Maevel lencie l.

DelaCruz January 12, 2018

CIV 165 Ms. Elizabeth Ann T. Gutierez

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Reaction Paper: Paris (The Iliad)

In the ancient Mediterranean world, feminine beauty reaches its zenith in Helen,
Reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the ancient world, Helen was stolen from
her husband, Menelaus, and taken to Troy by Paris. She loathes herself now for the
misery that she has caused so many Trojan and Achaean men. Although her contempt
extends to Paris as well, she continues to stay with him

Even the goddess of love, Aphrodite, admires Helen. While Aphrodite Goddess
of love and daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite is married to Hephaestus but maintains a
romantic relationship with Ares. She supports Paris and the Trojans throughout the war,
though she proves somewhat ineffectual in battle. Aphrodite competes with other
goddesses in a beauty contest–in which a golden apple is to be awarded as the prize–
she bribes the judge, a young Trojan named Paris. She promises him the most
ravishing woman in the world, Helen, if he will select her, Aphrodite, as the most
beautiful goddess. After winning the contest and receiving the coveted golden apple,
she tells Paris about Helen and her incomparable pulchritude. Forthwith, Paris goes to
Greece, woos Helen, and absconds with her to Troy, a walled city in Asia Minor (in
present-day Turkey).

King Menelaus and his friends assemble a mighty army that includes the finest
warriors in the land. Together, they cross the sea in one thousand ships to make war
against Troy and win back their pride–and Helen. But the war drags on and on. Weeks
become months. Months become years. Years become a decade. It is in fact in the
tenth year of the war that Homer picks up the thread of the story and spins his tale,
focusing on a crisis in the Greek ranks in which the greatest soldier in history, Achilles,
decides to withdraw from battle and allow his fellow Greeks to fend for themselves.
 It is Achilles who is the central figure in The Iliad.Homer begins with a one-
paragraph invocation requesting the Muse (a goddess) to inspire him in the telling of his
tale. Such an invocation was a convention in classical literature, notably in epics, from
the time of Homer onward.

In the tenth year of the Trojan War, tensions are running high among the
Achaians (a super-ancient name for the Ancient Greeks). First, the priest Chryses
comes to ask their leader, King Agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom
Agamemnon was holding captive. When Agamemnon refuses, the priest prays to the
god Apollo to send a plague against the Achaians.

After nine days of plague, the Achaians assemble again and demand that
Agamemnon give the girl back. Agamemnon eventually agrees, but only if he gets to
take Briseis, the girlfriend of Achilleus, the greatest warrior of the Achaians. Even
though Achilleus gives her up, he becomes so enraged that he refuses to fight any more.
That and he prays to his mother, Thetis, who happens to be a goddess, to pull some
strings with the other gods so that the Achaians will start getting defeated in battle and
realize how much they depend on him.

Achilleus's mom definitely spoils him. She gets Zeus, the king of the gods, to
agree to Achilleus's request. Sure enough, the next day the Trojans make a successful
counterattack, led by Hektor, their greatest warrior. Several days of violent fighting
follow, at the end of which the Trojans have the Achaians pinned against the beach, and
are threatening to burn their ships.
At this point, Achilleus's best friend Patroklos asks for permission to go into
battle in Achilleus's place. Achilleus grants Patroklos's request, and even lets him wear
his armor. Patroklos's gambit is successful when the Trojans see him, they think he
must be Achilleus and become absolutely terrified. The plan goes off the rails, however,
when Hektor kills Patroklos with the help of the god Apollo and a minor Trojan warrior
named Euphorbos. Hektor then takes the armor off Patroklos's body.

When Achilleus learns of the death of his friend, he experiences terrible grief
and swears revenge. He sends his mother, Thetis, to get a new suit of armor made
especially for him by the fire-god, Hephaistos. The next day, Achilleus rejoins the battle
and kills many Trojans, including Hektor in a one-on-one battle.
But Achilleus isn't satisfied. For the next few days, he continually abuses Hektor's body
in gruesome ways, even after Patroklos has received a proper funeral. The gods don't
like this, and send a message down to Achilleus telling him to give up the body. When
the Trojan King Priam—Hektor's father—comes unarmed, by night, to ask for his son's
body, Achilleus agrees. The two men eat together and experience a moment of shared
humanity. Achilleus grants the Trojans a grace period to perform their funeral rituals.
The poem ends with the funeral of Hektor—though we know that soon Achilleus will die
and Troy will be captured.