Homer's Iliad and Odyssey: the heroic code and its values of glory (kleos), honour (time) and shame, the tension between honour and survival, and how different heroes (Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, Ajax) embody or strain the code.

What this dot point is asking

Homeric heroes live by a heroic code: a system of values centred on glory (kleos), honour (time) and shame. For The World of the Hero you must understand what the code demands, the tension between honour and survival, and how different heroes (Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, Ajax) embody or strain it. You should also know the context of Homeric society from which the code comes. The paper tests precise knowledge (AO1), analysis of the text as evidence (AO2 and AO3) and your own argument.

The answer

Time and kleos: the engines of heroism

The demands of the code

The heroic code requires:

• Courage in the front line and the pursuit of aristeia, a hero's outstanding sequence of victories (Diomedes in Book 5, Patroclus in Book 16).
• The protection of comrades and the recovery of the dead (the fight over Patroclus' body in Book 17).
• Respect for suppliants and guest-friends, and for the bodies of the slain, norms whose violation (Achilles dragging Hector) the gods condemn.
• A readiness to value honour above survival, accepting an early death for lasting fame.

Achilles' choice and the tension at the heart of the code

In Iliad Book 9 Achilles articulates the code's central dilemma. His mother has told him he faces two fates: a long, obscure life at home, or a short, glorious life at Troy. By staying he chooses kleos over survival. Yet his furious meditation, questioning whether honour won this way is worth dying for, exposes the strain within the code: the system that gives life meaning also demands death. The Odyssey shows the other side: Odysseus' deepest fear in Book 5 is to die ingloriously at sea, drowned and unsung, denied even the kleos of a battlefield death.

Different heroes, different relations to the code

Examples in context

A strong 10-mark idea answer on kleos would define the term and then give several precise examples from across the poem, explaining how each shows glory motivating action.

Try this

Q1. Explain how the idea of honour (time) is presented in the epic you have studied. You must refer to specific examples. [10 marks]

• What the marker wants. AO1 with AO3: define time, then give precise examples (the quarrel over Briseis, the distribution of prizes, the dishonour Odysseus suffers from the suitors) and explain how each shows honour driving behaviour.

Q2. 'Odysseus is a less admirable hero than Achilles.' To what extent do you agree? [marked out of 20; real H408/11 tariff is 30]

• Cue. Argue both sides: Odysseus' cunning and survival instinct against Achilles' open courage and pursuit of glory; consider whether the code admits intelligence as heroism. Reach a judgement supported by named episodes.