Free Will In The Iliad

Free will is represented by the choices able to be made by those involved in the myth. In example, when the suitors take over the house of Odysseus, the choices they make to be disgusting, rude, and vile hits them with the violent repercussions that they deserve, meaning slaughter at the hand of Odysseus and his men. The Gods had the choice to interfere with the choices that the suitors were making, but knew that once Telemachus told Odysseus of how

Vanity is a human instinct, we want to be seen as great people. This is the reason admitting your wrongdoings is difficult because it may change your appearance in the community. In the famous tragedy, The Crucible, by playwright Arthur Miller, there are many unfair trials, thus, false confessions play a large role. The Crucible is a play based on the Salem witch trials, where individuals are falsely accused of witchcraft and are brought in front of strict judges for corrupt trials. The result: innocent people being hanged to death, unless they confessed. The protagonist, John Proctor, decided not to confess, so he was hanged. However, John Proctor made three confessions with good intent, which were

In Song of Achilles Patroclus and Achilles face the fact that knowing their fate doesn’t scare them; it enhances their perception of the war and their relationship; while their own free will makes the book compelling and down to earth as we read it in their own perspective.

During the difficult journey Odysseus went through, he solely relied on his strong courage to get through the hard times. When Odysseus and his crew met the cyclopes, he was very intimidating, one because he was much larger than the humans and he could easily kill them all. “His hands reached out and seized two of them, and smashed them to the ground like puppies” Odysseus was surely frightened by this act but, he showed no fear and instead he made a plan to slay the “pitiless hearted” cyclopes.

(Destiny, Fate and Free Will in Homer's Odyssey). Once the gods have set the “fate” of certain people they let the event unfold. The gods do interfere with the lives of the mortals, but that never fully

Greek culture's ideas on fate manifested themselves largely through their mythology.  The length of a person's life, they believed, was determined by the three Fates, Clotho (spinner), Lachesus (Apportioner), and the fearsome Atropos (Inflexible).  These aged children of Zeus and Themis-- know to the Greeks at the Moirai--would unscrupulously spin out, measure, and cut the thread of one's life.  The balance of power between these three women and their father Zeus is difficult to understand.  In Book XXVI of The Iliad, we see the king of the gods fretting over the impending death of his mortal son Sarpedon.  Unable to cope with the idea of his noble child's death, Zeus inquires of Hera "Shall I pluck [Sarpedon] up, now, while he's still alive... or beat him down at Patroclus' hands at last" (Iliad 16.519-21).  In the end, Zeus allows Sarpedon to be slain as the Fates have willed.  Though Zeus has the power to override his daughters, the great orderer of the cosmos sees that doing so in this case would be beyond reason.

Portions of modern society believe fate to be concrete and unchanging. However, in ancient times, it was believed to be influenced and guided by the actions of the gods. Similarly, in The Iliad by Homer, the actions of the gods influence the life, death, and fate of each and every individual. Gods such as Zeus, Athena and Apollo take great influence in human affairs in The Iliad. These actions cause life, death, sorrow, and triumph to befall various individuals of the story. Achilles’ fate results, solely, from these actions the gods undertake. In particular, the gods influence on Achilles’ fate shows when the gods keep Achilles from killing Agamemnon, staying out of the war, and holding onto his rage.

In almost all instances of war the cause has been related to greed, or the gaining of land and possessions. Greed is presented in the very first book of Homer’s “The Iliad.” It isn’t displayed by the cowards, but the “heroes” of the war such as Agamemnon, Achilles, and Pandarus. The entire cause of the Trojan War is the result of the greedy and cowardly behavior of Paris. There are many factors that had sparked the war, including the interference of the gods; however, the main factor to be blamed for the war is greed.

Central to any study of the humanities is the human condition – our nature, which has historically shown that it is equally capable of both good and evil deeds – and the problem that arises from it; specifically, why do humans suffer? Many philosophies and religions have their own account for this aspect of humanity, and we find that what the accounts have in common is each explains the human condition in terms that are similar to how that institution of thought explains the true nature of reality.

