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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Today's discussion

From today's discussion, i just wanted to post my opinion about Achilles fate and whether or not he gets to choose this fate or if it is chosen for him. I believe that he does get to choose his fate, but there will be results and consequences from whichever he chooses. I think that if he chose to go home and not fight again that really portrays nothing at all. Everything he ever fought for would be for nothing. If, however, he chose to fight one last time, knowing that his fate will be death, it will aslo show the hero in him, the fact that he fought for something, even if he gets nothing in turn, other than dying. He will have died trying and i think that is the best way for him to make a name for himself. IF he went home, he would live with his family and others will remember him as nothing, mabye even recognized as coward. But if he chose to fight, he will be remembered for trying in the face of death.

Also, i had a question, how does Helen and the others who are considered "war-prizes" feel about being fought over? and if they love one warrior over the other, couldn't she just choose the one she prefers to be with? or is that a matter of her position as a war prize?

p.s (i commented on Will's post "Starting the Iliad discussion correctly")

2 comments:

  1. Great post, I like the points you brought up. I'm commenting on your question about Helen and the other "war-prizes." Personally, being fought over is a romanticized notion that movies and ridiculous novels glorify as something that girls dream about. Well to that I say pssshhhh. As far as how Helen would feel...probably helpless. They're not fighting for love in my opinion, but for pride and for their own good. Plus, I really doubt Agamemnon cares about his brother's wife, he just wants to defeat Troy and spread his kingdom...because he's a jerk. So basically, her choice makes no difference. I hope that makes sense. :)

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  2. Yeah, I agree with Malory, Helen probally felt pretty helpless. She said (in book III) that she would rather have died than to be the cause of this terrible war. She hated to see all of her friends and family fighting for herself, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

    However, I do think the men could have been fighting for love, at least at first. Not nessecarily love as in the sense of a true love, but love as in a passionate, lustful way. Paris took Helen in the first place because he had a crush on her. He liked her, thought she was beautiful, and, since he had the power to do so, took her back with him. Menalaos then retaliated, he had to do something. He could have just been fighting for power, but this is his wife we're talking about. Even if he wasn't the best husband in the world, he probally still loved her, and he espectially would have missed her once she was gone. Yes, the men are fighting for power, and they are selfish, but I do believe that love (or should I say, lust) did play a big role in their decisions - espectially in Paris' decision to take Helen in the first place.

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