Since Agamemnon refused to return the daughter of a priest of Apollo, Agamemnon agrees to release Helen only if Achilles gives him his prize of honor. This is when Achilles found it unfair and withdraws from the battle including all his soldiers. Achilles then asks the gods to grant him revenge. Agamemnon the had attacked because a dream had encouraged him to. Paris flees the battle with the help of a divinity and Menelaus rages on with his brother demanding the release of Helen.
As the battle continues, Diomedes makes a heroic stand and kills many Trojans, bringing his Time', Kudos and Arete' up high. The term Time means the reputation among the prince/gods, Kudos is glory and Arete' excellence meaning, doing more than a man can do. It all started when Pamdaros had shot an arrow through Diomedes' shoulder, but Diomedes tells Sthenelos to pull out the arrow and he did. After this happened, Diomedes had prayed to thena asking her for help, here is where Diomedes is getting Kudos. Athena had decided to help Diomede just like she helped his father and she also heals him. Now not only did she heal him but she also gave Diomedes the power to see gods while he was in the battle only if he fights no other god but Aphrodite.
Diomedes recieves Kudos when Aineias tells Pandaros that Diomedes may be a god. When Diomedes rejects Sthenelos advice to retreat, so instead he stands, he receives more Kudos. Diomedes now adds Time with the gods when he threw a pear at Pandarus with Athena’s help and kills him, when Aineias comes by to help his friend, Diomedes picks up a large stone and kills him by smashing the large stone on Aineias hip. More Time was added when he followed Aphrodite and then wounded her on her wrist and then shouted out to her "Away from the battle, you daughter of Zeus! Isn’t it enough that you beguile weak women? But is you will visit the battle field, I think after this is a battle will make shiver if you hear only echoes in the distance!"
After this, Aphrodite tells Ares about Diomedes as she asked him for his horses to go home.
Diomedes and Glaucus decided not to fight each other because they discovered their respective grandfathers Oeneus and Bellerophon were friends after Glaucus obliged him by telling Diomedes about the people from whom he’s descended.
Diomedes is on his aristea and devastating the Trojan ranks when he notices a man, Glaucus, Hippolochus’ son. Diomedes stops and asks Glaucus for his lineage, as he wants to know who exactly he is about to kill. After a lengthy aside about Glaucus’ family history, Diomedes grins and plants his spear in the earth. Diomedes then says, “We have old ties of hospitality,”(6.221). The word “ties” implies more than just a slight connection between the two warriors, and the action of both of these men solidifies that idea. Diomedes stops his bloodthirsty frenzy because of his respect for xenia and the fact that Glaucus had an ancestor who had once upon a time been Diomedes’ ancestor’s guest. Diomedes goes on to say,”That makes me your friend and you my guest / If ever you come to Argos, as you are my friend / And I your guest whenever I travel to Lycia” (6.231-233). Diomedes’ offer to host Glaucus “if ever you [Glaucus] come to Argos”, as well as Glaucus’ implied agreement to host Diomedes, shows that they are not now simply aware of the other’s lineage, but instead have a deep friendship inspired by nothing more than the virtue of the xenia of times past. Even though Diomedes and Glaucus are two generations removed from when the host-to-guest interaction occurred, xenia carries so much weight that even many years down the line, they both still respect it enough to stop in the
In The Odyssey, Athena has an extensive and caring relationship with Odysseus. At the beginning of the poem, Athena pleads with her father Zeus to allow her to help Odysseus so he can go home to his family, saying, "But my own heart is broken for Odysseus." Later in the poem she again implores her father for help regarding Odysseus. When he is on the island of Kalypso, Athena tells Zeus that Odysseus "cannot stir, cannot fare homeward, for no ship is left him, fitted with oars-no crewmen or companions." Athena also aids Odysseus as he is sailing away from the islands, checking "the course of all the winds but one, commanding them, `Be quiet and go to sleep'." As Odysseus departs she protects him because it is her desire that he will return home safely after a long absence from his family. At the end of his voyage from the island of Kalypso, Odysseus is again blessed by the guidance of Athena. As he reaches the land he spots a "leaf-bed" and Athena "showered sleep that his distress should end, and soon, soon." It should also be noted that Homer often c...
The Agamemnon picks up with Agamemnon and Menelaus, sons to Atreus, who joined together in the war of Troy after Paris, son of Priam, seduced Helen, wife to Menelaus. Angered by his ruthless man-sacrifices in the war, Artemis required that Agamemnon take the life of his daughter Iphigeneia in order to save the army and fleet o...
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.
