Relationship Between Males and Females in The Iliad

Relationships Between Males and Females in The Iliad

The Iliad is full of characters that have different views and attitudes on different things. All the different relationships in this story are very interesting in their own unique way. If there is a healthy relationship there is an unhealthy relationship to balance it out. It is important to have a good kind of relationship and this story did reveal how not to act in a relationship. First up there is a relationship between husband and wife, then comes lovers and another relationship that is very interesting is the relationship between a warrior and his sex slave. These different relationships have different dynamics and also different ways to interact with each other.

Paris and Helen’s relationship is one of a kind. This relationship is all based on lust and sex. It started the whole Trojan War where a lot of people lost their lives. The beginning of the relationship is when the goddess Aphrodite promised Paris that she will give him the prettiest woman on earth if he gives her the golden apple. Because Paris is a women’s man, he didn’t hesitate to give the apple to Aphrodite just because he was getting a woman in return. Aphrodite seduced Helen into running away with Paris when she was married to Menelaus. It was a decision based on seduction, lust, and divine power. Even after spending 9 years together, they were never married, always fighting and both of them were not happy, especially Helen. They didn’t have a choice but to live with each other and always be filled with lust because of Aphrodite’s divine power. This whole relationship had no basis of love, understanding, respect, and trust in each other as a normal relationship should have. This is the kind of relationship that will not make any person involved happy.

Hektor and Andromache’s relationship is just what a relationship between a husband and wife should be. They both love each other and have a beautiful son, Astyanax, together. Their relationship is also one of a kind but the good and healthy kind. Anyone who looks at both of them together can see the bond between the two. The only scene in the book that showed both of them together was very powerful and filled with feelings. When Hektor came to meet Andromache and his son, there was tension between them because she didn’t want him to leave again to go to the battle. It was very emotional because both of them knew that he will go back to the battle and maybe there was a chance that he won’t be coming back. Their bond in this scene was so pure and strong that it could make any reader cry and feel bad that they didn’t get to have a happy ending. This couple is the only couple in The Iliad that is purely based on love and trust in each other. Also when their son is present there, they try to be happy and not let their son be sad in any way. The whole scene is very powerful in explaining the dynamics and the real love between a couple.

Zeus and Hera’s relationship is predictable and interesting at the same time. Zeus being the leader of the gods has had so many relationships with other women that nobody can keep count. He has cheated on Hera many times but she is always next to him and does not say anything about him cheating on her. Their relationship is predictable in a way that being gods and powerful, anyone would have multiple affairs and know that the other would not leave them. A lot of people in power are the same way as Zeus is and that is why his behavior is very predictable. Hera on the other hand is also very predictable for a woman in her position. Anyone in her position will not leave her position because of cheating. But she also knows how to get back at him. Seducing him with her beauty and making him go to sleep using the sleeping god just so she and a few other gods could help the Greeks at least start to back the Trojans. The couples who are in power can seem very happy and content with each other but the reality is very different. Even though Hera never says anything about Zeus cheating on her, she might feel bad that her husband is not satisfied with her and that he always has to go look for a different woman. Zeus on the other hand does not have to worry about Hera cheating on him because from what we know she has not cheated on him ever. It might be easy for a man to cheat but the majority of women don’t cheat on their husbands.

Achilleus and Breseis’s relationship is not even a proper relationship. He is a warrior and she is the sex slave that was given as a gift to him. The only scene that has mentions of both of them is when Agamemnon takes her away from Achilleus because he had to send his sex slave back when her father came to ask for her. Achilleus was very mad because Agamemnon had embarrassed him in front of the whole army by taking his “girl”. The only reason Achilleus wanted to keep Breseis with him was that she was his prize. The only relationship they could have is a physical relationship because a sex slave and their master can never be anything more than that. She was considered an object and nobody even cared about how she felt. This relationship is all based on the ego and pride of the man and the woman is never considered anything more than an object.

These four relationships are similar and different in their own ways. They have their ups and downs and some might even be unhealthy but they are together. Paris and Helen are together because of their lust for each other. Hektor and Andromache are together because of their love for each other. Zeus and Hera are together because of their position and maybe love for each other somewhere deep. Achilleus and Breseis are not even together and he only wants her because she is his prize and it’s considered humiliating if someone else takes her away from him. There is bound to be a healthy relationship to balance out an unhealthy one but in this book, there seem to be more unhealthy relationships than healthy ones.

Relationships are what we make them, if we love someone the feeling comes out in the way we treat that person and the relationship. There is no right and wrong way to act in a relationship but there is a right and a wrong way to treat the person that you are in a relationship with. All of these relationships mentioned have different dynamics and different reasons to be with each other. We cannot say that what they are doing is right or wrong but what we can say is that it surely is unhealthy on some level. Lust can die away in a few years except if you have a divine power like Aphrodite helping you. The other person can be tired of you always cheating on them and acting out against them. Having a physical relationship can also be tiring after a while with a sex slave because there is no feeling whatsoever. The only relationship that has the most chance of surviving is a relationship based on love, trust, and understanding because that feeling never goes away as long as the other person is with you every step of the way. Even if love does go away, mutual understanding and trust, and respect do not go away from a relationship doesn’t matter what kind of relationship it is.