How The Nicomachean Ethics drew on The Iliad
A documented line of influence: Aristotle demonstrably engaged Homer’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
The Iliad
Homer · c. 750 BCE
Ancient GreeceThe influenced
The Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle · c. 330 BCE
Ancient GreeceRelevance
5/10
On The Nicomachean Ethics’s page
- Aristotle assumes you know your Homer — he quotes the Iliad directly to ground his discussion of virtue
- Priam is his go-to example for what wrecks a happy life; the courage of Hector and Diomedes illustrates his account of bravery
- Reading the Iliad first means these aren't abstract citations — you've already met the men Aristotle is using to make his point
On The Iliad’s page
- When Aristotle needs to show his readers what courage or happiness looks like, he reaches for the Iliad
- He quotes Homer directly on courage in Book 3 — the lines of Hector and Diomedes — treating the poem as a shared moral vocabulary
- Priam becomes his central case: "no one calls a man happy who meets misfortunes like Priam's" — the Iliad's fallen king grounding Aristotle's whole account of a good life