The Immortal Heroes of Homer’s Iliad Essay - 1419 Words

The Immortal Heroes of Homer’s Iliad In Homer’s Iliad, a warrior can only attain heroism and immortality by embracing an early death. Jean-Pierre Vernant describes this paradox in his essay, â€Å"A ‘Beautiful Death’ and the Disfigured Corpse in Homeric Epic.† According to Vernant, heroes accept the fact that life is short and â€Å"devote themselves completely and single-mindedly to war, adventure, glory, and death† (53). 1 Curiously, this is because heroes overcome death only when they embrace it (57). The importance of death stems from the fact that the individual is defined by his reputation and esteem among others, as Vernant points out when he argues that . . . real death lies in amnesia, silence, demeaning obscurity, the absence of†¦show more content†¦Heroes devote themselves to ideals of strength and bravery, die gloriously on the battlefield, and are immortalized by the poetry of generation (22.304). 2 Many passages in the Iliad demonstrate this heroic endeavor to die a death worthy of future generations’ praise, but most visible among them is the description of the shield of Achilleus. Fashioned by Hephaistos, this shield depicts many scenes, but one scene in particular stands out in its relation to the greater epic—the vineyard. This pastoral scene can be read as a rich allegory of the heroic quest for glory and immortality. The vineyard’s structure resembles the Achaian camp and the fortifications of war. Hephaistos inscribed on the bronze shield â€Å"a field-ditch of dark metal, and drove all around this a fence of tin† (18.564). The combination of ditch and fence recalls the defenses that the Achaians built around their own ships: Poseidon described earlier how the Achaians had â€Å"built a wall landward of their ships, and driven about it / a ditch† (7.448). Thus, the shield displays an artistic representation of the Achaian camp. The contents of the vineyard foreshadow the fate of heroes, to which Achilleus will soon fall victim: â€Å"the grapes upon [the shield] were darkened / and the vines themselves stood out through poles of silver† (18.562). The clusters of grapes evoke the countless number of men who were earlier compared to â€Å"the swarms of clustering bees that issue forever / in fresh burstsShow MoreRelatedThe Epic Poem Of Troy1356 Words   |  6 Pagesthe history. Iliad portrays the siege of a dynamic ancient Greek epic poem of Troy, which is attributed to Homer. Adventurous and braveness with god-like qualities is used to describe the ancient classic Greek heroes in this poem. Iliad is now known as one of the aged surviving ancient Greek epic poems, which directly relates to the events near the end of Trojan War. Heroic figures are considered important in Greek history due to some qualities included; having one immortal parent, bornRead MoreA Dynamic Greek Epic Poem Iliad1354 Words   |  6 Pagestheir history. A dynamic Greek epic poem Iliad portrays the siege of Troy, attributed to Homer. Adventurous and braveness with god-like qualities describe an ancient classic Greek hero in this poem. Iliad is known now as one of the oldest in two surviving ancient Greek epic poems relating the events near the end of Trojan War. Hero’s are known as important figures in ancient Greek history and some of their qualities included; having one immortal parent, born into royalty, having an unusualRead MoreIliad - Self image1193 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿The Iliad Essay Prompt 1. Complete one take home essay. Provide textual evidence, specific lines and incidents from The Iliad that proves your thesis. You may also draw from The Odyssey. Use in text parenthetical documentation according to MLA standards. The style guide that many colleges use is DianaHacker.com. We will use this style guide for both MLA format and grammar and mechanics. If you have any questions about MLA format, refer to DianaHacker.com. This paper needs to read asRead MoreThe Iliad Vs. Troy1692 Words   |  7 PagesSlater Poem vs Film The Iliad vs â€Å"Troy† Achilles and Hector fighting with Athena and Apollo on both sides of the Warriors Introduction Written by the ancient Greek poet, Homer, The Iliad was an epic documented on the nearly 10-year long war between the Trojans and the Greeks. Although the epic had occurred in 1194–1184 BC, the epic was passed down through generations, orally, until Homer wrote the Iliad 500 years after the Trojan war in 750 BC. An adaptation of the Homers’ Iliad is David Benioff’sRead More Essay on Hector as the Ideal Homeric Man of Homers Iliad1358 Words   |  6 PagesHector as the Ideal Homeric Man of Homers Iliad        Ã‚  Ã‚   Homers Iliad enthralls readers with its’ valiant heroes who fight for the glory of Greece. The Iliad, however, is not just a story of war; it is also a story of individuals. Through the characters words and actions, Homer paints portraits of petulant Achilles and vain Agamemnon, doomed Paris and Helen, loyal Patroclus, tragic Priam, versatile Odysseus, and the whole cast of Gods. Ironically, the most complete character in the epic isRead MoreIliad Overview 1298 Words   |  6 Pagescan derive many causes from the poems. The Iliad of Homer, throughout which several things are, derived from the compilation of twenty-4 books, models the conventional of writing an epic; Homer units the usual through compiling two of basically essentially the most nicely-identified epics of the world. Homer now not solely has given two of the best epic poems however moreover has offered the proper insight of the Greek custom and civilization. The Iliad a lot notably conceived like a wrestle timeRead MoreVirgil s The Iliad And The Odyssey1403 