Poseidon's birth was very controversial. His father Cronus swallowed every child that his wife, Rhea, bore. “Cronus was a paranoid ruler, because it had been prophesized that one of his own sons would dethrone him, just as Cronus had done to his father, Uranus” (www.mythman.com). It is said that Cronus swallowed Poseidon, along with his other siblings, whole. Others say Rhea quickly swapped the baby Poseidon for a foal. Zeus, Cronus's last son, was given to Gaea for safekeeping. Cronus was fooled into swallowing a rock that had been wrapped in baby blankets. Zeus grew up, and gave his father a potion that caused him to disgorge his siblings. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and the rest of the siblings, fought against the Titans to overthrow Cronus. The Titans were banished to Tartarus, the deepest pit of the Underworld. Zeus was to be leader of them, on account of his saving the rest of the gods. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew lots out of a helmet to decide which brother would rule each domain. Zeus drew the Heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the Underworld.

Poseidon has been described in many ways. The most popular description was: a white headed and bearded man, sporting a headband and a large trident. He is said to have deep blue eyes, resembling the color of the sea itself. Poseidon dwelled at a magnificent castle at the bottom of the ocean. He is also portrayed riding a golden chariot, pulled by beautiful horses with golden manes.

Poseidon is the son of Cronus and Rhea. Cronus was the Titan king, and Titan god of time and the ages, who was overthrown by his sons and daughters. Rhea, his wife, was the Titan goddess of fertility. Poseidon had many siblings, including: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Zeus. Poseidon and his wife Amphitrite, a Nereid, produced Triton, a half-human and half-fish. Poseidon impregnated Medusa to produce Chrysaor and Pegasus. Some of his other offspring are Theseus, Eumolpus, Polyphemus, King Amycus, Agenor, Busiris, Belus, Great Sinis, Orion, and Proteus.

Poseidon is known for having many symbols. One, the trident, is the weapon Poseidon was most known to carry into battle. It was given to him by the Cyclopes before the Titan-Olympian war. It was basically a three-pronged spear which is said to be able to shake and shatter any object. “ He is usually shown with a trident, a three-pronged spear, which he hurled at his enemies the same way Zeus hurled the thunderbolt” (Witting 55). Another, the horse, is a representation of the animal that Poseidon created. It is rumored that Poseidon admired Demeter very much. She asked him to make the most beautiful animal to walk the earth. He then, after a couple unsuccessful tries, created the animal we now know today as the horse.

Poseidon was a very powerful ruler. His strengths include aggression, power, and cunning. He was known to be very ruthless at times, getting whatever he needed, when he wanted it. He was also a very powerful ally to have in a war. Poseidon also had a way with the women. He had many affairs and even more children.

Although he was powerful and extraordinary, Poseidon had some flaws. For one, he was over-aggressive. He sometimes did not think of the consequences of his actions before doing them. He also was very competitive. He was known to be in serious competitions with other Olympians, and lost on occasion.

One of these competitions was between Poseidon and Athena. They were to each try to win over the people of Athens. Poseidon created the Spring at the Acropolis by thrusting a spear into the earth. Athena, the wiser of the two, created the olive tree. Athena won, which is why Athens bears its name. This is an example of how competitive and reckless Poseidon could be. As a result of losing, Poseidon angrily flooded the Attic Plain.

Poseidon can, aside from his aggression, be cooperative. He, along with Apollo, helped build the walls of Troy, only to be stiffed out of wages. Poseidon then joined the Greek side of the war, sending sea monsters and fighting against the Trojans. Poseidon also worked together with Athena. Athena made the chariot, and Poseidon provided the horses.

Poseidon is not only a symbol in Greek mythology, but one in our modern society. For example, Bruce Jones is opening the first underwater resort. “His plan: to open the Poseidon Mystery Island, the world's first major resort at the bottom of the ocean, by September 2008” (“1,200 Square Feet Under the Sea” Popular Science). Also, Poseidon is a popular name for many ships, and is also the inspiration for a new system of scuba gear.

In conclusion, Poseidon is a well-known name in mythology, a powerful symbol of Greek history, and an amazing inspiration for modern society. His power over the sea was as powerful and awesome as Artemis's aim or Athena's wisdom. He resided in his magnificent coral castle and kept watch over the stormy, restless seas. Every god was powerful, but none shared the passion and aggression of the Lord of the Sea.

