Slipping into Achilles tent, aging Priam gently clasp hold of the hands of the man who killed his beloved son Hector. In Priam’s persuasion speech, he talks to Achilles about returning custody of Hector’s body to him for a proper, Trojan, burial. Throughout his speech, Priam includes rhetorical strategies that allows him to open up Achilles iron heart, and persuade him to release Hector’s body and allow enough time to grieve and remember the mighty Hector. Priam begs the mighty Achilles for the return of his son and does so successfully by portraying deep respect to Achilles and honors his nobility, refers to Achilles father and the remembrance of friends, and finally persuading Achilles that traditions are important to Trojans.
Priam’s argument
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successfully subdues Achilles anger by portraying deep respect to Achilles power and nobility. In the start of the persuasive speech Priam is an old man, a father of the mighty Hector, who sneaks in, unaccounted, to Achilles tent. There he “clasped his knees, and kissed his hands, the fearful man-killing hands that slaughtered so many of his sons.” Clasping to his knees is a sign of respect shown by Priam by portraying himself as a man who respects Achilles power. Also, Priam kisses the hands of Achilles portraying himself as a man who seeks mercy from him. These gestures were often seen in medieval times as a prince or nobleman kisses the hands of the king to show respect. Exactly as Priam portrays himself towards the mighty Achilles. Priam also takes up the hospitality of Achilles to soothe his anger and allows him to weep for his lost friend, Patroclus. This particular actions allows Achilles to grieve about the loss of his friends, and also allows Priam to speak about his son. Though, Priam is initially against taking up Achilles hospitality, he does so reluctantly, in order to further persuade Achilles on why Hector’s body must be returned to him. Secondly, Priam's argument successfully subdues Achilles anger by referring to his father and the loss of friends.
Shortly after kissing the hands of Achilles, Priam entreats Achilles by asking, “ ‘Godlike Achilles, think of your own father, who is of my generation, and so is the likewise on a sad threshold of old age. Perhaps his neighbors are troubling him, and there is no one to protect him from harm, or ward off ruin. But he at least can rejoice in the knowledge that you live, and each day brings the hope of seeing you return from Troy.” Priam says these lines in hope of making Achilles think of that of his father. Praim wants Achilles to think about what his father would do, what’s best for people, and knowing that it’s the right choice. This quote also portrays Priam's feeling of his lost son by substituting himself with Achilles father, when saying what happens if he is harmed or cannot ward off ruin. This displays Priam’s sadness and the returning from Troy can be inferred as returning Hector’s body so he can rejoice that his son is home again. Priam’s purpose was to persuade Achilles heart to take another point of view, to see not from his own eyes, but the eyes of Priam and does so successfully when both Priam and Achilles weep for their lost: Patroclus, and
Hector. Finally, Priam successfully subdues Achilles anger by referring to nobility and traditions. Priam acknowledges the fact that Hector killed Patroclus and knows that Achilles has the right to be angry. Although Praim understands Achilles anger, he begs for the return of his son so that Hector may have a proper, Trojan burial. As a gesture of nobility, Priam offers a Achilles a pity ransom in exchange for Hector’s body. By then, however, Achilles heart has been moved and agreed to release Hector’s body to Priam for a burial. He humbly portrays his thanks to Achilles by eating and drinking with him. With Achilles anger successfully subdued, Priam explains to Achilles that Hector must be buried in a proper burial. So he humbly asks the great Achilles if he can restrain his army for twelve days in order to grieve for Hector and have a banquet in his honor. Thus, having feel sorry for Priam, Achilles agrees to the terms, thereby making Priam's speech successful.
This commercial was made by the car company, Prius, that prides itself as being the first eco-friendly car in early 2008. It advertises the toyota prius as a new innovation that helps the earth unlike other cars. It’s geared towards people who drive or will be driving, or basically anyone that cares about their environment. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s when everyone started becoming aware of global warming and the effects of pollution on earth. Therefore, this ad was created to advertise another step in conserving the earth using modern technology. Its goal is to get people to feel sympathy and buy a prius in order to save the earth.
While Phoenix and Meleager seemed to have issues with their respective parents, Achilles has none of the same issues. Achilles has a loving mother as well as a father and Phoenix, a father figure. Achilles and Phoenix are so close that Phoenix claims, “I made you what you are, my godlike Achilles, And loved you from my heart” (Homer’s Iliad 9.498-499). In contrast, the relationships depicted through Phoenix’s story are filled with rage and promises of death. The importance of structuring symmetrical relationships when invoking an emotional argument is imperative, and this paradigm fails to pick appropriate examples. Though Achilles may feel pity, he isn’t able to wholeheartedly empathize with the narrative laid before him. Without empathy, there can be no universal bonds in which others can be held accountable for each other. The dearth of empathetic material in Phoenix’s speech is largely proportional to Achilles’ acute refusal as well as a broader representation of the tragedy of the Trojan war on the
The subject of Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, is very clearly stated--it is “the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles.” The reader remains continually aware of the extent of Achilles’ rage, yet is never told the reason why Achilles remains angry and unreconciled. There is no definitive answer to this question. Achilles is not a static character. He is constantly changing; thus the question of why he remains angry solicits different answers at various stages throughout the poem. To find an answer, the reader must carefully examine Achilles’ ever-changing dilemma involving the concepts of mortality and honor. At its simplest, Achilles’ dilemma is that if he goes to war, he will die. But he will die with glory.
...battle that Achilles’ ego needed. However, Hector tried to do the right thing by offering the deceased be returned to their respective camps after the battle was over. It is at this point that Achilles is beyond the common courtesies of war and flat out denied Hector’s request. This action by Achilles shows his arrogance and the bloodlust that was truly in his heart rather than the courage that so many people claim that he had.
