Honor in the Illiad

"Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor much more precious dear than life," though over a millennium apart, Homer and William Shakespeare have at least one thought in common - the importance of honor. It may seem that the gods control the behavior of men, but they merely facilitate the self-determined destiny of their subjects. In the Iliad, the fate of mortals is determined not by the gods, but rather by the code of honor that the warriors are mentally compelled to follow. The future of both Achilles and Hector are sealed by remaining loyal to the code of honor. Before the story of the Iliad even begins, honor has affected the world greatly. The Trojan War commenced when Paris went into Sparta and stole Menelaus' honor in the form of his wife, Helen. Whether Helen left in her own free will or not is not important to Menelaus. In his eyes, Paris tarnished his honor and deserves to die. Paris departed with Helen for Troy, while Menelaus plotted his revenge for the next decade. This simple act of infidelity that takes away the dignity of only one individual leads to a ten year war that binds thousands and thousands of soldiers to their deathly fate. The actual story begins with a dispute between Agamemnon and Achilles over their respective servants, Chryseis and Briseis. Agamemon is informed he must return Chryseis to her father, but this seems unfair to the honor of the Greek leader. The only way, in his mind, to restore his honor is to steal Achilles' honor in the form of Briseis. This action causes Achilles to halt his activity in the war. Without Achilles, the Greek soldiers almost lose the war, costing the lives of additional soldiers. Honor continues to affect the lives of more and more people uninvolved with the issue. Patroclus begs Achilles to rejoin the war, "You and you're damned honor! What good will it do future generations if you let us go down to this defeat in cold blood" (XVI. 34-37), and curses his honor for impeding his fighting. Hector's destiny is set along with the murder of Patroclus. Upon his death bed, Patroclus mutters to Hector, "You're not going to live long. I see death standing at your shoulder, and you going down under the hand of Peleus' perfect son" (XVI. 892-894). By killing Patroclus, Hector has dishonored Achilles - the best friend of Patroclus - and the only way for Achilles to redeem himself is to kill Hector. Achilles, being the better fighter, will win this match. The fate of Hector has been decided; yet, the future of Achilles is also revealed. Achilles death is marked by his re-entrance into the war. By enacting his revenge upon Hector, it is only dishonoring another person inside the Trojan walls. Achilles' death will regain honor for someone close to Hector, and Achilles knows this when he decides to fight, "as for my own fate, I'll accept it whenever" (XVIII. 122-123). The code of honor becomes a never-ending circle of death that is unable to be satisfied. The death of one warrior leads to another warrior enacting his revenge and, therefore, keeping the circle turning. Fate being decided by one acting to regain honor is important because power is taken away from the gods and is given to men. Men are not bound by the decisions of a supernatural figure; rather, men determine their own fate by dishonoring one another. Achilles and Hector knew they would be destined to die, but the honor gained from their situation was greater than the prospect of death. In the Greek culture, honor was more important than life because being dishonored left one's life incomplete and purposeless.