Making comparisons between these works is not difficult, mostly due to the very similar characterization.  Both main characters are bold, stubborn, outspoken females with extreme, impulsive tendencies. Medea's actions show that she is exceptionally clever, temperamental, and manipulative. At the start of Euripides' one act play, Medea is consumed with desperation and misery over her husband's betrayal. Here the author arouses sympathy from the reader by recounting everything she has given up for him and how "she herself helped Jason in every way"(Euripedes 1), from killing her brother in order to escape her father to convincing Pelias' daughters to brutally murder their own father, leaving her with "no mother or brother, nor any relation with whom [she] can take refuge in this sea of woe" (Euripides 9). This emotional appeal is an example of Euripides' use of pathos to persuade the reader that Medea's resentment is justified. Her absolute sorrow and tragic tales of what she has been through for him convince the reader that Jason deserves punishment for his infidelity. In the text, the Chorus' lines serve as a type of outside commentary or guidance for the reader. The role of the Chorus takes effect when the it expresses encouragement in the lines, "You are in the right, Medea, in paying your husband back. I am not surprised at you for being sad" (Euripides 9), implying that the reader should support her vengeance. Thus, in this segment Medea's revenge and empowerment is made to seem valiant.

Characteristics found in the role of Antigone are very similar to those of Medea. Like Medea, Antigone is outspoken, manipulative, and will persist in getting what she wants despite whoever she must hurt in the process. The tragedy of Antigone is brought about by the death of her brothers, Eteocles and Polynices. After killing each other over a power struggle, Eteocles was portrayed to the nation as “the virtuous brother” (Anouilh 5) and was provided a proper funeral while Polynices' body was left out to decay on the open ground as the king's threat against rebels. Aggrieved by this display of disrespect for the brother she cherished, Antigone plots to bury the body herself despite knowledge of the king Creon's decree that “anyone affording him proper burial rites will be mercilessly punished, with death” (Anouilh 5). After being denied assistance from her sister Ismene, Antigone's commitment does not falter and she attempts to bury her brother's corpse. She is seized by the guards in her second attempted, but even when she has been caught and Creon is offering to let her live if she keeps quiet, Antigone remains steadfast in her resolve that she “must go and bury [Polynices]” (Anouilh 34). Initially, this devotion to her brother and her fearless acceptance of imminent death are seen as acts of courage by the reader and bold personality and persistence seem admirable. Using similar tactics as Euripides in Medea, in this piece Anouilh uses emotional appeal to persuade the reader to support Antigone before suddenly causing an emotional dissociation once the reader realizes that she has crossed the line.

In Medea there is a similar point at which the reader recognizes that her vengeance has gone from a simple punishment for Jason to uninhibited violence. Like Antigone, Medea does not care who she must hurt if they are standing in her way, even her own children. After conspiring the murder of Jason's new wife and king Aegeus, Medea decides that she must kill her own children. This horrifying revelation causes the reader doubt their support for Medea. Although we are given hope when she later begins to question herself and proclaims, “I cannot bear to do it. I renounce my plans I had before... Why should I hurt their father with the pain they feel…?” (Euripides 34). Yet this moment of mercy is short-lived, for once news reaches her of the death of the princess and king, Medea disregards the Chorus' voice of reason and resolves to kill her children in order to prevent them from being “slain by another hand less kindly to them” (Euripides 40). In this moment it is made clear that Medea's desire for wrath at all costs has driven her to sociopathy. Although at first the Chorus had encouraged the reader to sympathize with Medea, now it prompts us to oppose her with its cries of “O you hard heart, O woman fated for evil!” (Euripides 41). At the end, Medea leaves Jason distraught over the death of his children and escapes without allowing him to touch them one last time. This final scene leaves the reader with the impression that in her obsession with avenging Jason's injustice, Medea consequently ends up committing much more injustice against innocent others. On top of that, her plan for “sweet revenge” essentially backfires because after killing her children she feels twice as much sorrow as before. Ultimately, Medea's misuse of cleverness and persistence causes her sudden transformation from protagonist into antagonist.

