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The Birth of the Violent Mentality I must admit that Homer is a gifted writer. Homer? s selection of words and rhythmic poetry attract and take control of readers? minds.
The attractiveness of Homer? s writing places his readers in a state of vulnerability. Readers may learn to accept principles that are not conducive to their intellectual or social well being. Should not this talent of writing be used to contribute to the progress or growth of worthwhile standards? In Homer?
s epic The Iliad, war and death are littered throughout the entire piece. I believe that the Iliad is just another war story that promotes violence and has helped contribute to the violent and explosive social context that we live in today. It seems impossible to go a single day without picking up a newspaper or watching the news that does not contain a violent incident. From Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, to the Palestinians clashing with Arabs in the Middle East, the fingers of violence stretch across cultural, political, and ethnic boundaries. White women clutch their purses as a black man walk past them on a street. People are afraid to drive their cars in certain neighborhoods in fear of someone stealing their car while the driver is still inside.
Middle school and high school students are arriving at school with guns prepared to kill anyone. Violence has spread like a disease throughout American culture. American culture was birthed out of the western civilization. The ancient Greeks are seen as the forefathers of our culture. Their mathematics, science and philosophy are seen as the origins of modern civilization. The ancient Greek culture had a mentality or paradigm that exalted beauty, brains, and power.
Homer? s writing is exalted as the standard for ancient Greek literature. His epics The Iliad and The Odyssey are considered classics in western society. Why are his writings regarded as the standard for modern writing?
Because Homer? s writings support the views and perceptions that ancient Greeks held. And since American culture is an offspring of ancient Greek culture, Americans hold the same views as ancient Greeks. Power meant everything to ancient Greeks. The ability to control people mentally, spiritually, financially, and physically motivated the Greeks to spread their empire throughout the entire world. The need for power came at any cost.
The Greeks would maim or kill anyone who did not conform to their views and authority. If Homer? s epic is lifted up as a classic, there must be some theme or value that is lifted up in Homer? s writing that appealed to the ancient Greeks. I believe that violence or control at any cost appealed to the need for power of the ancient Greeks. In Book Eight, lines 134 through 140 Nestor grasped the glistening reins in both fists, Lashed the team and they charged straight at Hector Charging straight at them as Tydides hurled a spear And missed his man but he picked the driver off, Eniopeus son of proud Thebaeus gripping the reins- He slashed him beside the nipple, stabbed his chest And off the car he pitched, his horses balking, rearing. (Fagles p. 235) An opposing view might say what is wrong with this picture?
Stories like this have been told for centuries. And that is exactly my point. Violence has been perpetuated through writing for centuries. The mental images that are formed within peoples?
minds as they read condition their thinking. Violent Mentality: The Conditioned Contradiction There is a form of learning within the discipline of psychology called classical conditioning. ? Classical conditioning is based on what happens before a response. Existing reflex responses come to be elicited by new stimuli? (Coon p. 256). In other words, humans can be conditioned to respond a certain way or elicit a certain reflex based upon stimuli in the environment.
Homer? s Iliad contributes to what I call the conditioned contradiction. Homer? s violent scenes of men stabbing each other in the chest and leaving men left for dead prolong the view that violence is acceptable. Whenever there is a conflict in modern society the first and to some people the only way to settle the conflict is through violence. The Crips and Bloods in south central Los Angeles battle each other everyday for control of city streets.
The United States sends armed federal marshals into a house to violently take a little boy name Elian away from his family. Americans drop a bomb that kills 80, 000 people instantly over Hiroshima, Japan, and then do the same thing killing tens of thousands in Nagasaki. As a society we have been conditioned to respond to conflicts with violence. The birth of this conditioned mentality stems from ancient writers who perpetuate violence in their literature. And now, right at his back, close-up, a Dardan fighter speared him Squarely between the shoulder blades with a sharp lance. (P. 438) With that he planted a heel against Patroclus? chest, Wrenched his brazen spear from the wound, kicked him over, Flat on his back, free and clear of the weapon (P. 440) This scene shows the death of a character named Patroclus.
