Hector V. Achilles Essays

Hector V. Achilles Essays Hector V. Achilles Paper Hector V. Achilles Paper Hector v. Achilles In Homers Iliad many of the male characters display characteristics that define the heroic warrior code of ancient Greece. They try to obtain glory and power through victories in war; yet still have a distinct human side. Throughout many conflicts described in the Iliad their weaknesses and strengths appear evident. Two examples of this are Achilles and Hector. Both of these men try to uphold the warrior code but with distinctly different approaches in war, relationships and devotion to their country. Despite the differences and the opposing sides; they also have numerous similar traits which logically lead to a comparison between the two men. They both display behavior that could be described as heroic. The first way in which Achilles and Hector act differently is how they approach war. Achilles knows that he is destined to die in battle. Yet he still fights for his honor and glory. Achilles is known for his fierce and brutal antics in war. Many would come to think that he is not very heroic. He demonstrates the cold and brutal nature of war. When Agamemnon takes Brises, Achilles war prize, he refrains from fighting in battle. Achilles approach to war is primarily for the glory of his own name. His motives are purely aimed at the remembrance of his name, not the success of his country. All that he does in war is purely for personal gain. While his strength and courage in war is very heroic, his motives behind it are not so. One of Achilles only reason for fighting that could be honorable is when he fights for the death of Patrucles. His approach to war otherwise is purely for personal gain. Hector on the other hand has many reasons to fight in the battle. Hector is an honorable man who is loved by his country and family. He is an honorable warrior and his human morals are those considered of a hero. His approach to war is honor and glory for his country. He fights to keep his family and country safe. While some of Hectors actions seem un-heroic, he always seems to fight for the good of Troy. But although Hector may prove overly impulsive and insufficiently prudent, he does not come across as arrogant or overbearing. Moreover, the fact that Hector fights in his homeland, unlike any of the Achaean commanders, develop him as a tender, family-oriented man. Hector shows deep, sincere love for his wife and children. Hector loves his family; he never loses sight of his responsibility to Troy. Admittedly, he runs from Achilles at first and briefly entertains the hope of negotiating his way out of a duel. However, in the end he stands up to the mighty warrior, even when he realizes that the gods have abandoned him. His refusal to flee even in the face of vastly superior forces makes him the most heroic figures in the story. This is what makes a true hero stand out. His motives towards war are that of the hero. One of the characteristics of a hero is the relationships that they keep. Hector is the ideal hero in this since. He is a loving family man and a devoted leader. Hector shows deep love for his wife and children. He even treats his brother Paris with forgiveness and indulgence, despite the man’s lack of spirit and preference for lovemaking over military duty. Hector never turns violent with him, merely aiming frustrated words at his cowardly brother. Although Hector loves his family, he never loses sight of his responsibility to Troy. Achilles however does not develop over the course of the story. Although the death of Patroclus prompts him to seek reconciliation with Agamemnon, it does not alleviate his rage. Instead redirects it toward Hector. The event does not make Achilles a more heroic character. Bloodlust, wrath, and pride continue to consume him. He mercilessly kills his opponents, takes on the river Xanthus, desecrates the body of Hector, and sacrifices twelve Trojan men at the funeral of Patroclus. He does not show any compaction until the final book of the story, when King Priam came begging for the return of Hector’s desecrated corpse. This action seems to appeal to Achilles’ memory of his father, Peleus. Yet it remains unclear whether a father’s heartbroken pleas really have transformed Achilles, or whether this scene merely testifies to Achilles’ capacity for grief, which was already proven in his mourning of Patroclus. Another way that these two heroes differ is in their reasons for fighting. Hectors reasons for fighting are very clear and noble. He is the future leader and protector of Troy. All that he does in war and battle is to further the existence of Troy. The noble prince fights to uphold his country and family. Never are his actions aimed towards personal gain. In this aspect it makes Hector the ideal warrior. He upholds the heroic warrior code. Achilles on the other hand is a great warrior with many dishonorable reasons. While in battle Achilles worries only about his own honor and glory. Any time it comes for Achilles to fight it is either out of selfish reasons or anger. One of the few times that he fights honorably is when he fights for the honor of Patroclus. Even when he shows this moment of honor he then turns and desecrates the body of Hector. He had already won the fight yet instead of leaving with his victory he insists on proving his brutality. This is one of the actions that display Achilles true warrior nature. One of the most common standards of a hero is their devotion to their country. The perfect example of this is Hector. He knows his place in Troy and the role he must play. While still a prince of Troy he shows the most discipline and devotion when it comes to his role as protector of Troy. No matter what the outcome may look like, Hector knows he must face it for the good of his country. There is never any confusion as to where his true devotion lies. Most of Hectors actions are to further the existence of his country. While Hectors motives and devotion are clear it is not so with Achilles. As seen in many of Achilles fights, he is no patriot. Never does he ever show any true commitment of devotion to his country. Achilles thinks of himself as a God or a gift from