From the very beginning of the poem, the character Achilles’ actions, or lack of actions, have enormous effects upon how the plot unfolds. Starting with the fight with Agamemnon and his withdrawal from the battle, to the death of Patroklos, and finally to the slaying of Hektor, Achilles and his emotions decide the fate of many Greek and Trojan warriors. It is his struggle against his anger, pride, loyalty, and love that make this poem one of a tragic nature, rather than just a gruesome account of a war. Although the reputation of Achilles claims him to be the perfect warrior, strongest of the Greeks, the poem doesn’t explain if he is the true hero of these events. With all the things he went through, you might wonder why a warrior would take his sword and leave the battleground. Achilles is a true hero, he believes that the attributes of a hero are not warfare, but nobility, pride, fellowship, honor, and respect.
The acts that Achilles portrays seem to be childish. He is a man of noble principles throughout the poem. His argument with Agamemnon is a testament to that. When Achilles refuses the gifts of Agamemnon that are offered to him, Achilles shows that his principles rank higher than desire for fame on the battlefield.
Achilles goes to Agamemnon and asks him to return the girl to her father so the plague will end. He agrees to return her, but he doesn't want to be left empty-handed. He returns Chryseis to her home, and he takes Briseis, a war-prize of Achilles. Achilles is so angry with Agamemnon that he vows to stop helping him fight the Trojans. As the battle goes on, Agamemnon realizes how important Achilles and his Myrmidons are to the Achaean troops. The King of the Greeks then swallows his pride and offers gifts to Achilles if he will come back and help fight. Achilles, however, is so stubborn that he refuses all the gifts and will not allow his troops to fight. When he is offered the gifts he rudely responds, "I hate the man [Agamemnon] like the very gates of death who says one thing but hides another in his heart”. This quote shows how much Achilles is hurt by what Agamemnon has done, and that Achilles took this very seriously toward his pride, that Agamemnon would just take someone away, that meant so much to him.
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
Phoenix’s paradigm narrative fails to persuade Achilles to rejoin the war because the specifics of that narrative fail to align with Achilles’ specific concerns. In particular, Phoenix neglects the pernicious effects of Agamemnon’s actions on Achilles’ notions of honor and pride. The old man discounts Achilles’ ability to act solely on the account of his dangerously inflated pride, which proves to be detrimental not only to the Greeks but also those whom Achilles cares about, most notably Patroclus. Additionally, Phoenix’s anecdote draws incorrectly upon the role and relationship of Achilles’ parental figures, lessening the efficacy of the speech as a whole. Phoenix’s terminal mistake was confusing the desires of Achilles with that of Meleager, assuming that the warrior values his fellow Greeks over himself (Homer’s Iliad 9.607-611).
By turning away the man, Agamemnon’s actions once again showed his ruthlessness. This event was contradicted by that of Achilles in the last book of the tale. When Priam begged for his son’s body in order to have a funeral, Achilles agreed and gave more than asked. He promised the man a break from war in order for the Trojans to have a proper funeral for Hector. Overall, this shows the great change in Achilles’ character after his
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.
Free will ultimately brought about the death of Romeo and Juliet. Obviously Juliet and Romeo’s ending was predetermined for them because it is after all a play. Which in some ways invalidates the debate of whether or not they had free will. However with a willing suspension of reality we can analyze the events that take place had this been a real situation. The events leading up to Romeo and Juliet’s untimely death are at best circumstantial, and each one is individually preventable. Some of the events could be considered fate on the premise of a chain reaction, however for my purposes I will say that had they not made the choice that had started the chain reaction it would not have happened. Therefore, it is still based upon free will.
While fighting the Trojans, Achilles and Agamemnon came to blows in a show of superiority. Agamemnon, the Greek warlord, put Achilles in his place by reminding him that he controlled what actually went on and took Briseis, Achilles’ war prize, for himself. This angered Achilles and from that point he no longer would fight alongside his fellow countrymen against the Trojans and even to pout as a child would (Puchner, , and et al 238-239). During this act Achilles showed that if he could have his toys then he would no longer play with his friends. His refusal to participate in the war hurt the Greeks horribly and many men were lost. Achilles could have cared less about the loss of his p...
