Thursday, April 24, 2014

"The Iliad" Educational Video And Heroic Elements?

What significant idea presented within The Iliad Educational Portal Link Video helps you establish a better understanding of the Heroic Elements: Heroic, HubrisGuest/Host (Xenia)?  Why?  Please explain and defend your thinking using references to the video's content.  This blog response is due by 2:30p.m. today.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Xenia was basically a law from Zeus that you must show hospitality and treat the travelers right even if they are strangers. and when Paris initially has stole Helen (Menelaus' wife) it was a great violation to Xenia. Paris was a guest to Menelaus' home and when Paris committed to complete the action it was the start of the Trojan war.

Anonymous said...

Xenia. THe guest host relationship was very important to the greeks. They needed this relationship so they could travel. When someone broke this relationship a huge war was created. It was horribly rude to break this relationship so there were huge consensuses. Heros often maybe always get help from the gods they cant do it alone. Achilles was always asking for help from his mother who was imoral, and with out her he would have been way less powerful.

Anonymous said...

The one thing that really stood out to me was the concept of Xenia, guest host relationship, that further explained the idea. The video showed how Paris had violated that trust by stealing Helen from Menelaus.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know that xenia was considered a divine law and that it was worse that he stole Helen while a guest. The war was fought over Helen and the fact that Paris broke xenia. This means that the xenia is extremely important to the Greeks. They are willing to go to war because of it.

Anonymous said...

Xenia, a rule put in place by Zeus requiring that one must take in travelers seeking shelter, was violated when Paris went to Menelaus's home as a guest and took his wife from Menelaus's own home. The result of this action was the Trojan War.

Anonymous said...

According to the video, I was able to understand why the Guest/host relationship, or Xenia, was so important to the culture of that time. Before I didn’t realize that they held this situation so highly. The video also helps explain some parts of the Iliad that I may have been confused on. But all together it really helped to see that Xenia is so important not just to the Greeks, but to the entire culture and time.

Anonymous said...

The Trojan War basically started when Paris stow Helen from Menelaus, and was a big violation against the Xenia. Since Paris was a guest to Menelaus's home, when Paris stole his wife, everything went wrong.

Anonymous said...

After watching the video I have gained a better understanding of the heroic element: guest/host. In the story The Iliad Pairs is a guest Melances's house. But not to develop that relationship but to take his wife Helen. And by doing this, Pairs breaks the guest/host bond causing the war to begin. Also the video dipicts Achelse as very heroic. He is given the choice to live a long life or a short life where he will be glourified once he his dead. And as we know from the heroic code he will chose the short and glourious life.

Anonymous said...

The video clearly showed that the Iliad is mainly about the guest/host relationship that the Greek so highly honored. I found it interesting that the Trojan War would never have happened if Paris had taken Helen when she would alone outside. It makes it sound like the Trojan War was fought to uphold Xenia rather than a rescue mission. What I also find interesting about the Iliad is it is all about the relationships between the heroes in the story. When you have that many heroic people all together with hubris and honor you are going to have some problems. Then add all the meddling of the gods and it is no wonder it took ten years for Troy to fall.

Anonymous said...

The video about The Iliad broadened my understanding of the Guest/Host relationship, or Xenia. People trusted each other, the guest trusted the host to provide shelter and food while the host trusted the guest to provide news and entertainment. Paris, Prince of Troy, disobeys Xenia by taking Helen, wife of Menelaus, while in his own house. Thus, breaking the trust between guest and host.

Anonymous said...

The illiad is a tragic story because no side was in the right the trojans were as noble as the greek. The supricing part of the story is that is the victorours write them farily. The werid parti is the trojans were more justified in the war. The diference was aclies turned the war around. But with that hecotor aclies rival dies heroicly only paris a coward can kill acliles. I think this show how much the greeks admire intelagece as much as brut stenth. Ultimly the point of the illiad was of to show the imporance of the gest host realtionship.

Anonymous said...

The video clearly showed that the Iliad is mainly about the guest/host relationship that the Greek so highly honored. I found it interesting that the Trojan War would never have happened if Paris had taken Helen when she would alone outside. It makes it sound like the Trojan War was fought to uphold Xenia rather than a rescue mission. What I also find interesting about the Iliad is it is all about the relationships between the heroes in the story. When you have that many heroic people all together with hubris and honor you are going to have some problems. Then add all the meddling of the gods and it is no wonder it took ten years for Troy to fall.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

This video helped explain how the story really went and all the people who helped out with what was going on which is guest host relationship because people are helping out with a problem that isn't really their problems. Heroic was shown when he was told by his mom he wasn't allowed to fight anymore but he still makes the choice to fight because he feels it is the right thing to do even if his mother doesn't think so. He knows what he has to do to protect himself and others. The video helped give a better understanding of how the story really went.

