poet of the lliad presents the events of the legend from an observer point of view and avoids drawing reference to him. The lliad which is arguably one of his greatest works was written during the Trojan War. The lliad is not an account of the war, however it is a tale of psychology telling the of the wrath of the war, the death of war heroes and tales of vengeance. The poem is doing not offer a historical back drop but tells tales of the war heroes and their fall. There have been suggestions that the poem is of an imaginative nature as the dates of the war re not verifiable. The Trojan War is said to have been fought over a timeless period which makes dating it a hard thing. The poem brings about out a facet which one would not have expected at that period of time. Homer was an ancient Greek poet of the epics lliad and Odyssey. In the western civilization he is regarded as the greatest Greek poet ever, and his epics are a significant influence in literature and the study of the history of literature. His works are also relevant as they normally help us understand the humanity and what it means to be human. The epics are also valuable as they are a corner stone of the human societies by helping humans understand basic reasoning and thinking and complex human processes such as imagination. In understanding the humanities, we normally look at the mode of approach to the human question. By this we mean that the humanities usually look at the meaning, purpose, goal in a social phenomenal. Humanities also help us understand historical and literature events and that are why the works of Homer are regarded with such high esteem as they are a significant part of that. In regards to Homer, Knowledge about the body plays a hugely significant role in helping us understand humanity. The humoral system attempted to link human particular bodily fluids to human character. Homer suggested that human bodies are a direct representation of what we are. In the ancient days, it was believed that the body is a microcosm. In the recent years, with in depth research, several disciplines of what would be referred to as medical humanities have fronted several theories which suggest that the body has a direct relation to culture, the body and its relation to artistic and literary identities. In the lliad, we are shown of a brief period in the Trojan War which lasted a long time. However, we are sure of the ending of the characters who are involved. Events that we can predict include, the fall of Troy, the n hector announces that Priam and all his children will die as well as Achilles meeting an early end. Homer in the lliad continues to allude towards these events that even the greatest of men have to fall at a given point and goes on to suggest that the brave and the noble even die before others. This helps us understand that as humans despite being mortal, we have a creation of mortality in us. We can also learn that the glory and the success of men do not live on their constructions or the mighty things that they may have done in life. The epic thus puts a pivotal point across that the ephemeral nature of human beings and the worlds that they live in, and goes ahead to suggest that humans being mortal beings should live their lives to the fullest and as humanly as possible so that subsequent generations and their loved ones can remember them well for their deeds. Homer intimates that if the physical being of mortals and their wealth and material possessions cannot survive them, then their words and deeds can see a brighter day. Certainly the literary works of Homer can attest to that notion. Based on the above notion, one could ask them, what does it mean to be human? Part of being human involves exhibiting or showing human characteristics. There have been several ideologies and view points of the origin of humans. Some are spiritual, and others are scientific such as evolution. However, it is human nature to care and love each other as well as be kind to each other. A human is someone who shows such characteristics in spite of not knowing you. From the lliad, a human is one who is willing to risk their lives for others as they know the consequences of not doing so. The wholeness of a human being is conceptualized on the brain, mortality and emotions (Walker 240). A human has to show emotions such as love, kindness, hate. A human also has a higher brain capacity than other beings and also humans are mortal beings. The lliad presents issues that face humanity and help us understand what it means to be human. Such are what are the factors which influence human actions and also what shapes the end results of human actions? This is a question that humans normally face daily as they run their errands. The other basic human problem that the lliad puts across is why we are constantly seeking power and what is the common uniting factor for all humanity? It also begs the question of what factor limits human freedom as human beings. What is the thin line between justice and power as well as why do we love human own so strongly? These questions are then summed up into one which is what does it mean to be alive? The lliad then answers the question of what it means to be human through the opening invocation which suggests that humans are always in warfare and that it is an integral part of the human lifestyle and part of nature too. The lliad then suggests that warfare is an essential part of the metaphysical order of the Cosmo and that the divine arrangement of the affairs of the humanity, according to which everything behaves, has to behave that way. Religion is an integral part of the human nature, and the lliad shows religion as a focal point of it (Lattimore 45) (Doorley 23). The religious point of view is controlled by irrational forces which are beyond human comprehension and control. The men in the poem duly respect religion and do not want to commit divine displeasure, and they hence do not like job seeking an account from Zeus. They however endorse the reasoning that conflict is natural and divine. This is also part of what it means to be human (Lattimore 45). I tend to agree with the Homer notion that humans are mortal beings and when they have the time they should do right and their actions will be remembered. I also concur with Homer on what it means to be human. His understanding of the issues of the human nature is grieved. Humans are governed by several aspects of their lives such as religion, which is the belief that humans are controlled by super natural forces. In addition, Homer also suggests that humans are governed by a series of questions which we tend to answer in human day to day activities. I also think that humans are governed by fate which is immortal and that we cannot see. Fate makes certain things that we cannot explain. Humans are also masters of their own behavior and have a choice if they will do certain things or not. They have the power and the willingness to choose what they think is appropriate and what is not. . The limitation that humans have in understanding human behavior comes down to one point, the human way of thinking. Humans have a certain way of thinking and solving issues. However, it is hard to understand exactly how a human being will tackle a given issue. When faced by a certain issue, different people will solve it differently. Homer, however, helps us understand this limitation that humans think based on several factors. On how it will affect their religion and based on a series of questions that were posed before in this paper. Homer has a significant impact on humanities especially on how to understand human behavior and reasoning. Work Cited Woodhull, Margaret. "Emma Stafford and Judith Herrin, eds. Personification in the Greek World: From Antiquity to Byzantium.(Book review)." Aurora, The Journal of the History of Art 1 Jan. 2006: 121. Print. Walker, Melanie. "' Making a World that is Worth Living In': Humanities teaching and the formation of practical reasoning." Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 8.3 (2009): 231-246. Print. Doorley, Rachelle King. "Homer: The Blind Bard." School Arts 1 Jan. 2005: 23. Print. Holway, Richard. Becoming Achilles child-sacrifice, war, and misrule in the Iliad and beyond. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2012. Print. Lattimore, Richmond. "lliad." The lliad of Homer. New York: Routledge, 1951. 45. Print. Pope, Alexander. Homer. London: A.J. Valpy, 1833. Print. Read More