Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The character of Achilles
The character of Achilles
Relationships in the Odyssey
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The character of Achilles
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. From these lines we see that Achilles does not understand the importance of being a team and working together. He wants to be the boss and
…show more content…
Agamemnon is trying to bribe Achilles with gifts but Achilles is not hearing it. From these lines we see that Achilles is being somewhat selfish he is not willing to accept anything Agamemnon gives him regardless of how much it is even if what he gives him is more than what Agamemnon has himself. Achilles will not take anything from him until he is willing to pay for all the grief he has caused which is pretty much impossible to do. The gifts that Agamemnon will offer are not enough to satisfy Achilles it will not convince him to change his decision about the war or mean enough to him
Had Achilles joined with him or, on a larger note, not have asked for Zeus’s wrath against the Achaeans, his one companion might not have faced such a bitter end. It can no longer be a trivial battle of glory for Achilles, because it is now a personal cause to him. Patroclus’s selflessness is what aids in remedying Achilles’s attitude. Just as Patroclus humbled himself for the Greek army, so Achilles finally admits to how his selfishness negatively impacted his fellow Greeks. “How many fewer friends had gnawed the dust of the wide world, brought down by enemy hands as I raged on and on” (Iliad 19.69-70).
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.
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
He feels that his honor was besmirched when Agamemnon demands that Achilles relinquish his war prize, Brises "Are you ordering to give this girl back? Either the great hearted Achaians shall give me a new prize chosen according to my desires to atone for the girl loss, or else if they will not hive me I myself shall take her, your own prize?(Homer 1.134).
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.
Achilles’ behavior starts out with arete, or someone’s great qualities. Achilles is a highly gifted warrior who is a combination of strength, skill, courage, and determination. Achilles earned his prize of honor, Briseis, for being a great warrior and leader. Achilles explains, “my prize of honor, which I earned and which the Greeks gave to me”(129). Many people know Achilles for these qualities and look up to him for that reason. Later after Patroclus’ death, Achilles goes through the behavior cycle for the second time, starting with arete, summoning his anger and courage, and gets back on the battlefield. Achilles explains his reason for going back to war by saying, “I now ...
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
The first requirement of Aristotle's tragic hero is that they are more admirable than the average character. Achilles meets this requirement because of his ability on the battlefield. In The Iliad, the background to the story is the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. This background is not only the basis for the story overall, but is also the basis for Achilles' own story. This begins when Achilles refuses to join the battle because he is insulted by Agamemnon. This decision results in the action that drives the remainder of the story. Later in the story when Achilles becomes angered and goes to the other extreme, launching into battle and killing ferociously. The significance of this is that it places battle as central to both Achilles' story and to what is important in the setting of the story. Importantly, the aspect that makes Achilles greater than most is his ability o...
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...
Hector’ willingness to switch up his fighting strategy, something warriors pride themselves on, demonstrates once again how he is a selfless leader, setting aside his pride to benefit his army. In comparison, when Agamemnon hurts Achilles’ pride after he steals Achilles’ girlfriend Briseis, Achilles responds by saying, “ j chb31dcbli3bci3bco1b” Achilles’ decision to leave his army, deeply hurts their chances in battle as he is considered to be the greatest warrior. It’s Achilles’ clear lack of care for his army, that exposes his selfishness. A second example of how Achilles lets his pride detriment his Achaean army, is when Odysseus, Phoinix and Aias visit Achilles, and ask him if he would be willing to return to battle, as the Achaeans were
In The Iliad, Agamemnon is “a king who gorges on his own people” (Homer 1.209), therefore Achilles decides to abandon Agamemnon to make this oppressor understand that there comes “a time, in distress, [he] lack [Achilles’] help, a time when Hector, that man-killer, destroys many warriors” (Homer 1.216-220). Achilles believes that Agamemnon is doing the unjust by taking other’s war prizes for himself, and he acted out against this tyrant without a second thought. However, his actions were rash and inconsiderate. Achilles’ burning rage to the dictatorship of Agamemnon led to Achilles not recognizing that his strife with Agamemnon puts his fellow warriors in a precipice against the greatest Trojan warrior Hector. In comparison, Pat Tillman is a former professional NFL player who gave up on his career to join the army.
Achilles is conflicted because all of the other mortals risk their lives every day when they are fighting. The warriors portray courage in every fight of the war because they know they could die but yet, they still go out and fight. Achilles can’t have courage if he knows exactly how he is going to die it is impossible. Achilles is angry that he can’t portray or have the courage of every other human because of his strange relationship to death. The relationship between most humans and death is that we all know for a fact that we are going to die but we don’t know how and when that is going to happen.
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
He believes in the faith and power of them and this motivates him. With the gods also having done some favors and helping Achilles out, this exalts Achilles as a great hero. He is part demi-god, so this makes him standout with his physical strength and also his fighting abilities. With this recognition of his skills, also comes the recognition of his flaws. He is too proud, is quick to react, and has an enormous amount of rage.