This is analysis of four characters in the Iliad and their relationships with the thing which motivates them, a will to power. Each of these four characters, Zeus, Agamemnon, Hektor and Achilles strives for domination, but in their own way, but despite these differences, we see how each of them has to deal with the striving for power which the other characters desire as well, for as the lines 266 – 268 in Book I show, “These were the strongest generation…and they fought against the strongest.”
[...] Motivations for characters in the Iliad This is analysis of four characters in the Iliad and their relationships with the thing which motivates them, a will to power. Each of these four characters, Zeus, Agamemnon, Hektor and Achilles strives for domination, but in their own way, but despite these differences, we see how each of them has to deal with the striving for power which the other characters desire as well, for as the lines 266 268 in Book I show, “These were the strongest generation and they fought against the strongest.” No character is able to dominate and achieve the pure power they so wish, because they are struggling with enemies as strong as they are. [...]
[...] Hektor, the Trojan son of King Priam, is motivated by a different sort of power; it is the power that lies in self-mastery, in controlling oneself for the sake of cultivating honor among one's neighbors, rather than fighting to win it. In Hektor, this honor is gained through civic loyalty and defending his family, which because he is royalty, are one and the same. He hates the idea of foreigners laughing at Troy. In Book VI, lines 360-370, Hektor is clearly motivated by love of his family, longing to see them in the face of Troy's suffering. [...]
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