Week 3 Reading: Homer's Iliad

This week I'm reading Homer's Iliad by A.J. Church. This post will cover part A.

• To start, this story prevents a very realistic view of warfare. The Greeks set out with good intentions and still end up attacking innocent towns and people. I always think of these old stories glorifying the positive aspects of war and glossing over the negatives, so this was kind of surprising. 
• I find it interesting how the Gods attempt to solve situations involving humans and themselves with their almost "political" influence, as opposed to the power they possess as Gods. 
• Zeus has very traditional vies on the relationship between husband and wife, which is not surprising, and he even brags that there is literally no one who can stop him in Olympus. I suppose I am missing some of the cultural context from when this story was written. 
• I can't decide who to root for. Paris kidnapped Helen and started this whole thing, but the Greeks have not shown much patience of grace in their attempts to get her back, should she even want to go back (They seem to be treating her well, but perhaps Hector's view was skewed). 
• I'm beginning to think that the author's plan was to show that there was good and evil on both sides -  good being represented by Hector and Achilles. They are both brave warriors fighting for what they believe to be right, which must have been looked on as very honorable and a desirable personality trait when this story was written. 
• I don't understand why Achilles would wait for all this time only to deny help to the other Greeks. Why didn't he leave when he pledged to stop fighting? I could see his motivation being that he would be there in person to see the Greeks fall, but that seems a little to spiteful for what I have read about Achilles so far. 

Patroclus, from Bay Pins

Thanks for reading along with me, check back soon for more.