The Iliad Running head: THE ILIAD: A VERY BRIEF ETHICAL CONSIDERATION

The Iliad: A Very Brief Ethical Consideration Mrcio Padilha College of Southern Idaho ENGL 257 Carpenter Fall/2012

The Iliad The Iliad: A Very Brief Ethical Consideration

In his account of events pertaining to the Trojan War, Homers The Iliad (James, Lawall et al., 2005) exposes readers to an archetype wherein immortals, demigods and mortals coexist. In a construct of conceptual relativism (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), present day readers are confronted with dogmatic reports of fantastic events and interactions between the parties. Thus, it seems only consequential that readers start perceiving peculiar ethical issues as the narrative develops. As an example of such structural feature, Hera is credited to have addressed Zeus at a moment when he contemplated interfering in the outcome of the mortal combat to be waged between Sarpedon and Patroclus by saying: Son of Cronus, what a thing to say! A mortal man, whose fate has long been fixed, And you want to save him from rattling death? Do it. But dont expect all of us to approve. (Homer, Iliad 16.477-480) Thus, while Heras irreverence towards Zeuss ethos (Homer, Iliad 16.477) may, from a normative perspective (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), be allusive of a state of anarchy within The Iliads construct, it is the continuance of her speech (Homer, Iliad 16.478-480) that, under meta-ethical scrutiny (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), seems to provide greater indication of The Iliads paradoxical reality wherein boundaries between the physical and the metaphysical seem inexistent. As such, by referring to Sarpedon as a mortal man, Hera explicitly exposes readers to an attitudinal postulate which dictates that mortals are to be held at a lower status. Hence, ones status of mortal, demigod or immortal becomes an important factor which dictates that the degree of ones mortality determines the direct preponderance of ones status before the gods. Thus, regarding the

The Iliad

meta-ethical issues, the reader may wonder why the degree of ones mortality should play a role in the quantifying ones degree of merit. In addition, one may wonder how such judgment may impact the epic as a whole. Next, Hera, opposing Zeus, further states that this mans fate has long been fixed (Homer, Iliad 16.478), thus causing a conundrum to emerge. Considering that Zeus is contemplating to intervene in the outcome of a mans fate and considering that fate is defined as a predetermined state or end (MerriamWebster), Zeus suggestion would necessarily seem to compel an existential nihilism against fates very essence. Next, with no seeming interruption of thought, Hera further censures Zeus judgment by declaring that Sarpedons mortal status does not, or should not, render him meritorious of such a reprieve (Homer, Iliad 16.479); leading to a slight variance within the same meta-ethical issue: what confers Hera the right to judge? And how does her judging affect the story, Zeus and ultimately herself? Furthermore, while Heras defiant attitude strengthens The Iliads anarchical hierarchy precepts which exist between mortals, demigods and immortals, it further reasserts the nihilistically existential imposition against fates essence in that, by stating Do it! (Homer, Iliad 16.480), she corroborates the very possibility that Zeus has the power to intervene and, consequently, change someones fate; in turn, making fate devoid of its essence. The philosophical construct of The Iliad is a complex one that leads the reader into what seems like an infinity of circular thoughts that ultimately lead the reader to try and assert what the normative behavior of the depicted construct is, or should be, if there is one and what lack of perceived boundaries between the different realms the players are in might mean.

The Iliad Works Cited James, H., Lawall, S., Patterson, L., Spacks, P. M., & Thalmann, W. G. (Eds.). (2005). The Norton Anthology of Western Literature (8 ed., Vol. 1). New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved from Fate: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fate[1] Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Normative ethics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normative_ethics Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Conceptualism. Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptualism#cite_refConceptualism_0-0 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from Meta-ethics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-ethics Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Zeus. Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeus