Introduction
War is an unavoidable part of human life. Warfare is portrayed as an important component of the human lives. War plays an important role in the lives of human beings making it inevitable in the world. War is an important aspect in human life because it brings honor and integrity to the individuals who participate in the struggles and battles while failure to participate in the war is presented as an act of cowardice and laziness and a sign of misaligned priorities in life.
The degree of participation in the war is presented as a brave and courageous people in the society in defending and protecting their people against the enemies. The characters who participated in the war are glorified highly in The Iliad piece of literature by praising their courageous and brave moves in the war as opposed to the lazy and cowardice characters who feared to participate in the warfare activities. The degree of bravery and competence in war is presented as a sign of glory by Homer with the use of various characters. Paris is a character who feared and failed to participate in the war. His failure to participate in the war made him condemned by the members of his family and the society in general. This shows the extent of the glory of war in this piece of literature. His lover also condemned Paris for failure to participate in the war as a sign of laziness and cowardice. He characters like Achilles won eternal glory by participating in the war and avoid the comfort at home so as to participate in the warfare. The rejection of the uneventful and comfortable life at homes shows bravery and hard work in defending the society. War is also justified using gods of war in order to glorify the aspects of war in the society. It is also clear that the military was given more glory than the family in this piece of literature. Participation in the battles was emphasized highly more than the role of men in their family activities and roles.
On the other hand, the horrific realities and absurdities of war are also reflected in this piece of literature. The torture and acts of brutality of the war are emphasized in The Iliad. The gruesome deaths of men and the aspects of slavery of the women shows the side of warfare. The dangers aspects of the war made the women being subjected to acts of slavery and torture. The women were also used s concubines during the war. The mighty warriors during the war were not an exception in the horrific instances of warfare. The soldiers also showed the fear and regret of war before the start of the war. The plaque at Achaean camp led to a lot of torture and destructions to the army, thereby, showing the negative side of warfare in life. The reality of death and brutality is expressed well in The Iliad.
In conclusion, the author glorifies the warfare by relating it to the aspect solution of courage and bravery in the society. War is portrayed as the most glorious and respectable manner of handling conflicts or disputes in the society regardless of the brutality and harshness it is associated with in reality. The aspects relating the loss of lives are not emphasized by homer in The Iliad in order to glorify warfare.