Words   |  6 PagesVirgil s Aeneid takes a character form Homer’s Odyssey and constructs a life for him beyond Homer’s ideas. It is quite obvious that Virgil was heavily influenced by both Homer’s writings, The Iliad and the Odyssey. Both stories tell of parallel journeys home from Troy at the end of the Trojan War. Homer’s Odysseus is returning to Greece and the family he left behind ten years ago. Virgil’s Aeneas, in contrast has been given a direct command by the God, Mercury to create a new Empire. Both menRead MoreHomer s The Iliad And The Odyssey Essay1590 Words   |  7 Pagesstories of the world of the ancient Greeks, the Iliad and The Odyssey. However, none are certain of the time in which Homer lived. It is believed now that, if Homer was at all more than myth himself, he did not create the two stories, rather he organized or edited the poems in a written form (Bloom). Reg ardless of Homer’s involvement with the two stories, these ancient tales are distinct and characterized by the world in which they were conceived. The Iliad and The Odyssey both heavily draw inspirationRead MoreThe Epic Of Homer s The Iliad1297 Words   |  6 Pageswriting of Homer’s The Iliad. Fast-forward to 2004, the age of media, where the epic adventure war film Troy was released, starring none other than Brad Pitt as Achilles; so dreamy. Despite the fact these works of art were executed in different cultures thousands of years apart, as well as in different mediums, their characters greatly contrast each other. On the other hand, these different genres are comparable in the fact that Troy follows many of the important plot concepts as The Iliad. The filmingRead MoreThe Heroic Code Of Homer s Iliad1208 Words   |  5 Pages Homer’s Iliad depicts a tale of war that focuses on various human-centered themes that focus on describing the kind of people that ought to strive to become. This is characterized by the heroic code, which is the ultimate desire of each hero in the epic poem. The heroic code, according to Homer, focuses on the simple premise of a hero achieving honor, which is also understood to be peer-received esteem. Homer depicts this important value as what most humans would seek to achieve, because this important

Critique on Constraint-Based Approaches for Balancing Bike-Sharing Systems Free Essays

Summary: The article, â€Å"Constraint-Based Approaches for Balancing Bike-Sharing Systems† by Gaspero, Rendl, Urli (2013) focuses upon a new business activity taking place in busy cities, known as the bike-sharing system. While cities are crowded and it is often difficult for pedestrians to walk long distances, the bike-sharing system enables people to rent bikes from bike stations positioned in various places across the city, ride to their destination, and then return the bike to another bike station in close proximity. However, there is often a management problem in the bike-sharing system which leads to customer dissatisfaction as customers located in hilly or suburban areas take bikes from stations in close proximity of these areas but then take the bikes to the busy city centres and park at a station there. We will write a custom essay sample on Critique on Constraint-Based Approaches for Balancing Bike-Sharing Systems or any similar topic only for you Order Now Thus, this leaves the bike stations in these areas empty as hardly any customers return their bikes to these stations. Accordingly, customers in these areas face inconvenience and the demand for bikes in these areas is not met appropriately. Moreover, customers in the busy city centre areas face problems of parking their bikes as the bike stations in city centres are full and customers often have to go in search of an available spot to park their bikes. Thus, this problem develops a need for the development of a solution to optimize the meeting of demand and to ensure that customers are provided with maximum convenience. Accordingly, this situation results in a need for balancing the bike-sharing system so that all of the bike stations are equally equipped with bikes for customers and no station is left overloaded or empty. The solution found for this was through an overnight bus route by management of the bike-sharing service which picks up bicycles from certain stations and places them elsewhere in order to balance out the bike-sharing system and ensuring that the system is able to provide customers with convenience and meet demand appropriately. The article uses two constraint-based approaches focusing upon popular routes and demand for bicycles in order to determine the most optimal tours and operating instructions in order to relocate bikes appropriately and efficiently. The article first makes use of constraint programming and two novel constraint models in order to find the most promising routes for the balanced bike sharing system. Then the article emphasizes upon the Large Neighbourhood Search approach and compares it with the previous Branch and Bound approach in order to determine which method is most suitable for designing an optimum tour plan for relocating bicycles. The article concludes that the combination of constraint propogation and neighbourhood search is an effective method to increase the performance of the tour. Moreover, the solution found emphasizes upon limiting the size of the neighbourhood which will enable reaching low-cost solutions very quickly. While the authors of the study have currently used a quantitative approach for this article, they have mentioned a desire to conduct future quantitative research by exploring different variants of the Large Neighbourhood Search including employing different stopping conditions and acceptance criterions. The authors