The idea of ​​glory is an inseparable cloud that surrounds every epic story. All characters and actions are geared towards achieving endless honor and glory. For Homer and his works, the one action that best captures eternal glory is a heroic death. Although ideas of wisdom (the god Athena, for example) and love (Aphrodite) pervade their culture and religion, the life of a great man is epitomized by his heroic death. Heroism in death is obsessively desired because heroes seek to achieve the one thing humanity will never achieve: immortality. Their religion is based on the worship of immortal humans with power, not forces or a perfect God (certainly not our modern Jehovah). In a sense, through a heroic death and sustained legacy, the heroes of Homer's writings strive to become the immortal gods they worship. And in the oral tradition of Homeric culture this can only happen through commemoration and the story passed down over time. Death, for a hero, is the beginning of his immortality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To capture the immortality desired by heroes, they must have a right purpose for their death. This purpose is best accomplished in battle. In a heartfelt discussion with his wife, who begs him not to fight and die, the mighty Hector of Troy proclaims: ...one day seeing you shed tears a man will say of you, / "This is Hector's wife, who was always the bravest fighter of the Trojans, tamers of horses, / in the days when they fought for Ilium." (6:458-462) The fact that his wife will be widowed does not bother him as long as his inheritance lasts a long time. His heroic death in battle will live on and grant him immortality, which is far more important than simply living his life with his wife and son. Another hero who falls to a heroic death is Patroklos, Achilles' lifelong companion. When Achilles refuses to join the battle against the Trojans, Patroclus springs into action and joins the battle. After brutally slaughtering many Trojans, he is put to death with the help of a god. Falling to his mortal fate.../ that killed me (16:849), Patroklos is immediately granted infinite glory for his valor in battle by Homer's words. An entire book of the Iliad is devoted to describing a battle for his body, and the mere fact that Homer speaks of him in this regard is to his eternal acclaim. Achilles best exemplifies the hero's feelings of death. His is a special case, because he knows that he is destined to die and to die soon. When his best friend and companion is destroyed in battle, he is given the final choice: avenge the death of a friend and die, or let the killer go live. This is not even a question for the true epic hero, and Achilles, of course, chooses to die. He states: "I must die soon, then; since I was not to stand by my companion/ when he was killed.../ so too, if this be the fate that was marked for me,/ I lie motionless. ./ But now I must win excellent glory..." (18:98-121) The glory of revenge and battle is much more important than life itself (however, this sentiment will be modified later in Homer's work ). The death of Achilles, although never actually depicted in Homer's work, certainly embodies a heroic as well as an immortal death. In Homer's epic, a hero's actual death and the purpose behind it must be honorable to achieve the desired immortality. The immortality achieved by the heroes is underlined by the presence of the closest thing to the afterlife thatHomer has: Hades. Mortal beings are said to go to the underworld of Hades after their death. This is not a place like the Heaven/Hell dichotomy emphasized by modern religions, but a place where all beings go after death. Homer uses Hades as a metaphor for the continued existence of heroes in his epics, despite their deaths. Even after Patroclus's death, we see him reappear to ask Achilles to bury him. Achilles states: "Oh, wonder! Even in the house of Hades there is something left,/ a soul and an image..." (23:103-104) Achilles leaves us with the idea that the actions of heroes can echo through long after they're gone. The theme of the hero continuing to live despite death is quite evident here. The goal of immortality is certainly achieved through commemoration, and Homer commemorates heroes through their speeches from the dead. This can be seen best in the Odyssey, where Homer actually allows the audience to visit Hades through the eyes of Odysseus. The fallen heroes of his epic poems return to speak of their lives and deaths. Agamemnon speaks of his wife's untimely murder, in stark contrast to the gallant deaths of the other heroes. Heracles returns to talk about his arduous but glorious life. Above all, Achilles returns to talking about being dead. He states, “I would rather follow the plow as a slave to another/ man, one given no land and with little to live on/ than be a king over all the perished dead.” (11:489-491) This is a departure from his previous idea of ​​death, and in fact is in complete contrast to Homer's previous views on death. It suggests that living life only to die gloriously is futile. However, this posthumous epiphany only suggests Homer's commemoration of the great Achilles and how he served a better purpose alive than as a legend. From the first page of the Iliad, Achilles represented the epitome of a hero. Now, after his death, he is an enlightened being who still learns and teaches the living about heroism and death. Homer also offers his audience an alternative vision of Hades through his Hymn to Demeter. In this poem, we see a much more effeminate view of death, as the story revolves around a mother's loss of a daughter. The personification of Hades in the story reveals a more sympathetic view on the afterlife, drawing strong parallels between death and sex. The stories of the epic poems do not approach the idea of ​​sexuality as strongly as the hymn, so it is an illuminating view of Homer. Persephone's descent into Hades and her eventual return, after eating the Hades pomegranate (an obvious metaphor for sex), suggests that the mystery surrounding death may be tied to our ideas of sex, birth and beginning of life. This can be compared to the idea of ​​a hero being born after his death, as his legacy begins its course in history. As we can see, the hero survives through Hades and Homer uses it as a place to bring the dead back to life and continually commemorate them. The most important act of commemoration is the funeral rites performed after the hero's death. Homer often spends pages delving into the explicit details of these rites. These rites represent the glory and valor of the heroes and lay the foundation for future immortality. The first and most important step of the ritual is the burial of the body. In stark contrast to our idea of ​​modern warfare, both sides in battle in Troy agree to suspend the war while they take care of the burial rites of the dead soldiers. Idaios of the Trojans asks the Achenes to stop the painful fighting until we can burn the bodies of our dead. Afterwards we will fight again... (7:395-396) The burial of comrades is like this.