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2Baird

Hannah BairdCLA 135Paolo Vison

Modern War Heroism

In todays society, there are many definitions of the word hero. A hero could be a doctor saving a patients life. Or a hero could be a little kid standing up for someone who is being bullied. However, one of the main things we consider when we think about heroes is our war heroes. The men and women who fight for our country are very similar to the heroes in ancient Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, a hero was considered a demigod or someone who overcomes a dangerous situation by displaying immense amounts of courage and sometimes even self-sacrifice. Today, the men and women serving our country show their bravery and dedication just like the ancient Greek heroes. The Trojan War can be compared to our current war in Afghanistan along with the ancient war heroes Achilles and Odysseus to display the comparison of ancient Greek heroism to modern day heroism that is displayed in our world today. One of the most famous ancient Greek wars, the Trojan War, can be compared to our modern day war in Afghanistan. The Trojan War was a battle between the Greeks and the Trojans. The battle was evoked by the abduction of Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. The long, bloody battle finally came to a stop after ten long years after the Greeks constructed a large, wooden horse as a token to the Trojans. The horse was brought inside the walls of Troy and at night the Greek soldiers emerged out of the horse to let in the other Greeks inside the city walls to destroy the city of Troy. The Afghanistan War was triggered by the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Its consisted of three phases including: toppling the Taliban, the U.S. defeating the Taliban military, and Barack Obamas decision in 2009 to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.1 Although the Afghanistan War did not start because of an abduction like the Trojan War, the two wars still share many similarities. In both wars, weapons were used. The ancient Greeks fought with bronze swords and spears. They also had the advantage of the gods and goddesses helping them during wars. However, today, soldiers fight with more intense weapons like M4 carbines and rocket-propelled grenades.2 Both of the wars used the ammunition with the same objective of killing their opponents. Today we just use ammunition that is more advance since the technology has been advanced since ancient Greek time period. Another similarity between the two wars was the actual length of the wars. Steinberg explains, the year 2011 marked the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan.3 This compares to the Trojan War since it lasted around ten years as well. Although the Afghanistan War is still going on, both wars were considered to be the longest war in their time periods. Since both wars are considered the longest wars in their time periods, they are obviously the most significant wars in the time period. Along with the wars themselves being similar, the soldiers that fought in the Trojan War, especially Achilles, are similar to the todays soldiers.One of the greatest heroes of the Trojan War, Achilles, displays similar hero qualities like todays soldiers. During soldiers Basic Combat Training (BCT), they learn the Seven Core Army Values including: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. All soldiers learn these values and display them every day in everything they do.4 Achilles was considered the bravest, strongest, and even best looking hero of all Greek heroes. Achilles displays some of the same characteristics that our everyday war heroes demonstrate. Achilles displayed the value of Duty. Duty is defined as, Doing your duty means more than carrying out your assigned tasksbeing able to accomplish tasks as part of a team.5 Achilles was not participating in the combat because Agamemnon was antagonizing him. However, once his friend Patroclus was killed, Achilles stepped in to help defend his side. He knew that it was his job to fight with everything that he had since Patroclus could not do so. Achilles also displayed the value of Respect. The Respect value is defined in the Soldiers Code as to treat others with dignity and respect while expecting others to do the same.6 At first Achilles showed zero respect to Hectors body as he dragged it around tied to the back of a chariot for nine days. This showed the complete opposite of showing respect, especially showing respect to the deceased. On the contrary, after Hectors family begged Achilles to return Hectors body, he did the right thing. Achilles knew that it was the morally right thing to do to return the body for proper funeral rites. The proper funeral rites that Achilles knew was morally right are similar to the way we honor our deceased soldiers today. After a soldier passes, they receive an honorary funeral like any given deceased person would receive. However, the soldiers also receive a special holiday in their honor. This holiday is known as Memorial Day. Memorial Day consists of parades, speeches, and graveside prayers to show honor and respect to those who lost their lives fighting for our country.7 All together Achilles displays multiple characteristics that todays soldiers display. One of the most famous epic poems of ancient Greek is The Odyssey by Homer, can be compared to our current war soldiers who are returning home from battle. Ten years after the fall of Troy, Odysseus has yet to return back to his kingdom in Ithaca. Odysseus is trapped on an island by the nymph, Calypso. He does not really know where he is. This same dislocation is what the veterans who are returning from war experience today.8 Veterans most of the time know where they are when returning home, but they are not returning as the same person as they were when they were departed. This is very similar to Odysseus because he is returning as a different person as well. Veterans today are returning as a different people because of the stress that they experience while over seas. There are more than 600,000 of the over 2 million Americans who have served in the Iraq or Afghanistan war that have had to deal with PTSD or major depression after returning home from war.9 The traumatic events that they go through while overseas cause them to change into someone else. Odysseus, also experience some scary events while traveling home. Odysseus was held hostage on an island, experienced the wrath of Poseidon by him wrecking Odysseus ship on his way home, and so many more events. These events left some shock in Odysseus that changed him into the man that he was when he finally made it back to his kingdom. The hardships that Odysseus faced while traveling home and the traumatic events that current soldiers today face cause both Odysseus and the soldiers to develop into different people. Odysseus himself can also be considered a hero, which is comparative to our modern day war heroes. Odysseus displays many qualities of a modern war hero, but most importantly displays the quality of personal courage. The value of Personal Courage is enduring physical duress and at times risking personal safety.10 Odysseus has been away from his homeland, his family, and everything that he knows for over ten years. After a couple of years a normal person would just give up. However, Odysseus uses his personal courage to keep going. He faces more than anyone could image, yet he continues on. His immense amount of person courage and endurance is similar to the soldiers that fight every day for our country. Today our soldiers have an extensive amount of courage to willingly go into a war zone. Odysseus is a perfect example of a true hero if we compare him to our modern day soldiers. Every single day we encounter heroes that impact our lives, yet we do not even realize it. To most people, heroes are the people who save lives or do something extraordinary. However, that is not always the case. Heroes are the ones who are making the difference in the world, even if it is the smallest difference. In ancient Greek mythology, a hero was considered a divine being who displayed some phenomenal characteristic. One of the most famous Greek heroes was Achilles. Achilles played a very important role in the Trojan War. Both the Trojan War and Achilles compare to modern war heroism that occurs today. The Trojan War shares similar characteristics of the war in Afghanistan while Achilles shares many qualities of the soldiers that are fighting overseas today. Another example of modern heroism that occurs today is the soldiers journey back home after war. This can be compared to Homers epic poem, The Odyssey. All three examples of ancient Greek mythology can be compared to heroism that occurs in our everyday life today. Without the heroes that we have in our society today, the world that we live in would not be the same.

