In Homer’s Iliad, men are defined by the glory they win on the field of battle. This system of honor creates a mythos about those warriors who excel beyond ordinary men. They become god-like in the eyes of their followers and are revered as such. The heroes of The Iliad are characterized by their strength, valor, and skill in battle. Although Achilleus is the very definition of this Grecian hero, he falls somewhat short by modern standards in his pride and lack of compassion. Achilleus is the strongest, the bravest, the “best” of the Achaians, yet he possesses the fatal flaw of pride, which often clouds his judgment and dictates his actions.
In Book One, he asks his mother to appeal to Zeus on his behalf by saying, “Sit beside him and take his knees and remind him of these things now, if perhaps he might be willing to help the Trojans, and pin the Achaians back against the ships and the water, dying, so that thus they may all have profit of their own king, that Atreus’s on wide-ruling Agamemnon may recognize his madness, that he did no honour to the best of the Achaians (Homer, 70).” In asking this favor of his mother he shows how his pride has led him off the path of what is common sense to contemporary society. He not only refuses to fight alongside the other Achaians against the Trojans, but he actually hopes that they will be defeated in battle. Achilleus does not pity his comrades-in-arms who will be killed by his unrelenting desire to satisfy his injured pride, nor attempt to focus his anger on Agamemnon, which is perhaps his greatest fault to the modern mind. Achilleus blatantly disregards to lives of others in order to exact revenge Agamemnon, all in the name of his injured ego. While this behavior does not diminish his heroic status in Homer’s Greece, to the modern reader, it seems petty and vain, and removes him from the present-day view of a hero.
The Essay on Is Bridget Jones Nothing More Than Pride And Prejudice In Modern Dress
Each story revolves around the main female characters, Bridget Jones and Elizabeth Bennet. In pride prejudice, the financial status of the women was more of an issue when it came to finding an ideal partner, than it was in Bridget Jones' Diary. The Bennets were not very financially secure, so Mrs Bennet would arrange or attend parties with her girls that had lots of rich men simultaneously ...
