The Iliad

            I have always thought that mythology is very interesting whenever I have had the chance to look into it. I know very little background, characters, or stories, but I am always intrigued by them. The opportunity to get a look into a different culture and belief system with knowing relatively nothing about it is very eye-opening for me. I think that it gives a perspective that is very hard to normally achieve, and it allows us to draw comparisons to our own thought process and beliefs. Through this, I always notice the extreme portrayal of emotions among characters. Whether it is inseparable love, unrestricted rage, or incapacitating grief, every relationship and event holds a strong emotional importance.

            Characters are brought together and humanity is shown through common emotions that they experience. Grief and sorrow are very present in the Iliad due to the despair and cruelty of war, and it is something that many of the characters experience, often bringing them to a place of humility. This is especially true of Priam and even Achilles, seen in Book 24. Priam comes to Achilles, who had killed his son, and begs him to at least give up his body for a proper burial and respect. This plea from Priam “stirred within Achilles a deep desire to grieve for his own father” (592). Priam’s mourning and begging instilled a shared emotion in Achilles, and brought him to be much humbler and even more human. Despite being enemies on the battlefield and having a very bad relationship in the past, Priam and Achilles are both able to ignore that for a short time and share in their grief and emotions. Even more remarkable than this is the fact that Achilles takes a temporary step down from his pedestal, showing a more human side of him that he does not normally act on.

            The people in the Iliad also collectively depend on and value family, and many events are based around this. Much of the conflict between the two sides is driven by what happens to different characters family members, and family ties fuel much of the plot. Despite the Iliad being mainly centered around a war, the idea of peace and the simple things of life are clearly valued. By contrasting the harshness of the war and how many of the people are treated with the values of the time, we are able to see what these people were willing to give up in order to fight. Along with the other emotions and relationships shown, I think that this is a very strong and important point that the Iliad makes. It shows that, although we have disagreements and wars, but beneath it all we still feel the same things. We are all humans, and the same heartbreak, loss, or pain affects us all. We need to understand that not only are we connected, but we need to recognize these emotions that we all experience.