Notes1. Afghanistan War. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed on November 11, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1686268/Afghanistan-War2. Neil, Steinberg. Our Trojan War in Afghanistan rages into a second decade. Chicago Sun-Times. October 6, 2011. http://www.suntimes.com/news/steinberg/8070072-452/our-trojan-war-rages-into-a-second-decade.html#.VE_WUL6yjlI3. Neil, Steinberg. Our Trojan War in Afghanistan rages into a second decade. Chicago Sun-Times. October 6, 2011. http://www.suntimes.com/news/steinberg/8070072-452/our-trojan-war-rages-into-a-second-decade.html#.VE_WUL6yjlI4. Soldier Life. U.S. Army. Accessed October 28, 2014.http://www.goarmy.com/soldier-life/being-a-soldier.html5. Soldier Life. U.S. Army. Accessed October 28, 2014.http://www.goarmy.com/soldier-life/being-a-soldier.html6. Soldier Life. U.S. Army. Accessed October 28, 2014.http://www.goarmy.com/soldier-life/being-a-soldier.html7. Caroline, Alexander. Back From War, but Not Really Home. New York Times. November 7, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08alexander.html?pagewanted=all&_r=08. Caroline, Alexander. Back From War, but Not Really Home. New York Times. November 7, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08alexander.html?pagewanted=all&_r=09. David, Wood. Iraq, Afghanistan War Veterans Struggle With Combat Trauma. Huffington Post. July 4, 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/04/iraq-afghanistan-war-veterans-combat-trauma_n_1645701.html10. Soldier Life. U.S. Army. Accessed October 28, 2014.http://www.goarmy.com/soldier-life/being-a-soldier.html

ReferencesAfghanistan War. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed on November 11, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1686268/Afghanistan-War

Alexander, Caroline. Back From War, but Not Really Home. New York Times. November 7, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08alexander.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Soldier Life. U.S. Army. Accessed October 28, 2014.http://www.goarmy.com/soldier-life/being-a-soldier.html

Steinberg, Neil. Our Trojan War in Afghanistan rages into a second decade. Chicago Sun-Times. October 6, 2011. http://www.suntimes.com/news/steinberg/8070072-452/our-trojan-war-rages-into-a-second-decade.html#.VE_WUL6yjlI

Wood, David. Iraq, Afghanistan War Veterans Struggle With Combat Trauma. Huffington Post. July 4, 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/04/iraq-afghanistan-war-veterans-combat-trauma_n_1645701.html