More handpicked essays just for you.
The iliad - achilles as a tragic hero
The character of achilles in the iliad
The iliad - achilles as a tragic hero
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“To be, or not to be, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them.”
Though written centuries after the death of Achilles, this quote from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” speaks honestly of his life. The epic poem, “The Iliad” of Homer, is a story of the journey of his soul, and his attempts to escape his fate. He questions his fate set out for him by the gods, pondering whether or not he should die for the sake of war, and it is by this questioning of the divine judgment of the gods that he brings doom upon himself. It is known by himself, and by the gods, that he is to live a short, but glorious life, however it is not known how or when his life will come to an end. Achilles himself, wishes to live one of longevity without great glory, and therefore tries to escape his lot in life. Is it just for him to give his life for war, or should he live a life to satisfy himself? Throughout the “Iliad”, Achilles’ actions bring his eventual doom closer to reality than perhaps may have been planned.
“Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilles and it’s devastation which put pain thousandfold upon the Achaians.” The wrath of Achilles begins in Book One of “The Iliad.” Agamemmnon, leader of the Greek army, takes Achilles booty prize, Briseis to replace his own concubine, Chryses, daughter of a priest of Apollo, who was returned to end the plague put on his people by the angry god, Apollo. Achilles feels unappreciated for all that he does for the army when Agamemmnon takes his girl to be his own. He leaves the army because he feels that the king has disrespected him. Thus begins the onset of his doom; by not fighting, and continuing to refuse to do so until after the death of his best friend, Patroklos, he defies his fate.
Once having decided to leave the fighting, he goes to speak to his mother, Thetis. He asks her to ask Zeus to allow the Trojan army to take over the fighting so that the Greeks realize how much they need him, and for them to come to an appreciation for him. Through his concern for his own ego, it is appearant to the reader that, knowing his fate, Achilles will do all that is in his power to stop the fate, or his doom, from being played out. It is also known that the gods do not favour those who try to defy them. Achilles do...
... middle of paper ...
... is much more important than selfishly hiding from battle, not using his gifts.
There are many events in our lives that leave us with one question: What is the meaning of life? This question plagued Achilles’ during the story of “The Iliad” and he progresses through it to accept the fact that it is not in his hands to decide his fate. “Now I shall go, to overtake that killer of a dear life, Hektor; then I will accept my own death, at whatever time Zeus wishes to bring it about, and the other immortals.” Having brought this doom upon himself out of his own need for gratification early in the poem, Achilles’ finally accepts, humbly that his actions have been the cause of his grief and loss over his dear companion, Partoklos. It is through his continual refusal to partake in his destiny that he brings his doom upon himself. It is one of the greatest sins one can commit, to deny the world of your gifts. It is impossible for us to control our fate, the gods (speaking in Ancient Greek terms) control our lives as they see fit and by reading this poem, it is possible to come to a deeper understanding of how we must accept it.
There may be no greater fact known than that of human beings seeking a purpose in this life. Are we here simply because of our parents meeting or are we here because God ordained it for some divine reason unfathomable by yourself, but seen by those in your community? What would the world be if Gandhi had not examined himself in his writings? Ultimately we will never know the consequences of unexamined lives because it is simply human nature to seek a purpose, no matter the situation you are born into; meaning, rather King or citizen we all seek to examine our lives to find reason. This brings us to Achilles, the main hero of Homer’s The Iliad and the life that he eventually found a purpose in. This essay will seek to explore through Socrates quotation, “The unexamined life is not wroth living” how Achilles longing for a purpose affected the Achaean community at large both militarily and politically.
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.
The Ancient Greeks sought to define how humans should view their lives and how to create an existence dedicated to the basis of the “ideal” nature. This existence would be lived so as to create an “honorable” death upon their life’s end. Within their plays, both dramas and comedies, they sought to show the most extreme characteristics of human nature, those of the wise and worthy of Greek kleos along with the weak and greedy of mind, and how they were each entitled to a death but of varying significance. The Odyssey, their greatest surviving drama, stands as the epitome of defining both the flawed and ideal human and how each individual should approach death and its rewards and cautions through their journeys. Death is shown to be the consequence
The facts of this conflict are all pretty straight forward and by recounting the facts I hope to bring to light the truths that justify Achilles' anger. First off Agamemnon had distributed the booty fairly and all the more powerful Achaeans had gotten a concubine, Agamemnon just happened to choose the daughter of one of Apollo's priest. When Apollo sends a plague to the Achaean camp Achilles' concern for his comrades leads him to call an assembly with the purpose of interpreting the plague and taking necessary action. Agamemnon reluctantly agrees to return his concubine to her father if he is repaid another concubine by one of the other powerful Achaeans. At this Achilles stands up for himself and the other Achaeans, he insults Agamemnon by saying that Agamemnon claims his greatness. When Agamemnon takes Achilles' concubine, Achilles probably expected the other Achaeans to stand up for him as he had done for them earlier. But he is left alone. His honor insulted by a man that he had served loyally. Humiliated, by a group of people to whom he owed nothing. A great sense of betrayal overcame Achilles.
