Traditional Lesson on The Iliad and The Things They Carried

Lesson: Heroism in The Things They Carried and The Iliad

Intended Audience: 12th graders

Objective:

Students will discuss the differences between pre and post Christian understandings of war and heroism.

Opening quotes and questions:

Please discuss these quote quietly with the people at your table.

“War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” 

The Things They Carried

“He who among you
finds by spear thrown or spear thrust his death and destiny,
let him die. He has no dishonour when he dies defending
his country, for then his wife shall be saved and his children afterwards,
and his house and property shall not be damaged, if the Achaians
must go away with their ships to the beloved land of their fathers.”

The Iliad

As we've learned by reading The Iliad, Greek heroes were renowned for their strength and military prowess. Do you think this is true today? Why or why not?

In The Things They Carried, Tim is a conscientious objector who considers dodging the draft. What makes him stay? Why doesn't he think of himself as a hero?

Do you think of Tim as hero? Why or why not?

Can you name one person who you think of as a hero?

What do most of these heroes have in common? What traits do they have?

Guided Discussion Questions:

Today, we will discuss the ways that our definition of "heroism" has changed as a culture, and I will describe to you a possible explanation for this shift.

In many older works of fiction like the Iliad and the Odyssey and in much of Greek mythology, the heroes and protagonists are.... (wait for students to supply descriptors) 

They're arrogant, war-like, they have great military prowess, etc

Is there a clear hero in The Things They Carried? (wait for responses)

Why is it so much harder to pin point in a hero in this book than it was for The Iliad? 

Mini-Lecture:

I would argue that it's harder to find a true hero in The Things The Carried than it is in The Iliad because our standards of heroism have changes. For ancients, their definition of heroism was deeply entrenched in masculinity, war prowess, and violence. For modern audiences, our favorite heroes are the one who are self-sacrificing. 

When I asked you to name heroes earlier, you all named somebody who makes personal sacrifices. Doctors, firefighters, and parents give up their time, sanity, and sometimes their lives for others. However, it's unlikely that your average ancient Greek would have believed that someone is a hero simply for being a nurse. While ancient Greeks had great respect for fallen war heroes, it wasn't simply dying that made someone a hero, it was dying in an honorable way. We moderns can frame a death as honorable even if it happens in a less glamorous environment than a battlefield. Our current definition of heroism is discordant with theirs. Why is this?

I would argue that this is the result of the influence of Christianity. In pre-Christian cultures, heroism was tied to many of the things we mentioned earlier. Strength, war prowess, etc. Essentially, you showed your heroism by dominating those weaker than yourself. 

However, the death of Christ is a paradigm shift. Christ's death was absurd and noteworthy by the standards of his contemporaries. While he was dying on the cross, those who sentenced him to death taunted him by telling him to call down angels to smite his foes. When he doesn't -- well, that's a little hard to understand for the Jews! They were expecting a war hero for their messiah, and what did they get? Someone who was easily killed by the same secular government that oppressed them.

In Christian theology, however, Jesus's death was sacrificial. It was humiliating, but it had a purpose. Christian theology claims that Jesus died and rose from the dead, and in doing such, forgave everyone's sins. Jesus isn't a hero to Christians IN SPITE of his death, but rather, BECAUSE of his death.

Now, to bring this back to The Things They Carried! 

In The Things They Carried, we see a very different type of war than we see in The Iliad. In The Iliad, there are more stringent rules of engagement. The Greeks, with the exception of perhaps Achilles, do not doubt that they are the good guys. The Greeks have an objective. The Greeks know they are fighting for an honorable cause.

For the men in The Things They Carried, the main characters, and especially Tim, aren't so sure. For one, they don't all seem to understand what they are fighting for. Even for modern scholars, unpacking the complex politics of the Vietnam War begs many questions. Tim also sees misuses of power that make him doubt whether or not he is fighting for a just cause. 

Tim is immersed in Christian culture, so he expects heroism to look a certain way; he expects self-sacrifice for a just cause, and he doesn't find it.

Exit question:

In your journal please write about one paragraph about the following topic:

What sorts of heroes do you tend to admire most; the domineering kind that we read of in The Iliad, or the meeker post-Christian heroes? Is heroism necessarily self-sacrificial? Why or why not?