From epic hero to tragic hero: the progression of the ethical considerations in the Iliad

Abstract

In the Iliad, the main heroic characters undergo a transition from a culture in which mankind is left in the hands of the gods, or of an unquestionable fate, to a position in which the human being assumes his responsibility in the setting of an interaction between the human and the divine levels, a position where Aeschylus’ heroes, as well as those in Sophocles and Euripides, will behave in accordance with their respective dramatic premises.