It is not someone's words, their skillset, or even how hard they work on honing and mastering their craft that matters most. There comes a point in every person's life where they must question why they pursue the aspirations that they aspire toward. It is the purpose that drives us to be better than our peers, and war is no different in that regard. I could babble about the implications of purpose, but I think Nelson Mandela puts it best when he describes the difference between talking to someone in a way they understand versus when talking to someone in the language of their heart rather than one they just understand.
Now, what does someone's language of the heart have to do with their purpose? The one word answer is everything. Those who know why they are pursuing a goal and will stop at nothing in order to achieve it are the same people that have an internal language all by themselves. We see this in Homer's The Iliad in books three and six with Paris and Hector while they are fighting for the city of Troy. Take Paris for example; he is a son of King Priam, meaning that he should have more of a reason than anyone else in the city of Troy to defend the land that he resides in because he wants his lavish lifestyle to continue. You would think, in his position, that he fights his own wars, settles his own quarrels, and maybe even has some skill with a sword, spear, or bow as a result. You would also expect a heralded figure to carry vast amounts of knowledge and, more importantly, wisdom. However, the "magnificent" Paris the story introduces to us is nothing more than a fraud. In book three, Paris' purpose for starting, much less fighting a war that has waged for over nine years is nothing more than to hold an attractive woman essentially hostage against her will! This begs the question: What kind of person would hold a singular desire, a pointless dream to be more important than the livelihood of his city?
Hector, meanwhile, is on the battlefield in front of the city gates leading the Trojan army and its allies in the fight against the Achaeans. Being committed to anything for nine years requires diligence and patience, neither are easily found or obtained. Hector keeps his family in mind and his city at heart, which is evident in book six when he decides to go looking for Paris, who is *shockingly* missing from battle. Hector's scolding of Paris really sums up the point:
"Seeing Paris, Hector raked his brother with insults, stinging taunts: 'What on earth are you doing? Oh how wrong it is, this anger you keep smoldering around your heart! Look, your people are dying around the city, the steep walls, dying in arms-and all for you, the battle cries and the fighting flaring up around the citadel. You'd be the first to lash out at another-anywhere-you saw hanging back from this, this hateful war. Up with you-before all of Troy is torched to a cinder here and now!'" (Homer 400).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Paris isn't the king. He is the son of the king, Priam, and brother to Hector. He is used as a foil character showing how we can be impelled by feelings and emotions to do "evil" so easily. Everything Paris does is to make himself "feel good" and his brother Hector shows Virtuous traits, but we only see them in Hector when it is beside his greedy and selfish brother Paris. Paris is protected by the god Aphrodite right now which is the only reason they haven't all killed him yet, even the Trojans hate him. (you see it in book 3 when Hector scolds and embarrasses him to make him fight Menelaus.)
ReplyDeleteYou would be correct! I had originally made my blog about Priam and had gotten some details with Paris confused during writing, I revised the blog so those should be fixed now! As for Paris' character being used to exalt the good qualities of Hector, I think that any character that is made to contrast could undoubtedly be looked at as a foil character. Seeing as how Marvel is hugely popular, I'll use Ultron as an example. His character was written to be a reminder to Tony's character as well as the audience of what Tony could have been if he strayed off the heroic path. Aphrodite protecting Paris is kind of understandable, she is portrayed as having a shallow personality in comparison to some of the other gods. Also, I would argue that Hector's virtuous traits are shown just as much with Paris as they are without. A significant portion of book six involves Hector trying to find his family. And after finding them, he shows his virtuous traits again in his conversation with Andromache when he tells her that his duty to the city (especially during a war) is his number one priority unlike Achilles who seems to be just having a pity party while all the fighting is going on.
DeleteI am very much inspired by this. Aside from the Spiderman quote, which I love by the way, this blog really reads like your voice. I agree that Paris very much had an abuse of power complex but I don't they had any way during this time period to remove anyone from office for abuse of power. I think of a lot of rulers between then and today that very much abused their power (cough cough Napoleon cough cough Hitler)but I am sure that Paris wouldn't have made it very far if he were the president today. Boy, is that a funny thought. I find it very interesting that you chose David as a reference because I remember David making a very similar abuse of power with the wife of uriah. He specifically sent Uriah onto the frontlines of battle in order to have his wife for his own. 2 Samuel 11.
ReplyDeleteWow, let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed the quote about how everyone has their own 'language' that they desire people to understand. That answers so much, not only concerning this book but in my interactions with everyday people. Secondly, I really liked the contrast between David and Paris. David was a good person who made bad mistakes. Paris was a bad person who could sometimes make good calls.
ReplyDelete