Wednesday, December 2, 2015

"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.

27 comments:

Unknown said...

The video said Xenia is governed and enforced by Zeus himself, it shows how serious the Greeks were about hospitality in this time. The video is saying that the Trojan War (The Iliad) was in a sense started by Xenia, because Paris stole Helen from Menelaus while being a guest in his house.

Anonymous said...

Through the video, I learned that the Iliad possesses the guest-host relationship and the wrath of Achilles. Achilles wanted honor and glory, so he traveled to Troy to become the greatest hero. He wanted to be immortal, but since he wasn't, the next best thing is a legacy that lives on after death. In order to accomplish this, he was the greatest warrior against the Trojans.

Anonymous said...

The video better helps me understand these three qualities by breaking it down. Without Xenia, nobody would have traveled at all because they would have traveled just to get worse off in a sense. It helps with hubris because it shows how Achilles wanted fame and honor so that his legacy could live forever since he couldn't, and I think that it seems to be the case with most heroes. Even if they have a purpose, deep down they may want that honor.

Anonymous said...

The guest/host relationship helps me to understand these myths better because in both stories it told the background information of how these things happened. For example, Paris stealing Helen while in her husbands house.

Anonymous said...

The fact that xenia was enforced by Zeus shows how important and serious it was. It also shows then how serious it was for Paris to steal Helen while being a guest of Melenaus, enough so to start a war.

Anonymous said...

Xenia is represented in the illiad through the many times when a guest host relationship is important. Two warriors who are going to fight figure out that they're grandparents were once together In a guest host situation they then decide not to fight. They also decide to trade there armor as a token of friendship.The Trojan war started over a guest host relationship that was violated by Paris when he kidnapped Helen while he was being hosted at her house. If he had kidnapped her in another situation the Trojan war would've likely never started.

HenryG said...

The video helped me understand why the guest host relationship was important to the Greeks. I thought that the guest host relationship was just a common act out of kindness, I didn't know that it was a sacred tradition. I mean the entire Trojan war was started because Paris broke this sacred tradition.

Anonymous said...

This video taught me about xenia. It is similar to the guest/host relationship. It's states that hospitality must be offered to any traveler in need of it. This idea was presidented by zeus himself so it was wise to follow it. And like the video said if there was no guarantee of shelter on the road then no one would travel at all. It wasn't only a benefit for the traveler but also one for the host because he got the opportunity to learn what was going on in the world.

Anonymous said...

I learned more about Guest/Host. I didn't know there was such an advantage to the host. They got information about the outside world from the travelers. I also didn't know hospitality was required for travelers. Today that sounds ridiculous but like the video said, those times were much different.

Anonymous said...

This video helped me understand Xenia, and why it is so important. If people weren't sure that they would have a place to stay when they traveled, nobody would travel at all.

Anonymous said...

That Zeus created Zenia to help travelers find shelter when they were in the wilds and needed a place to stay and food to eat. This helps to explain why the Trojan war was started in the first place. Like the video said if Paris had stolen Helen in a field outside of the house he would have been fine but it was the fact that he stole her in Menelaus' own home that he broke Zeus' law.

Anonymous said...

Xenia was governed by Zeus, and this "guest/host" relationship was sacred and important in the time. No matter who you were you we able to be brought in and befriended by the host. They would share ideas and object creating that bond. this legacy moves on through generations,

Anonymous said...

The Guest/Host relationship is also called Xenia which is divine law that says you must offer hospitality to strangers. This is important in Greek myth because friendships are formed are honored for generations on. This was shown in the video when opposing warriors in the Trojan War realized their lineage, and figured out that one of their grandfathers hosted the other's. They respected that fact so much so that they would not fight each other in battle. Also Hubris is honor and pride that one possesses, as shown in the video when Achilles desired to have an immortal legacy and remembered forever.

Anonymous said...

The video was about guest host relationship or Xenia which is the way that people take care of guests. For example, if someone shows up at your dwelling and asks for a place to stay you must say yes. This relationship wasn't only beneficial for the guest though, the host in return would learn whats going on outside of their lands and learn different cultures. A hero would follow these rules unlike the person who started the Trojan war who was a guest who stole the host's wife.

Unknown said...

The video was showing how serious hospitality was in ancient Greek times. Xenia was a city where travelers could stop and take a rest and then continue on with their journey, so they were a very hospitable city. If there hadn't been Xenia there, "No one would travel at all." The video also theorized that the Trojan war was started by the hospitality in Xenia, because Paris stole Helen of Troy from Menelaus. Paris was a guest within Menelaus' house.

Anonymous said...

