The Nature of Honour in Virgil and Homer - 1709 Words

In the epics of both Homer and Virgil, the meaning and politics of honour play a significant role in the decisions and actions of the characters. Honour involves arbitrary set of rules, so just what is is and why did people need to maintain these rules at all? In these poems, honour is linked to a hero’s possessions, identity, and deed. All three are important, but one’s deeds seem to matter the most and without performing great deeds, honour cannot be had the other two ways. Honour is often represented by possessions, and, in a way, the possessions are honour itself. Briseis, the girl that was taken from Achilleus, is honour because her movement from one possessor to another is always accompanied by and equal movement of honour.†¦show more content†¦Fighting is not the only thing he is good at, and it does not even seem to be his favorite thing. When he sits in his tent he â€Å"delights his heart in a lyre† (Homer, Iliad 9.186), and he tells his mother, â€Å"It was I first of all urged then [Apollo’s] appeasement† (1.386). He was the first man to recognize that Apollo sent the plaque, and appeasing the gods is a king’s job, so this suggests that he enjoys art and is good at leading the people. This fits with the prophecy that he would make a good king if he went home, but he would not be great or glorious because that is not what he is best at, and, especially, not what he is better than others at. Agamemnon is supposed to be the kingliest of the Achaians (Lattimore, Iliad 49), but he did not recognize the signs from Apollo and was not willing to make him happy, so he was not behaving according to his identity. Agamemnon is unwilling to give up his prize for the good of the army, so he is failing to fulfill his place as the kingliest. If they lose the war because of his selfishness, then he will be shamed for not doing his duty as king. Aeneas will also be a great king, but when he lives in Troy he is a warrior, so he must change and learn to be kingly. Fighting in the war will win him no honour. As Troy is being sacked, Hector visits him and says: ...You must save yourself from these flames.... You have given enough to yourShow MoreRelatedThe, The Righteous Politician, Mulan, By Robert D. San Souci1275 Words   |  6 Pagesparallel to Inferno’s style and concession. Inferno’s use of cultural motifs is especially familiar in the Disney fashion. Unlike Dante in appearance and caricature, Mulan by Robert D. San Souci bears tribulations attributed to Dante and works of his nature. Derived from the Poem the Ballad of Mulan written between 589 and 618 AD. Mulan honors and contests traditional aspects of belief by blending folktale and culture. While Dante, addresses aspects of Greek, Roman and Pagan ideals and critique FlorentineRead More Is Aeneas a Good Warrior? Essays2896 Words   |  12 PagesAeneas a Good Warrior? I sing of arms and of the man, fated to be an exile, begins Virgil, and it is on precisely the issue of this man of arms that critical debate in recent years has tended to centre. Scholars continue to disagree on whether or not Aeneas is presented as a good soldier, although the question itself is certainly far from black and white, complicated by the culturally relative nature of terms such as conflict and courage, as well as by the rather oblique definition thatRead More Popes An Essay on Criticism4464 Words   |  18 PagesCriticism makes an original and significant contribution to the history of critical theory (Morris 146). Pope divided the work into three parts. Part one is an extended theoretical defense of the very possibility of valid criticism which draws on Nature and the tradition of the ancients. The second part details the traits that could hinder fruitful criticism and lead to errors in critical judgment. The final section presents the intellectual and moral virtues which facilitate the critics craft.Read MoreAlexander Pope Essay6204 Words   |  25 Pagesrecovered from the English Civil Wars and the Glorious Revolution, and the regained sense of political stability led to a resurgence of support for the arts. For this reason, many compared the period to the reign of Augustus in Rome, under whom both Virgil and Horace had found support for their work. The prevailing taste of the day was neoclassical, and 18th-century English writers tended to value poetry that was learned and allusive, setting less value on originality than the Romantics would in theRead MoreElizabethan Era11072 Words   |  45 Pagesdesigned a long poem on the vicissitudes of great personages in English history who had reached violent ends. Sackville owed the main suggestion of his plan to Boccaccio, who had worked out a like scheme in Latin prose, while he drew from Dante and Virgil the machinery of a poets imaginary visit to the regions which the souls of dead heroes inhabited. A Myroure for Magistrates showed, as far as Sackvilles contributions to it went, a marked advance in poetic temper on any English poetry that had been