Agamemnon And Achilles's Emotions In The Iliad

The Iliad by Homer The Iliad was a really good representation of the chaotic war-torn times of the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea; this includes the countries Rome and Greece. It was a time where nations were trying to expand their power and influence and warriors were claiming their spoils of war. I mean the beginning of book I of The Iliad, Achilles and Agamemnon are arguing over the rewards and the spoils of war. Agamemnon didn’t want to give up his prize girl Chryses in order to please the God Apollo and stop the plague and the rain of arrow falling from Olympus.

Achilles and Hector in The Iliad and Medea and Jason Medea all have characteristics that eventually led to their downfall. Achilles is a furious man, and it leads him to do unspeakable things. Hector is very prideful, and it clouds his judgement. In Medea, Medea is revengeful, and all she thinks about his getting revenge. Jason is insensitive, and it cost him his family.

In Homer’s The Iliad, epic hero Achilles serves as an example of how rage, when unchecked, leads to disastrous repercussions. Achilles, though nearly superhuman in his physical abilities, struggles repeatedly to contain his anger. Throughout The Iliad, as Achilles’ fury compounds, the consequences of his actions become catastrophic, eventually leading to the death of his best friend, Patroclus. Although Achilles ultimately chooses to avenge Patroclus’ death and achieve his own kleos, or honor, his rage-driven actions lead to the death of many Achaean soldiers, and change the course of his fate.

It is so deeply rooted that it encompasses Achilles, becoming a characteristic of this great warrior, influencing his actions and chooses throughout the story, such as leaving the fighting and considering the idea to return to Pythia. The depth of Achilles rage and hatred is demonstrated through in his response to Agamemnon, concerning the gifts he offered as compensation for his wrongs, saying that “not if his gifts outnumbered all the grains of sand and dust in the earth, no not even then could Agamemnon bring my fighting spirit round” (9.470-472). The true rage of Achilles is extremely important to the entire story of The Iliad, as from Book One through Book Nine Achilles allows this rage to control his actions, causing him to Achilles remains absent from the fighting as well as causing him to pray to Zeus that Trojans may receive the upper hand in the fighting so that the Greeks may suffer for Agamemnon’s actions. Therefore, this profound rage is an extremely important aspect of The Iliad, as it ultimately effects not only Achilles actions but also course of the

Achilles is maddened and appeals to his goddess mother saying, “If I am to die soon, shouldn’t I have what I want?” Feeling only sorrow for her son, Thetis requests Zeus to cause to Greeks to lose until Achilles fights again. Slowly the Greeks are pushed back farther and Agamemnon pleads with Achilles, offering Briseis back. Achilles declines due to his pride and the Trojans come close to burn the Greek ships. Even when a ship was burning, Achilles refused to fight and instead sends out Patroclus.

An Eye For An Eye (An Analysis of Violence in the Iliad) Robert Kennedy once said, “What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet. No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders.” As Mr. Kennedy so eloquently said, acts of violence rarely accomplish their intended goal.

He remained headstrong, stubborn and selfish in his actions, even warranting rebuke from the men on certain occasions. This is seen in the very first conflict that is witnessed on the pages of The Iliad. Agamemnon is faced with the request to give up his war prize, and immediately and indignantly decides against all the council of the army in order to keep his prize of a woman (28). With this decision, he sought his own desires selfishly and disconnected himself from the men he was meant to lead. Granted, he possessed a strong will, a thing very necessary for good leadership.

Although the word “hero” has transcended time, the definition has not. When modern-day humans go into reading about Greek heroes, expecting them to resemble our current ones, they are unpleasantly surprised to find selfish people who sometimes indiscriminately murder in the name of honor. In comparison, we value the firefighter that puts their life on the line to save others, the person standing up to the bully with pacifism rather than fists, and those that learn to forgive and forget instead of spending their entire lives seeking revenge on those that have wronged them. Thus, Achilles would not be considered a modern-day hero like he was in ancient Greece, because whilst they valued glory, brutal strength, and revenge, today we value selflessness,

In the Iliad, Achilles is responding to Odysseus’s speech attempting to convince him to return to the war. Achilles’ main argument against returning is his incalculable rage against Agamemnon for “the prize of honor / The warlord Agamemnon gave me / And in his insulting arrogance took back” which is not only an insult to Achilles’ status, but also to his honor as a warrior (Il. 9.378-379). In addition to focusing on the main argument of Achilles’ speech, it is worth noting the contradictions present within his speech as well.

“Wolves and lambs don’t share a common heart—they always sense a mutual hatred for each other” (Homer, Iliad 22. 327-329), this epic simile shows, Achilles’ actions brought on by justice for Patroclus’ death scream for blood. Achilles’ actions after killing Hector hurt Priam and his family, leaving them emotionally distraught and furious furthering the raging battle into Troy for fair Helen. Mortals have been shown to fight a war of vengeance and justice but the Gods also had a part in this

Achilles’ anger has lead to him committing cruel behavior; a large majority of the horrific violence within Homer’s story, comes from Achilles’ relentless rage. But is his rage truly without proper cause and justification? King Agamemnon forced Achilles’ to hand over his beloved Briseis to him, which caused Achilles to withdraw his men from the Achaean army. Achilles’ closest

Achilles is seen to be full of wrath in the beginning of the book. This wrath is not caused only because Agamemnon takes his prize of war. He is angry at the system which allows Agamemnon to play around with other people’s honors and the system which allows him to decide who gets how much honor. In other words, Achilles does not like the idea that someone else can decide what happens to his honor, despite him deserving most of the honor in relation to how much he contributes in war. As the story proceeds, Achilles seems to contradict himself a lot, and the concept of honor helps us understand this better.

Revenge is an emotion that has not only consumed many, it has been simplified that in all fairness one turn deserves another. Within the Iliad and its ever-present themes, the theme of revenge is against the Trojans due to Paris taking Meleanus ' wife Helen who was claimed to be the most beautiful woman in the land. Also, Achilles goes against Agamemnon who to take revenge on Achilles takes away his prize that he rightful deserved and

If I stay here and fight before the city of Troy, there will be no home- coming for me but my fame shall never die; if I go home to my native land, there will be no great fame for me, but I shall live long and not die an early death.” (Homer 110) This shows that he is selfishness and fearful at the same time of losing and dying in the war. In the very beginning of the Iliad, King Agamemnon and Achilles have an argument for a couple of different reasons. After, the Achians won a battle against a city that was allied with the Trojans each of them received a prize consisted of a young woman from the war.

Iliad is recognized as one of the most famous ancient monuments of literature. The full understanding of this epic poem is hardly possible without thorough analysis of its main characters. Among all the episodes of the Trojan War, Homer chooses the moment of Achilles’ wrath and thus creates a poem in which he becomes the central figure. From the Ancient Greeks’ point of view, Achilles represents the ideal of manliness and pure heroism, for he is brave and fights for heroics, not profits. Today, one can agree with this interpretation, yet Achilles is probably the most controversial character because he combines various personality traits and acts in accordance with his ambiguous nature.