THE Iliad it is the text of universal literature that narrates the famous “Trojan War” (Ilion = Troy). Although well known, many questions exist around the composition, historicity and even the relationship of such a text with Homer. Some say that the author didn't even exist, but that, after centuries of isolated narratives, the corners that make up the text have been brought together under the name of Homer, just to confer an identity or authenticity that privileges the principle of authority. It is still doubtful that the war took place, but the narrative has a historical background, as it is possible to reconstruction of territorial disputes aimed at the expansion of the Greeks to areas that had deposits of tin.
Aside from these data, the Iliad it has a clear and defined intention: to mirror the model of man to be imitated by the Greek people, in addition to founding the cohesion of that same people. The ideal of Beautiful and Good Warrior, embodied in the character Achilles, highlights the need to infuse the mentality collective of the Achaeans (one of the peoples that make up the Greek culture) a behavior to be imitated, a model of man to be followed. Also the intention of this article is to treat the work under the mythological and not historical aspect. Let's see how the fable develops and its meaning.
The war was motivated by the kidnapping of Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, by Paris Alexander, prince of Troy. This abduction was actually caused by the influence of the goddess Aphrodite. In a dispute between the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, over which she was the most beautiful, Paris was the judge and chose Aphrodite. As the goddess of love, she offered in return the love of the most beautiful woman in Greece: Helena. On a visit to the Spartan leaders, the Trojans were received with great hospitality. But the fulminating passion that affected Paris and Helen made them flee to Troy where they could live that love.
However, this action would bring disgrace and the fall of Troy, as predicted Cassandra, sister of Paris and Hector, all sons of the great Trojan king Priam. Already at the birth of Paris, a prediction that he would bring the end of Troy prompted his father to have him killed, but, through a series of misadventures, he survived and returned to the royal palace. However, Helena's abduction caused King Menelaus to claim his wife from the Trojans, which did not happen. With the offense, Sparta sought support from the rest of the confederation of Greek city-states, led by the king of Mycenae, Agamemnon, who had ambitions for Trojan territory. Combining their interests, they assembled an incredibly large navy for the war. But the big difference was the participation of the hero Achilles.
Achilles was the son of a goddess, Thetis, by a mortal. At birth, his mother, foreseeing the future of her son, threw him into the waters of the Styx Sea, which would make him immortal, holding him only by the heel, where, we shall see, he was vulnerable. As an adult, it was revealed to him that he should choose to participate in the war and die or not go to Troy and have a quiet and long life. His aspiration was that his name as a warrior would echo for eternity, even if his life, in that way, was short.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
Achilles also had within himself the characteristics of the hero, such as strength, skill, speed. In battle he was unbeatable. It represented to the Argives (the Achaean soldiers) an inspiration on the battlefield.
Determined to go into battle, Achilles joined the siege of Troy. He had as a disciple the warrior Patroclus, who fought alongside him in the war. In the background of the war, the gods sometimes favored the Greeks and sometimes the Trojans. Several names are highlighted in the battle: Nestor, Odysseus, Ajax, Hector.
Commander Agamemnon captured the beautiful Chryseis, daughter of Crisis and Pitonisa, from the temple of Apollo. Achilles rebelled at this imprisonment, as he was enchanted by the virgin. With that, he decided to withdraw from the war, causing thousands of casualties to the Akhaians. Away, he allowed Patroclus to wear his armor. On the battlefield, the great Hector, Prince of Troy, faced him and killed him, believing him to be Achilles. Knowing this, Achilles sought out Hector for a duel in which he defeats the great hope of the Trojans. Wise King Priam claimed his body for the funeral in a very brave gesture. But, still unmotivated by the Chrysida episode, Achilles did not return to battle. Thus, the Greeks suffered setbacks, as they could not penetrate the fortress of Troy because of its high walls.
The battle had been going on for 10 years and, wanting to return home, the soldiers, already discouraged, felt the stigma of defeat. Then the astute Odysseus had a brilliant idea: in addition to persuading Achilles to return to battle, he proposed using the wood from the ships to build a gigantic horse that would be offered to the Trojans as a gift from the gods after the war. O Trojan Horse, that the Trojans took into their city, kept inside a battalion of Argives that invaded the city and opened the gates so that the Greek troops could enter and, with that, defeat the enemies.
In this final episode, the Achaeans slaughtered the Trojans, setting the city on fire, while Menelaus relentlessly searched for Helen, who had fled. Paris was wounded and killed. Achilles was hit in the right heel (the vulnerable Achilles heel) by an arrow fired by Philolectes and thus fulfilled the fate the gods had reserved for him. Troy was destroyed, Agamemnon seized the land and, after a long search, Menelaus found Helen, who, having already married again, returned to Sparta. Thus, the soldiers were able, after looting, to return to their kingdoms.
This is how we understand the moral of the myth: Helena (from the Greek ELLAS = Greece) seems precisely to tell the story of the emergence and formation of the Greek people. And the image we want to convey is that of the beautiful and good warrior, like Achilles, who preferred to die and be forever remembered for his deeds, to live a long and mediocre life in the peace of the fields of herding.
By João Francisco P. Cabral
Brazil School Collaborator
Graduated in Philosophy from the Federal University of Uberlândia - UFU
Master's student in Philosophy at the State University of Campinas - UNICAMP
