Ideals of Homer

Homeric Ideals were generated in Ancient Greece from the writings of the famous poet Homer (obviously). This means that the ideas of being praised for accomplishments in battle, being scorned for insults, and their sense of values were mostly mimicked from his epics. In his works he utilizes his main "heroes" as a tool to show his peers the importance of honesty and courtesy towards others. Homer was able to show the value of being a good person and to look down upon untrustworthiness, which was seen as a fundamental ideal in Western Civilization to this day.

In Ancient Greece "Homeric Ideals" were very important. For instance, Greece went to war with Troy just to get Helen back. This showed that honor was very important to the Greeks. When Menelaus' honor was taken by Paris he wanted to take it back. On the other hand, not being able to fight was seen as undesirable. Paris was almost killed by Menelaus and Hector had to kill Menelaus in order to save his brother. Paris was then seen as weak and dishonorable. Hector was a great fighter and everyone loved him for this. He also died for his country which was honorable. Achilles was a great warrior too and he received a lot of praise for this. His pride and lack of state ship was considered dishonorable though. Agamemnon was honored because he united Greece. The movie Troy shows how influential Homeric Ideals were to Greek society.

Homeric Ideals Forum

Based on the observations you made during the video "Troy" please comment on those attributes you found to be both "desirable" and "undesirable" in Homeric Greek Culture. Please use examples from the film to back up your point!!!