wa r.” 79 It is important to the men that they prove their strength through fighting. From their battles, they achieve fame “and this in turn encourages warriors to continue their display of prowess.” 80 It is all about showing the people how strong they are, and the “male energy” they have. 81 Homer depicts the warriors as strong, and able, and virile men who take to violence in order to stop the enemy, and save the women and children from what events might occur from a battle lost. These warriors Homer depicts, are then heroes because when they win the battles they have (usually) single-handedly stopped the enemy and won the war. As Michael Clark explains, “the men of the heroic race command wonder because of their strength, their fierceness, their superhuman for ce.” 82 It was their “nobleness of nature” and “fierce and unruly temper” which made them heroes. 83 C.M. Bowra goes on to say that “though the word hērōs originally meant no more than warrior, it came to assume more august associations and to imply a special superiority in human endowments and endeavours.” 84 It is not just the fighting which makes them heroes, but the pride and courage they show within the battles. It is also not just the ones that win that are considered heroes, as Odysseus explains when he is left alone, “the man who wants to fight courageously must stand his ground with force, whether he is hit, or whether his blows strike the other man.” 85 Therefore, it is not just 79 Homer, The Iliad , trans. by Ian Johnston (Virginia: Richer Resources Publications, 2012), 6. 540-543 80 Clarke, ‘Manhood and Heroism,’ p. 77 81 Ibid., p. 80 82 Ibid., p. 80 83 W.A. Camps, An Introduction to Homer (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980), p. 11; p. 12 84 C.M. Bowra, Homer (London: Gerald Duckworth & Company Ltd., 1979), p. 79 85 Homer, The Iliad , 11. 408-410
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