Throughout all of history wars have been fought for a myriad of reasons. Whether it be for land, religion, conquest of new territory, defense of one’s homeland, or anything else that might persuade someone to turn to violence, there is an almost innumerable amount of things people feel are worth fighting for. Though these motivations can seem diverse and situation specific, there exists a common theme amongst them all. As evidenced by Homer’s Iliad and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, the many causes for which people are willing to fight can ultimately be placed into one of two categories: “for the good of oneself” and “for the good of others”.
The conflict presented in Homer’s Iliad is the Trojan War. The reasons why the Trojan War is being fought are made clear: Paris, prince of Troy, stole Menelaus’ wife Helen causing Menelaus and his Greek allies to besiege Troy in an attempt to take back Helen and get revenge on Paris and all of Troy for what he has done. This may be the “official” reason for fighting the Trojan War but in fact many of the war’s participants have no personal issues with the Trojans and are there simply for kleos (glory) and geras (prizes): personal gains. This is true of Achilles himself and is shown through his argument with Agamemnon in Book 1 where he says “I don’t have any quarrel with the Trojans, They didn’t do anything to me to make me Come over here and fight… And now you’re threatening to take away the prize That I sweated for and the Greeks gave me” (Il. 1.162-164, 170-171). Through these words to Agamemnon, Achilles implies that the only reason he is fighting against Troy is to gain the prizes he speaks of. These prizes would lead to Achilles’ own benefit and therefore place his reason for fighting into the category of “for the good of oneself”. Achilles’ prize, the girl Briseis, is later taken from him by Agamemnon and Achilles proceeds to withdraw from battle having been denied the thing he feels is worth fighting for: the glory and prizes of success in battle.
The other aforementioned reason that people feel is worth fighting is “for the good of others”. This motive is exemplified first through Hector, Paris’ brother and Troy’s best warrior. Hector fights to protect his wife Andromache and his son Scamandrius from the terrible things that would happen to them should Troy fall and the Greeks become victorious. Hector knows Troy will fall someday, but fights so that day will be well after Andromache and Scamandrius live out their lives. Hector says to Andromache before he leaves for battle “Deep in my heart I know too well There will come a day when holy Ilion will perish, But the pain I will feel for the Trojans then… is nothing compared to what I will feel For you, when some bronze-armored Greek Leads you away in tears, on your first day of slavery” (Il. 6.470-473, 477-479). He fights to save his wife and son from the horrors that would happen to them should Greece take Troy. His will to fight for the benefit of his family is what places Hector’s true motivation to fight into the category of “for the good of others”.
Achilles, too, exemplifies this alternate mindset of what is worth fighting for after the death his of friend Patroclus. Having has lost the feeling that kleos and geras are worth the fight, Achilles needed a major event to occur for him to feel the want to reenter the fray. This event comes in the form of the death his good friend Patroclus, and it gives Achilles the want for revenge, reigniting the fighting spirit within hm. When speaking to his mother Thetis, Achilles says “I no longer have the will To remain alive among men, not unless Hector Loses his life on the point of my spear And pays for despoiling Menoetius’ son” (Il. 18.95-98). Revenge may seem like a very personal motive, however Achilles does not seek revenge for himself but rather on the behalf of “Monoetius’ son”, Patroclus. What Achilles’ feels is worth fighting for after Patroclus’ death is not the glory and prizes he can attain by winning victories, but rather the chance to avenge his close friend. This motivation can be fit into the category of “for the good of others” because Achilles does not choose to fight for his own gain, but rather for the sake of Patroclus.
Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War presents a glimpse of another war fought many years after the Trojan War. By the time of the Peloponnesian War, cities and communities have seemingly become more complex and so too have their reasons for going to war. However, beneath the surface of these motivations can be found a deeper motive and purpose worth fighting for. These deeper motivations happen to fit into the same categories as those found in the Iliad: “for the good of oneself” and “for the good of others”.
The majority of Thucydides’ focus, however, is on the Athenians, whose motive to fight Sparta belongs in the latter of these two categories. In his famous funeral oration Pericles presents a description of all the things he believes sets Athens apart from its neighbors, then moves on to claim “This, then, is the kind of city for which these men, who could not bear the thought of losing her, nobly fought and nobly died” (HPW 2.41). The Athenians, therefore, fight for the good of their city, and by extension fight for the good of others. Later in his oration Pericles goes on to say that “They gave [Athens] their lives, her and to all of us and for their own selves they won praises that never grow old… their glory remains eternal in men’s minds, always there on the right occasion to stir others into speech or action” (HPW 2.43). Ironic, it seems, that the men of Athens who fought for the good of their city and its people earned that which those who fight for the good of themselves so often seek: glory and honor.
War is not something that is likely to leave this world any time soon. The hardships it inevitably causes often lead people to ask the question “what is worth such pain and suffering?” The wars depicted in the works of Homer and Thucydides try to answer this question by showing the motivations and causes their combatants feel are worth fighting for in the context of their own situations. While seemingly specific, at their core these motivations have much in common: people fight either for the good of themselves or for the good of others. This simple answer to such a complex question is made evident by the ancient yet timeless writings of Homer and Thucydides. It is an answer that can and should be remembered when examining the causes of the wars that happened long ago, those that rage on in the present, and those which have not yet come to pass.