4. In book 4, when Menelaus is describing the fates of the Achaeans, he tells how (little) Ajax almost survived a storm. What did Ajax do that sealed his doom? What does this tell us about the nature of the gods?

On Olympus, the gods argue over the war. Zeus suggests that the peace hold and Helen go home with Menelaus, both because Troy is his favorite city and to mock Hera's and Athena's passion for the death of Trojans. Hera protests she wouldn't object if Zeus destroyed all her favorite cities, so he shouldn't protest the destruction of Troy. Zeus yields and sends Athena to provoke Troy to break the truce.

Disguised as a soldier, Athena urges Pandarus, a Trojan archer, to kill Menelaus. His arrow hits Menelaus in the belt and draws blood, but Athena doesn't actually want Menelaus dead and prevents a mortal wound. However, the truce is broken. Agamemnon uses praise and scorn to rouse his troops, and the Achaean army surges in violent waves to the attack. As gods drive them on, warriors on both sides die in droves.

Analysis:

As Book 4 begins, the gods are arguing about mortals as usual. Unlike in most modern religions, the Greek gods embody all of the same passions and flaws as humans. They also freely interact with humans to persuade them into action through reason and emotions. The difference is they cannot die. This makes their conflicts seem somewhat trivial, even comical, in contrast to the death and destruction happening down on earth. Because they face no consequences, they take more pleasure in the conflict than the mortals, for whom it is a deadly serious business. With a truce declared, there is a real chance that the war can be ended peacefully, but Hera and Athena keep it going to avenge their own injured pride.

War erupts in the second half of Book 4. Although he alludes to the death of foot soldiers, Homer primarily focuses on individual clashes between champions and other notable fighters. His descriptions of the deadly wounds fighters inflict on one another are brutal but also based on a consistent formula. Spears, arrows, swords, and rocks crush, stab, slash, and rip a rotating list of body parts, with the occasional embellishment of an organ or other internal element. Homer rearranges these basic elements with different specific details to create an almost endless variety of battle deaths.

Stripping armor from fallen enemies or taking possession of their horses is an important element of battle. These are valuable prizes, and claiming them both increases the winner's honor and dishonors the dead fighter. Seizing this honor is important enough that fighters make themselves vulnerable in the middle of battle to do so, sometimes with fatal consequences. After the first battle death described in the poem, another fighter immediately attempts to strip the gear off the body of the dead man and is killed because he exposes his side in the process.

Neither side is portrayed as better than the other in the poem—fighters from both sides die the same tragic deaths. This is illustrated poignantly at the end of Book 4 with an image of two dead fighters from opposite sides lying next to each other as men from both sides of the conflict die around them.

explanation:

sacrifice is a phenomenon that is largely lacking in modern society. in the era of consumer philosophy and selfish goals, people began to forget about disinterested motives that bring not material but moral satisfaction.

it is very good that the attention of schoolchildren and students is attracted to sacrifice through writing academic papers. the curriculum of educational institutions includes a wide variety of topics connected with this issue. young people express their views and share experiences regarding parental disinterested love, spiritual growth through sacrifice, functions of this phenomenon in family and social relations.

if you are on this page, for sure, you also have to perform a similar task. perhaps, you need to write a “sacrifice in sport” essay. pedagogues especially like to assign something like a “sacrifice of a teacher” essay so that students know what hard work is being done for the sake of their good. there can be many different options.

whatever the topic is, you do not have to worry. it is quite easy to write a quality essay if you have sufficient information and know the basic rules. in this article, the sacrifice is considered from different angles and points of view, so you will definitely learn a lot of useful information.

a) if everyone could run, jump and throw like isabela, we would have the best team in the state.