Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 7, 2023 May 31, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
The battle scenes contain many passages focusing on the brutal destruction of the human body. In the very first battle sequence, we see the Achaean Antilochus kill a man, sending his bronze spear “smashing through his skull” (
Homer also draws attention to the way war not only destroys but dehumanizes the Achaean and Trojan soldiers, bringing out their base, animalistic natures. He describes the men as groups of animals rushing into battle. The soldiers are flocks of geese, wild boars, hounds—numerous, fierce, and determined hunters of other men. Though the victorious warrior will emerge as a hero and a great man, he reaches his goal by behaving in a brutal, inhuman way.
While the men behave like animals on the battlefield, they nevertheless experience human emotions when they are forced to deal with the difficult choices and losses inflicted by war. Soon after Hector returns to his wife, Andromache, and his young son, Astyanax, he is obligated to return to battle, despite his love for his family and his wife’s prophecy that the war will soon cost him his life. Though heavy-hearted, Hector insists on going back, claiming that he must win “great glory” for his father and himself, for he has learned the ancient world’s masculine code “all too well” (
The tension between the glory of war and its simultaneous costs fuels
Please wait while we process your payment