Comparison Essay
In book 24 of the epic poem The Iliad by Homer and the modern poem �Ceasefire� by Michael Longley the main theme is a sympathetic bond which occurs between Priam and Achilles. This bond or understanding occurs after the death of Hector as Priam comes to Achilles to retrieve Hector�s body. In this moment between the two enemies both characters show sympathy and understanding of each other�s circumstances.
In book 24of the Iliad, Priam the king of Troy goes to Achilles the great warrior for the return of the body of his son Hector. Priam uses the knowledge that Achilles will never see his own father again and tries to appeal to Achilles human side to retrieve the body of his son �Achilles/ be reverent towards the great gods! And take/ pity on me, remember your own father./ Think me more pitiful by far, since I/ have brought myself to do what no man else/ has done before- to lift to my lips the hand/ of one who killed my son�(316-322) Priam acts humbly in order to get his son�s body back and even kisses the hand of Achilles his enemy and killer of his son to achieve this goal. Longley discussed this act in stanza four by saying �I get down on my knees and do what must be done and kiss Achilles� hand the killer of my son.� This action works and Achilles agrees to give back Hectors body.
Achilles is a very strong, tough warrior who is shown to be more human and sympathetic is these two pieces. One way in which Achilles shows understanding and caring is how he prepares Hector�s body for Priam. Longley discusses this important act in stanza two with the simile �Wrapped like a present home to Troy at daybreak.� to describe the care which Achilles took in preparing Hectors corpse for Priam. Homer also uses a simile to describe Achilles as he goes to prepare the body �Now like a lion at one bound Achilles left the room.� Both authors use similes to describe Achilles personally and his actions in dealing with Hectors body. After he prepared the body Achilles and Priam spent the evening together and Achilles agreed to a truce or a ceasefire to allow Priam the time to morn his son further illustrating the human aspect of Achilles and their momentary bond.� Weep for your son again when you have borne him back to Troy; there he�ll be mourned indeed.� Although both pieces are poems addressing the same event and both use poetic similes and metaphors the poems have very different styles. Homer�s Iliad is an epic poem with no rhyme scheme and which has stanzas that are of varying lengths. Ceasefire is a short poem which follows the traditional a/b/c/b rhyme scheme in the first three stanzas to discuss the same event the retrieving of Hector�s body.
After reading the two pieces of writing, the Iliad by Homer, book 24 and the poem �Ceasefire� by Michael Longley both discuss slightly different aspects on the momentary sympathetic bond which occurred between Achilles and Priam. The bond occurred over the sympathetic lost of a family member during the battles of war. This common losses of war bring these two enemies together for one moment where the put their differences aside and showed each other mutual respect.