The end of Antigone is similar in the way that the heroine's once admirable traits are taken to unhealthy extremes which cause the reader to lose the empathy that was initially established. At first, the reader feels sympathy for Antigone because of the sacrifice she's willing to make for the sake of her brother. Yet when Creon reveals that her brothers “were just two common crooks, cheating one another at the same time as they cheated us” (Anouilh 44) and Antigone loses the belief she felt such conviction for, she still insists that she must die even if for nothing. The point of dissociation in this tragedy comes after Creon's truth breaks Antigone's ideal vision of dying courageously as a martyr. She continues to argue with the king, trying to convince him to sentence her to death with naïve arguments such as “I want to be sure of having everything, now, this very day, and it has to be as wonderful as it was when I was little. Otherwise I prefer to die” (Anouilh 47). The farther into the dispute the characters go, the more the reader is swayed to support Creon. Childishly, Antigone insists that if life can not always be lived to the full, then it is not worth living and refuses to understand, purposely choosing to remain blissfully ignorant. She also remains adamant in dying alone, as seen when Isemene claims that she has found bravery and will die with her sister. Antigone's response is, “Oh no! Not now! I'm on my own now. Don't think you can just muscle in and die with me now! It'd be too easy!” (Anoilh 48). These lines imply that Antigone is no longer acting out of love for her brother and perhaps never truly was (though she may have convinced herself otherwise), but for her own pride or glory. “She may not have known it herself, but Polynices was only an excuse” (Anouilh 49). Thus at the end of the novel Antigone's composed acceptance of death is no longer seen as admirable, but merely childish and completely unnecessary. Just as in Medea, Antigone tries so hard to get what she wants that in the end it all backfires on her.

Both Euripides' Medea and Jean Anouilh's Antigone share the major theme of the danger of going to extremes to achieve your goals. To emphasize this message, the playwrights chose to encourage the reader to empathize with the women before employing an abrupt turning point in which the heroines suddenly become the enemies. The purpose of this in the play is to criticize irrational and impulsive actions in the face of tragedy. Though both women technically got what they wanted in the end, it turned out to be much less pretty than they pictured.

Works Cited

< Euripedes, Medea. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc., 1993. >

< Anouilh, Jean. Antigone. London: Methuen Publishing Ltd, 2000. >

Greek Drama got its start from an ancient festival called Dionysia. "At Dionysia, Greeks would celebrate their God of wine, Dionysis, by drinking wine and having short plays" (Electronica). These short plays eventually developed into what is now considered Greek Drama. Greek Drama was meant to be used as a form of communication towards the people of Greece to get messages across that would not normally be talked about in day-to-day conversation. "Greek Drama helped to explain events in Greek society" (Electronica). These plays would help an audience to comprehend certain events depicted in the play. With their newfound knowledge, they could have a better understanding of certain political aspects of their life and other aspects as well. "Greek Drama employed many characteristics to help convey its message" (Electronica). Characteristics used by the Greek playwrights included catharsis, hammartia, and koimodia. With the use of these characteristics an audience could be easily persuaded to view things in the way the playwright viewed them. Therefore, these examples show that the nature of Greek Drama helped explain many details of Greek society.

Greek Comedy used humor as a way of getting points and ideas across to the audience. "Satire and body humor were used as a means of communicating the message of the play in a humorous manner" (Electronica). Satire and body humor were a common part of any Greek Comedy. They helped lighten the tension the audience may have been feeling during a particularly serious scene of the play. Wit was also an important part of any Greek Comedy. "Greek Comedy makes fun of human flaws with irony and wit" (Electronica). The use of irony and wit often made a play seem like it was dealing with a less serious matter than it actually was. Irony could be used to make the death of someone seem hilarious. A good example of a Greek Comedy which outlines all of these traits is Lysistrata. "'What is it all about?' ‘About a big affair' ‘And is it thick too?' ‘Yes indeed, both big and great.' ‘And we are not all on the spot!'" (Aristophanes 2). This situation shows humor while talking about the serious subject of war and peace. This would lighten the mood of any audience watching the play while talking about such a serious matter, thus does Lysistrata fall into the genre of Greek Comedy. Lysistrata also shows comedy between the characters while talking about a means to end the war. "'Refrain from what? Tell us, tell us!' ‘But will you do it?' ‘We will, we will, though we should die of it.' ‘We must refrain from the male altogether... Nay, why do you turn your backs on me?' (Aristophanes 7). This shows humor because the women are willing to refrain from anything, except for sex. This is a clever use of irony by Aristophanes and helps to clearly classify Lysistrata as a Greek Comedy. Clearly, clever use of satire, body humor, irony, and wit, are all what make up a great Greek Comedy.

