The Trojans and Greeks fought for nearly ten years because of a woman who was “stolen” away from the Greeks by a Trojan prince. Although this hardship is quite immeasurable, it is impossible to tell whether Helen went with Paris because she chose too, or that she was forced. We can infer that she was forced due to the way she is treated throughout the poem. Essentially, it is hard to believe that a war that spans nearly ten years is one fueled solely by a woman. No singular woman can cause that much destruction. The male ego, and addiction to greed and power is one that is very common in The Iliad, illustrating the reasoning for the war. Their constant conversations about gifts and prizes, often having women be a part of these things, shows a disgusting view on humanity and makes the claim by Palladas hard to agree with. How can, in a poem that portrays women so negatively and at times not even as humans, spark a war that lasts so incredibly long? These men are barbaric, and the Greeks are fighting so long it almost seems like they do not care as much to see Helen returned, but to see Troy fall to rubble. For example, in Book Nine of The Iliad, Agamemnon offers Achilles many gifts, from gold bars, to oxen, cauldrons, and even women (Book 9, Lines 146-159). This offering demonstrates clearly the disregard for women and portrayal of them as simple objects to be “given” as gifts. It is difficult to understand why the men in the poem can freely trade and give women as gifts, but then fight for a decade over one particular woman that may have wanted to leave Greece in the first place. Either way, the men in battle, both Greek and Trojan, created the destruction. This is clear not only by their physical destruction of each others’ armies, but of the city of Troy as well. The women of the poem may have been a reason in the beginning to start a war, but not a reason strong enough to fight for so
The Trojans and Greeks fought for nearly ten years because of a woman who was “stolen” away from the Greeks by a Trojan prince. Although this hardship is quite immeasurable, it is impossible to tell whether Helen went with Paris because she chose too, or that she was forced. We can infer that she was forced due to the way she is treated throughout the poem. Essentially, it is hard to believe that a war that spans nearly ten years is one fueled solely by a woman. No singular woman can cause that much destruction. The male ego, and addiction to greed and power is one that is very common in The Iliad, illustrating the reasoning for the war. Their constant conversations about gifts and prizes, often having women be a part of these things, shows a disgusting view on humanity and makes the claim by Palladas hard to agree with. How can, in a poem that portrays women so negatively and at times not even as humans, spark a war that lasts so incredibly long? These men are barbaric, and the Greeks are fighting so long it almost seems like they do not care as much to see Helen returned, but to see Troy fall to rubble. For example, in Book Nine of The Iliad, Agamemnon offers Achilles many gifts, from gold bars, to oxen, cauldrons, and even women (Book 9, Lines 146-159). This offering demonstrates clearly the disregard for women and portrayal of them as simple objects to be “given” as gifts. It is difficult to understand why the men in the poem can freely trade and give women as gifts, but then fight for a decade over one particular woman that may have wanted to leave Greece in the first place. Either way, the men in battle, both Greek and Trojan, created the destruction. This is clear not only by their physical destruction of each others’ armies, but of the city of Troy as well. The women of the poem may have been a reason in the beginning to start a war, but not a reason strong enough to fight for so