The rage that first overtook Achilles in the Iliad eventually subsides to compromise with his king, reconciliation with his enemies, and complete acceptance of his fate. The quarrel that incites Achilles anger is never resolved but is instead put into the past by a compromise with Agamemnon. Achilles' anger over the death of Patrokolus rages until the death and disgrace of Hector. Only through avenging his fallen comrade can Achilles accept his fate and quell his fury. After the disgrace of Hector and the ransoming of his body, a complete and meaningful reconciliation between Priam and Achilles resolves the epic. All the rage, death, and destruction of the Iliad are ended in a quiet and meaningful reconciliation between Priam and Achilles.
Words in the Iliad cut deeper than any spear point or bronze blade. Achilles wrath and the events that follow are the result of Agamemnon's harsh words. Achilles, in the best interest of the Achaeans, suggests that Agamemnon follow the advice of the prophet Kalchas and return the daughter of Chryses, in turn ending Apollo's plague. Enraged at the prophet and Achilles' support for him, Agamemnon turns on Achilles, threatening to "Take the fair-cheeked Briseis,/ your prize, I myself going to your shelter, that you may learn well/ how much greater I am than you" (Iliad,1.184-186). Achilles' anger at Agamemnon is obvious in his response. "Now I am returning to Phthia, since it is much better/ to go home again with my curved ships, and I am minded no longer/ to stay here dishonored and pile up your wealth and your luxury." (I,l.169-171). Achilles, so upset with the dishonor Agamemnon placed on him, withdraws from fighting.
Now, both Achilles and Agamemnon h...
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...urdering his sons, and Achilles is remorseful of the pain he caused Priam, thinking of his own father. Reconciliation for both characters is a temporary hiatus from the pain that waits outside Achilles' tent. Priam must return to his coward sons and havocked city. Achilles must return to life without Patrokolus and his fate. Despite his impending death in Troy, Achilles still releases the body of Hector, proving their reconciliation.
Beginning with threats and episodes of rage, the Iliad finishes with kind words and reconciliation of enemies. Rage, though consuming at first, cannot withstand time and will eventually ebb. Empathy and compromise fill the void left by cutting words and actions. From Achilles we learn that one cannot rage forever, and the only way to bring closure to painful events of the past is to make amends, to forgive and to forget.
hroughout the Iliad Achilles shows how the ego of a Kardashian is being portrayed and the emotional maturity of an eight-year-old because of the certain adult qualities he lacks, for example: he does not work well with others, he lacks the concept of forgiveness, he is selfish, thinks highly of his self without regard to others, being rude and unkind, aggressiveness when talking to others, and having too much pride and not thinking about the consequences of his actions and how it can affect not only him but others as well. Achilles does not like to work with others he prefers to be the one in charge of everybody and he likes for everyone to do as he says. In the Iliad Agamemnon says, "This man wants to be ahead of everyone else he wants to rule everyone and give orders to everyone" (1.302-303). Achilles and Agamemnon are having an argument amongst one another because no one wants to give Achilles the honor he feels that he deserves for being the best fighter in the war and for all the blood sweat and tears he shed while defeating the Trojans "he is a mighty bulwark in this evil war" as Nestor says.
The Iliad is a long poem that is composed by a series of books. The narrative begins nine years after the start of the war. Agamemnon and Achilles get into a skirmish about two maidens, Chryseis and Briseis that were captured in a Trojan-allied town. After Apollo releases a plague for not returning Chryseis, Agamemnon goes into a rage and says that he will return Chryseis only if Achilles gives him Briseis. Agamemnon’s demand infuriates and humiliates Achilles. The men argue, and Achilles threatens to withdraw from the battle and take his people, back home to Phthia. That night Achilles prays to his mother, Thetis, to ask Zeus to punish the Achaeans. She promises to ask Zeus about his offer. After twelve days, Thetis makes her appeal to Zeus. Zeus is reluctant to help the Trojans but he finally agrees. The next day Zeus sends a false dream to Agamemnon that he can take Troy if he launches a full-scale assault on the city’s walls. The next day, Agamemnon gathers the troops and prepares for the attack. After that The Trojan army ...
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 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
The Iliad is not only a story of war, but a story of relationships and family connections through respect and honor. Sons don’t seem to question their duties to their family. They go to battle and fight until the end, maybe even until their death. They do not search for love from their fathers, but for the respect and desire to follow just as their fathers did, to be dignified warriors and proud of their ancestral accomplishments.
Agamemnon tries to use Achilles rage and fury to get him to give up and retreat back to the army he left. Even though Achilles felt rage and sorrow, he keeps to his word. He wants to obey Athena’s orders of to not fight back. Although he is sad, he will not let Agamemnon’s threat get to his
The Ancient Greeks admired their heroes and tried to learn from both their achievements and their mistakes. They believed that most great leaders and warriors followed a predictable behavior cycle, which often ended tragically. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is a great warrior who traces the stages of the behavior cycle twice, from arete to hubris to ate and then to nemesis. Achilles is a highly skilled warrior and a great leader who becomes a narcissist and an arrogant person, which leads to selfish and childish behavior resulting in the death of his best friend. Following Patroclus’ death, Achilles repeats the behavior cycle by regaining his courage and motivation, and goes back to battle against Hector. The pride he feels in killing Hector and his overpowering hatred for him, leads Achilles to another bad decision: disrespecting the body of his enemy. This foolish choice leads directly to Achilles death. Although The Iliad is mainly known as a story about the Trojan War, it is understood as a story about Achilles and his struggle to be a hero.
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...
Achilles anger was a predominant theme in the Iliad. It led to Patrokolos, death, Hektor’s death and a great many other Trojan deaths. Achilles was a very powerful Greek warrior, he had many faults but one of his most prominent was his uncontrollable anger. Multiple times throughout the Iliad his anger had for reaching effects on the war and people around him. These effects were not usually favorable to anyone. There are three main occurrences that led Achilles’ anger down devastating paths. The first was when Agamemnon took Achilles’ girlfriend. When this happened, Achilles felt robbed because Brisies, his girlfriend, represented his might and the glory of his conquests. In the Greek culture, glory and honor were highly esteemed. This is why
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.
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...
After that part, Achilles shows vengeance when he talks about how he wants to kill Hector. 'I will not live nor go about mankind unless Hector fall by my spear, and thus pay me for having slain Patroclus, son of Mencetius.';
...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.
The two leader’s characteristics unfold where it seems as though Agamemnon cares more about power and wants something that was supposed to be given to him whereas Achilles is way more likely to choose honour over anything because at the end of the Iliad Achilles did not take the death of his dear friend Patroclus and he was not happy when his friend passed away and found out who did it. Agamemnon views his honour is greater than any army, but Achilles states “wrapped in shamelessness, with your mind forever on profit” (Homer, Iliad 1.149) proving how Agamemnon seems to always think about himself before others . The only aspect that these two leaders agree on is that honour can be received through women. They believe honour can be received through women because it is a sign of power and status. Agamemnon goes out of his way to ask for Brisesis because the lady that he received in war Chryseis was taken away. Honour was a very important factor for both of these men as they made sure that their one source of honour through a maiden was not
The Iliad may be seen as an account of the circumstances that irrevocably alter the life of one man: Achilles, one of the greatest warriors. Throughout the course of the poem Achilles goes through many ordeals that change his character immensely. Starting with his quarrel with Agamemnon and withdrawal from battle, to the death of Patroklos, and with the slaying of Hektor. Achilles emotions and actions decide the fate of many warriors on both sides. Achilles struggles with anger, honor, pride, loyalty and love make the poem more that just a gruesome war story.