Various Perspectives on War in Homers Iliad Essay

Various Perspectives on War in Homers Iliad The Iliad is a story of rages of Achilles and the War of Troy. Thanks to the techniques of the author, Homer, The Iliad is very colorful, romantic, and it makes the readers imagine the ancient Greeks and their times of war. Homer is believed to be the author of epics other than the Iliad, although their authorship remains uncertain. Historian believes that Homer probably lived in the eighth century, B.C.1 (Discovering World History). However, there are very few things that we know about him. Some historians think Homers birthplace may have been on an island on the eastern edge of the Aegean Sea, or perhaps in a city on the nearby coast, but they dont have evidence to†¦show more content†¦From the standpoint of the study of Homer as a poet, the War of Troy was a war actually fought nearly four centuries before Homers time, and the causes of that war were almost certainly political and economic (Moss and Wilson). Homer thus, adopted the historical fact of the war a nd the tradition of an exciting legend. In The Iliad Homer uses the War of Troy as an example of the tragic futility of all wars, rather than assuming either an antiwar or a pro-war position. In ancient times, people thought that the great War of Troy was just a myth of Homers. Then in the mid 19th century, a German businessman, Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890), discovered Troy. Heinrich had always loved Homers poem. Since his childhood he had believed that the story of Homer was truth and not a myth. He absorbed the beauty of the epics, but his practical mind also caused him to analyze the facts behind the poetic fiction. He became convinced that the Greeks were right; the War of Troy was not a myth but historical reality. He carried on his excavations from 1870 to 1873, 1878 to 1879, and in 1881. The results were fantastic. Nine cities that had been successively destroyed emerged from the excavations. 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