When Patroclus asked Achilles for his armor, Achilles finally sided with Patroclus after a great deal of pondering because he wanted revenge over Agamemnon. In the armor of Achilles, Patroclus was killed by Hector. When he learned of the death of Patroclus, he would kill Hector knowing that it would lead to his own death. Achilles went back into war knowing he would go against his mother’s wishes. When the news of Hector’s death reached King Priam, he asked for the body of his Son of Achilles. The body was returned out of understanding the pain of losing a son. But in the end, that was the plan that finally destroyed the City of
At first Achilles had a set of clearly defined goals, he was to fight side by side with the Achaeans, sack Troy, and, by doing these things, gain honor and wealth. As the war progressed a series of events took place that forced Achilles to step out of the fight. While he was inactive and had time to contemplate, he came to the realization that he had been fighting for nine years for the sake of a man whose woman has been stolen; now that his woman had been stolen no one fights for his sake. He also realizes that there are other, less risky ways of obtaining wealth and honor, including sending Patroklus out in his armor. Another thing he ponders on, but doesn't seem to take seriously, is whether or not honor is really worth the struggle.
In Book 21, Achilles kills a hostage at his mercy, whose life he has sparred in the past. By the end of Book 21, Achilles has killed so many Trojan’s that the river is clogged with the bodies of his victims. Achilles behaves without a care for human life, as well as his treatment toward Hector before and after he kills him. As stated in Blucher’s article, Achilles is found to go berserk, committing atrocities to both living and dead. This, for Shay, is the story of the Iliad and also as Shay goes on to demonstrate, the story of many Vietnam combat veterans”. (Blucher). Before their battle Hector begs Achilles to honor his corpse if he is killed in war, and Achilles refuse, saying, “Don’t try to cut any deals with me, Hector. Do lions make peace treaties with men? Do wolves and lambs agree to get along? No, they hate each other to the core, And that’s how it is between you and me, No talk of agreements until one of us Falls and gluts Ares with his blood” (Homer). His statement of intent to dishonor Hector’s corpse and to damage the body after his enemy’s death, shows that he had anger towards his superiors. The most disturbing portrayal from Achilles is his behavior, when Hector’s father Priam meets with him to ask for Hector’s body. This show Achilles’ anger is driven by rage towards other superior officers in the
Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a classic tale remade in such a way that it’s both easier and more enjoyable to read than its time-honored counterpart, at least from the point of view of a tenth grader. This story contains the thrills and action of The Iliad, without the poetry, puzzling words and considerable length. It portrays the emotions of love and loss through the eyes of Patroclus, as he goes through the journey of his and Achilles’ lives together, and apart. Additionally, this story contains great use of both literary elements and devices, particularly theme, foreshadowing and conflict, thus making it an excellent addition to the tenth grade Honors English curriculum.
Among the many father and son relationships in the Iliad, the first relationship to analyze is between Priam and Hector. Priam is a dignified warrior who fathered fifty sons. Hector, being one of fifty, is a warrior who is earning the respect to be as righteous as his father. As with most father and son relationships portrayed, Priam barely had any physical interaction with Hector. Therefore, when Hector died it was very touching to hear Priam make such a compelling and fervent request to Achilles to have Hector’s body returned to him.
First off, Achilles talks about how sad he is about the death of Patroclus. Achilles groaned and answered, 'Mother, Olympian Zeus has indeed vouchsafed me the fulfillment of my prayer, but what pleasure is it to me, seeing that my dear comrade Patroclus has fallen—he whom I valued more than all others, and loved as dearly as my own life?
The scene begins after a long battle in which many of the Trojan warriors were lost. The remaining Trojans retreated back into the city of Troy taking advantage of Apollo distracting Achilles. Outside of the city’s walls, the Greeks pressed closer. Apollo revealed his identity to Achilles, causing Achilles to turn back to the city. Hector had “Taken his stand before the Western gate, Determined to meet Achilles in combat” (42-43) rather than retreat, against the advice and pleading of his parents. He is wary of the reproach he would receive from the others
...h Agamemnon and wishes that ‘strife could die from the lives of gods and men’… Not to avenge Patroclus by killing Hector would be a renunciation of all that he stands for and has lived by”. Even though “sorrow fell on Achilles like a cloud” (216), he went back out to the battlefield and killed Hector. It took a great deal of bravery for Achilles to face the man who killed his best friend but Achilles, being the hero that he was, got back into battle and killed him because he couldn’t let Patroclus’ death go unavenged.
Achilles stand firm against Priam but Priam reminds Achilles of the love that he has for his own dead father. Achilles is moved to tears by the memories of home and of his parents. He accepts Priam 's ransom for Hector 's body, and the two men, each having his own sorrow, cry together. After the reconciliation, Achilles has a dinner prepared for Priam and they eat together as equals. Achilles even supervises the preparations of Hector 's body and grants the Trojans twelve days to conduct Hector 's funeral rites, during which the Greeks will not attack. Priam thanks Achilles and leaves with Hector’s body before the sun rises. Once again Achilles’ rage is ended by reconciliation and Achilles is show to be not just a violent warrior, but is also a noble
Achilles is the son of Peleus and the goddess Thetis. It is evident that he loves his father and holds him dearly in the scene of Priam’s speech. Priam appeals to him as a father, and reminds Achilles of his own father:
The Achilles of book 24 differs from the Achilles of book 1 because he is willing to empathize with others in spite of his own values and bitterness. After being guided by the gods into the Greek camp, Priam convinces Achilles to return the body of Hector for proper burial by comparing himself Achilles’ father, Peleus. In pleading to Achilles, Priam says,