Honour and glory in "The Iliad"

One of the central ideas of the Iliad is the honor and glory that soldiers earn in combat. For an ancient Greek man, the ability to perform in battle is the single greatest source of worthiness. The glory earned by soldiers on the battlefield enabled them to live on in legend, becoming heroes who would be remembered long after death. The characters of the Iliad often make reference to the great heroes of past ages, such as Hercules and Theseus. For the ancient Greeks, the term “hero” meant something stricter than it does today: the hero’s military glory could make him nearly as important as a god. 

The plot of the poem is centered on the “rage of Achilles” and the fulfillment of his glory on the battlefield. Achilles is angry throughout the poem: “Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,/murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,/hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,/great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,/feasts for the dogs and birds,/and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.” Achilles’s rage stems from feeling dishonored by Agamemnon, who takes away Briseis, a woman that Achilles has captured in combat. Achilles chooses not to fight rather than accept what he sees as Agamemnon’s dishonor “Now I am returning to Phthia, since it is much better/ to go home again with my curved ships, and I am minded no longer/to stay here dishonoured and pile up your wealth and your luxury.”. Later, when he rejoins the battle after the death of Patroclus, Achilles proves he is “the best of the Achaeans” by giving the greatest military performance of the war and finally killing Hector, the Trojans’ greatest warrior. 

From a modern perspective, one might consider Hector to be a more sympathetic or even honorable character than Achilles. Hector cares for his wife, child, and city, and works tirelessly to save them from destruction. Achilles cares only for himself, and spends a large part of the poem sulking. However, from the ancient Greek perspective, Achilles is in some sense more heroic or honorable simply because he is the greatest warrior on the battlefield. Similarly, Paris is a handsome man and a good lover, but because he hangs back from battle he is largely the object of scorn, and is portrayed as a ridiculous figure throughout the poem.