Experience with Homer's Illiad
Originally published - 6/4/24
I did not expect to be gassing this. I didn't initially have much interest in The Illiad, admittedly, I was just trying to get it out of the way for the purposes of developing my knowledge on key literary works for the purpose of better understanding other works on my plan-to-read list (Ulysses). However, I see now why this is epic is not only worth reading, but important to read.
The Illiad is probably the most significant war story ever, I cannot name one war story in which I did not see a glimmer of The Illiad. yet, it's miraculously better than most of them, despite being one of the first great ones. It managed to convey the senseless and meaningless nature of war seamlessly, and in a manner that makes the reader reach that conclusion without any preachy prompting from Homer.
By attaching a name, story, goals, and life to many great heroes that die in the Trojan war, Homer makes you realize the significance and weight of each life lost on the battlefield, and the sheer amount of it is heartbreaking. Heroes are the ones throughout fiction that we as readers and people idolize, and in the Trojan War, heroes dropped like flies. Each javelin thrown, each arrow shot, every spear thrust, all extinguished a story of significance to other people.
The Illiad is also very significant for historical and cultural understanding. It gives insight to ancient Greek values and society, as well as knowledge on Greek mythos, both of which are ever pervasive throughout fiction. The understanding of "Greek values" that we glean from this text is important for another reason. A reason that transcends the epic itself when viewing it from a modern context.
On the surface level and from the modern perspective, characters in the Illiad appear to make the most dramatic, over-the-top, foolish, and inconvenient decisions ever; however, all of them are the result of societal structure. It is not the characters making terrible decisions because they are dramatic or foolish, but because they pretty much have to. Agamemnon did not actively want to take the prize of Achilles, he just could not allow himself to be the one Achaean without a prize as it would bring him shame. Hector and the rest of Troy did not want to hold Helen hostage and keep her from her beloved husband. They wanted to give her over to the Argives, but Paras did not consent, so they had to fight. The reason for this is because in this society, your alliances are of the utmost importance. Its the same reason the rest of the Achaeans followed Menaleus and Agamemnon in this war.
This war of over 9 years was fought just for someone's wife. This not only satirizes the war illustrating it as petty and pretty much pointless, but also illustrates the large importance placed on honoring one's allegiances and debts in Homeric society. Another thing that coaxed these men on was promise of reward and honor. Promises that they will receive the finest horse, a nice wife from a sacked city, or that they will be the guest of honor at a dinner table. Significant value is placed on those core things. Allegiances, honor, debts, pride, etc. mattered more than what you yourself want, morality, and even life.
Understanding these priorities that are vastly different from our own allows the reader to hone their empathy and view the narrative from the character's perspective instead of their own. This is I think the MAIN reason to read The Illiad. The degree to which it helps one be able to understand the rationale behind seemingly ridiculous decisions is very high. Putting yourself in the shoes of the character about which you are reading, analyzing their personal values or the values of society in the context of the narrative will make for a much more immersive and resonant reading experience in general, and I have never felt a work urge me to do this more than Homer's epic.
Insert from 9/27/25 - I also thinks it incentivizes looking into the value structure of your own society and evaluating it in a more holistic way, why do we do the things we do? What compels us? Do we like that we feel compelled to do this thing because of convention? I think I forgot to include this idea in the original post I definitely had thought it. Back to 2024 -
Now for my ISSUES with it!!
Another aspect of The Illiad that was most appealing to me and all my toxic masculinity was the drive of the heroes. They knew that they were putting their life on the line in this war, knowing that they would die, and they still did it, just for the glory, the loot, the women, and above all else, to leave a legacy. To carve their name into the annals of time, and immortalize their glory forever. This to me is beautiful. I don't necessarily condone such behavior but I have massive respect for many of the heroes of the story.
But most regrettably, the annals of time is too hard a stone for mere human hands to chisel and carve away at. This is where the gods, also known as my biggest issue with the story, come in. These gods and their antics pervade the story, throughout almost every act of it. Frankly, their role in the story is one that just clashes with my philosophy simply by existing. I simply cannot abide by these Olympian rascals and their meddling in the world of man.
In the Trojan War, all of the glory that is won, all the mistakes that are made, all the loss that occurs, are all the result of the whims of Zeus and the goon squad. This, I think detracts meaning from the actions of these brave warriors that we call heroes. When a victory is won, it is because the gods favored them, when a hero is slain, it is because the gods favored their enemy. When Agamemnon takes Briseis away from Achilles, it is because of Folly, not his own free will. Overall, the gods and their meddling in some circumstances are a justification for actions or the actual reason for actions, which takes away human agency and responsibility.
Not only does it detract meaning from the lives of man by crediting all their gains and losses to the gods, but it further detracts meaning when the lives of humans are toyed with like pawns on some great chess board, thousands more on both sides than necessary (particularly the Argives) perished because of petty schemes and whims. Unless you are a great hero like Odysseus, the gods value your life at nothing. I believe human life has value and it has value because we have agency, and the role of the Greek gods in The Illiad run counter to these principles of mine, which has ultimately led me to have a love-hate relationship with the epic. My personal gripes do not detract from the significance and merits of this work, however; I just needed to air it out.