James Galetti Professor Russell Western Heritage 1 05 October 2016 Is Achilles’ rage justified? In the Iliad, the character of Achilles has numerous character flaws that cause him to have blinded judgement towards his actions as well as shutting out everyone around within the epic poem. Achilles’ rage keeps him from being the hero that we were supposed to see him as. Achilles’ anger has lead to him committing cruel behavior; a large majority of the horrific violence within Homer’s story, comes from Achilles’ relentless rage. But is his rage truly without proper cause and justification? King Agamemnon forced Achilles’ to hand over his beloved Briseis to him, which caused Achilles to withdraw his men from the Achaean army. Achilles’ closest
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreWar brings out the best in Homer’s heroes, as they tap previously unknown reserves of strength, courage, and loyalty. But war also can bring out the worst in men. The theme of honor and masculinity is very strong that it overshadows the barbarity and unavoidable death or war. If they don’t battle it is considered an insult to masculinity. Achilles is driven by pride, anger and grief which leads him to go to war.
In the Iliad, Achilles doesn’t go through any stages of personal development, except for possibly when King Priam begs him to return Hector’s body. This may have been development, or it could be his grieving for Patroclus, so he didn’t really care. Throughout the book, he keeps his blind anger/bloodlust, causing him to maul his enemies (Hector), without morals, and easily wounded pride, which puts him into a full blown rage and holds a long grudge for it, like what happened with
Achilleus’ Rage Hero’s are found multiple times in Homer’s Iliad. The strong Patroklos is considered a hero in his selfless offering to go into battle to fight with his friends. As he pleads with Achilleus saying, “ then send me out at least, let the rest of the Myrmidon people follow me, and I may be a light given to the Danaans” (XVI.
Achilles epitomizes the most and least desirable traits of an ancient Greek man. The “swift runner” (2.66) is virtuous in his piety towards the gods. A demigod, favored by Zeus and Hera, he shows his reverence of (to?) the gods in wishing to placate Apollo and in heeding Athena, “Goddess, a man submits though his heart breaks with fury. Better for him by far.
Throughout book 18 of the Iliad, we are told in great detail of Achilles magnificent shield. Achilles decides to go into battle, but Hector has his armor. His mother, Thetis, hears his cries and comes down to him. He asks her to find armor that is stronger than his armor that Hector has taken. Thetis goes up to Hephaistos and requests him to make this armor as fast as he can.
Over time the concept of honor has varied due to the change in people mentality and the circumstances, also it meaning could change depending on the culture of each person. To understand how honor is implied in the Iliad, first we need to understand the different point of views of each characters, especially Hector and Achilles which I will describe and try to understand their honor. In ancient times people were governed under a system of values that promoted gallantry, force in battle, the verve and honesty and the protection of the weakest. However, all these values turned in a lathe to a single purpose, the most important theme in the lives of these characters, or to put it in another way: “honor”. By analyzing the characters mentioned before,
In the epic poem, the Illiad by Homer, Achilles is the most courageous character. For example, Achilles avenges his best friend Patroclus death by battling Hector for revenge. After Achilles is informed about Patroclus death he says, "if Hector does not feel my battering spear tear the life out of him, making him pay in his own blood for the slaughter of Patroclus!" (ln 28-30). His bravery shines through this act because he puts himself out there to avenge his friends death.
Achilles was sometimes a great warrior, but could be seen as very selfish. He could be seen this way by his family, peers, and fellow soldiers fighting with him. Achilles was not fully selfish, because he had a few accomplishments that made him a person to look up to. Achilles was a great Greek hero, but no warrior is ever perfect. In book one of the Iliad, the Greek King of Mycenae, Agamemnon, took a woman named Chryseis, angering Achilles.
The Iliad is an epic about one incident in the Trojan War. Achilles responds by withdrawing from fighting and praying to Zeus to let the other side,Trojans,win for a while so that his own side will see how badly it needs him. Achilles now forgets his quarrel with Agamemnon and rushes back into battle as soon as new armor could have made for him and despite being warned twice that his punishment was death very soon or next after Hector. He kills Hector and then refuses to let his body be buried until Hector's aged father, King Priam of Troy, comes to Achilles at night and offers ransom. Achilles accepts and gives up the body for Priam to take back to Troy.
In the epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles leaves the Greeks during battle because of his anger and rage towards Agamemnon. He refused to help the Greeks even when the Trojans were defeating them. However, when Hector kills Achilles’ close friend Patroclus, Achilles forgets about his anger over Briseis and joins the war again
Through viewing his rage and suffering, the audience is able to see their own flaws represented in him. Despite his flaws, Achilles is required to redeem himself in order to be remembered as a hero. Achilles' humanity made him an important mythological figure who was considered part of the history of ancient Greece. Through understanding the ancient Greeks' perception of Achilles, we are able to understand how their values have influenced our
The Iliad which was composed by Homer is about an incident of destructive violent rage that occurred in the Greek camp in the ninth year of the Trojan War which lasted for ten years. This rage is invoked by the conflict between Achilles, son of Peleus and Agamemnon son of Atreus. Agamemnon is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra with whom he had four children namely :Orestes, Iphigenia, Electra and Chrysothemis. Agamemnon inherited the title of king from his father.
In battle Patroclus (a good friend of Achilles) was slaughtered by Hektor. " Hector, vaunt as you will, for Jove the son of Saturn and Apollo have vouchsafed you victory; it is they who have vanquished me so easily, and they who have stripped the armour from my shoulders; had twenty such men as you attacked me, all of them would have fallen before my spear. Fate and the son of Leto have overpowered me, and among mortal men Euphorbus; you are yourself third only in the killing of me. I say further, and lay my saying to your heart, you too shall live but for a little season; death and the day of your doom are close upon you, and they will lay you low by the hand of Achilles son of Aeacus."
Homer’s Iliad is one of the best poem’s to be written. To include, the Iliad is one of the oldest, most famous, and one of the most breathtaking story about men during a period of war. You might begin to get addicted to mythology after reading this poem. Homer does a good job to show war in such a different way and to actually keep it fun and interesting.
Iliad is recognized as one of the most famous ancient monuments of literature. The full understanding of this epic poem is hardly possible without thorough analysis of its main characters. Among all the episodes of the Trojan War, Homer chooses the moment of Achilles’ wrath and thus creates a poem in which he becomes the central figure. From the Ancient Greeks’ point of view, Achilles represents the ideal of manliness and pure heroism, for he is brave and fights for heroics, not profits. Today, one can agree with this interpretation, yet Achilles is probably the most controversial character because he combines various personality traits and acts in accordance with his ambiguous nature.