In the opening book of the Iliad, there is a bout between supreme commander Agamemnon, and great warrior Achilles. Both of the men are highly respected men, but Agamemnon is responsible for the many deaths of his great soldiers, due to his inability to give up his prize girl Chryseis. According to the book, Agamemnon would have not given up his girl if it was not for Achilles; he would have let his men suffer and die due to his selfishness. Achilles is the man who figured out why the god Apollo was angry at the Achaeans, and he also solved the problem of how to get rid of the plague. Agamemnon is not acting like a great commander, when he refuses to give up his prize, Chryseis, for the benefit of his army. He would rather have a plague
However, in the end Agamemnon took Achilles’ girl, Briseis, which really hurt Achilles in the end. These warriors took a lot of pride in the things or people that they
In this way, a Homeric hero can achieve what is his ultimate goal, immortality through an honorable “hero’s death.’ Because, society in which the Homeric hero bases his life on values that are primarily in line with war and deeds of astounding strength and athleticism, this means that the heroes actions throughout the poem seek to reiterate that defining goal. Their every action is a reminder of the strict moral and societal guidelines that they find themselves trapped in. Agamemnon, for example, is introduced as a prideful man often controlled by his emotions. In the first book of the Iliad, entitled “the rage of Achilles” we see how when Achilles demands he give up his prize to the war god Apollo to appease his wrath, his immediate response is a negative and defensive reply.
Achilles, before this moment, could have been considered sympathetic in many of his battles. Although he brutally killed many a Trojan, he was usually willing to take people for ransom. Although his rage at Agamemnon has faded, with the death of Patroclus, any mercy or compassion Achilles once had is now gone, destroyed by grief and rage. His denial of Lykaon's pleas for mercy can be considered one of the Iliad's most frightening passages.
Achilles and Hector in The Iliad and Medea and Jason Medea all have characteristics that eventually led to their downfall. Achilles is a furious man, and it leads him to do unspeakable things. Hector is very prideful, and it clouds his judgement. In Medea, Medea is revengeful, and all she thinks about his getting revenge. Jason is insensitive, and it cost him his family.
Agamemnon’s taking of Briseis enrages Achilles and spurs him to remove himself from the war, leading to a massive death toll in the Achaean forces. In stealing Briseis from Achilles, he is not only robbing of him of a material prize, but also a symbol of honor, his geras, in Greek culture. In retaliation, Achilles removes himself from the war and prays to his mother, Thetis, that she will ask Zeus to damage the Achaean forces. Achilles’ only goal is that “even mighty Atrides can see how mad he was to disgrace Achilles” (1.488-490). Despite having no true grievance against the Achaean army as a whole, Achilles’ rage blinds him from the potential harm that may befall his troops.
In Book Nine of The Iliad, the focus is of the story is on the character of Achilles, the desperation the Achaeans suffer in their need for this great warrior as well as his refusal to return into the fighting to assist his comrades, due to his rage with Agamemnon. In particular, one of the most important scenes of Book Nine is from approximately line 443 through line 473, in which Achilles bluntly refuses the gifts offered to him by Agamemnon in recompense for stealing away Achilles’ war-prize Briseis. This passage demonstrates the depth of the rage of Achilles as well as his sense of pride, as he chooses to remain absent from the fighting, even in the Achaeans’ moment of sheer desperation, due to his deep hatred for Agamemnon. As
He remained headstrong, stubborn and selfish in his actions, even warranting rebuke from the men on certain occasions. This is seen in the very first conflict that is witnessed on the pages of The Iliad. Agamemnon is faced with the request to give up his war prize, and immediately and indignantly decides against all the council of the army in order to keep his prize of a woman (28). With this decision, he sought his own desires selfishly and disconnected himself from the men he was meant to lead. Granted, he possessed a strong will, a thing very necessary for good leadership.
In Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, Homer describes nine days of the Trojan War, focusing on Achille’s anger. Achilles, the best Greek warrior, becomes furious at the Greek commander Agamemnon due to a power struggle. Achilles decides not to fight, with the Greeks fighting the Trojans without their best warrior. Both sides battle gruesomely, with Homer often using literary devices to develop the brutality of war.
Although the word “hero” has transcended time, the definition has not. When modern-day humans go into reading about Greek heroes, expecting them to resemble our current ones, they are unpleasantly surprised to find selfish people who sometimes indiscriminately murder in the name of honor. In comparison, we value the firefighter that puts their life on the line to save others, the person standing up to the bully with pacifism rather than fists, and those that learn to forgive and forget instead of spending their entire lives seeking revenge on those that have wronged them. Thus, Achilles would not be considered a modern-day hero like he was in ancient Greece, because whilst they valued glory, brutal strength, and revenge, today we value selflessness,
In the Iliad, Achilles is responding to Odysseus’s speech attempting to convince him to return to the war. Achilles’ main argument against returning is his incalculable rage against Agamemnon for “the prize of honor / The warlord Agamemnon gave me / And in his insulting arrogance took back” which is not only an insult to Achilles’ status, but also to his honor as a warrior (Il. 9.378-379). In addition to focusing on the main argument of Achilles’ speech, it is worth noting the contradictions present within his speech as well.
Achilles is seen to be full of wrath in the beginning of the book. This wrath is not caused only because Agamemnon takes his prize of war. He is angry at the system which allows Agamemnon to play around with other people’s honors and the system which allows him to decide who gets how much honor. In other words, Achilles does not like the idea that someone else can decide what happens to his honor, despite him deserving most of the honor in relation to how much he contributes in war. As the story proceeds, Achilles seems to contradict himself a lot, and the concept of honor helps us understand this better.
82-97, pg 232). This had caused Agamemnon to get mad, regardless of the fact it was thanks to his very doing that this happened; Calchas was merely informing them of the god’s actions. Agamemnon angrily states that Calchas has never given him a “good omen yet” and that “nothing good ever happens” (I, 11. 113-16, pg. 232-233). He admits, though, that it is true that he did decide to keep Chryses’ daughter because he likes her better than his own wife, his selfish nature apparent.
They fight over the two girls. Later Achilles threatens to quit the war since he has nothing against the Trojans. He says that he only fights because Agemenom tells him too. King Agamemnon answered: Indeed, sir all that you say is fair and right. But this man wishes to be above all to rule everyone, to be King over everyone to order everyone-
In the first half of the Iliad, Agamemnon had control over everyone’s fate. The first was Achilles. Achilles’ fate was first shaped when he left Agamemnon wailing to his mother Thetis about not wanting to fight in the Trojan War. Just like what was previously said. However, in Agamemnon’s view, he wanted to form the fate of death towards the Trojans by having an extra number on their side, and by having a great advantage with using the greatest warrior as their “secret weapon”.
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.