Love as the Foundation for Heroic Ideals, Essay Example

The expression of heroic ideals in both Homer’s The Iliad and Chaucer’s A Knight’s Tale perhaps share a significant element to the extent that they ultimately are caused by a notions of love. Namely, the conflict of the Trojan War is set in motion by Paris’ theft of Menelaus’ bride Helena in the Iliad, whereas the central conflict of A Knight’s Tale is created by Palamon and Acrita’s struggle for Emily. From this perspective, in both cases the traditional physical or material expressions of heroic ideals – fortitude in battle, a warrior sprit, expressions prominent in both works – are initially only made possible by the symbolic significance of love as the source of such heroism. How can this shared condition be understood? Perhaps in this sense the heroic ideal, in all its outward material manifestations, are thus ultimately, for both Homer and Chaucer, consequences of a love and sacrifice inherent to the struggle for the feminine object.

Cleary The Iliad’s most significant instance of this thesis is the cause of the war itself: the mobilization of great armies occurs not for political or economic gains, as in modern narratives – rather in this mythological narrative, the motivation for war comes from the desire for the feminine figure, and thus is induced by love. Hence, in the explanation of the reasons for the war, Achilles states, “What made the son of Atreus gather tho host and bring them? Was it not for the sake of Helen? Are the sons of Atreus the only men in the world who love their wives? Any man of common right feeling will love and cherisher her who is his own.” (Homer, 155) The violence aspects that are associated with heroism, for example, the act of war, are here hinted at as only being separable from violence as such with an aspect of love. Accordingly, if the hero overcomes obstacles, struggles, etc., this act is only heroic if its motivation is pure: in this case, the heroic ideal is ultimately realized only in so far as it is consistent with an ideal of love.

Much the same motif is present in Chaucer’s A Knight’s Tale. The protagonists of Palamon and Arcite are former friends, who have seen this friendship ruined by love for Emily. In their competition for Emily they are drawn into battle against each other. Yet arguably a crucial moment in the narrative occurs in the preparations before battle, when Palamon and Arcite pray to respective gods before combat: Palamon prays to Venus, the goddess of love for victory, whereas Arcita prays to Mars, the god of War. In their fight, Arcita, having prayed to the god of War is victorious; but, having been struck down by Saturn and dying after the battle, comes to the realization that Palamon should have Emily’s hand. He states, “As in this world, right now, I know of none/So worthy to be loved as Palamon,/Who serves you and will do so all his life. And if you ever should become a wife,/Forget not Palamon, the noble man.” (Chaucer) In the context of the pure combat between Palamon and Arcita, the prayer to Mars is sufficient to win the battle; but this in itself is not yet a heroic act. The true heroic act for Palamon is when he is to realize that Emily should be with Palamon: it is an understanding of love as the motivating force for heroic action that transforms Arcita from a potential villain into one of the narrative’s heroes.

Accordingly, the traditional and mythological approach to heroism recognizes its self-sacrificial character, a self-sacrifice that is most explicit in instances of love. Love in this sense allows heroic acts to be viewed as such: this motif, for both Homer and Chaucer, creates the context and the precondition for the understanding of the acts of protagonists as heroic. Love becomes essential for the heroic ideal, giving the material and physical action its idea, its motivation, thus rendering it heroic.

Works Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Knight’s Tale.”

Homer. The Iliad.