This paper attempts to address the question of moral values in Homer's world and examines how the Greeks have an established hierarchy and concomitant etiquette rules
governing how different members of
society can
behave to one another. It looks at how at the very top of this society are the heroes, such as Achilles in the Greek army and Hector on the Trojan and how, because they are so prevalent in the action of the poem, their ethics are much discussed. It shows how the notion of a "heroic code" governing how they behave is a controversial one, as is that of a "
shame-culture", where shame is the crucial factor in the judgements of the agathoi.