The guest host relationship reaches out farther than just being respectful towards guests. Called Xenia in Greek, it was important because it created socialization between people and cultures. The danger was more prevalent outside in the wild rather than having strangers in your home. So when Paris comes to Sparta, Menelaus welcomes him into his home and creates a strong guest host relationship. But because this relationship was in place, Paris completely disrespected Menelaus and the relationship by consciously taking Helen. This violation of the relationship is really what started the Trojan War

Anonymous said...

The video said that the only reason that the Trojan War started was because Helen was taken from Menalaus by Paris while he was staying in his home. This shows how important the guest host relationship was to the Greeks.

Unknown said...

What I took from the video was that the Greeks took guest/host relationship very seriously. To them it was a sacred rule, and believed it was more important than most other rules. When the rule was broken (such as in the Iliad) war would break out, fights would occur, and trust would be broken.

Anonymous said...

The video helps us understand Xenia which is the law hat you must house strangers who seek shelter in your home by the decree of Zeus. It does this by giving us a visual representation of it through the short story of a Trojan who comes to a Greeks home, but even though the two are rivals, their grandfathers knew each other so they did not fight.

Anonymous said...

Hubris and Xenia are significant ideas presented in "The Iliad Educational Portal Link Video." Achilles has hubris because he is obsessed with honor. To compensate for his mortality, Achilles fights valiantly to secure honor and legacy. Achilles is excessively prideful because he feels he deserves to be remembered. Xenia is a topic in the video as Paris breaks the trust of Xenia. The Iliad explores the consequences of breaking Xenia.

Anonymous said...

Xenia is the official word for the law of the guest host relationship that says you must provide shelter and food to travelers. the law isn't a problem as we think it would be because the host benefits as much as the traveler. but it did sort of cause the trojan war.

Anonymous said...

The whole idea of Xenia, the relationship between a guest and host is one of the main focus's and reasons the trojan war was caused. It made two soldiers of opposing sides not fight one another, for their grandfathers were bound by the relationship of Xenia. But one of the most important relationships of Xenia, was the one between Paris and Menelaus. Paris, wanting to claim what Aphrodite had promised him built a scheme in which he would retrieve his promised prize, Helen, Menelaus' wife. In this scheme, Paris went to Menelaus' house, having being taken in, feed, sheltered etc. He became a guest of Menelaus, and Menelaus his host. It was a strong Xenis relationship, and Paris broke those bonds created from that relationship by stealing from his host, starting the Trojan war.

Anonymous said...

That Zeus created Zenia to help travelers find shelter when they were in the wilds and needed a place to stay and food to eat. This helps to explain why the Trojan war was started in the first place. Like the video said if Paris had stolen Helen in a field outside of the house he would have been fine but it was the fact that he stole her in Menelaus' own home that he broke Zeus' law.

Anonymous said...

The guest/host relationship of these myths help me understand more about each one. Being the guest has a lot of advantages compared to the host. The host is required to support anyone no matter who they were. It is divine law. This allows the guest to be able to always know that they have someone that will take care of them.

Anonymous said...

Heroism was mentioned a time or two in reference to the mythic stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey, as the main figures within the myths were thought to be heroes of their time for what they did. Hubris wasn't mentioned I don't believe, but it essentially translates to excessive pride, which many Greek heroes tended to have. For some reason or another, whether it be due to their strengths or their tactics in battle, the occasional Greek hero had a way of being much too proud of their own abilities, and this hubris usually led to their downfall. Xenia was shown through the the myth of the Trojan War, which is the plot of the Iliad as well. Xenia was violated by Paris of Troy when he, while under the company of Menelaus' company, stole his wife Helen and took her back to Troy. This led to the Trojan war, and had he not been under Xenia at the time and snatched Helen while she was out and about, there wouldn't have been a war at all, showing the large importance of Xenia in Greek society.

Anonymous said...

This video helps to better understand hubris and guest/host relationships. It talks about how the guest/host relationships or "xenia" is violated because one man wants to claim what he was promised by the goddess Aphrodite. The video shows how important the guest/host relationship was. Hubris is excessive pride that often leads to the downfall of a hero. The video talks about how after the war started Achilles came to fight so that he would be remembered and honored if he could not live forever. In the end his pride that brought him to fight ended up with him dead.

Anonymous said...

The idea of Xenia helps me better understand the heroic qualities by putting in perspective how important the guest/host relationships worked. Since the order was commanded by Zeus himself people probably wanted to follow his commands so that they could be accepted in the afterlife. However it also shows how the Greeks took the matter very seriously and how Xenia was a key player in the start of the Trojan war