In book 13, she transforms him into an old man so no one can recognize him. He becomes enraged believing the Phaeacians have left him on some unknown island, but Athena, disguised as a shepherd, meets him and tells him that he is in Ithaca. Odysseus acts to conceal his true identity from her until she reveals hers. After being delighting by Odysseus’s tricks, Athena reveals herself and tells him it is time to attack the suitors. Athena aids Odysseus, despite the fact that he is a “hero.” The credit is taken away from the hard work of the gods and is given to a mere mortal when he did nothing to aid himself in his journey
The Greek commander Agamemnon betrays Achilles by insulting him and taking his war prize, the girl Briseis. The Greek army as a whole, betrays him by acting inactively to Agamemnon’s insults and failing to defend him. As seen in Richard Blucher’s article book discussion, “In the Iliad, Achilles has his war prize, the captive woman Briseis, stolen from him by his Commander-in-Chief, King Agamemnon. Shay explains: We must understand the cultural context to see that this episode is more than a personal squabble between two soldiers over a woman [...] The prize of honor was voted by the troops for Achilles’ valor in combat. A modern equivalent might be a commander telling a soldier, ‘I’ll take that Congressional Medal of Honor of yours, because I don’t have one” (Blucher). These betrayals are so traumatic and insulting for Achilles that he withdrew entirely from the war. Also, in Book 21 of The Iliad, Achilles shows another belief that is identified with betrayal. In this book Achilles acts with reckless courage and takes on hundreds of enemy troops without showing any fear or resentment, even when the river god rises to drown him. As he acts so reckless he disregards his own life, and kills all who comes in his path. This is seen through Irwin Kutash’s review of Achilles in Vietnam, as he said, “Achilles is found to have been betrayed by his commander, Agamemnon, who usurps his prize of honor. The betrayal is described
The prize was the daughter of an Apollon priest, Chrysies. The distressed father prays to Apollo who then sets a curse upon the king and townspeople. When Achilles hears that this was the cause of the horrible curse, he demands that Agamemnon return her. Agamemnon declares to Achilles that he must “fetch [him] another prize, and straight off too…” (line 138) to compensate for his loss. This shows how greedy and selfish the king really is and infuriates Achilles. To fetch someone else is a demeaning circumstance. Agamemnon reiterates his problem by griping that his prize is being taken away. By doing this, he tries to persuade and guilt Achilles into feeling bad for him. He wants Achilles to feel remorseful and hand Briseis to him. This conveys that women have no purpose to Agamemnon and are only thought of as objects. Therefore, he should see that the curse was his fault and nobody else’s. Instead, he should put the people before himself. Achilles is the best warrior who was willing to help the king out with his problem. He gestures that “We Achaeans will pay you back, three, four times over” (line 150) illustrating how forgiving Achilles can be in spite of the problem that has approached them. This depicts that he has pride and does not want the people to suffer anymore. He cares about the wellbeing of others. Furthermore,
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...
Menelaos would not give up Helen without a fight. But when Paris heres the threat of Menelaos, to fight a duel to find out who will take possession of Helen, Paris acts like a coward at first, suddenly overcome by fear. Paris hides among his fellow Trojans to escape his fate.
Revenge in The Iliad it the main theme and drives men to do things that they would not normally do. The main example of this is Achilles wanting revenge on Agamemnon. The first book of the Iliad explains that Achilles wants revenge because Agamemnon is forced to return Chryseis, his war bride, to her father, and he decides to take Achilles war bride from him. According to “Some Thoughts about the Origins of ‘Greek Ethics’”, by Nicholas D. Smith, “Agamemnon’s unjust affront to Achilles leads to and extraordinarily deadly retaliation, the ultimate outcome of which is that multitudes of these men’s innocent allies are killed unnecessarily”(smith 10). This is out of character for Achilles, who would normally be the first man into battle, not sitting one out. By “rejecting even the most earnest and impressive entreaties Agamemnon offers, and increasingly making decisions which are rationally indefensible”, he shows how much his wanting of revenge has turned him into a madman (smith 10). His only desire is to get revenge for his loss. It takes the death of Patroclus, his dear friend, to bring him back to the war, which he has left.
“The story of the chase and ultimate abduction of the boy is preserved in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (218–23).” According to the hymn, Eos, the goddess of the Dawn, is falling in love with Tithonus, a mortal man. The problem came when Eos realized while she will live forever, Tithonus is destined to age and die. Therefore, she begged Zeus to grant her lover immortal life. But she fails to ask in addition that Tithonus
When Odysseus passes the test of the bow and arrow. Penelope may feel sick because she would have to marry what looked like to her a beggar. As he was about to leave, he stopped to tell the Cyclops his real name, then he threw a boulder that almost killed Odysseus and some of his crew. The gods that help Odysseus in his quest help him with no self-benefit at all. Such as Athena, who helps him get home in many
Throughout the Iliad, a conflict develops through the process of each chapter which rests on the surface over a Maiden. The disagreement is caused due to one person or the other feeling far more powerful or superior than the other and is left to sense as if they should receive what is rightfully theirs even if it is not a fair exchange. This conflict is seen between two leaders who view each other with different status: Agamemnon the Argive leader of the expedition to Troy, who had inherited the role of king through his father, and Achilles the leader of Myrmidons. As the dispute develops, it is apparent that the discord between Agamemnon and Achilles is more than something about women; it seems to be their mindset distracting them from having a dispute between their views on power, honour, glory and pride amongst themselves.