have also labelled one element of the problem as the dynamic variant of the BBSS problem which the authors wish to study in the future. This variant includes the aspect of when bikes are moved from independently from one station to another during rebalancing which results in variable target values and variable station loads over time. Critique: The article, â€Å"Constraint-Based Approaches for Balancing Bike-Sharing Systems† is focused upon a unique topic for which there is not an immense amount of previous literature available. The authors have explored an aspect of business activity that exists in the contemporary business environment but is relatively new to customers and users and has not previously been discussed to a large extent in business research. Thus, the article provides a beneficial explanation of an existing problem and offers a thorough explanation of the problem. However, the article focuses upon a very narrow topic and is only specifically centred around the problem of bike-sharing systems. Thus, the findings of the study cannot be generalized in other areas and may not be highly useful in the contemporary business environment as they are only catering to a niche activity (Delamont Atkinson, 2010). The language used in the article is simple and self-explanatory which enhances the understanding of readers and enables them to comprehend what the authors are aiming to deliver and the problem that they are aiming to solve. However, while the authors make the explanation of the problem vividly clear, the solution they offer is of a highly complicated quantitative nature. Thus, as soon as the article launches into its computations, the reader is likely to get confused and may also lose interest in the article (Alston Bowles, 2012). Moreover, the article does not clearly illustrate its results and does not offer a thorough and simple explanation of what the authors have found and what their findings mean. Thus, it may be difficult for the reader to comprehend the authors’ findings and what benefit the article has given to readers related to the topic in question. Accordingly, there are various other approaches that the authors could have used in order to enhance the level of comprehension of the article and increase its usefulness for ordinary readers. The first alternative suggested approach for the authors of this article was to adopt a qualitative methodology consisting of interviews with the customers of the bike-sharing systems and gain in-depth knowledge of the prevailing problem and suggested solutions. However, there may be some limitations to using this methodology which include confirming the validity of the results and analyzing or measuring data. The quantitative approach allows the authors to appropriately measure and analyze data and confirm that the results obtained are authentic and valid. Using qualitative data may mean that the results obtained may contain elements of interviewer or respondent bias (Flick, 2009). Another alternative approach that the authors could have used consists of conducting a thorough literature review on the topic which could have helped increase reader understanding and retain reader attention. However, the main problem involved in adopting this approach lies in the fact that this topic may not have an expanse of literature available for analysis and it may have been difficult for the authors to gather this level of information. The authors could have still enhanced understanding of this study by including more previous literature or including related topics to the analysis (Daymon Holloway, 2010).The authors could have also opted to simplify the quantitative analysis and use simple statistical measurements in order to enhance reader understanding and comprehension. Methods such as regression, descriptive statistics, and other statistical measures could have been used instead of complicated heuristics calculations. This would have enabled readers to understand the fi ndings in a better manner and improve comprehension (Liamputtong Ezzy, 2006). However, the article was well-written and thoroughly explained which enhanced reader attention and enabled comprehension. Moreover, the calculations enhanced validity and authenticity of the results and enabled the appropriate calculation of the information needed. The methodology of the paper could have been simplified and the structure could have been improved with further sub-headings and a broader literature review (Denzin Lincoln, 2011). Thus, while the article had certain shortcomings it also had quite a few strengths in the sense of the level of expression, the level of understanding, and the quantitative analysis conducted. However, the authors of the study can improve the clarity and comprehension of the study by incorporating the recommendations mentioned and the authors should also expand upon the section on further research and include further ideas for future research. Suggestions for Further Work: The authors of this study can further conduct research upon other methods of transport or can replicate this study by implementing a qualitative methodology in the future. The authors can also conduct research on other new business activities and possibly choose topics which cater to a vaster market rather than only catering to a niche business activity. References Liamputtong, P., Ezzy, D. (2006).Qualitative research methods. New York: Oxford University Press. Daymon, C., Holloway, I. (2010).Qualitative research methods in public relations and marketing communications. Routledge. Denzin, N. K., Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2011).The SAGE handbook of qualitative