Greek Tragedy uses many mechanisms to make the audience feel like they are an actual part of the play and feel sorry for the characters as if they know them. One mechanism implemented by Greek playwrights was Hammartia. "Hammartia is an error in judgment that leads to the tragic hero's demise" (Electronica). Many Greek Tragedies used Hammartia to show how a quality that makes someone great can also lead to their demise. Hammartia is also known as the tragic flaw. This quality of a Greek Tragedy is most often used on the tragic hero to show that what once made him great has lead to his downfall. "Dramatists presented their audience with deeply troubling emotional issues as they publicly examined the worst and most hidden fears of the individual" (definition of Greek Tragedy). Deeply troubling emotional issues are what make a Greek Drama a Greek Drama. Without these issues, the tragic hero would have no way to be brought down and thus, there would be no Greek Tragedy. Greek Tragedy can be best represented by Antigone. "You made your choice, to live ; I mine, to die" (Sophocles 21). This shows Antigone in a tragic sense because Antigone's tragic flaw, ambitiousness, is what makes her choose to die and it is her downfall. Her ambitiousness made her great when she chose to bury her brother but it eventually killed her. Antigone is a great example of a Greek Tragedy. "None may bewail, none bury, all must leave unwept, unsepulchred, a dainty prize for fowl that watch, gloating upon their prey!" (Antigone 2). Antigone is told that she may not bury her brother as he was the enemy. She is presented with a deeply troubling emotional issue because she has an obligation to bury her brother, yet she is not allowed to by the law. The aforementioned qualities certainly show what a Greek Tragedy was to be composed of.

Through their use of Comedy and Tragedy in Greek Drama, Greek playwrights show how plays can be used as a useful tool in the persuasion of an audience, whether it is in the comedic or tragic form. Surely, this shows the true power of Greek Drama. Greek Drama will forever hold a place in history as one of the greatest feats of ancient civilization.

The roles and interpretation of characters is extremely important to the story. The Persian King, Xerxes, role has changed very much over the years in stories. In 300 the graphic novel, Xerxes is a tyrant king who uses bribery and cruel punishment to command his troops and states that "It's not my lash they fear. It's my divine power" 2. He is made out as the villain throughout the whole graphic novel and shows signs of stubbornness as he calls himself the "King of Gods" 2. In Gates of Fire, Xerxes appears more human and has less villainous qualities. It can be seen that Xerxes comes to admire the Spartans and yearns to learn more about them, which is why Xeones was spared. Xerxes also shows that he can still be irrational, as he kills his own kin when he orders that Leonidas's body be decapitated, but realizing that this was a mistake, he punishes those who were part of the act. Xerxes is less iniquitous in the novel, as he struggles psychologically with the Spartans and it seems as the battles are taking a toll on him, though he does not actual fight in the battles. The role of women shows a significant difference between the graphic novel and the novel by Steven Pressfield. In the graphic novel 300, we see that women do not play much of a role. In truth, there is only one actual slide with the appearance of Queen Gorgo, even though she should be significant since she is the wife of Leonidas. This contrasts differently from the movie 300 and the novel Gates of Fire. In Gates of Fire, Alexandros says:

What is more natural to a man than to fight, or women to love? Is this not an imperative of a mother's blood, to give and to nurture, above all the produce of her womb, the children she has borne in pain? We know that a lioness or she-wolf would cast away her life without hesitation to preserve her cubs or pups. Women the same. Now consider, friends, that which we call women's courage".1

The idea of female heroines is also shown in the movie; however, more through action as Queen Gorgo tries to convince the Spartans to send the full army while facing discrimination due to her gender. The role of women reflects mostly on the society itself, as women become more dominant in our society, authors utilize it to make connections with a wider audience.

The character of Leonidas also is perceived differently in both representations. In 300, Leonidas is seen as a perfect king, man, husband, father and warrior. He symbolizes good and how it must rise up against all odds to fight evil. The graphic novel itself projects Leonidas as the prosopopoeia of Spartan values. This is best shown in the end as the Greeks and their allies make there last stand. In this last pitch, Leonidas makes his last move as a king, where he proves "even a god-king can bleed". He is shown as the last one to die, screaming "My queen. My wife. My love. Be Strong. Good-bye." His death glorifies his actions, which is also shown in the movie 300, where the audience sees Leonidas rained upon by thousands of Persian arrows. In "Gates of Fire", Leonidas is also shown as virtuous and just; however, he is acknowledged as a person rather then a symbolic representation. He seems to be a wise leader and a great warrior. Unlike "300" the graphic novel, Leonidas does not die last; however, his head is decapitated to strike fear into the hearts of Greeks after the battle as a strategy by Xerxes out of anger. Leonidas is still described as the perfect king by Xeones when he states:

I will tell his majesty what a king is. A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them. He serves them, not they him. 1

In this statement, Xeones describes the differences between King Xerxes and Leonidas by summarizing Leonidas's virtuous acts compared to that of Xerxes. Therefore, characters can be depicted differently to provide different aspects for the audience to view as it adds new events and action to the story.

