There are times in my own life in which I realize that a goal that I have been pursuing rigorously is really not worth my time and effort, or that the way I have been pursuing that particular goal is not the most effective way. After I come to these realizations I find it helpful, if not necessary, to step back and analyze the situation. This is what happened to Achilles throughout the first sixteen books of the epic.
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.
All these changes of mind take place throughout book nine in which the embassy composed of Aias, Odysseus, and Phoenix visits Achilles. By the time the embassy arrived at his hut Achilles had been toying with the idea of returning to his homeland and abandoning the struggle for wealth and honor. Because of the embassy Achilles' mind was changed, probably due to a sense of camaraderie, and he decides to stay but fight only if the struggle reaches his own camp.
At this height of the epic we see that Achilles is still very much concerned with wealth and honor, the question now is "how to accomplish his goal". Achilles is aware of a few things and this puts him at an advantage over the rest. He knows that he will eventually be honored and that Agamemnon's debt to him will eventually be paid; he knows this because Athena had promised it to him if he didn't kill Agamemnon. He also knows that Zeus will hear him if not because of his own worth, Zeus' love for him, then because of Thetis' intervention.
At some point in the epic Achilles fantasizes about going against both the Achaeans and the Trojans. This might not sound feasible but we must keep in mind that Achilles is indeed the single hope of the Achaeans, because if he is not there the Achaeans lose ground. The minute Achilles steps back into battle the Trojans begin to lose ground, in fact Achilles doesn't even need to fight just as long as the Trojans think he's fighting. The gods are not a source of hope for either the Achaeans or the Trojans because if one of the gods intervenes on behalf of one side then another god will intervene on behalf of the other side.
By book sixteen Achilles' intention is to gain wealth and honor, how he goes about doing it is another issue. Letting the Trojans and the Achaeans destroy each other and then step in and conquer them both is not such a far fetch. The only thing that is holding Achilles from letting the Achaeans be eliminated, or eliminating them himself, is his kinship with them.
It is interesting to note that Achilles' mind hasn't finished changing, we will see another change of mind when Achilles decides to fight not for wealth and honor, not for the sake kinship, but to avenge Patroklus' death.
