The main conflict in The Iliad is caused from the hubris, or excessive pride, of the main character, Achilles.
The Iliad, written by Homer, explores the theme of the temporary nature of man, highlighting the fragility and mortality of human life. This sets man apart from the gods, who are immortal and possess immense power. However, this fragility is what gives man a power greater than the gods.
We can see this in the Iliad where Achilles is depicted as a tragic hero whose overwhelming stubbornness and pride ultimately bring about his own downfall. It can be argued that Achilles's fatal flaw is that of hubris, excessive pride and overconfidence.
The humans in the Iliad have inherent characteristics that provide the driving force behind their actions: the gods simply act in concert with them, allowing the human beings to exercise free will of their own. Throughout the text, the gods are portrayed with all the flaws and eccentricities of mortals.
The Iliad, the story of the Trojan War, offers several moral lessons to its readers, including the importance of leaders treating their soldiers with respect, the importance of accepting apologies, and the need for respecting family bonds.
Most of the internal conflict in The Iliad is attributable to hubris, or excessive pride, which often resulted in the downfall of Greek heroes. Even the opening of the book invites the reader to witness the internal conflict between Greece's fiercest hero, Achilles, and his rage.
It tells us that war is both the bringer of renown to its young fighters and the destroyer of their lives. It tells us about post-conflict destruction and chaos; about war as the great reverser of fortunes. It tells us about the age-old dilemmas of fighters compelled to serve under incompetent superiors.
Apart from choosing immortality, however, the Iliad makes clear that humans have free will in all other regards. The timing of the death that each will suffer, even the type of death, clearly is not predetermined and indeed can be affected by the exercise of free will.
Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or what it 'means' to be human.
The gods and goddesses love to manipulate, plot, and ploy against the humans they detest, so pay close attention, because their influence drives battles that ensue throughout the poem. The Iliad would be nothing if it were not for the gods, as they ultimately decide the fate, or outcome, of the humans.
In ancient Greek mythology, Achilles, the great warrior of the Trojan war, was known to have only one weak point — his heel. Strike him there, and he would die. To this day, we mention one's Achilles' heel as being the flaw that took down an otherwise successful, even heroic, person.
The most common tragic flaw is excessive pride, also known as hubris. However, characters can have other flaws, including stubbornness and emotion, that lead to their downfalls. This literary device allows the author to create well-rounded characters that appear fully human.
Some examples of a tragic flaw include cowardice, ambition, over-protectiveness, and self-sacrifice.
The battlefield in The Iliad is situated between the Greek camp and the walls of Troy. It's where Achilles kills Hector in revenge and then drags his body before the walls of Troy (Book XXII). It's a setting of hubris, or pride, and raw testosterone, where acts of brutality and compassion take place.
The term Achilles heel references a vulnerability or weakness. It is rooted in the myth of Achilles' mother dipping him in the River Styx, making his entire body invulnerable except for the part of his foot where she held him—the proverbial Achilles heel.
Throughout the first half of The Iliad, Achilles is an arrogant and selfish character, especially when he reacts negatively to the Achaean embassy that has been sent to persuade him to rejoin the battle and displays "an irrational impulse of anger" (Schein 115).
In literature, a theme is a broad idea in a story, or a message or lesson conveyed by a work. This message is usually about life, society or human nature.
Abstract. In The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature , Steven Pinker maintains that at present there are three competing views of human nature—a Christian theory, a "blank slate" theory (what I call a social constructivist theory), and a Darwinian theory—and that the last of these will triumph in the end.
The thematic similarities in literature help us connect to ourselves and others while reading, but the differences - the new ideas authors present - allow us to think beyond who and what we are. It is here, this difference, that makes us human. This difference defines the human condition.
Love and friendship, fate and free will, and honor are the main themes of Homer's The Iliad. All three themes follow Achilles and the other main characters of the epic poem.
Death is an interesting concept in Homer's The Iliad. Homer uses the battlefield to show that warriors experience loss and death just as anybody else, filled with emotion and sorrow. Through Achilles, we see how emotional death can be for those left behind.
Throughout The Iliad, Homer presents death in its full horror, never romanticizing it or smoothing over the humiliation and pain that a violent death entails.
Achilles' most distinctive characteristic is his invulnerability, coupled with the fact that he has one small spot on his body which is vulnerable. The lesson, it seems, is that everyone has their weakness, capable of bringing them down.
Most significantly, the Iliad changed the way people worshipped. According to the 5th-Century historian Herodotus, it was Homer, with the poet Hesiod, who “described the gods for the Greeks”, and who also gave them human characters – the characters that shape the Olympian gods we recognise today.
Beyond its significance for promoting a historical understanding of a Greek identity, The Iliad also serves as a lesson in warfare in modern days. In the poem, the Greeks want King Agamemnon to return Apollo's priest's daughter.