Essay - One of the Most Foundational Mythological Structures Upholding the Greek...

One of the most foundational mythological structures upholding the Greek system ***** belief in martial valor is the tale of ***** Trojan War. This tale has cont*****ued to hold ideological weight even today. Homer's tale of the sacking ***** Troy is one of heroism and honor, detailing both the greatness of military prowess as well ***** the difficulties of war. Although not a pro-war chronicle, it makes the decision of one ***** *****s heroes, that of Achilles, to live his life for ***** momentary glory of battle, rather than remain on earth as long as possible until a ripe old age, a justified one.

Sh*****kespeare's version of the ***** War in ***** drama "Troilus and Cressida," however, is one in which the Trojan ***** ***** *****h*****g but an ignominious struggle, fought ***** nothing of importance. War, rather than elevating, in Shakespeare's estimation, is corrupt*****g ***** the higher virtues ***** the human temperament.

For much of ***** epic Iliad, ***** great warrior Achilles refuses to fight. He is angry that the commander of ***** **********, Agamemnon, has deprived him of the spoils of war, namely ***** slave girl he loved. Only when Achilles' dear friend Patroklos is killed by *****ctor does the warrior return to the battlefield ***** seek revenge.

***** with wild fury in h***** heart

Pulled in upon his chest his beautiful shield—

His helmet with four burnished metal ridges

Nodding above it, and the g*****en crest

Hephaistos locked there tossing in the wind.

Conspicuous as ***** evening star that comes,

Amid the first in heaven, at the fall of night,

And stands ***** lovely ***** the west, so shone

***** sunlight the fine-pointed spear

Akilleus poised in ***** right hand, w*****h deadly aim ***** Hektor, at the skin where most

If lay exposed. But nearly all was covered

By the bronze gear he took from slain Patroklos...(Book 22:263-326)

Achilles (spelled Akhilleus in this translation ***** Robert Fitzgerald) slays Hector in a blaze of glory. Achilles' div*****e as well as his mortal parentage is made clear in t***** excerpt. The gods *****mselves have, at Achilles' mother Thetis' command, fashioned ***** armor that protects his person. This helmet is rendered in language that describes heaven and the beauty ***** purity of the new dawn. The fact that this is a killing of revenge for a dear friend makes it of very high moral value for the Greeks. This eye-for-an-eye quality is fur*****r underlined when Achilles sees that Hector is actually wearing the ***** that Patroklos wore.

Although ***** authorship of the ***** by Homer has been disputed (historians are unsure if it is a collected work from ***** variety of wandering bards or one man) and Shake*****e's authorship of 'his' plays has also been debated, no one disputes ***** "Troilus and *****" is the product of one man's imagination. Fur*****rmore, it is unlike *****'s formational cultural document, one ***** Shakespeare's ***** obscure plays. ***** recently it has become more popular on the modern stage. ***** may be because of *****