Arete and Greatness in a Different Light

Walter Bishop (Source: Google)

They all died, young lady. Horrible and most likely painful death. You see, when you open new doors, there is a price to pay.
- Walter Bishop (Fringe)

I love Walter's ideas about being on the cutting edge, being on the fringe. He knows that doing great things involves high levels of risk. It is obvious that the characters is the Iliad paid a price similar - sometimes identical - to what Walter referred to when they too pushed the limits. 

After reading posts by both Kevin and Eli, I first of all began to understand the rhetoric and also noticed the ethical appeals being made throughout the story. The instance that seemed most clear to me was when Minerva convinced Ulysses to continue the war and not to return home. She appealed to his character, asking him if he would let all the previous efforts and lives given go to waste. He had an opportunity to do something great, but it was also a risk with high reward. In the end, Walter was right. 

Not really Thersites, but close to
the description (Source: Google)

Another example that I didn't see clearly until after spending some time thinking about the two posts I read was Thersites and his appeal to ethos. He questioned Agamemnon's reasons for battling. While the soldiers toiled in battle, he was the one who got first pick of the prizes of war. Thersites was stepping far outside of his bounds as, not only a common soldier talking to his higher ups but, an ugly soldier at that. His venture on the fringe persuasion rewarded him with both a tongue and a physical lashing. 

These two examples show how much focus was put on the character of man. What I think is that Homer was questioning which of the Greek aretes was the most important. Strength, courage, war skills were obviously among some of the most revered virtues of the time. I think part of his rhetoric as the author of the story was to persuade the Greeks that perhaps there are more important virtues that one can have and that putting so much emphasis on war skills is not only barbaric, but can lead to tragedy just as it happened in the Iliad.