research. Sage. Miller, T., Mauthner, M., Birch, M., Jessop, J. (Eds.). (2012).Ethics in qualitative research. Sage. Flick, U. (2009).An introduction to qualitative research. Sage. Alston, M., Bowles, W. (2012).Research for social workers: An introduction to methods. Allen Unwin. Delamont, S., Atkinson, P. (Eds.). (2010).SAGE Qualitative Research Methods. SAGE Publications Limited. Method of Gathering Data: The literature gathered for this critique was gathered from journals, books, and online sources. Particular keywords were used in order to find relevant sources for this critique and emphasis was given upon finding sources regarding qualitative and quantitative analysis. The literature used for this critique was thoroughly read, examined, and relevant points were extracted in order to form an analysis for the article in question. How to cite Critique on Constraint-Based Approaches for Balancing Bike-Sharing Systems, Essay examples

Research on Customer Switching Behavior †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Research on Customer Switching Behavior. Answer: Introduction: The training has been conducted in two halves. The first training has been offered to the new internal research executive. The training offers the scope of the research that has to be done by the internal research executive and the pitfalls that the research will have. The part of research of the internal executive will include the research related to the internal matters of the organization. The research will have the chance to know about the system of communication between the employees and the management. The research will have the scope of improving the communication system that exists in an organization and this would improve the organizational goal. The research would enable the executive to know the internal conditions of the organization and to know the issues that are being by the employees (Babin and Zikmund 2015). The limitations of the research of the internal executive would include the lengthy process that will be included in the process of knowing the internal factors of the organization. The executive is supposed to interrogate the employees personally and he is required to examine the issues faced by the employees. This is a lengthy problem and it takes time to go through the internal system of the organizations. The other thing that the research cannot offer is the actual cause of the problems. Many employees would not reveal the problem to the executive as they would have the fear of losing their job if they speak about the problems (Silverman 2016). The other training part of the training is organized for the new recruited marketing executive. The research of the marketing executive would include the scope of knowing the condition of the market. It would enable the person to know the status of the acceptability of the product in the market and the situation of the market and the scope of improvement. The research can offer about the competitors of the company and chances of new entry in the market (Wangrow, Schepker and Barker 2015). The research cannot offer few things. The research of the marketing executive cannot offer the internal condition of the organization. The research will not be able to offer about the ethics of the company that is sometimes required in case of marketing. The external supplier of research offers the innovation of both, the internal factors as well as the external factors. The innovation also includes the innovation in the field of technology as well as in the field of non-technology. The external supplier of research helps the company to know the areas they are lacking in and the areas they need to improve. It includes the development of relation between the partners of the company. It enables to build a good relation between the external research suppliers and the organization to whom they are lending their support. They serve as a good training procedure for the internal and the external researchers of the company. It takes the company towards achieving their goals and their targets. It increases the consistency of the research method. It enables to share the internal information of the company (Nardi 2018). The reason for using the external suppliers of the company is that the suppliers can be objective and they could be the subjec t to the politics of the company. The external suppliers are able to provide special talents that the internal suppliers do not possess. This improves the internal environment of the organization that is the condition of the employees and the relationship between the employees and the management. The executives should be aware of the factors they would proceed to do their research on. The training on the process of doing research is required for the individuals so that they can conduct the research in a planned way and they can get the authentic information from their research. The external supplier can enable the internal researcher to inform the employees of the developments that influence their organization. This would lead towards the attainment of the individual as well as the goals of the organization. This would encourage the employee participation inside the organization. The organization will be able to attain a smooth leadership that will enable the organization to functio n smoothly. The external supplier of research can offer the organization with the clear idea of the policies in the organization, demonstrate the commitment of the organization, identify the area of improvement of the organization, and motivate the workforce of the organization (Sirakaya et al. 2017). The company that has been chosen for this particular assignment is Hotel Royal Cottage. The biggest challenge they are facing