Subplots are developed by authors to enhance the story and give it a more dramatized effect. One of the first subplots in the graphic novel is the picking of the 300 soldiers. In the graphic novel, it's told that Leonidas picked a selective group which he called his "personal bodyguard" 2. Since the oracle and the council refused to let Leonidas go, Leonidas picked a group he knew would be loyal to him and ready to die not only for him, but the cause he was fighting for. In Gates of Fire, it is said that Leonidas picks a sired unit. This means that unit was been sent on a suicide mission because there family line would continue due to all of them having sons. Also, the Spartans were sent to stall the Persian force as part of a military tactic. The betrayal of Ephialtes is important to the story because it adds more drama for the author to work with; however, the graphic novel 300 uses this, but the novel Gates of Fire does not. In the graphic novel, the betrayal of Ephialtes is set up by several other betrayals first. The first betrayal is that of the counsel, who are bribed by the Persians to tell Leonidas to not go to war. However, though the betrayal of Ephialtes is historically proven4, it is not given significant account in "Gates of Fire", Xeones does mention that they were betrayed, but does not say anything in details. This is because both books have different focus and purpose. In the graphic novel, Leonidas tells Ephialtes that "I hope you live for ever" 2, as if to burden Ephialtes for his betrayal. In Gates of Fire, there is no such confrontation between Ephialtes and Leonidas. His name is not even mentioned, even though Xeones does say they were betrayed.

In the Gates of Fire, and the movie 300, subplots around women are created. In the novel Gates of Fire, Dienkes wife and Xeones's cousin, Dimonche, are shown as heroines. Xeones is in love with his cousin as he promises to marry after her breakout about the fact that no one would because she had being raped. However, at the end of novel, when the two reunite, we see that Dimonche has taken care of herself well and provides comfort for Xeones. Likewise, we see that Dienkes wife also plays a heroine role as she sacrifices her husband to save the child of a man who hates Spartans by claiming the child as her husbands. In 300, the movie, Queen Gorgo has a speech in front of the Spartan counsel pleading for them to send the army. She says:

I am not here to represent Leonidas; his actions speak louder than my words ever could. I am here for all those voices which cannot be heard: mothers, daughters, fathers, sons - three hundred families that bleed for our rights, and for the very principles this room was built upon. We are at war, gentlemen. We must send the entire Spartan army to aid our king in the preservation of not just ourselves, but of our children. Send the army for the preservation of liberty. Send it for justice. Send it for law and order. Send it for reason. But most importantly, send our army for hope - hope that a king and his men have not been wasted to the pages of history - that their courage bonds us together, that we are made stronger by their actions, and that your choices today reflect their bravery. 3

She appeals to the audience as she is just and virtuous as her husband. The theme of women who are heroines allows the authors to create more subplots and give a greater connection with the audience of the time. Frank Miller does not use this because his main focus was on glorifying the Spartans who were in combat. As we see, authors create fictitious events and plots to help create different effects as they communicate their reasoning for writing the story to the audience.

The narration of the story holds the biggest key to the unraveling of the true purpose of why the author retells the event. In all of the works the story is being retold by someone else. In the graphic novel 300, Frank Miller writes through the eyes of Dilios. Dilios is a soldier who is sent back by Leonidas to lead the rest of the Spartans to war. Dilios purpose of retelling the story is to motivate the troops to fight their hardest at the Battle of Plataea. Dilios narration allows the author to glorify the Spartans and make the Persians villainous, as that is Frank's Miller's purpose. At the end, Dilios says, "The barbarians huddle, sheer terror gripping tight their hearts with icy finger, knowing what they suffered at the spears and swords of the three hundred. Ten Thousands Spartans - commanding thirty thousands free Greeks!" In this quote, Dilios not only calls the Persians barbarians, making them inhuman, but he also praises the Spartans warriors, as he describes how it feels to face Spartans.

In the movie, Dilios also provides narration; however, the purpose of director Zack Snyder is not only to glorify the Spartans, but also create an exciting movie to watch. The narration is carefully done, but this is best exhibited when 300 soldiers are seen making there last stance. Dilios narrates the event as:

It has being more than forty years since the world and the winter cold. Now, as then, it is not fear that grips him. Only a restless- ness, a heightened sense of things. The seaborne breeze coolly kissing the sweat at his chest and neck. Gulls cawing, complaining even as they feast on thousands of floating dead. The stead breathing of the three hundred boys at his back - ready to die for him without a moment's pause, every one of them. Ready to die. They think they know what that means...3