the gods. He acts as though they should be worshiping and following him. He shows constant lack of respect for authority. When he refuses to fight of the slave girl, it almost resembles a child throwing a tantrum. In some cases he does show devotion to his warriors and his close friends and family. His brotherly love for Patriclus is an example of this. Thus both Hector and Achilles behave as heroes throughout the Iliad. While they both try to win glory in war for their families, their country, and themselves, they both have certain strengths and weaknesses in their character which dictate their very different courses of actions. They are both presented with conflicts and dilemmas throughout the story, the results of which must be made using both their human side and their heroic side. Both of these men try to uphold the warrior code but with distinctly different approaches in war, relationships and devotion to their country. All things that are considered of a true warrior

Free sample - The Untold Story of Welfare Fraud. translation missing

The Untold Story of Welfare Fraud. The Untold Story of Welfare FraudThe Untold Story of Welfare Fraud reviews the consequences of the implementation of the law concerning provision of financial aid to poor families. It reveals the imperfect character of the law which actually left no way out for people as they had to choose whether to keep to the law or to leave their families without food. According to Abramovitz (1988), women were not enough protected by the government and its laws as they could not make their own living without men. The following article presents two types of variables which are essential for understanding of the welfare fraud and the implementation of the Welfare Fraud Diversion Program. The dependent variable is the amount of people who broke the law subject to difficult life circumstances as well as those who were convicted of welfare frauds and received criminal records without breaking the law. The independent variables are the complexity of the application and compliance procedures, the sex and education level of the parents accused of welfare frauds, illegal actions of the controlling authorities. The article shows that the amount of frauds was influenced by the implementation of strict limits and measures which were in fact aimed at decreasing of the number of people enjoying state financial aid. The unit of analysis of this study is the process of law enforcement that was caused by the present law which was aimed at making an exact division according to the degree of the conducted crimes. According to Gatta (2005), the other reviewed issue is the impact of the welfare reform to the number of related crimes. According to the article, low-income women were greatly influenced by the law. Their lives and future of their families was under the risk of extinction because of low quality level of life and financial problems which occurred at those times. The article describes â€Å"the realities of the women caught in the web of welfare fraud prosecution after the 1996 changes to the welfare law†. O’Connor (2001) presents a kind of knowledge â€Å"grounded in practice, in activism, and in the experience not only of the material deprivation but on the everyday workings of the economy†. The influence of the imperfect law on the number of violations was researched through the quantitative and qualitative study of the welfare frauds' cases. The authors conducted a content analysis of the Public Defender’s welfare fraud case files for the year 2001. They also researched qualitative data of the year 2005. It was done in order to find out any differences which could have taken place since the conduction of the first research in 2001. The results of both studies were used to create the complete image of reasons leading to fraud conviction. According to the case study the people accused of welfare frauds may be divided into several groups. The first group involves people who intentionally broke the law in order to receive money. Usually, they pretended to be mistreated or mislead social workers about their actual income and, thus, cheated the government. The second group comprises of people who did everything possible to keep to the law but could not provide information about the income of their spouses or partners as they did not keep in touch with them. Applicants also often violated the rules as they could not clearly understand the procedure of income reporting. Such cases were very common taking into account that all women accused of welfare fraud did not attend colleges. In some cases the profit of the family in the subsequent month was higher than the financial aid threshold and woman was consequently accused of welfare fraud though her annual income was still far below the poverty line. Those people did not have any intension to abuse the law or to commit a crime. Nevertheless, they were assumed to be guilty and received the same status of criminals as those people who had conducted welfare frauds intentionally. The third group includes individuals who were not allowed to provide any information about incomes of their spouses or partners. Such cases were also very common and usually husbands threatened their wives for reporting additional incomes. Women did not have any choice as the only income was brought by their husbands. The study of the cases of the second and third groups shows that those people did not commit any crimes but their criminalization was caused by the wrong government's policy. The government tried to stop the wave of law violations, and enforced so strict reporting and supervision policy that non-guilty people were charged of fraud as well. The amount of criminal records was so high at that period that supervising authorities had no time to check whether crime was intentional or non-intentional. Accused people had no funds for legal assistance and could not protect themselves properly. Consequently, people saw only the increasing number of criminals without the context producing this figure. It was widely used for justification of the law reform. In addition to the proceeding costs burden that was taken by non guilty individuals their criminal record