Anonymous said...

Xenia helped me understand the way
Greek epic worked as well as the Greek world. Xenia was a guest right developed by Zeus that held that every Greek had to offer hospitality to any travelling stranger. This was an all important concept according to the video as without Xenia no one would have traveled at all.In conclusion the Xenia law helped me understand Greek epic.

Anonymous said...

This video adds a lot to the idea of a hero. It primarily describes Achilles. Like many of the ancient heroes, that are described through Greek literature, Achilles wants to be famous and live forever. He has the quest for immortality, which is one of the characteristics of a hero. However his quest for eternal life is granted to a certain degree at a young age, by his mother who dipped him in a pool that would make him immortal, but forgot to dip the hill of his feet. In the end he is shot in the hill, bringing death to him. His excessive hubris makes him think he will never die, making Achilles a tragic hero.

Anonymous said...

The Achilles video helped my understanding of heroism by telling of how a hero should die with glory rather than a life of being "unknown". Achilles was transfixed on becoming immortal, but due to his obsession it brought an end to his short life. The whole Trojan war started with Paris not providing a good guest/host relationship in the house of Menelaus. He takes Helen which angers Menelaus, and because of this the Trojan war begins. My overall understanding of Greek Myth/Xenia/Heroism is more justified from this video as it gave me a better interpretation of why people would want to be known as heroes.

Anonymous said...

This video adds a lot to the idea of a hero. It primarily describes Achilles. Like many of the ancient heroes, that are described through Greek literature, Achilles wants to be famous and live forever. He has the quest for immortality, which is one of the characteristics of a hero. However his quest for eternal life is granted to a certain degree at a young age, by his mother who dipped him in a pool that would make him immortal, but forgot to dip the hill of his feet. In the end he is shot in the hill, bringing death to him. His excessive hubris makes him think he will never die, making Achilles a tragic hero.

Anonymous said...

Xenia was a law formed by Zeus saying that you must show respect and hospitality to the travelers even if they are strangers. The Trojan war started because this law was violated. A quote from the movies says "There is no honor in defeating a dishonorable enemy" This quote says a lot about the heroes in greek myths and heroic elements in general. I think that part of being a hero is not having hubris, but also about being proud of yourself and having honor when it is appropriate.

Anonymous said...

This video shows how in the Greek culture how important the guest host relationship is. The Trojan war started because the prince Paris broke the trust of xenia. Achilles choose a heroic life. He could of choose a long for filling life but instead he choose to fight in battle t be remembered. But I don't think he really followed the heroic code as much as other heros. He acted for self gain, and wasn't acting to help other people. Also when something would happen, He would complain to his mom for help. But this video helps me understand the importance of the guest host relationship because of the results of breaking this trust.

Anonymous said...

The video delves into keen detail in to the sheer phenomenon that surround the Iliad and the Odyssey. The historical background of these stories creates an awe-inspiring uniqueness, as tales of great length and magnitude survived the test of time. While analyzing these tales one must hold each story in its time period. For example Xenia. Adventurers, travelers and bards travel for long distances for extended periods of time, so had Xenia or the guest host relationship, people would never travel. Theres no guarantee of safe or adequate shelter while traveling, so as we see Xenia as this really admirable trait, (though it is) it existed in Greek culture as an understanding between a community to ensure safety and companionship among each other. Also the video illustrates several instances of hubris from the perspective of Achilles. Achilles-a timeless warrior had a major chip on his shoulder and like Heracles let his anger get the better of him. After his miraculous reign and fall, many warriors competed for Achilles golden armor. This video puts into historical and cultural perspective of hubris. As a modernized westernized nation, we accept hubris at its face value for being bad. But in the essence of its time period, it makes perfect sense, life and limb were constantly at risk, and everyone sought for the closest thing to immortality possible- timeless fame. If you were trying to preserve your legacy for a couple hundred years to come, you certainly wouldn't be modest.

Anonymous said...