is a set-back in the technological advancement. The world has made a progress in the field of technology. Yet the hotel has not made any progress in this particular field. The hotel has not made the service flexible and they do not accept online bookings. Apart from this there food and service has deteriorated. They have failed to render premium services in the recent years (Chuang and Tai 2016). The problem that has been discussed above requires to be highlighted. The reason for highlighting the problem is to succeed in the competitive world. The entire world is making a progress towards technology. All the essential things are done online in the current world, starting from ordering food to shopping and even paying bills are done online. It is feasible for the customers to book their hotels online by making online transaction. It makes work faster and easier. This is the reason the problem should be taken into consideration and it should worked upon. The other reason for highlighting the problem is if the problem is not taken care of it might lose the potential customers and the customers might shift to some other hotels. The other problem was the problem of poor quality service and food. The poor food and service offered by the hotel might make the hotel lose the potential customers. The customers might shift their interests from golden cottage to some other hotel. This is the reason this can be referred to as an issue and efforts should be made to rectify the issue (Sarstedt and Mooi 2014). The explanatory research method is the method that usually is conducted for the problems that are not studied more clearly. It involves the data collection method and the research design is based on the secondary method. It applies techniques like, reviewing the secondary literature or the data that is available. It includes the qualitative approach like the collections of feedback from the customers, holding communication with the employees and the management and also the competitors. It involves the formal qualitative research through the in-depth interviews, through the interviews of the focus groups, through the case studies or the pilot studies (Retolaza and San-Jose 2017). The descriptive research method is the combination of the explanatory and the exploratory research method. It identifies the problems during the research and highlights them (Bryman and Bell 2015). On the other hand it explains the reason of choosing the proposed form of research. The descriptive from of research aims at realizing the issues and at the same time providing effective solution of the issue. The descriptive method is a useful research method as it provides the effective solution of the problems that have been recognized during the research (Sarstedt and Mooi 2014). The Explanatory or causal forms of research is the investigation of cause and effect relationships. The variables are required to observe in this case. It is important to observe the variation in the variable assumed in order to cause the change in the other variables and then measure the change in the other variables. The cause and effect relationship is important in this type of research program. The cause of the problem is analysed in this type of research and the effect of the same is realized. There are ways to explore the cause and effect relationship between the variables. They are experimentation and statistical research. The experimentation includes the practical reasoning of the problems and the statistical research includes providing statistical records of the problems (Toshkov 2017). The above company must adopt the descriptive research method (Forza, 2016). This would include the recognition of the problem and the solution of the problem. The recognition of the problem is necessary in order to solve the problem. There was a problem that the company could not provide proper service and the quality of the food got worst. It is important to identify the problem in order to solve that. The food and the service is a problem in such case. Apart from this the hotel had poor engagement in the digital media despite the rapid growth of the technology in each nation. The solution would be to take effective steps to offer services through digital media. This is the solution that the company should look forward to. References Babin, B.J. and Zikmund, W.G., 2015.Exploring marketing research. Cengage Learning. Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015.Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. Chuang, Y.F. and Tai, Y.F., 2016. Research on customer switching behavior in the service industry.Management Research Review,39(8), pp.925-939. Forza, C., 2016. Surveys. InResearch Methods for Operations Management(pp. 95-180). Routledge. Nardi, P.M., 2018.Doing survey research: A guide to quantitative methods. Routledge. Retolaza, J.L. and San-Jose, L., 2017. Single case research methodology: a tool for moral imagination in business ethics.Management Research Review,40(8), pp.890-906. Sarstedt, M. and Mooi, E., 2014. A concise guide to market research.The Process, Data, and. Sarstedt, M. and Mooi, E., 2014. The Market Research Process. InA Concise Guide to Market Research(pp. 11-23). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Silverman, D. ed., 2016.Qualitative research. Sage. Sirakaya-Turk, E., Uysal, M., Hammitt, W.E. and Vaske, J.J. eds., 2017.Research Methods for Leisure, Recreation and Tourism. CABI. Toshkov, D., 2017. Research Design.Theory and Methods in Political Science, p.219. Wangrow, D.B., Schepker, D.J. and Barker III, V.L., 2015. Managerial discretion: An empirical review and focus on future research directions.Journal of Management,41(1), pp.99-135.