precluded them from finding sufficient jobs and made them apply for the governmental aid and again commit fraud. Besides, authorities has developed special measures that allowed convicting of welfare fraud but at the same time violated the privacy of aid receivers. The â€Å"man in the house† method is an example of such methods that were widely used for looking for law-breakers. In case a man was found in the house of a woman receiving financial aid she was incriminated under report of income for the purpose of welfare fraud. It looked like a circle of poverty. The dependent variable of crimes' quantity was clearly influenced by the independent variables mentioned above. In diachronic perspective, such enforcement of rules and laws may be compared with the actions that lead to the discrimination. The methods applied by the authors allowed revealing the possible sexism and division for gender roles. It turned out that fathers convicted of welfare frauds were subject to civil responsibility while mothers were accused of crimes. This clearly proves gender discrimination. Nevertheless, these results were not discussed in the paper though they worth further consideration. The selection of the sample in the first study of 2001 cases may evidence that the authors managed to analyze comparatively small amount of information. On the other hand, such statistic data cannot be considered to be the only possible source of information as it does not give the whole picture of the problem. As it can be seen from the actual study, the roots of the problem may be found deep in the history. Consequently, the whole period starting from the implementation of the law until the present time should be analyzed for the clear understanding of the problem. The method of comparison of two different studies makes it easier to forecast future development of the law and allows scientists finding out the ways of the program's improvement. Despite the authors were good in the choice of variables, the system of their conclusions may become unstable if other factors will be chosen as key factors. There are other potential variables which might slightly change the prospective the research got. This research is based on the data collected in San Diego, California and the results may be different in other states of the US. The level of welfare fraud would be different in different states and correlates with the criminal rate of the state. The amount of welfare frauds may also vary taking into consideration the amount of working places and the average quality of life in the state. In such case, the research described in The Untold Story of Welfare Fraud would not reflect the situation in the US. In addition, the correlation between the amount of welfare frauds and a number of poor families should be researched. Perhaps the increasing number of frauds was caused not only by strict measures but also by the increased number of poor families. Finally, the share of second and third groups was not indicated in the study that excludes the possibility of the comparative assessment of the negative effects of the governmental policy. The problem of the interconnection between the legal status of people under financial aid and suspicions regarding their income level and the rate of the actual help from the government should be taken into consideration as the problem of discrimination according to the social status. The law enforcement system does not give any possibility for poor people to get out of the trouble they got in. It becomes difficult for them to find a well-paid job and to earn enough money for living. In addition, the law providing financial aid to ordinary people should be understandable for them. As it was already mentioned the reason of numerous violations was the lack of understanding of the law. To summarize everything mentioned, it would be useful to appeal to the law system and to make the process of helping people less difficult for understanding. As a result, the law would not be broken by people on a regular basis just because of the large amount of details but instead it will bring a clear vision of the line which separates law obeying citizens from criminals. The research might be continued in the future on the basis of the data collected from all over the country but not from the only city as the welfare reform spreads across the US. According to the research, it may be said that the general picture of issues related to the past welfare reform is presented, however additional surveys showing the state of things at the present moment should be conducted. The fast development of the legislation makes even slightly out of date information irrelevant for the research. It may be made in cooperation with politics and attorneys from the whole country. Each state may create a group which would focus on collecting of the data about this issue in order to form a precise picture of the legal environment in the country. They may also make proposals to legislative bodies concerning improvement of the law in accordance with the principle of stability of the functioning and the suitability for citizens. The general attitude towards poor people also nee ds to be reestablished as the present one indirectly makes them live in poverty and does not involve any cooperation with government and the police. In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that the research perfectly shows what is going on in the city but not nationwide. The implementation of the welfare reform is a next step on the way to the era of law and justice. Nevertheless, the violation of the law is caused not only by unintentional actions but also by the intentional ones. Consequently, the reduction of the welfare frauds' number may be achieved in several ways including elimination of stereotypes concerning poor women obtaining governmental aid. Labeling people is a wrong way of behavior as it leads to wrong statements about others caused by the unsupported generalization. Stigmatizing of a person belonging to certain class is in fact a discrimination which may be eliminated only by the implementation of new social behavior patterns and broadening of the outlook of the members of the society.