“Jove,” he cried, “grant that this my child may be even as myself, chief among the Trojans; let him be not less excellent in strength, and let him rule Ilius with his might. Then may one day of him as he comes from battle, ‘The son is far better than the father.’ May he bring back the blood-stained spoils of him whom he has laid low, and let his mother’s heart be glad (476-481).” This passage will be discovered by using Homer’s work and meaningfulness throughout this paper. In this chosen passage, the reader’s attention was captured by his descriptive characterization skills and passion through his work.
If you look into this passage farther than what meets the eye of simply reading it, you can see how much description and characterization was put into this. Hector saying “Jove,” he cried, “grant that this my child may be even as myself, chief among the Trojans; let him be not less excellent in strength, and let him rule Ilius with his might. Then may one day of him as he comes from battle, ‘The son is far better than the father.’ May he bring back the blood-stained spoils of him whom he has laid low, and let his mother’s heart be glad (476-481).” This shows to me how Hector wasn’t just good on the outside but even better on the inside. How great of a father he was not just wanting glory for himself. In this poem Homer shows this throughout everything he writes not just this one passage it’s crazy how much work he put into getting the characters their own stories and more. He also kept everything a mystery. He didn’t want anyone to perceive the text as one-sided like this article. It’s one of Homer’s great talents leaving the choice up to you. Homer built his epic poems on the basis of history or stories he was told or saw about. This makes even more astounding as a poet because most people who tell about a big story or event seem to always lean towards one of the ways. For instance us Americans are always taught in history about all the war’s we won to build this country and how great it is. Now think about how someone from Japan or Britain teaches history they teach us to be the villain. So it’s absurd to think what a great poet he was. He was also believed to be blind by many of his writings and by his works, ‘he talks about a blind poet in the Odyssey which is the main reason many believe he was blind.”
Now Glory or “Kleos- the greek meaning for glory” is pro founded very deeply upon when reading the Iliad. You see how Homer uses the text to display the meaningfulness Kleos had then. Like in this quote ‘Homer himself describes war as ‘bringing glory to man”. War is a huge part of both the Achaeans and the Trojans’ lives. Characters gain glory through their performances and bravery in battle.” Understanding why Homer uses a huge piece of the poem revolving around war is because of the connection war had with glory. In Greek times you were founded on by two things and two things only, Glory and Honour. If you didn’t have these two things you were seen as an outcast or loser almost. “So they entreated their dear son with tears. But all their earnest pleas could not change Hector’s mind, and he waited on great Achilles’ advance.” This quote from the Iliad shows that Hector’s parents knew he would lose to Achilies and so did Hector himself as he talks more about it, but for he would not change his mind because of glory and honour. More about Homer’s characterization skills were shown in this passage for instance when he talks about the father and mother of Hector wanting him not to fight. This showed they live a lifestyle more like today where glory and honour are perceived very differently. They had today style as were any parent or most parents would rather have their kid at the expense of anything. Then you look on the other hand of how Homer showed you what a respected and glorified man Hector was wouldn’t let his honour down by being a coward.
Homer’s poems are some of the best epic poems still to today because of his descriptive characterization skills and passion through his work. This hopefully informed you more about Homer. Also about his great works and might help you write a story or essay some day.
Work Cited
1.“Homer.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 9 Sept. 2019, www.biography.com/writer/homer.
2.Kirk, Geoffrey S. “Homer.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 14 Nov. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Homer-Greek-poet.
3.“Greek.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Greek.
4.The Iliad – Planet EBook. www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/the-iliad.pdf.
