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Since the beginning of time, civilizations have used literature for entertainment and for education. While people believed that the story which was being told was for entertainment, however, the authors had a different intent. The Iliad, is a prime example of Homer’s visual of proper values. These are shown by Hector’s courage. In The Iliad, Homer sets the story during the siege of Troy in the 9th -8th century BC. Sappho’s poetry perfectly illustrated the proper values on love and passion. Sappho’s poetry originated from either the island of Lesbos or Sicily since she was exile there for political reason. (38) Plato wrote The Republic in 342 BC was really a dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon where they discussed the values of women’s roles in society. Homer, Sappho, and Plato where three extremely influential writers birthed from a century of gifted writers who contributed to society. Those ancient works of literature was composed for educational purposes, as well as enlightenment on proper values, as opposed to entertainment and social enjoyment. Homer’s, The Lliad, was read numerous times in Athens, Greece. In fact, in the sixth century it was Athenian law that The Lliad would be recited once a year; everyone in the city would attend the reading. This served not only for entertainment, but was used to preach about proper values of that time period. The particular value which was being preached was courage. In the Iliad, Hector ran from Achilles, “a deathless god”. (35) Even though Hector wanted overcome Achilles, he had no faith in a victorious return.
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