Examples Of Masculinity In The Iliad

Homer’s Iliad is well-known for the graphic battlefield violence it describes - through such violence, the epic effectively demonstrates the modern idea of hypermasculinity - the pressure for men to fit certain stereotypes, essentially. In this case, both sides seem to operate off of an “economy of honor”; the goal of most soldiers is to gain personal glory, in order to be remembered by future generations in a heroic light. The most effective way to do this is to be a war hero, which naturally involves large amounts of violence - Hector, for example, is described as “the greatest joy of Troy and all [its] people,” and is mourned greatly after his death. (24.830) However, Homer depicts him as a “maniac,” killing great numbers of Achaean soldiers,
During battle scenes, Homer occasionally likens soldiers to wild animals, emphasizing the actual violence rather than the reasons behind it. Before Hector’s death, for one, Achilles states that “wolves and lambs can enjoy no meeting of the minds - they are all bent on hating each other to the death.” (22.310-311) By comparing himself to a wolf, he presents himself as more powerful and more brutal than Hector; he also downplays the complexity of the war in general, by portraying his killing of Hector as almost natural (which it is, in a way, since it is Hector’s fate to die by his hand). Achilles is an excellent example of a character who seems to harbor “toxic” masculinity; his rage is rather self-destructive, particularly after the death of Patroclus. He insists that “[he has] no taste for food - what [he] really [craves] is slaughter and blood and the choking groans of men!” (19.254-256) This aggressive outlook can be viewed as a sort of outlet for his grief - at least in modern society, men are encouraged not to be outwardly “emotional,” so it is possible that Achilles’s despair at the loss of Patroclus is manifesting as rage and