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Achilles's Pride Research Paper

1168 Words5 Pages

A King and A Hero's Pride

Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. - T.S. Eliot The Iliad, by Homer, tells the tale of the Trojan war. At the start of the epic, King Agamemnon of Mycenae's armies have been fighting with Troy for nine long years. When Agamemnon takes away Briseis, the hero Achilles' prize, Achilles threatens to leave. This leads to many issues caused by pride and importance throughout the main characters. For example, pride causes Agamemnon to lose almost his entire army in the interest of keeping Briseis as his prize. Opponents of this stance argue that while pride may motivate these characters, anger motivates them even more. However, pride causes Achilles to lose his best …show more content…

Although some may disagree, pride is the major driving emotion in such characters as Achilles and Agamemnon in The Iliad. Pride causes Agamemnon to lose almost his entire army in the interest of keeping Briseis as his prize. When Agamemnon complains about having to return his prize, Chryseis, Achilles scolds him for being so self-concerned. Achilles' annoyance slowly converts to rage, and the hero threatens to leave the war. Agamemnon retorts, "Go home with your ships and comrades, lord it over/ your Myrmidons!/ You are nothing to me, you and your overweening anger!/ But let this be my warning on your way… I will be there in person at your tents/ to take Briseis in all her beauty, your own prize-/ so you can learn just how much greater I am than you..." (83) Clearly, Agamemnon is so proud that he …show more content…

In this scene, Achilles is mad at Agamemnon after realizing how Agamemnon manipulated him and his soldiers. Achilles shouts, "No more now-/ back I go to Phthia. Better that way by far,/ to journey home in the beaked ships of war./ I have no mind to linger here disgraced,/ brimming your cup and piling up your plunder." (83) Achilles is angry at Agamemnon for taking his prize, causing him to threaten to leave. He realizes how selfish Agamemnon is, taking other people's prizes to satisfy his own honor, and decides he would be better off if he returned home. However, a continuation of this scene reveals how angry Achilles is: "… And now you threaten to strip me of my prize in person-/ the one I fought for long and hard… whenever we sack some wealthy Trojan stronghold-/ my arms bear the brunt of the raw, savage fighting,/ true, but when it comes to dividing up the plunder/ the lion's share is yours, and back I go to my ships,/ clutching some scrap…" (82-83) While Achilles is angry in this scene, this anger is caused by his wounded pride; like he says, even though he does most of the fighting while Agamemnon is holed up in his ship, Agamemnon still gets the most treasure. Now, Agamemnon has threatened to take the only prize he does have, taking Achilles' pride along with her. Although Achilles can be angry, much of his problems are caused by his

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