Xenia is basically the idea of the Guest/Host relationship, powered by Zeus to promote travel. This concept is so important in the Iliad because the Guest/Host relationship was disregarded by Paris when he took Helen from his host Menelaus. This caused the Trojan War. Achilles was the ideal Hero according to the Heroic code. His quest was for immortality in the sense that he didn't want his legacy to die with his body. He realized that he could not become mortal so he wanted the world to recognize his name. Unfortunately, the idea of Hubris is the reason that Achilles meets his death so soon. Because of his excessive pride and desire to be recognized, he chose to fight the Trojans over being safe. His mother even warned him that his death awaits him of the Trojan shores. But hubris was the reason that our hero has his great downfall. I like how well the Guest/Host relationship was explained because it makes more sense as to why it is such a big deal. If Zeus has classified Xenia as a godly order almost, it is important that all travelers respect their host, and in turn the host respects their guest.

Anonymous said...

After watching the video clip, I realized how serious the greeks were about hospitality. In our culture, we’re almost taught the exact opposite. In America we’re taught to almost stray away from strangers and always take a precautious perspective, because virtually anybody could be dangerous. In the Illiad, when the guest/host relationship is broken, the balance becomes off center when Paris breaks this essential way of life for the greeks.

Anonymous said...

The video showed me what a great impact the guest/host relationship has on people. It has the power to stop wars from breaking out. Xenia was a law from Zeus stating the importance of of the guest/host and the Greeks took this very seriously. When Paris stole Helen after staying with Menelaus, war broke out. It was stated in the video that if he had stolen Helen when not staying with Menelaus, there wouldn't have been a war. Also, it showed how Achilles was heroic. He decided to die an honorable death instead of living a long life but not being remembered after he died. The video stated he was afraid of being forgotten.

Anonymous said...

The idea of xenia, and that it is a divine law by Zues helps me better understand how important the guest/host relationship is to the greeks. When Paris stole Helen from Menelaus while he was a guest at his house, this was an outrage that brought upon a war. The guest/host relationship is also so important, so that people will be willing to travel because they know they will have a place to stay.

Anonymous said...

Diomedes and Glaucus had one of their grandparents give hospitality to the other that they choose not to fight each other in the Trojan war. This gives importance about what hospitality means to the Greeks and its importance of the Host providing food while the Guest provides a conversation for the Host. Achilles became a hero by trying to fight in the Trojan War. After Hector and Agamemnon create peace, Achilles decides to fight for eternal glory since he is unhappy with the outcome of the war. After he got his helpful armor, he starts to kill Trojan warriors. He runs around Troy to kill Hector and finally kills him in a honorable duel. He represents a hero since he fought by himself to show victory and had a small amount of help from his immortal mother.

Anonymous said...

The video further helped my understanding of the heroic code hubris and Xenia by showing the tension between the Greeks and Trojans. The hate the Trojans because the Prince of Troy, Paris Violated the guest host host relationship by taking the Micenaian King's wife. he took her back to Troy, causing a massive amount of tension between the two nations.The heroic code was told in Achilles of how he led an army of Greeks and he killed many not to become immortal but to instead not be forgotten by anyone. Thetis warned Achilles that if he stop's fighting he will live an ordinary life but if he continues to fight he have honor and respect but there will be death at the end and he will not see the end of the war. Achilles heaved this message and he knew that to keep fighting he will die but he would be remembered as a hero. Achilles continued his fight and soon after the death of hector Achilles was killed by an arrow to his ancle that His mother forgot to dip into the river of her Father. soon after his death Achilles was avenged and to this day Achilles is still a great hero of greece.

Anonymous said...

The thing that really stood out to me was the concept of Xenia. It helped me understand the way Greeks worked and treated eachother. Xenia, developed by Zeus, was a law that every Greek had to offer hospitality to any travelling stranger. This was a very important concept to the Greeks because according to the video no one would have traveled if it hadnt been for Xenia.

Anonymous said...

This video shows how in the Greek culture how important the guest host relationship is. Achilles choose a heroic life. He could of choose a long for filling life but instead he choose to fight in battle and be remembered for glory. So pretty much all he wanted was pride, glory, and remeberance.

Anonymous said...

This video shows how in the Greek culture how important the guest host relationship is. Achilles choose a heroic life. He could of choose a long for filling life but instead he choose to fight in battle and be remembered for glory. So pretty much all he wanted was pride, glory, and remeberance.