Noble Warrior

Being a noble and great warrior is difficult. You need a lot of sacrifices in order to protect your home or what. Example, you need to leave your family in order to protect your city, you need to become courageous enough to fight the enemies, and many more. In Greek mythology, there are also a lot of noble and great warriors such as Achilles, Hector, Paris and Patroclos. Patroclos is beloved comrade and brother-in-arms of Achilles. One of Achilles best friend. Because Achilles is a great warrior, Patroclos was also a great warrior. For me, Patroclos was a skilled warrior that he will fight to the end. Here are some of  the details from Wikipedia “When the tide of war turned away from the Acheans, and the Trojans threatened their ships, Patroclus convinced Achilles to let him don Achilles' armor and lead the Myrmidons into combat. In his lust for combat, Patroclus pursued the Trojans all the way back to the gates of Troy, defying Achilles' order to break off combat once the ships were saved. Patroclus killed many Trojans and allies including the Lycian hero Sarpedon (a son of Zeus), and Cebriones (the chariot driver of Hector and illegitimate son of Priam). Patroclus was stunned by Apollo, wounded by Euphorbos, then finished off by Hector. At the time of his death, Patroclus had killed 53 enemy soldiers^[1].

After retrieving his body, which had been protected on the field by Odysseus and Ajax (Telamonian Aias), Achilles returned to battle and avenged his companion's death by killing Hector. Achilles then desecrated Hector's body by dragging it behind his chariot instead of allowing the Trojans to honorably dispose of it by burning it. Achilles' grief was great and for some time, he refused to dispose of Patroclus' body; but he was persuaded to do so by an apparition of Patroclus, who told Achilles he could not enter Hades without a proper cremation. Achilles cut a lock of his hair, and sacrificed horses, dogs, and twelve Trojan captives before placing Patroclus' body on the funeral pyre.

Achilles then organized an athletic competition to honour his dead companion, which included a chariot race (won by Diomedes), boxing (won by Epeios), wrestling (a draw between Telamonian Aias and Odysseus), a foot race (won by Odysseus), a duel (a draw between Aias and Diomedes), a discus throw (won by Polypoites), an archery contest (won by Meriones), and a javelin throw (won by Agamemnon, unopposed).”

The only thing that I don’t like to Patroclos, is the lust for battle. Remember, when Patroclos convince Achilles to dons his armor,  Achilles warns Patroclos  to limit his actions only to rescuing the ship and not to attack troy because that would lead to his death (from the book). But Patroclos  does not heed his advice and attack troy and dies

Well even though Patroclos was a great warrior, because of his lust for battle, this leads him to his death.

wise and just?

The Greeks believe that their “gods and goddesses” are wise and just. That is why they implemented the 4 cardinal virtues because they believe that their gods and goddesses are wise and just,  and they wanted to be like their gods. But in the book of Iliad I saw that these Greek gods are just like bias!! For example Zeus warns the other gods that the war had carried on for far too long and that he planned to bring it to an end. He also warns other gods not to take sides with either of the Trojans or the Achaeans. That came from the mouth of Zeus himself but Zeus who is watching the fight decided to give  the day to the Trojans. Well I think that is not right? Is this book says that gods don’t fulfill their promises? A good question to ask. On the other hand, Hera who was the enemy of the Trojans, ask Poseidon to help the Achaeans but he refuses because of the superior strength of his brother Zeus. In that case, Poseidon don’t want to join a fight because he is just or because Zeus is powerful? For me, Poseidon possesses justice and he is able to do what was right. He can control himself unlike other gods. The gods in the book were not that wise. How can I say this? Because if they are wise enough then they would follow the rules of Zeus, which the superior of them all. Even  though they wanted to help either the Trojans or the Achaeans, then they will not help. That’s my stand. In terms that Greek gods are just, for me they are not just. Why? Because they have their own sides, Example a Greek citizen of Achaeans try to pray to Zeus. Because Zeus is with the Trojans, and Achaeans are his enemies, then he will not answer his/her prayers. In Greeks, if you pray to a god and the god did not respond to his/her prayers means that he/she is not ready to get the blessing or something is missing. Let us say that that citizen of Achaean is doing every thing just to answer his prayer. Would Zeus answer his prayer? Maybe, no because he is an enemy of Trojans. Is that what you call a just god?

For me justice means equality. No bias at all. And that proves to me that the gods are not that just as I expected. That’s all.

Heart Problems

Have you ever wondered why other people, even if you reminded them several times they won’t listen? Have you ever realized why some people are not contended on what they have? Then they have some “heart” problem! Not physical heart problem but the trait of their heart. Are you familiar who he is? Clue: famous person, a king of Mycenae, and finally commander of Achaeans. Do you know him? His name is Agamemnon!! Agamemnon is a king of Mycenae and the commander of Achaeans during the Trojan war. He is the man with some heart problems. Not the physical heart problems but like I said, the trait. First, his greed, not an ordinary greed of money, and food, but also women. In the book Iliad, some part there shows the greediness of Agamemnon in women. As the Achaeans raids the towns near troy, they captured two beautiful girls name Chryseis and Briseis. As Chryseis’ father came to Achaean camp to rescuce his daughter, Agamemnon refuses and rudely ask the old man to leave. In despair the old man prayed to Apollo and curses the city. It  only shows that Agamemnon is greedy when it comes to women. In addition,  Agamemnon agrees to release the girl, in condition that he gets Achilles’ girl! How greedy he is! Another one, Agamemnon tries to appease the god Apollo. He returns Chryseis to her father and sends his soldiers to capture Briseis. Surprisingly, Achilles surrenders without a fight. In our modern day, we can cite some examples similar to the problems of Agamemnon, like the kidnappers, the bad guys! The will kidnapped a kid or anyone else and they  try to contact it’s relatives and the they will ask for the ransom to free the hostage. Like Agamemnon, he try to get a ransom, and the ransom is not the money, but another woman.

Another of Agamemnon heart problems is that he cheats. As Paris and Menelaus fight for a one – on – one duel, Menelaus was able to drag Paris near the Achaean line, Aphrodite rescue Paris through a thick cloud smoke. And Agamemnon says that Menelaus unquestionably won and therefore Helen should be restored to him. the only thing that I can say is, whatever you want, you do it in good way and not try to cheat and also try not to be a greedy person just like Agamemnon. Because a close fist cannot receive a blessings but an open fist can.