One of the most successful media that ISIS used in propagating their ideology amongst youth and the international community are by using social media. In the late 2000s until today, we can see the rise of social media amongst the world population as this social media evolve in connecting one user to the other in a more interactive way. Twitter and Facebook are the two examples of the most highly used social media. Strategically, ISIS manage to use best of social media to connect with an enormous number of its targeted followers and influence them with its ideology whether by depicting the radical ideology or the nation-building ideology to reach different groups (Siboni
NACOS, B. (2002). Mass-Mediated Terrorism: The central role of the media in terrorism and counterterrorism. Oxford and New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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...
...les obtains the flaws of a Tragic Hero with his anger and pride issues. The fact that he won’t fight for Agamemnon because he stole his woman shows that his pride was hurt and when Achilles fights in a pure wrath upon hearing about Patroclus’s fate shows his flaw of anger. The transition from having to overcome his hurt pride after hearing about Patroclus’s death reveals his adaptability as a character with his change in behavior from being passive at the Achaean ships to violent in war. Lastly, Achilles solidifies his position as a Tragic Hero when he finds his moment of clarity with King Priam as he gives the body of the fallen Hector back in an act to finalize and end all conflicts Achilles and Troy. Achilles undoubtably symbolizes Aristotle’s definition of the Tragic Hero.
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.
Because he embodied Greek ideals, was ‘immortalized’ through his actions and glorious death, and was courageous, Achilles was an epic hero. Honor was of the utmost importance to both him and the entire Greek society, he chose to die a hero in battle, and he avenged the death of Patroclus even through mourning; Achilles is the true hero of the Iliad.
People are trapped in drug addiction due to various reasons. Some will try to take drugs because of curiosity. Some have many people and friends take drugs, and some want to have the experience. Athletes take drugs with the aim of improving their performance as well as to reduce certain problems. i.e. depression, stress, or anxiety. The use of drugs does not lead to drug addiction automatically. It is not possible to measure the level at which the use of drugs may be regarded as casual or even problematic. It depends on the individual. Drug addiction is not determined by the amount of drugs consumed or the many times they are consumed, but the consequences brought about by the drug addiction. This means that irrespective of the small amount one consumes, as long as the use of drugs leads to problems in life, there is a high chance of drug addiction (Sinha 351). Although many unfortunate factors cause one to fall into drug addiction, many treatments exist to save an individual from the horrible consequences. This paper discusses some of them, for instance, family history of addiction, social environment, heredity, mental addiction, peer pressure, and escapism. The paper will also highlight the symptoms, physical addiction, and withdrawal. Finally, the paper aims at highlighting methods used to ensure an individual is able to recover from drug addiction. The family history of the drug or alcohol addict is likely to place an individual in a high risk position of becoming addicted to drugs. Genetics, however, do no guarantee that an individual with a family history of drug addiction will become an addict. This is because there is no single gene, which has been identified to be responsible for passing the addictive trai...
The fact that the opening lines of the epic are about Achilles’ power and the people he has killed as a soldier on the Greek side show the huge importance given to him and his power. In his confrontation with Agamemnon regarding Chryseis, he tells Agamemnon that the Greek people want him to give Chryseis back to her father, the priest. This is an example of his great status among his people – he represents them, the one that lets Agamemnon hear their voice.
In conclusion, a world full of sustainable structures are the ultimate goal for civil engineers and structural designers. With the rapid evolution of technology, achieving this goal should not be a difficult feat. However, I believe that there is plenty more needed to be done especially in the area of utilizing the right resources to make a cleaner, safer and more sustainable world. Production of the resources can also be made at a lower carbon emission rate, engineers and engineers in training also need to be more educated on the global trend that is sustainability.