Homer’s epic The Iliad, is a great tale of war and glory. It takes place during the last year of the ten year Greek-Trojan war. The Greeks have been fighting with the Trojans for quite some time, and just when peace seemed like a possibility, the youngest prince of Troy, Paris, acts out selfishly and steals the beautiful wife of Menelaus, Helen. This instigates the fighting again. Throughout The Iliad, Homer tells of two heroes, both similar, but also very different in their character; the great and powerful Greek, Achilles, and the strong, loving father, Prince Hector of Troy. In Homer’s The Iliad, Hector and Achilles differ as heroes in regards to pride, duty, and family love, the latter being self-centered and prideful, while the

Regardless of the time frame, Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s epic the Iliad share both a copious amount of similarities and differences. For example, many common themes such as heroism, fate, and destiny are apparent in both works. Within the Aeneid and the Iliad, it is seen that the wars going on during that time were glorious that is why the role of gods were significant in leading both Aeneas and Achilles and influencing fate. In both texts, it is clear from the beginning that the role of the gods is to make Aeneas and Achilles fulfill their journey The Iliad focuses on the end of the Trojan War and the damaging power, while the Aeneid is focused during the aftermath of the war and underlies the foundation for the new civilization. This paper will address and argue the comparison of the role of gods and how each of the authors representation of the gods have influence on the lives of mortals.

It is not uncommon for the gods to make appearances in the Iliad, and Achilles is no exception. He receives help from the supernatural on multiple occasions, much like an epic hero would. The most significant divine intervention Achilles received was by Athena, the goddess of wisdom. “Now let’s get tough and fight and not spare Any spears. Either Achilles kills us both…Or he goes down with your spear in his guts,” Athena said to Hector, pretending to be Deiphobus which deceives Hector into fighting Achilles (Puchner Book XXII, 270-272). There is no arguing whether or not Achilles received help from the gods, as he did on multiple occasions. Athena even helps him again in his battle versus Hector by returning his spear after a missed throw. It is the actions like these that craft Achilles into an epic hero, he isn’t asking for the help, but he receives it anyways because it is his destiny to become the epic hero. At points such as these, it seems as if mortal men don’t have much control over their destiny and that the gods are manipulating the outcomes. This can also be seen when Athena prevents Achilles from attack Agamemnon.

Fate and free will played major parts in creating the characters and stories in many of the Greek mythologies and tragedies. The Greeks believes that the Gods and the Oracle's could predict a person's fate before or after birth, and that no one, even the Gods could intervene in that person's fate. They also believed that a person's or God could not create their own fate. This belief stems from the three fates: sisters, The Moirai or Fates were three sister deities, incarnations of destiny and life. Because of these three old women, fate could not be avoided or altered. As such with these stories, in the Iliad fate leads Achilles down his path of glory and his early demise, and cause Oedipus to sleep with his own mother and kill his father. Free will is the power of acting without constraint and fate; acting by one's own decisions. Even though Achilleus and Oedipus have fate, they both also have free will. For instance, Achilles has a double fate: if he goes home, he will live long without glory or if he stays at Troy, he will have lots of glory, but a short life. As such, in Sophocles Oedipus the King, when Oedipus was born he was fated to kill his father and lay with his mother, thought his ability of free will caused his fate to come true.

In the past decade, advances in technology have contributed to a leap in quantitative changes in education, allowing for a gradual, if not rapid, introduction of innumerable digital tools to enhance the very culture and approach of education in virtually all required subjects. One example this is reflected in an informative 2011 analysis regarding ambitious integration of and experimentation with advances in technology for the social sciences titled, “Retooling the Social Studies Classroom for the Current Generation.” Here, a quartet of authors combine their talents and experiences to describe popular and innovative uses of digital media in modern-day social studies classrooms full of imagination. Over the course of this article, they aspire to inform and convince current and future teachers educating in the social sciences of the necessary challenge in embracing the advantageous likes of online collaboration, participation, interaction, and the building of social networks in consideration of the updated National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) guidelines for technology. The purpose of this peer-reviewed article is to briefly probe and critically evaluate the potential value of effectively utilizing and incorporating Web 2.0 tools as detailed by the academic study – with its emphasis on blogging, wikis, and digital media–sharing) – in a social studies classroom, regardless of grade level or past experience.

Observation and experimentation are how we as humans have been able to learn more about ourselves and the world and universe we live in. One of the most common methods of experimentation is animal testing. However, there are controversies surrounding animal testing. There are some that believe animal testing to be cruel and overdone, advocating for the eradication of the practice and further reliance alternative research methods. Groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and other animal rights advocates fall in this category. There are some that believe animal testing to be an invaluable resource and should continue, such as some scientists and research groups. However, there appears to me to be a consensus that is closer to the middle: the belief and understanding that while there are benefits to animal testing, there are flaws in the practice and there should be changes to increase its efficacy while we simultaneously explore alternate testing methods. Many scientists and the National Institute of Health (NIH) subscribe to this idea. I aim to explore the benefits, problems, and implications of animal testing in order to reach a more informed conclusion about a position that is most validated by the information I have used.