Rage of Achilles: A Study of Homer's Iliad

In book one the Iliad begins with the poet, Homer, asking the muse to tell of the rage of Achilles. It begins with Apollo’s priest Chryses going to the Achaean camp to ask if he can pay ransom for his daughter Chryseis who was captured. Agamemnon sends him off rudely and Chryses prays to Apollo asking him to punish the Greeks. Apollo answers this request by bringing a plague upon them. Achilles calls an assembly with a seer and promises the seer immunity so that he can find out why Apollo is angry. Agamemnon agrees to give back Chryseis if he can take Briseis from Achilles. It is this chain of events that ultimately leads to the fued between the two men. Achilles decides to stop fighting in the war to show the Greeks just how valuable he is and he persuades his mother,

The momentary truce in book three showed that none of the men really wanted to battle, but now we see a sense of purpose and urgency. Both sides are fighting extremely rigorously and neither side wants to quit; they want to win. The Trojans’ decision to sleep outside near the Greeks shows a hunger for battle. When Homer describes this scene he compares their fires to shining stars in the night sky. It is a scene of peace and serenity. For a second we are able to forget about the constant battles and blood shed we’ve read about for eight books and live in this perfect moment. This book also sets up the return of Achilles. It has been very easy to forget that this is actually the story of Achilles’ rage. In the beginning of the story he said that he would sit out of the war until his fellow warriors realized how important he is. At this point in the story it seems as if his army has no chance of winning the war. They are cowering in their ships while the Trojans sleep just outside having a night of feasting and celebrating what seems like victory. I am almost certain that we will see the return of Achilles in book nine and another major shift in the