To be given the chance to play little league was one of the greatest times of my life. I played little league for four years, and every year I made the all-star team. My best friend and I played on every regular season team and every all-star team together. The final game of our career was unforgettable. It had been 4 years of great enjoyment with my best friend, Cody Smith. We always clowned around in practice, but when the game would start we had a high intensity. Cody would pitch, and I would play second base. When he asnt pitching, I would, and he would play third base. We were the top players in little league, or so we thought. The Iliad portrays fate and destiny as a supreme and ultimate force that is decided by each mans actions and decisions. A mans fate lies in the consequences of his actions and decisions. A man indirectly controls his destiny by his actions and decisions. One action or decision has a consequence that leads to another action or decision. A man is born with a web of many predetermined fates and one or more destinies.
A mans decisions control which course of fate he takes so that he indirectly controls his destiny. Since all mortals die, destiny is what you have done with the fates you have been dealt, and where you have taken your life. Eventually, a mans whole life may be traced to his very first action or decision. By stating someones fate as determined by their actions or decisions, fate is unbreakable, what has been done will control the present, and ultimately the future. The present is controlled by the past so that no one may escape their past decisions or actions.
The underlying concept of fate is that all man are not born equal, so that fate is the limitations or abilities placed upon him. In The Iliad the gods fate is controlled much in the same way as a mortals, except for one major difference, the immortals cannot die and therefore do not have a destiny. An immortals life may not be judged because they havent and wont die. The gods are able to manipulate mortals fate but not their own directly. A god may inspire a mortal to do or create something that might indirectly affect the gods fate.
This reinforces the concept that no one may escape his or her actions or decisions. In The Iliad, the concept that all mortals share the same destiny, that is that everyone dies, introduces the values of honor and courage, and other principles of what is right and what is wrong. Courage is demonstrated unselfishness and the desire to do what is right no matter what the cost. Since all men die a man who is willing to sacrifice himself for what he believes is right shows supreme faith and moral character as well as the admirable trait of putting something else above their own life.
Bravery or courage isnt necessarily aggressiveness or rage; for instance, all of Achilles actions are referred to in the beginning as “the rage of Achilles”. Doing such things as challenging a god might be brave, but something that is brave isnt always honorable, while something that is honorable is always brave. The Iliad suggest that the bravest deeds are the ones in which one risks their own life for what is right and what they believe in. Two men fighting on opposite sides may consider each other honorable because both are willing to sacrifice for their causes.
All men fear death, so the must consciously decide to fight for what they believe in, that which they consider supreme above all, even their own life. The greatest men are judged by whether they have a cause that they consider supreme over their own life and worth dying for. If one does not have a cause worth dying for then one does not have a cause worth living for. The Iliad suggests that honor must be earned from brave deeds and that those who are honorable should be revered and respected. The idea of valor and honor are ultimately a reflection of how life and death are interconnected as a part of human existence.
Death is considered the passing of ones soul from ones body, the idea of honor comes involved because a man may lose all of his possessions in life, or death, but no one may take his honorable accomplishments from him. Others closely connect honor and death because all men die but a man who has gained honor may live through the remembrance of his brave actions. A form of immortality ultimately rewards those who do honorable things that rivals the gods. The gods are given immortality while mortals must gain it by vicariously living through the memories of others that know of or recall their honorable actions.
When someone dies doing brave things they must be honored by completing what they couldnt, that is the basic concept of vengeance. When someone avenges a person who has been killed or wronged, they are performing honorable acts for them self and the person who was wronged. The Iliad portrays ones death as controlled by fate, and ones destiny ultimately controlled by ones life and death. Our all-star team had made it to the championship of our state tournament. Before our team took the field our coach John Zamouski gave us a talk. He said, Well men, weve came a long way. Todays the day weve all racticed so hard for, but I want to have fun with it. Lets treat this like every other game we have won. Youre all winners, win or lose. I want you all to know that I feel privileged to have coached such a fine bunch of men. So lets go out and play this game as hard as you can. What do you say, lets go have FUN. We all got up and yelled, YEA. Lets play hard. Yea As we all got more pumped up. Who are we? N. I. As we got more loud and more intense. Coach said, Bring it in. Win on 3. One, two, three as we all yelled together WIN. As I ran on to that field I recalled all the practicing I had done, and I knew I owed most of it to my father.
He started me throwing and hitting when I was about four-years-old. As my passion grew more and more I wanted to go practice all the time. So I would ask my father to practice with me. Even though my father was tired or in the middle of a good TV show he would practice with me. I remembered my father sitting on an old milk crate while I pitched to him. This made me chuckle a little because I would throw a low wild pitch on accident that would hit him in the legs, but he kept positive. Cody was pitching a 3 hitter and I was playing well too. The score kept going back and forth. There were a lot of errors because the field was all dirt and elt like concrete, the ball was taking bounces I had never seen before. The final inning came around and we were down by 1 run with 2 outs when I came to bat.
There was no one on base and the pitcher had 2 strikes on me. The next pitch seemed like it took forever. The pitcher pitched the ball right down the middle of the plate. I waited on the ball and hit a screaming line drive into left-center for a stand up double. Then Cody came up and hit the first pitch for a 2-run homerun for us to take the lead by 1. The next batter grounded out to end the inning, but the damage had already been done. We ook the field and Cody was still pitching. The first batter hit a double and then stole to advance to third base. Cody then struck out the next two batters. Their were two outs and a runner on third base. Before Cody pitched that next ball I knew every player on our team told themselves that they would do whatever it took to get that next out. So when the ball was pitched and hit to me I was determined to get the out. The ground ball took a bad bounce and hit me square in the ribs. I picked up the ball, which was to the left of me. I spun around and threw that ball with all my power to first base.
The ball reached the first basemens mitt a half step before the runner made it to the base for the third out and the championship. Getting the chance to play with my best friend and winning the state championship was everything I had ever wanted then. Having such a great and inspiring coach made me feel proud to have won the championship for our coach. As for my father, I know he was proud, and I was grateful for all the time and effort he had spent with me. I know I will remember my final game, and all the people that made my little league career so great for the rest of my life.
