ENGL-297 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Iliad, Sarpedon
11 Sep 2020
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Document Summary
The iliad is aware of its role as the keeper of memory: the trojan war, the iliad was composed around 750-700 bce. Achilles personifies the dual conception of the brevity of life and the eternity of fame: hector. All of the characters of the iliad recognize the inevitability of their destiny/moira yet remain essentially powerless to change it. The quarrel with agamemnon and the disdain with which that arrogant commander stripped him of his signs of greatness have led. Achilles to question the warrior"s arete; the aristocratic ideal of high courage. When achilles does commit himself to glory, it is when a heightened consciousness of all the choice entails. Dedication, therefore, to the highest ideal of his culture turns achilles into a savage, destructive force: helen"s addudction. In greek mythology, helen, the wife of the spartan king, fled with. Paris, son of priam, king of troy, starting the trojan war. For menelaus, his loss of status cannot go unredressed.
