Weekly Journal (4)

September 13th

9:25 AM: After reading book 13, I am still interested in the continuous battle. Though things seem to be consistently entertaining, I am a bit confused by some aspects of the epic. I get that the gods are a bit like mercenaries in the sense that they generally are neutral unless they have a special connection with either side. It seems as if Poseidon caused his own grandson to die. If he did not attempt to push the Achaeans forward with the attack, then maybe Hector would not have thrown his lance. Granted, he was not aiming for Amphimachus, but he still was the one who was hit. It seems as if some of the actions of the ALMIGHTY GODS are starting to backfire a bit.

Class Notes

Aidos: Shame (Greek).

Prosopopoeia: Face-making. When the mask you are currently wearing is not sufficient for the Ethos argument (Greek).

Modes of Persuasion (Aristotle)

1. Ethos: Convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader.

2. Pathos: Feeling, Emotion. Used as a substitute for Logos.

3. Logos: Logic, Argumentative

We discussed in class that Odysseus used ETHOS in an attempt to convince Achilles to return to battle. I disagree because I feel that Pathos made a heavier impact. Odysseus attempted to invoke emotion out of Achilles using his father. I do no think that he felt as if he could not fill the shoes of Peleus, I think he was attempting to use the honor of Peleus to get some sort of reaction out of Achilles. In my opinion, that is Pathos.

Gods that have participated in the Trojan War so far:

1. Zeus: (Neutral for the most part) He fights on both sides in different parts of the epic. In book 2, He sends a false dream to Agamemnon encouraging the Achaeans to attack the city of Troy. In book 4, he sends Athena (by request of Hera) to rekindle fighting in order for the Achaeans to completely win the battle. In book 7, he prevents Hector and Ajax from continuing to battle. In book 8, he then goes on to tilt the momentum in favor of the Trojans, but then sends an Eagle carrying a fawn in it’s beak, as a symbol to fight back.

2. Hera: (Achaeans/Greeks) In book 2, she sends word to Athena that the Achaeans were fleeing towards the city of Troy. In book 8, she sends a message to Agamemnon encouraging him to rally his troops. He then sends Iris to warn Athena/Hera not to interfere with the battle.

3. Athena: (Achaeans/Greeks) In book 1, she prevents Achilles from killing Agamemnon over Breseis. In book 2, she alerts Odysseus of the Achaeans fleeing. In book 4, she deflects arrow so that Menelaus is wounded, rather than killed. In book 6, she withdraws orders to Diomedes and assists him in driving the divine chariot towards Ares.

4. Aphrodite: (Trojans) During the battle of Paris and Menelaus, she causes the helmet to break in the hands of Menelaus.

5. Ares: (Trojans) In book 4, he participates in the battle and eventually is wounded by an attack from Diomedes and Athena.

6. Poseidon: (Achaeans/Greeks) Supports the Achaeans once Zeus takes a leave from a battlefield. He visits in the form of Calchas, and attempts to motivate the Achaean troops. To his dismay, his grandson (Amphimachus) is killed. To respond, he gives Idomeneus super raging strength.

7. Thetis: (Achaeans/Greeks at heart, Trojans by emotion) She is the mother of Achilles so by default whatever side he is fighting for, she will be in favor of. So at the beginning of the battle when Achilles is fighting beside the Achaeans. But when Achilles refuses to battle alongside the Achaeans, she asks Zeus to punish the Achaeans.

8. Apollo: (Trojans) In book 1, he sends a plague on the Greek camp for the kidnapping of Briseis and Chryseis. In book 5, he has a brief altercation with Diomedes.

September 14th

1. When Hera decided to seduce Zeus in order to get that she wanted, I was humored, but not at all surprised. Throughout my 22 years of living on this earth, I have come to the realization that women rule the world. Most of the time, the daily actions that men go through are to secure a beautiful woman and successful life with that woman. In my opinion, a woman that knows how to seduce a man sexually can be one of the most dangerous types of people to deal with. Most men will not turn down a sexual proposal from a woman, so if a woman can learn to manipulate a man using sex, she can be very deadly. Because this is Hera seducing Zeus, I am even less surprised. Although Aphrodite is known to be the goddess of love and lust, Hera is the queen of all goddesses. I figure that she can make anyone do anything that she pleases because she is the wife of Zeus. In Greek Literature, I enjoy the roles that women play. More often than not, they are just as powerful and revered as the males, and in some cases, even more revered. If Zeus is supposed to be the mightiest of all the gods, and Hera easily tricks him, what does that say about Hera? Moreover, from a wider perspective, what does that say about the overall power of women?

2. Patroclus’ death is 100% his own fault. He agreed with Achilles that he would only fight long enough to save the ships. Instead, he got ahead of himself and attempted to charge the city of Troy. I believe it was the Adrenaline that made him continue. Some may argue that if Achilles had rejoined the battle when Odysseus, Phoenix, and Ajax requested for Agamemnon, then Patroclus would not have even asked to wear the armor. Some may argue that if Agamemnon never upset Achilles, then Achilles would have never refused to battle. Some may argue that The almighty god Zeus’ moirai (I hope I am using this term correctly) fated the death of Patroclus so he would have died anyway. I believe that all of those areguments are relatively irrelevant. During the battle, Patroclus took control of his fate and he made a bad decision. He and Achilles both agreed on a specific task and Patroclus decided to push the envelope. The gods always seem to play their role though. Maybe if Patroclus did not kill Sarpedon, then Zeus would not have targeted him. Maybe if Hector would not have been able to kill him if Apollo did not step in. There are a few “what if” situations that may be applied here but they are irrelevant. Patroclus should have just saved the ships and returned to Achilles.

September 15

Today was not a very good day for me, as I woke up feeling very queasy. Normally I fight through minor feelings of sickness and attend class, but this morning was a bit different. I just felt like everything would have gotten worse for me if I attended my three classes so I just stayed home. I clearly paid the price for missing class because we had our third quiz today. I am not happy about that but now I have to make sure that I take and pass the remaining quizzes that we will have throughout the semester. On a brighter note, I have begun reading further into the Iliad.