In today's society, films of all genres thrive on romantic plots and subplots. Many decisions made are all centered around securing a love interest. Although Homer wrote The Iliad hundreds of years ago, his story is no exception to this timeless idea that love is the driving force of humanity. As The Iliad shows, love is more than just holding hands and taking long walks on the beach; love causes wars, love changes people's minds, and love makes people do things they would never do otherwise. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay First, Menelaus's love for his wife drives him to go to war against the Trojans after Paris steals Helen. When offered the chance to end the war with a single duel to decide who gets Helen, Menelaus decides to fight against Paris. He tells his soldiers that they have suffered enough for this quarrel that Alexandros started. By saying this, Menelaus shows that he is willing to fight for the woman he loves. He doesn't want anyone else involved and he's putting all his trust in this one duel. In other words, he knows he will leave with his wife or die trying to win her back. Furthermore, Helen's love for Menelaus causes her to run out of the house to watch him fight. When she is told of the duel about to take place, Hélène misses her former husband and quickly leaves the house, tears streaming down her face. Helen knows her husband is out there, possibly about to die for her, and she absolutely wants to be by his side, regardless of the final outcome of the duel. However, love can take other forms in Homer's story. Between Achilles and Patroclus, there is no romantic love, but a love between friends. This friendly love leads Achilles to lend Patroclus his armor and army, even though he wanted the Trojans to win so he could prove Agamemnon wrong. With tears streaming from his eyes, Patroclus asks Achilles to at least let me go, to take our Myrmidons and put your armor on my shoulders. Achilles' willingness to let his friend take his army, along with his warning to return after clearing the ships, proves how much Achilles truly cares for Patroclus. The angry prince trusts his soldiers to keep Patroclus alive, and he trusts that his armor will protect him. When Patroclus dies, Achilles is angered enough to fight once more, despite the prophecy that claims he will die if he does. He even goes so far as to apologize to Agamemnon, asking him what good is it for both of us to take things to heart, so let me meet the enemy face to face. After book after book of Achilles' absence from battle, it is his love for Patroclus that finally allows him to see that his grudge is petty, and that he must fight. Finally, there is the familial love that Priam feels for his son, Hector, and this causes the king to kneel before the enemy. This love pushes Priam to make a decision that no one in their right mind would make. Most would fear Achilles; most would never think it would be safe to go to him and ask for the corpse of a son. Meanwhile Priam approached Achilles, clasped his knees with him, and kissed the terrible murderous hands that had killed so many of his sons. Despite the fact that Achilles kills so many of Priam's children, including Hector, he is willing to kiss the man's hands because Hector is so important to the king that he would go to any lengths to retrieve his corpse . Priam desperately wants.