Human psyche Essay

The urge to get by is a large part of the hu humankind psyche. When this sense of competitiveness is interpreted to the utmost(a), a war may erupt. Throughout the hi bosh of humanity wars feel been waged, even before the advent of writing, when poets where there to capture their essence. The epic metrical composition The Iliad by homing pigeon describes a war that took place almost twain thousand, seven hundred years ago. The Greek society in which kor lived was considered more violent than any in existence today. This gave him all the earnestness needed to create an epic war poem. By revealing to the reviewer the futility and horror of war, Homers Iliad offers an excellent critique of society, more specifically the fragility of human civilization and the savagery of human nature, when under the extreme pressures of combat. This masterful piece of literature, although written in numerous centuries ago, has much brain wave on ancient Greek society that can still be applied, with a fresh twist, to todays world.The style Homer utilise in his epic poem was unconventional and highly successful. Compared to many former(a) novels or poem of its time, as well as most modern pieces of literature, The Iliad is much longer. This both helps and hinders the texts ability to convey the messages and meanings of war. In order to capture and preserve the au bumpnces interest during such a long poem, Homer took the reader on adventures beyond the Trojan dispute theme and into the life of each individual solider. By doing this, the reader feels drawn into the story and shares the horrors and futility the Greeks faced during the Trojan War. A large part of Homers work is dedicated to war and interlocking scenes. The main reason for this is because many believed Greek society, which took place seven hundred years before Christ, was brutally violent. armed combat was an everyday occurrence and brought honour among the warriors. The Greek gods did not break the vi olent society in fact they encouraged it by demanding puppet sacrifices as part of daily rituals. It is this bloodlust, along with Homers current style, that has made The Iliad popular and highly influential to this day.War stories depict, through their computer graphic imagery, the horrors and tragedies taking place during a battle and The Iliad is no exception. The Iliad is most efficacious at portraying the futility and horrors of war throughout the text with all the sanguinary details. Homer does an excellent job at capturing the realism of each battle scene in over five thousand lines of prose, nearly mavin third of the poem. As critic Martin Muller points out in Fighting in the Iliad the poet and his audience like such battle scenes and their periodic occurrence submit no greater motivation then bar-room brawls in a horse opera. The following quote illustrates Homers ability to evoke graphic images during a battleThe shaft pierced the tight belts twisted thongs, incisi ve the blazoned plates, piercing the guardhe wore to shield his loins and block the spears,his topper defense-the shaft pierced even this,the tip of the weapon grazed the mans flesh,and dark blood came spurting from the wound. (pg149, p2)This quote gives the reader a clear image of what is happening as the shaft wounds the unfortunate soldier. Homer also adds to the horrors of the war by telling us about the autobiography of each individual solider before their death. With about two hundred and fifty dollar bill names in the text, all with individual stories behind their life or death, the story may become murky but never unemotional. many a(prenominal) times a character will be introduced only to be killed off within the same chapter. This adds to the death, destruction and ultimately the horror of the war the Greeks and the Trojans are fight.As well as reminding the reader of the horrors of war, Homer tells of the futility of fighting such a bloody battle. The sense of frustra tion and futility of the war is all the way sown as the Greeks fight the Trojans for more than nine years on end. With war comes death, a fact that resounds throughout the IliadWhile Euchenor knew that boarding the ships for troy weightmeant certain death his father told him sotime and again the salubrious old prophet said thathed die in his own halls of a fatal plagueor go with the ships and die at Trojan hands. (pg362, p3)In this quote, describing the life of a solider before he is killed, we see that his efforts during the war appear pointless. He could have met a like dishonourable death by staying home and enjoying his life. Death represents the futility of fighting a war because it is the only guaranteed result. Monarch Notes tells that since death is a constant front man in life we may better see how men survey their lives when they are close to that presence. Homer does an excellent job of convey the reader down to the battle so that the futility of war can be closely felt.