Whose side do you think Homer is on? The most noble and admirable characters would seem to be Hector, Andromache and Priam, but most of the attention is on the Greeks. The characters with the most enduring fame are Achilles, Odysseus, Ajax and Agamemnon, and "the face that launched a thousand ships" has a smaller part than I would have expected.
That's a good question. I'll give my answer and follow it up with the evidence.
I think Homer is on the Achaeans' side, but at the same time he is not a propagandist. If Homer believes the Trojans are "the other side," he doesn't make a caricature of them. This is one of multiple reasons why I believe Homer is a fantastic storyteller. He can make you sympathize with people you're not sure you're suppose to sympathize with (this includes Achilles).
The most despicable characters are (in my opinion): Agamemnon, Achilles, and Paris (though I think Achilles becomes a bit more of a sympathetic character by the end). 2 Achaeans, 1 Trojan.
The most noble characters are: Diomedes, Idomeneus, Telamonian Ajax (setting aside how he's portrayed in other sources), Odysseus (setting aside how he's portrayed in other sources), Hector, and Sarpedon. 4 Achaeans, 2 Trojans.
The most famous line in the Iliad, the one that resonated deeply with the Greeks, is ascribed to Hector (Book 12). The most moving scenes in the Iliad involve Hector (the one in Book 6 with his family; the scenes toward the end of the poem which I haven't touched on yet).
However, I noticed that the most brutal and gruesome death scenes are ones where Trojans are killed. Is this to diminish and humiliate the Trojans? Or, does it make the Trojans look more civilized compared to the warmongering Achaeans?
Put all of that together, and again, I think Homer is more on the Achaeans' side, but it's not very noticeable.
Whose side do you think Homer is on? The most noble and admirable characters would seem to be Hector, Andromache and Priam, but most of the attention is on the Greeks. The characters with the most enduring fame are Achilles, Odysseus, Ajax and Agamemnon, and "the face that launched a thousand ships" has a smaller part than I would have expected.
That's a good question. I'll give my answer and follow it up with the evidence.
I think Homer is on the Achaeans' side, but at the same time he is not a propagandist. If Homer believes the Trojans are "the other side," he doesn't make a caricature of them. This is one of multiple reasons why I believe Homer is a fantastic storyteller. He can make you sympathize with people you're not sure you're suppose to sympathize with (this includes Achilles).
The most despicable characters are (in my opinion): Agamemnon, Achilles, and Paris (though I think Achilles becomes a bit more of a sympathetic character by the end). 2 Achaeans, 1 Trojan.
The most noble characters are: Diomedes, Idomeneus, Telamonian Ajax (setting aside how he's portrayed in other sources), Odysseus (setting aside how he's portrayed in other sources), Hector, and Sarpedon. 4 Achaeans, 2 Trojans.
The most famous line in the Iliad, the one that resonated deeply with the Greeks, is ascribed to Hector (Book 12). The most moving scenes in the Iliad involve Hector (the one in Book 6 with his family; the scenes toward the end of the poem which I haven't touched on yet).
However, I noticed that the most brutal and gruesome death scenes are ones where Trojans are killed. Is this to diminish and humiliate the Trojans? Or, does it make the Trojans look more civilized compared to the warmongering Achaeans?
Put all of that together, and again, I think Homer is more on the Achaeans' side, but it's not very noticeable.