Gender Roles in the Illiad - 1517 Words

Gender Roles: Hector in The Iliad In Homer’s Illiad Hector, one of the primary leaders of Trojan forces and also a prince of the fated city of Troy fulfills the male gender expectations defined through prowess in war. However, male’s heroism is driven by the fear of shame and dishonor in war. Hector is an mortal character in Homer’s Iliad and all Hector seeks is war-glory, and he believes that one must die with a cause. He fears the indignity that he believes will come should he not fight nobly for his city of Troy but it is this way of thinking which steers Hector towards his eventual death. Paris, Hector’s brother actually was a counter example of the drive behind male heroism. In Book three of the Iliad Paris stepped out of the†¦show more content†¦With Zeus not currently not assisting Hector and the Trojans in the war, Hector was temporarily decommissioned from the war because of an injury inflicted on him by Ajax who knocked him out with a s tone. Later on in Book fifteen Zeus sent Apollo to bring strength back to Hector. When he eventually did rise he was described as: A horse that has eaten barley in its stall / Breaking its halter and galloping across the plain, / making for his accustomed swim in the river, / A glorious animal, head held high, mane streaming / Like wind on his shoulders. Sure of his splendor / He prances by the horse-runs and he mares in pasture. (Book 15 lines 266-271) It was as if Hector took pride in the fact that he got hurt and was near death because that is what war-glory is all about. Obviously it was embedded in his soul to never stop fighting and to continue helping Troy in the war because of his fear of shame and dishonor in war, but the fact that he was near death and almost able to achieve the goal of dying gloriously while fighting in war, is what drove him to fight even more, so he could eventually achieve that goal. As readers, we would imagine that if a character was told his/her fate, even though it is something is predetermined and inevitable that character still might try change to alter their actions in an attempt to change their fate, especially if they were told itShow MoreRelated The Roles of Greek and Roman Women Essay1665 Words   |  7 PagesGreek and Roman women lived in a world where strict gender roles were given; where each person was judged in terms of compliance with gender-specific standards of conduct. Generally, men were placed above women in terms of independence, control and overall freedom. Whereas men lived in the world at large, active in public life and free to come and go as they willed, womens lives were sheltered. Most women were assigned the role of a homemaker, where they were anticipated to be good wives andRead MoreThe Goddess Of The Harvest1502 Words   |  7 Pages In response, Hera turned Gerana in to a crane. 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