Revenge in "The Iliad" and "The Godfather"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the different ways in which revenge is portrayed in this book and movie. It explains that revenge is a central motivation in both and issues of revenge are played out in carefully designed meetings between opposing forces. It discusses how the action of Homer's epic "The Iliad" brings two huge armies together, one inside the walls of Troy and the other outside, as a massive act of revenge for the stealing of Helen. The paper explains how in "The Godfather" the film is set around a family involved in organized crime and how the theme of revenge is thread throughout.

From the Paper:

"Achilleus withdraws from the fighting to brood, but he relents sufficiently to send his friend Patroklos in his place. Patroklos is slain by Hector, and Achilleus blames himself and seeks revenge. He feels great dishonor at having failed his friend, though in truth he has also failed all the Greeks by brooding rather than by fulfilling his destiny as a warrior. In Book IX, as noted, Agamemnon is about to give up and go home. He sends a messenger to try to assuage Achilleus and bring him back to the fight because he is sorely needed, but Achilleus will not relent. The leaders of the Greeks agree that they should never have appealed to anyone as conceited as Achilleus and that they must fight the Trojans without him. After the death of Patroklos, however, Achilleus will attack the Trojans as if he would defeat them single-handed. He is motivated by the desire for revenge, coupled here with a need to justify himself, and when he kills Hector, he goes too far by dragging Hector's body behind his chariot and by refusing to allow the body to be buried. This necessitates an even greater act of revenge and leads to Achilleus' death."

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