Incidents in Greek Mythology
Judgement of Paris
In the famous judgement of Paris, Paris chose
Aphrodite who offered him the most beautiful woman to be his wife, disregarding
Athena and Hera's offers which are power, military glory and wisdom. Paris was
a foolish man and he was thought of as a philanderer. He was foolish for choosing
beauty over power and wisdom. And what made it so much worse is, is the fact
that Helen is already married to King Menelaus. Paris should have known that,
after all Helen's beauty is widespread and the talk-of-the-town and being
married to a king is a plus to that. And yet he still did it without thinking
of the consequences that might happen. He didn't think that by involving
himself to the goddesses' silliness, he could cause problems or initiate one.
He didn't think that by having Helen as his wife, it would ensued a 10 long
year war that killed thousand of people. All he was thinking at that time was
that he can have the most beautiful woman to be his wife in just a matter of
seconds. That he can proclaim that to the world and boost his ego that amidst all
this men wooing and pursuing this beguiling and exquisite woman, he can have
her. Paris believed that he was special, different, chosen. And that became a
catalyst to an impending war.
HOMER. The Iliad. Translation by Lattimore, R.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Poach, R. (2016). Aeneas and
the Moral of the Trojan War. Retrieved from https://ricochet.com/350767/archives/aeneas-and-the-moral-of-the-trojan-war/
The Iliad
One of the most tragic and heart wrenching scenes in
the movie was after the death of Hector, Achilles decided to drag the corpse of
Hector back to Trojan Beach. King Priam, father of Hector, went in disguise to
infiltrate the tent of Achilles and beg to bring back the corpse of Hector to
give him a proper burial. Ashamed by what he did, he decided to give back the
corpse of Hector to the King.It is said that we can be measured by the worth of
our enemies. I hold that to be of great importance. We are defined by the
opposition to our actions. An obstacle is what makes us want to move forward,
what makes us become better to overcome it. A rival is precisely that. In our
struggle against each other, we become better. So, an enemy is not to be hated
but cherished for he provides the opportunity for improvement. And finally, Priam’s
actions show that there can be respect between two competitors.
Odyssey: Homecoming
With all the obstacles that had happened to Odysseus, he safely went back home. Odysseus was true and faithful to his family and dissuades every hurdle that comes on his way just to go back to his family. He was loyal to his wife and was a man driven to come back home. His journey was full of obstructions but he was patient enough and although he was sometimes foolish, he can lead and make right decisions. When he returned to Ithaca, he was faced with a problem where some of his henchmen had seemed to waver their loyalty and the suitors of his wife had become aggressive, but as a man who went through so much, those problems would never hinder our main character. He was able to clean out the moles in his household to keep his family safe from harm and deter the suitor who had intended to hurt his son and take his place as the husband of his wife. But although his journey was a hard beginning in the end it made a good ending as he was back with his beloved wife and son.
HOMER. The Odyssey. Translation by Shewring, W.
Oxford University Press.
Oxford University Press.
Zeus
Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it
This one cannot be truer as Zeus decided
to follow his father's footstep by swallowing Metis. Zeus was told that any
child born to Metis would be more powerful than its father. So what Zeus just
did was to swallow Metis just like how Cronus eats up his children. It seems
greedy is the blood in the family because in Cronus's situation, he decided to
eat all his children for fear that one of the youth would usurp him. It is
disgusting how these two men came into existence and decided that they'll
everyone even if that is their own child. These two are obviously related with
how they handle things at home. But somehow, I do feel sorry for Zeus. He probably
resorted into this kind of tactics as defense mechanism. He probably went
through a trauma that somehow shaped how he handles these kinds of situations.
But this should not be an excuse to do this horrible thing. There are
repercussions to our actions so we must think first before we act.
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