Friday, June 15, 2012

How is Homer's Iliad is used in differents works of art and literature?

The influence of Homer's Iliad can be
found in numerous works of art and literature. A Greek tragedy entitled Rhesus
and ascribed to Euripides is based on Iliad 10. The
Latin epic, Vergil's Aeneid, owes much to Homer, especially in the
final half of that poem, which is sometimes called its Iliadic part. In Aeneid
7-12, Aeneas does many things which are modelled on the actions of Achilles,
especially Achilles killing of Hector in revenge for the death of Patroclus (compare
Aeneas' killing of Turnus in revenge for the death of Pallas). Aeneas also receives a
divinely-made shield, just as Achilles did. The Roman poet Statius also wrote an
Achilleid, which will have been influenced heavily by
Homer.


As for the world of art, numerous ancient Greek
vases paintings and modern painters depicted scenes from the Iliad,
such as the wrath of Achilles at Agamemnon (compare the paintings of Francois-Leon
Benouville and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo), the activities of Achilles while in his tent
and during his withdrawal from the war, as well as Achilles dragging Hector's body
around the walls of Troy.

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