What's Love Got to Do with the Iliad? Anonymous 9th Grade

In today's society, movies in all genres thrive on romantic plots and subplots. There is often a form of "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back" or a variation of that, wherein the guy's decisions are all centered around securing a love interest. Although Homer wrote The Iliad hundreds of years ago, his story is no exception to this ageless idea that love is the driving force behind humanity. As portrayed in The Iliad, love is so much more than just holding hands and going for long walks on the beach; love causes wars, love changes people's minds, and love makes people do things they would never do otherwise.

First, Menelaus's love for his wife causes him to go to war with the Trojans after Paris steals Helen. When offered the chance to end the war with a single duel to decide who gets Helen, Menelaus decides to fight against Paris. He tells his soldiers that they "have suffered enough for this quarrel of mine which Alexandros began" (Homer 41). By saying this, Menelaus shows that he is willing to fight for the woman he loves. He does not want anybody else to be involved, and he places all his faith in this one duel. In other words, he knows that he will either leave with his wife or die trying to win her back....