Homer and Aesop analysis

The Greeks, now landed near Troy, have set up their camps. They go out and plunder the countryside and take back a priest’s daughter as loot. Agamemnon takes the girl as his own. The priest curses the Greeks because they would not return his daughter and disease breaks out in the camp. Achilles notices the misfortunes and immediately sees that it is a result of insulting the gods and goes before Agamemnon to convince him to return the girl, and in doing so, appease the gods to stop death from ravaging the camp. Agamemnon refuses and Achilles storms out. Achilles continues to argue with Agamemnon and has a prophet tell Agamemnon of his fault. Finally, Agamemnon submits to the demands of Achilles and returns the girl along with a sacrifice to Apollo.

Through his work, Homer shows that the Greeks have a very strong devotion to family. The reason of the whole war is to protect a family member’s reputation and escalated from a two person conflict to one of two nations. Agamemnon is often called the son of Atreus or called by his family name. Achilles also is strongly devoted to his mother, a goddess. It is also evident that the gods play a central role in Greek life. It was because of Agamemnon’s disrespect for the gods that hundreds of Greek soldiers died. This section of The Iliad contains nearly as many gods as it does people demonstrating the great role they played.

Aesop tells 13 different stories, all containing a lesson. He mostly uses animals or insects to tell his stories. He begins with a tale of frogs crying out to Jove for a ruler. He sends them a log as their ruler. They realize that it is not living and cry out again for a real ruler. This time Jove sends a stork that eats all the frogs. He ends with the saying, “Better no rule than cruel rule.” This same pattern continues for stories containing ants and grasshoppers, a wolf disguised as a sheep, talking lions, mice, and other creatures.

These stories also contain many references to the gods. His use of animals rather than humans allows his audience to see the brevity of the fault and then apply it to their own lives. The morals of his stories mainly involve the downfalls for desiring something selfishly, or the rewards that can be received if someone shows kindness or wisdom.

Both Homer and Aesop have polytheism weaved into their stories. While far more potent in Homer, it is still prevalent in Aesop as well. However, there are also mentions of the one God in Aesop’s writings. Many of Aesop’s virtues are found in Scripture. The story about the frogs crying out for a ruler is a microcosm of the Israelites plea for a king. The fable of the body parts working together emphasizes that the body must work in unity, each part doing their own work for the good of the body as a whole. This same imagery is stressed by Paul who tells us that we as believers make up the body of the church with Christ at the head. The saying at the end of the fable, “train up a child in the way he should go”, is found in Proverbs. The wolf in sheep’s clothing is similar to the warning of false prophets that appear to be harmless in Matthew. The ideals of Aesop, whether Christian or not, are biblical. Additionally, Aesop’s writings do connect with old Greek myths. The fable of the dog and the bone, in which the dog is carrying a bone and sees his refection wherein the bone looks larger so he tries to grasp it but loses his bone instead, is very like Narcissus who sees his own reflection in the water and cannot stop looking at it. Both involve the character getting too caught up in what they see to be cognizant of what they truly have. Homer does not share the same worldview as Aesop. The intertwining of the gods in the story shows the Greeks belief in polytheism rather than the Christian monotheism. Fate also, is found in The Iliad, where it is beyond the control of the gods. When juxtaposed to the omnipotent God, the frailty of the Greek gods is shown as well as the hopeless paganism of the Greeks, who rather than hoping in the merciful God that works everything out for the good of those who love him, put their hope in powerless gods who are all subject to fate.