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Achilles Nature In The Iliad

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One of the most interesting sections in Book 24 of the Iliad when Priam knelt at the feet of his son’s killer. Not only did Achilles kill Hector but had been dragging him around his cart, and attempting to mutilating his sons body. And yet despite this he has the courage to appear before Achilles a man who has been torturing the broken body of his son (scorning the gods by doing so) and ask for the return of his son. The entire passage where Priam appeals to Achilles nature outside his need for revenge by saying:

This is incredibly courageous, and works to force Achilles to see the humanity in his foe and recognize Hector as a son with a loving father, rather than just the enemy. Even when Priam takes Hectors body and slips out in the middle

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