In today's society, films of all genres thrive on romantic plots and subplots. There is often some form of "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back" or some variation thereof, in which the guy's decisions are all centered around securing a love interest . Although Homer wrote The Iliad hundreds of years ago, his story is no exception to this eternal 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 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 essayFirst, Menelaus's love for his wife drives him to go to war against the Trojans after Paris stole Helene. 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 which Alexandros has begun” (Homer 41). 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 husband of yesteryear” and “quickly leaves the house, tears streaming down her face” (42). Helen knows that her husband is out there, possibly about to die for her, and she absolutely wants to be by his side, whatever the 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 and take our Myrmidons” and to “put your armor on my shoulders” (188). 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 so. He even goes so far as to apologize to Agamemnon by asking him: "What good was it for us both to take things to heart then... Let me meet the enemy face to face" (229). After book after book about Achilles' absence in 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. However, Priam approached “Achilles, joined his knees, and kissed the terrible murderous hands that had killed so many of his sons” (291). Despite the fact that Achilles kills,.