He was being chased by his archenemy Hector, and one of Hector? s comrades stabbed him in the back with a spear. While Patroclus is dying on the ground, Hector stands over Patroclus and ridicules his life even while Patroclus is asking for a proper burial. As Patroclus breathes his last breath, Hector kicks Patroclus and the spear comes out of his back.
What is the point? Hector regarded Patroclus life as nothing. A man is dying on the ground yet Hector is not willing to listen to his deathbed plea. I believe Homer places little value on human life.
There are graphic scenes of death and carnage found within the pages of the Iliad. The worth, importance, and meaning of human life become lost in the pages of the Iliad. While reading the Iliad I got the notion that killing a human being was acceptable. Homer? s perception of human life can be seen in an analogy: Life is as simple as breathing.
You can do it over and over again without thinking about it. The importance of human life was taken for granted in Homer? s Iliad. It seemed as if Homer parades death and carnage in the face of his readers.
This shameless parade of violence has been passed down through generations and has infiltrated the minds of all western society. Yet, there is a contradiction within western culture. The contradiction is American culture cries out for peace in the Middle East and peace in the urban areas of major American cities, yet the United States is the largest perpetuator of violence on the planet today. What is the point of the United Nations in New York City if the U. S. can bomb innocent civilians in Bosnia?
Why is the U. S. concerned about violence in Bosnia and Iraq, when the United States has the highest murder rate for any country in the world? The President of the United States can fly to India and Pakistan to promote peace and yet he cannot handle the violence within his own country. The United States is the most feared country in the world because of its need for power. And the United States will go to any length to remain the world?
s most dominant superpower. Why is there such a great need for power? It stems from the western mentality that has been passed down through ancient oral and written literature that continues to glorify violence. Homer is one of the classic writers of ancient Greek culture and the Iliad has helped contribute to the paradigm of using violence as the only means of resolving a conflict and distorting the value and meaning of human life.
A Violent Mentality Equals Self- Destruction The violence that is exalted within the western mentality can only lead to self- destruction. A violent mentality leads to violent actions. Ancient Greek culture has conditioned western society to believe that war and violence are acceptable ways to resolve conflicts. Someone might say why blame Homer or his writings?
Because America loves to lift up ancient Greek culture for their wisdom and intellectual ability. Ancient Greeks such as Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato are seen as demigods within American english, history, and philosophy classrooms. Homer? s writings were accepted by the ancient Greeks, and Americans accept the Ancient Greeks, therefore Americans accept Homer. The violence that is perpetuated in the Iliad, within the stories of Greek and Roman mythology, and on the television and movie screens of America all contribute to our self-destruction. As human beings we are dependent on other humans.
As little children we are dependent on our parents for everything. Children rely on their parents for love, food clothing and shelter. Human beings have to learn how to put one foot in front of the other, how to pronounce words correctly, and even how to say their own names. As children become adolescents, they become more dependent on their parents financially and emotionally.
Adolescents still need parents to provide a house, and to provide a home full of love. Once adolescents become adults, they become dependent on their jobs and their spouses. My point is that human beings are dependent on each other. The perpetuation of war, death, and violence leads to the? me against the world? mindset.
An individual is willing to anything to control his or her own life and if that means cheating someone or stealing from someone then so be it. But even stealing or killing someone still shows dependence. If I need money I am dependent on my job or my parents to provide money for me. If I am violent and hostile towards everyone that I meet, then I will be cutting off myself from the very people that I need in order to survive. If the values that are perpetuated in Homer? s Iliad continue to reign then, everyone will continue to cut themselves off from each other socially, and lead to the self- destruction of America, western society, and the world.
Works Cited Fagles, Richard. The Iliad. New York: Penguin Group, 1990. Coon, Dennis.
Essentials of Psychology. United States. Wadsworth, 2000.
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Research essay sample on The Iliad Violent Mentality
