The Fallen Warrior In The Iliad

When a warrior dies in Homer’s Iliad and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, he loses his ability to take control of his own life. Having surrendered to his fate (moira), the duty to protect the fallen warrior falls upon his comrades. These warriors feel that they have a moral duty to protect the bodies of the fallen, particularly those who died in service to their communities and cities (poleis). If a man does not die in the line of duty, however, his body may not receive the same treatment as the warrior killed in battle. The treatment of the bodies of the dead profoundly impacts the respective communities in the two texts and strongly reflects the moral state of the communities and their individuals on a much larger scale. Upon the death of a warrior in the Iliad, his fellow soldiers rally and fight to claim his body and make sure that it is not harmed by the other side (IL. 16.530). At the most basic level, the warriors do this because they care deeply for their fallen comrade, and they do not want to see harm done to the body. When Patroclus dies, and Menelaus tells Ajax that they need to get Patroclus’ “body back to Achilles” (IL. 17.119). Ajax and Menelaus know that the only way to ensure that their friend’s body is not taken and mistreated by the Trojans is to fight their way out of the battle with the body. …show more content…
Rather, said mistreatment is only the first event in the loss of Athens’ status as a strong, moral power (Discussion 9/12). Throughout Thucydides’ account, Athens’ steady moral decline is depicted and culminates in their strong words for the Melians: “the strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they have to accept” (HPW 5.89). This is a far cry from the Athens that, according to Pericles, did “kindness to others” and showed “continued good will” to allies. (HPW