In this quote, Dilios brings the excitement of the audience to its peak, as they wait to see what happens. In the novel Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield takes a different approach. Instead of narrating through a Spartan, he narrates through a squire, who is of different heritage, named Xeones. The story starts of as Xeones is recovered by the Persians and brought to health by Persian surgeons. King Xerxes saved one Greek from the battle so he could find out about Spartan culture. Xeones, who narrates most of the story and is recorded by a Persian historian, provides the audience with a less biased character, who not only glorifies the Spartans, but also makes the Persians less villainous. Though Xeones is in front of the Persian council and the king, which could be why he is kind in describing the Persians, he shows both sides as more human and also adds his own story to the telling. He is also of lower class than both Spartans warriors and Persian and due to his open mind, he is a good narrator for the purpose for which Steven Pressfield writes. Narration is important to a story as it helps the audience discover the purpose to why the author has written the story.

In conclusion, the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller, the movie 300 directed by Zack Snyder, and the novel Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield, all retell the same event differently by adding and changing different elements. As seen, the historical battle at Thermopylae faces makeovers from these authors, as the authors add their own plot, characters and narration to express their own ideas. Stories change to provide a lesson, different idea/perspective or just to be more entertaining. Writing a story is like baking a cake, it all begins with the batter, but what flavors' and toppings make up the cake is all up to the baker.

This was a group of about 3 to 50 men who acted like modern -day narrators. Some people believed that the chorus also sang and danced but others believed that the chorus only did a narrators job in providing a point of view and focusing on the issues of the play. It also set a mood and helped make things more dramatic. It acted like a spectator. The chorus usually wore black. All the parts were played by men. This is one of the reasons why masks were used. They were used to show men as women. Tragic players often wore masks and the chorus often wore masks. Costumes and masks were also used because if they had not been used people sitting far away from the stage would have found it hard to recognize the actors. The masks were usually made of linen or cork and each mask was very different.

A peculiar feature of these dramas was the presence of deities/God. The God that the people honored for such festivities was Dionysus. They had four festivals every year in which they honored him. Dionysus was the God of wine, fertility and rebirth. He was also known as Bacchus in Latin.

The Greeks believed that heroism and virtue (arête) went hand in hand. Their was also the pursuit for the “kleos” or “glory.” To be heroic was to honor ones family and be held in esteem. And to have honor was a virtue. To be courageous was also a virtue as well as to show gratitude to those who had done you a service. These virtues made up the code of what defined a hero.

In the war epic The Iliad by Homer, heroes are woven amongst quests for eternal glory, and military duty over family obligation - both traits of Greek culture. Greeks defined Heroes as someone who was endowed with courage and had a strong sense of purpose as well as someone who was celebrated by the gods. He was someone who was spoken of in stories and talked about because of what he has accomplished, especially when he had risked his life in battle. We see this in Achilles, as he seems to always escape death. “No mortal man can fight Achilles head-to-head: at every foray one of the gods goes with him, beating back his death” (Aeneas to Apollo, Homer, pg 506).

Homer uses the character of Achilles to depict the concept of the tragic Greek hero in exceptional form. Much of The Iliad focuses on Achilles and his struggle to obtain eternal glory and fame, which is what all Greek warriors yearned for. Achilles is driven by his thirst for glory. Part of him yearns to live a long, comfortable life, while the other part of him wants to be infamous. Ultimately, he is willing to sacrifice everything so that his name will be remembered. As Achilles states himself, “Two fates bear me to the day of death. If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy, my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies…. True, but my the life that's left me will be long, the stroke of death will not come on me quickly” (pg. 265).

Hector is another example of Greek heroism. Perhaps even more so than Achilles. Because while Achilles fights for fame and his own pride, Hector fights for his homeland and his family. This allows Homer to develop him into a more tender humanlike hero. Hector shows deep love for his wife and child and is one of the only ones who does not shun his cowardly brother. Despite the consequences he knows he will face going into battle, he knows it his duty and thus he goes. He faces Achilles despite his wife's and father's pleas because he knows it is right. He tells his wife,, “I would die of shame to face the men of Troy and the Trojan women …. if I were to shrink from battle now, coward. Nor does the spirit urge me on that way. I've learned it all too well. To stand up bravely, always fight in the front ranks of the Trojan soldiers, winning my father great glory” (pg. 210). Thus, it is Hector who is ultimately given a hero's funeral, which is justly due since he acted in a heroic like manner.

Patroclus is also another example. His heroism is reflected in the opinions of his fellow soldiers and particularly of Achilles, who shared a deep camaraderie with him. Patroclus was never afraid to fight, never afraid to pick up a sword. As he states, “The proof of battle is action, proof of words, debate. No time for speeches now, it's time to fight!” (pg. 433) He constantly yearned to make a name for himself. His death results not only in Achilles reawakening to a new, and fresh fury, but also reveals the opinions of how his fellow soldiers felt about him.