The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.
It holds that various situations require different leadership styles to result in effective outcomes. According to this school of thought, it is the assessment of the competence, as well as the commitment of the leader’s subjects that makes the whole practice a success. As a result, a leader should access the two factors before deciding on either directive or supportive form of management.
Throughout the Iliad the warriors' dream of peace is projected over and over again in elaborate similes developed against a background of violence and death. Homer is able to balance the celebration of war's tragic, heroic values with scenes of battle and those creative values of civilized life that war destroys. The shield of Achilles symbolically represents the two poles of human condition, war and peace, with their corresponding aspects of human nature, the destructive and creative, which are implicit in every situation and statement of the poem and are put before us in something approaching abstract form; its emblem is an image of human life as a whole.
The Iliad begins with the clash between Achilles and Agamemnon. Agamemnon has little, if any, respect for the gods. This is displayed by his irreverent behavior towards the priest, Chryses. Agamemnon refuses to release the princess even when the Achaean soldiers suggested "`Respect the priest, accept the shining ransom!' But it brought no joy to the heart of Agamemnon" (104). Achilles is, unlike Agamemnon, respectful of and revered by the gods. In order to expose the cause of Apollo's wrath against the Argive army, Achilles uses the prophet, Calchas. Achilles already knows why Apollo is angry, but decides the fact should be stated by someone other than himself. He knows that Agamemnon will become angry once the truth is revealed. I believe that in this instance he is trying to keep his rage in check by avoiding a direct confrontation with Agamemnon. Calchas also fears for his life because he also knows Agamemnon's fury is unyielding at times. However, with a great deal of encouragement from Achilles, Calchas "spoke out, bravely: `Beware-The god's enraged because Agamemnon spurned his priest'" (106). When the truth is exposed, Agamemnon be...
“To be, or not to be – that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them.
Achilles is introduced into The Iliad getting into a debacle with the leader of the Greek army, Agamemnon, during the last year of the Trojan War. Achilles starts a quarrel with Agamemnon because he has demanded possession of Achilles’ woman, Briseis, in consolation for having to give up his woman, Chryseis, so that the gods will end their plague upon the Greek soldiers. Achilles does all he can to get his loved one back, but he knows that nothing will waver Agamemnon’s decision. This is when Achil...
Within the criminal justice system police officers carry a significant role. Their daily duties include a variety of challenging tasks such as paperwork, highway patrol, interviews, and emergency response. These officers typically work full time (day and nights shifts) long hours, and overtime. Police officers have a significant amount of responsibility to the community. They are expected to maintain law and order by preventing crime, protecting the community, and decrease the fear of crime. The difficult tasks, long hours and pressure police officers undergo make their jobs very taxing on their psychological and psychical conditions for them and their families.
In a situational leadership, the leader should be able to adapt their management style based on the ability of the follower to perform the tasks. There are four styles within the Hershey and Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory based on concern for people and concern for tasks.
The first reason Achilles is an epic hero is because he embodied the characteristics of the ideal Greek citizen at the time Homer wrote; he is in a position of power and regards honor highly. “O my mother! I was born to die young, it is true, but honour I was to have from Zeus, Olympian, thunderer on high! And now he has not given me one little bit! Yes, my lord king Agamemnon has insulted me! He has taken my prize and keeps it, he has robbed me myself” (page 17), Achilles cried to his mother. Agamemnon stole Achilles’ prize, Briseis, so Achilles is begging his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, to help him regain his honor. In Greece, honor was crucial and by taking Achilles’ prize, Agamemnon has stripped him not only of his hard-won prize but of his honor as well. Such a double loss would have been catastrophic for a Greek citizen. Classicist Ian Johnston highlights the significance of his loss, suggesting that “the greatest harm that can occur to a particular warrior is shame, the community’s public recognition that he has let the group down or failed to live up to its shared rules.”Being shamed, in this case, by Agamemnon, would cause the Achaeans to lose respect for Achilles, and as one of their leaders, this would be a tragedy for him. Achilles’ desire to regain his honor sho...
Privacy on the Internet is a widely discussed issue in today’s world. Many journal articles and books have been written based on this subject. One of these materials is Privacy Lost: How Technology is Endangering Your Privacy, which was written by David Holtzman and foreword by Senator Evan Bayh. Since it is divided into six parts, and each part consists of chapters that grasp an organized list of ideas, the book is very easy to follow. You don’t have to be a technologist in order to understand it.
This model is well accepted in many companies. Leader’s behaviors monitored in this model are consideration and structuring. Situational Leadership is a popular leadership style introduced and popularized by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey that theorizes the use of different leadership styles according to the situation. The leadership model requires a person to analyze the needs according to a particular situation and adapt to the scenario by using the most appropriate leadership style. Versatility and adaptability are two primary requirements needed from a leader using the situational leadership method, as the leadership style will vary depending on the situation. Depending upon willingness and ability of the subordinates there are four different types of Situational leadership: