Sunday, November 27, 2016
"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, Hubris, Guest/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. Thur., Dec. 1st.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
Perhaps because in the time of these story's creation, as they said when describing Xenia, the world was a wild place. You couldn't walk two steps without running into man or animal that wanted to tear you to shreds, so perhaps that's why heroism and not being a big ol meanie were valued in this time
During the video, it uses the example of two people from opposite sides of the Trojan war, who due to the fact that their grandfather's had been friends (because of Xenia) had agreed not to fight each other.This shows that shelter was desperately needed at that time and people would take what they could when they could get it. And later in the video, it talks about how Troy stole Helen and violated the concept of Xenia, and that if he had just kidnapped her, there likely wouldn't have been a war in the first place. This shows how seriously people obeyed the rules. (Except Troy)
I think it's because of the overall story in general, the character's actions in the story and the events that eventually took place within the story are part of the reasons how it explains all the elements such as heroics and hubris's.
This video presented the idea of Xenia, a very sacred relationship between strangers. It says that no matter what, you always have to be hospitable to strangers who are traveling and need a place to stay. Without travelers, there would be no way to spread Greek culture. The idea of Xenia helped me to better understand each of the three Heroic Elements. Xenia involved a lot of trust and fulfillment, it was required that you acted heroically so you weren’t disrespectful to the guest or host and it also maintained a person’s pride in what they have accomplished for Greece. People took Hubris very seriously, so in a way Xenia just fed the pridefulness that was already occurring. Finally, Xenia was very important for guest-host relationships. Guest-host was probably the most highly-valued law in Greece and no one wanted to break it. The whole reason the Trojan War was fought was because Paris broke guest-host with Menelaus. Xenia and the Heroic Elements are really a lost art that secured a place in history for Greece’s stories.
After watching this video I have a much better understanding of the importance that the Greeks held in Xenia, or guest host relationships. Throughout the Iliad, Xenia proves itself as an important Greek value. Guest host relationships could make enemies friends, as is the case with Diomedes and Glaucus, but if broken, can start wars. It is understandable why hospitality was so important for the Ancient Greeks. Travelers during this time had no protection other than the kindness of strangers. The people that hosted these travelers had no access to the outside world and welcoming a guest could give them insight to the world around them.
The video stated that "without the promise of hospitality, no one would travel at all." This kind of proves that there was some form of chaos going on when the Trojan War started, and even more so that the Trojan War started because of a violation of the guest/host relationship between Menelaus and Paris, Paris being a guest in his house.
The significance of this video was to establish the importance of Hubris or Xenia. During the Ancient Grecian era, the world was a dangerous place and no traveler was guaranteed a safe journey. However, it did help that they were welcomed in a Grecian home through the sacred practice of Xenia. This was a law dictated by Zeus and every household had to welcome in a foreign stranger, no matter the person's social status or heritage. Practicing Xenia was actually an advantage for both the host and the guest. The guest got a hot meal and a bed and the host gained favor from the gods and was able to hear about news from the outside world. During the Iliad, two men on opposite sides, Diomedes and Glaucus, found out that Glaucus' grandfather hosted Diomedes' grandfather. As a result, they promised not to fight each other and they traded their armor to seal the pact. However, the real reason for the Iliad was because of a break in Xenia. Paris was promised Helen of Troy from Aphrodite and went to Troy to take her. When he arrived, he was welcomed by King Menelaus, the husband of Helen, and was a guest in his house. However, he did not honor the sacred practice of Xenia by taking Helen from him. As a result, the Iliad began. This all could have been avoided if Paris respected the guest host relationship.
Once, I finished watching the video it made me realize how important these epics are to Greek mythology. Almost the entire basis of Greek myth is based on these stories. It gives the Trojan war more meaning now knowing the whole background of the story. Everything about the most beautiful women on earth now makes sense because an entire war is fought due to this concept.
With the concept of Xenia, people back then seemed to be "forced" to be hospitable to all their visitors. Sometimes, the gods and goddesses would disguise themselves as mortals to spy on other people and even secretly help the hero along the way. If all Greeks knew this, all of them would be hospitable just in case their guest was an immortal. In addition, the video illustrated another example of Xenia when talking about the relationship between Diomedes and Glaucus' grandfathers. Glaucus' grandfather hosted Diomedes' grandfather so Glaucus and Diomedes decided not to fight each other and even exchanged armor. That was a good representation of Xenia through a generation gap and it even portrays the element of "heroic" because they decided not to go to war with each other even though they are from different sides of the Trojan War.
In the video it talks about Achilles struggle with mortality and the reason why he chose to fight was because he wanted to gain fame and be remembered forever. He didn't fight because it was the right thing to do but he chose to fight for his own benefit. This tells me that not all heroes are trying to do the right thing, they may just be doing the right thing because it benefits them.
Basically, that it centers around Achilles' rage (which also happens to be the first line). In this way it follows the tropes and formats of classic literature. Other things that also follow this pattern are "The Ramayana" and "The Epic of Gilgamesh" from Indian and Mesopotamian (Akkadian/Sumerian) myth, respectively. The heroes of these stories do much the same things and are punished for their hubris just as characters in the Iliad are. Though, one might argue the hubris of Paris caused this whole mess, Thetis' obsession with making her son immortal plays a significant part, not to mention Agamemnon's general entitlement and lack of higher thought, particularly regarding messing with wicked powerful gods. Essentially, the whole story is one long examination why its frankly a terrible idea to be full of yourself because the gods will start picking sides (which well illustrates the idea of the guest/host relationship in the most pure sense of the term) and they can't seem to ever be content with things ending with a treaty and will do their best to stir up further bloodshed. All the heroes show parts of the heroic elements, but some fail to complete their journey/are only present to create motivation for other characters (cough Patroclus and every mortal female character mentioned cough). One might even make the argument that none of the characters truly complete the heroes' journey but that's another story. Also, odds are if you're gay, you're going to die, unless you're in Artemis' favor like Iphigenia (though she's kinder to her in some versions, even the less charitable interpretations are better than the way Agamemnon treats her).
Post a Comment