Clearly the Iliad paints a vivid portrayal of Homeric ideals as to what Greek heroism was. And as the Iliad is a brilliant example of what Greek's thought to be heroic, Meno by Plato is an excellent example of how the Greek's defined virtue and in doing how both heroism and virtue are intertwined.

The Meno is a dialogue between Socrates, one of Plato's students, and a man by the name of Meno, who asks Socrates if virtue can be taught and to define what virtue really is. They then spend the rest of the dialogue discussing the later of the two questions in depth. Socrates says that virtue cannot be defined and then Meno says he believes that Sophists, men who offered to teach wisdom and virtue, could teach it. Socrates then tells Meno to try and define virtue in it truest form.

Meno suggests that virtue is simply the desire for good things but Socrates argues that this cannot be the case. Since different human beings are unequal in virtue, virtue must be something that varies among them, he argues, but desire for one believes to be good is perfectly universal, since no human being ever knowingly desires what is bad. Differences in their conduct must be a consequence of differences in what they know (Meno 77).

Socrates raises a serious dilemma: how can we ever learn what we do not know? Either we already know what we are looking for, in which case we don't need to look, or we don't know what we're looking for, in which case we wouldn't recognize it if we found it (Meno 80). The problem with knowledge is that, in the most basis questions about our human nature, it seems impossible for us to gain understanding. The only answer, Socrates proposed, is to acknowledge that we already know what we need to know.

The example offered in this dialogue is discovery of an irrational number, the square root of 2. Socrates shows a slave boy a complex geometrical demonstration with careful questions, showing that the boy somehow already knows the correct answers on his own. Such experiences lend some credence to Plato's claim that recollection may be the source of our true opinions about the most fundamental features of reality (Meno 85).

The first question of the dialogue that was asked, whether or not virtue can be taught, is then brought up again. On the one hand, it seems that virtue must be a kind of wisdom, which we usually assume to be one of the acquirable benefits of education. On the other hand, if virtue could be taught, we should be able to identify both those who teach it and those who learn from them, which we cannot easily do (Meno 96).

By the end of his dialogue with Meno, Socrates has made it clear to Meno that he does not know the nature of virtue. They are not quite so discouraged though. For they know that virtue can be possessed it simply cannot be taught or learned. While there is no direct answer to the question, there still is some sort of resolution to the conflict in the dialogue. This is the Socratic state of aporia - which is the state of uncertainty when one realizes on is ignorant of what one thought they knew. They at least know what they do not know.

As the Iliad illuminates the importance of achieving eternal glory to the Greeks, Meno reveals the importance of virtue and their quest to discover and understand what it truly was. But, as mentioned above, to be heroic was to be virtuous, though perhaps in writing these two great works the authors had different ideas in mind. Homer's purpose in writing the Iliad was to convey the deep sense of honor and pride the Greeks had in achieving their eternal place among their people. It was about fame and glory, despite the consequences. In Meno, Plato seemed to be trying to convey the importance of a quest for knowledge, whether than a quest for personal glory. He was a firm believer in the polis and its values which were harmony, order and justice. Within the virtue of justice he believed that every person was meant to do one thing and one alone (Textbook, Chapter 3, pg. 93, paragraph 1). Thus, there were two different quests presented by Homer and Plato. Each had its own set of values. Homer's visions of eternal fame, and Plato's ideals of perfected goodness and virtue. Yet while each was vastly different from the other, each was embraced by the culture that birthed these two great men.

The Greeks were a great people. Not because they were wise and learned philosophers, not because they were some of the best soldiers of their time. Instead, it is because they were both that have lived in the memory of teacher and warrior alike down through the ages. Their all encompassing thirst for all of life and not just halves of it has made them a name in every history book, and made them all heroes, warrior and philosophers in their own right.

Telemakhos and Odysseus both play the role as hero although in the bigger perspective Odysseus plays he father. Telemakhos is our first hero as he is introduced with the call to adventure by Athena disguised as mentor. Athena told Telemakhos “You'll never be… a fool… if you have your fathers spirit… I'll find a ship for you and help you sail her” (Homer 27) According to Joseph Campbell “The Blunders are the foreshadows of an adventure for the hero.”(Campbell 51) In the case with Telemakhos The blunder are the suitors. This foreshadows Telemakhos' adventure to destroy them. Athena not only encourages Telemakhos to go out and kill the suitors but she, all knowing, tells him to try to find his father. This is what makes Telemakhos realize his challenge and the adventure begins to overcome or conquer it.

