Honour in the Homeric World

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In no more than a 1000 words consider the importance of Honour in the Homeric world, with reference to the Iliad and/or the Odyssey. The notion of honour is prevalent throughout the Iliad. The honour of every person in Homeric culture was important, but to the hero, honour was paramount. He could not endure insults, and he felt that he had to protect his reputation, even unto death. The hero's duty was to fight, and the only way he had of gaining honour and immortality was through heroic action on the battlefield so he continually prepared his life for the life-and-death risks of battle. The Homeric hero believed that men had to stand together in battle; men had to honour each other; and they had to refrain from excessive cruelty. He should loathe deliberate acts of cruelty and injustice, if he was ready to kill a victim; he believed that he should do it quickly with an honourable death. An exception on this point is Achilles, who disfigures Hector’s body out of personal grief for the death of his friend Patroklos ‘And now thought of shameful treatment for glorious Hector’ (Homer. Book 22, line 395). By following this code a hero gained a sense of dignity and a reputation for honour that would ensure his place in the social memory of his community. The characters in Homer’s stories lived by strict social and cultural norms that would guide their lives at home and on the battlefield. The position of a person depended upon understanding their place in society and performing in accordance with society's expectations. If he accepted the pattern of a hero, it would include a hero's suffering and a hero's honourable death. When a hero expressed himself in words, he believed that his thoughts were derived from either society or a god, nothing came from within. Communal honour was vital to a Homeric person’s status; their whole world

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