The next step of the hero is his refusal to call which is where Telemakhos tells Athena “Mentor, how can I do it, how approach him? I have no practice in elaborate speeches, and for a young man to interrogate and old man seems disrespectful” (Homer 36) Joseph Campbell labels the refusal as “To Give up what one takes to be one's own interest” (Campbell 60) Telemakhos' interest in the Odyssey is to find his father and kill the suitors which is the call to his adventure. Telemakhos Later overcomes the challenge with help of Athena. Odysseus starts at a different perspective.

This reason is due to the fact that his actual story starts at the lliad and ends on this book. finds his stage in the hero cycle a little bit later as the telling of his story begins in the island of the archetype “woman as temptress”(Campbell 120) Where there is a woman who sways the hero of course from his purpose. In this Case with Odysseus in book 12 He is in the island of Kirke. Kirke Distracts Odysseus from his main goal returning home and eventually his destruction to the suitors. The atonement with father is the heroes way of meeting his father after many test. The father seems to give him an extra power. (Campbell 133-135) In the case with Telemakhos he passed all sorts of challenges sailing to island after island. Finally he found his father gaining a certain invisible power linked to his father. Since Odysseus was reared as a strong warrior this power seems to be a power of strength but more so this invisible power seems to lean more onto the side of Odysseus' Cunningness.

A perfect example of this is when Telemakhos works with the bow. “Telemakhos who said the Brilliantly: “... has Zeus made me half-wit? ...step up, my lords, contend now for your prize… no more delay in getting the bow bent… I myself would like to try that bow… if I who stay can do my fathers feat.”” (Homer 394). This Cunning move by Telemakhos makes him seem and feel inferior to the suitors which is the trick set by Telemakhos. Odysseus, as explained early, starts his story in medias reis, which means in the cycle he is ahead of Telemakhos. Odysseus has a good example of rescue from without. When he is rescued by the Phaecians and taken to his island. He is awoken at a sandy beach by Athena who calls him a “great booby” for being upset (Homer 237). “The world may have to come and get him” (Campbell 207). The example of the Phaecians rescuing Odysseus proves that Odysseus basically couldn't get himself home and it took help from the Phaecians to take him home, very classic example of rescue from without.

The ultimate boon is for both father and son in which the hero is found to be superior to man (Campbell 173). In the ultimate boon Odysseus and his son kill the suitors and take back the kingdom to its rightful place. The Destruction of the suitors by Odysseus and his son simply implies the fact the Odysseus and Telemakhos are in fact superior to be able to take down a horde of suitors. The Magic Flight If the hero with his triumph wins the blessing of the goddess or gods and is then explicitly commissioned to return to the world (Campbell 196). The magic flight for Odysseus and his son is when all the slaying is over and the maids are told to clean the blood. Odysseus returns to the world and to the blessing of Athena time slows down for Odysseus and Penelope. Supernatural aid is written all over in the Odyssey. In book I the gods of Olympia are having a counsel on what to do with Odysseus. They finally after Athena talks about how great Odysseus is bless the heroes and this begins subconsciously begins the adventure for Telemakhos. When Athena comes down as mentor is another sign of supernatural aid. “ the first encounter of the hero-journey is a protective figure (often an old crone or old man)” (Campbell 69). Mentor in the Odyssey is an old man which makes it perfectly fit in with what Campbell has said. Mentor was a Mentor a protective figure over the hero, Telemakhos, Athena would help Telemakhos Throughout his journey. At the same time Athena was helping Odysseus by speaking for him in the counsel, helping him find his way home, and the slaying of the suitors. A book by Lee Hall explains Athena and it shows that Athena does care for Odysseus. “Athena argued, Odysseus is worthy of the gods' protection.” (Hall 172).

The world Redeemer, the point after the ultimate boon and the rescue this is the part of the story where the hero is most wise. “the son returns … with the knowledge That “I and the Father are one”” (Campbell 349). This last stage fits perfectly into the Odyssey as one can imagine two roads, one named Odysseus and the other Telemakhos, as they converge together to make one highway. This makes two heroes one, and a perfect resolution ending for the Odyssey.

The story “the Odyssey” was a story told centuries ago in ancient Greece. The amazing thing it that the myths from centuries ago still follows Joseph Campbell's hero cycle . The ancient hero follows each step as would a dancer and end up with the final that Odysseus and Telemakhos both follow all of the stage for the hero cycle and end up to be, in literary terms, one in the same.