One of the characteristics of human is the ability to learn from mistakes and to hand down the knowledge through generations. This is achieved through stories passed down from one generation to the next. Many of these educational stories throughout the world caution against unchecked rage. One prominent example is The Iliad by Homer, which explores the effect of Achilles’ rage during The Trojan War. When Achilles allows his anger to impair his judgement, it results in the Achaeans almost losing the Trojan War and the death of Achilles’ best friend, Patroclus; as a result, The Iliad conveys an important lesson about the power of rage. Achilles allows his rage to control him, which causes the Achaean army to suffer huge casualties, and results in the death of Patroclus, thus …show more content…
By intertwining the invocation of the muse with the consequences of Achilles’ uncontrolled rage, Homer centralizes the story around the cause and effect of Achilles’ anger. In addition, by associating Achilles’ anger with the casualties of the Achaeans, Homer puts Achilles at fault for the death of many Achaeans. As a result, highlighting the consequences of basing decisions on anger. Agamemnon disgraces Achilles, which enrages Achilles and causes him to withdraw from fighting. This results in the Trojans gaining the upper hand in battle because Achilles was the Achaeans’ best warrior. While attempting to convince Achilles to cease his rage and rejoin the war, Ajax states that “Achilles—/ he’s made his own proud spirit so wild in his chest, /so savage, not a thought for his comrades’ love—” (IX.768-769). Ajax’s disapproval of Achilles’ thoughtlessness is clearly conveyed through his words. This thoughtlessness is seen when Achilles’ rage blinds him to the appeals of his closest friends, he overlooks the severe casualties sustained by the
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.
The first line of the Iliad describes a human emotion that leads to doom and destruction in Homer's poetic tale of the Trojan War. Achilles' rage is a major catalyst in the action in the Iliad. It is his rage that makes him both withdraw from and, later, rejoin the war with a fury. Why is Achilles enraged? Is his rage ignited solely by his human adversaries or do the gods destine him to the experience? Achilles' rage has many facets. His rage is a personal choice and, at times, is created by the gods.
The Ancient Greeks admired their heroes and tried to learn from both their achievements and their mistakes. They believed that most great leaders and warriors followed a predictable behavior cycle, which often ended tragically. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is a great warrior who traces the stages of the behavior cycle twice, from arete to hubris to ate and then to nemesis. Achilles is a highly skilled warrior and a great leader who becomes a narcissist and an arrogant person, which leads to selfish and childish behavior resulting in the death of his best friend. Following Patroclus’ death, Achilles repeats the behavior cycle by regaining his courage and motivation, and goes back to battle against Hector. The pride he feels in killing Hector and his overpowering hatred for him, leads Achilles to another bad decision: disrespecting the body of his enemy. This foolish choice leads directly to Achilles death. Although The Iliad is mainly known as a story about the Trojan War, it is understood as a story about Achilles and his struggle to be a hero.
While book one of the Iliad opens with a description of Achilles’ rage, book twenty-four ends with the result of his reconciliation. While much of the war is affected by Achilles’ rage, it is his resolutions that develop him into a true hero. Achilles ' rage is displayed in two surges. The first instance being his withdrawal from battle due to a conflict with Agamemnon. Achilles ' second surge of rage is caused by the death of Patroclus. Each of these displays of rage are ended with reconciliation that changes Achilles as a man.
In the modern world, people, as a society, have always given themselves a goal or goals that they would like to attain at some point during their lifetime. Many people seek to attain riches, love, happiness or high stature within society. When we people set that goal, we tend to mold our lifestyles around it. As people work throughout their lives to achieve this ultimate goal, it becomes apparent to others what it is we are working so hard for. Just as this pattern is evident in modern society, it can also be seen in the times of Homer, particularly in the great Greek epic, the Iliad. This distinct pattern can be seen in Achilles, one of the most vital characters in the story. Achilles, being the ultimate most powerful warrior of all time, wishes for nothing in his life but to be the most glorious man alive, mortal or immortal. It is this profound desire for glory and honor, that in the end leads to his demise. Achilles speech, given while he is distraught over the death of his closest friend Patroklos, is an excellent example of Achilles’ desire (Iliad, 18.79).
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
Which can lead a person to getting revenge from either a person hurting you from the inside or having someone close die. This can cause emotional stress because it leads to questioning on how Achilles is an emotional guy when it comes to Patroclus being dead and comparing what Achilles thinking his father and leading him to. Achilles emotions towards Patroclus death made him think about how he lost one of friends because he let Patroclus pose as himself. In which, caused him to feel angry and wanting to get revenge on Hector for killing Patroclus. Also, Achilles becomes emotional when Priam asking him to think about his father and knowing that Achilles loved his father he became to
In book 23, Achilles is taunting Hector after ignoring Hector pleading to spare his dignity, “Beg no more, you fawning dog-begging me by my parents! Would to god my rage, my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw” (Homer 23.407-409). In this quote, Homer uses negative connotations, tone and repetition to show the angry feeling Achilles have facing Hector. He uses the words “rage” and “fury” to show how his anger is taking over him causing him to make rash decisions. Homer’s usage of the phrases “fawning dog”, “hack your flesh” and “eat you raw” portrays how Achilles has become inhumane because Hector is throwing away his pride and he is begging towards Achilles, on the ground, yet Achilles continues to insult him, which emphasizes how dehumanized Achilles is. The repetition of the word “my” and “your” conveys how Achilles lets his angry and brutal personality kill Hector. The repetition of the word “beg” shows how even though Hector is pleading to Achilles to show him some mercy, Achilles continues his taunting disregarding the condition of Hector, which shows how war has deprived Achilles of his human qualities. Accordingly, the tone of this quote is disgust and irate because Achilles talks to Hector out of anger and pain. Accordingly, war also affects people through their emotions, which is how Achilles’ anger led him to kill
The question "was Achilles' anger justified" brings up issues that seem to have little or no relevance to the war. In time of war I would expect the leaders to prioritize the groups interest for the sake of unity and cooperation rather than being entrenched in achieving their own personal goals. But my expectations are those of a modern day literature student, I'm inclined to think that the Greeks who first read this epic valued different things than myself. Another relevant question might be "were Achilles' actions justified". Anger can be easily justified, but the actions that anger might lead you to take are not as easily justified. Again I am not an ancient Greek and my opinions are irrelevant unless I open my mind to different viewpoints. Therefore I am striving to look into this issue through ancient Greek eyes where the principle of sacrificing ones own interests was apparently not valued, but maintaining ones honor, on the other hand, was greatly valued. In the following paragraphs I will attempt to answer these two aforementioned questions.
The men of the Iliad are very emotional individuals; however, the emotions they express are consistently rage, pride, and jealousy. Achilles and Agamemnon jealously bicker over Briseis, a war prize that neither man particularly values. Agamemnon eventually returns her to Achilles with the admission that he never actually coupled with her; Achilles is less-than-enthused to have her back. Not only is Briseis, as a woman, regarded less as a human being as she is chattel, but the real issue dividing Agamemnon and Achilles is petty jealousy and pride. This is symptomatic of a general attitude among men that "might makes right," and the only priority is to exert a dominance over others whenever possible and at any cost. Achilles is willing to risk the lives of his compatriots and eventually forfeits his own life in pursuit of glory. Hector also loses his life and fails his family and country for glory despite having weighed the alternatives and con...
Agamemnon tries to use Achilles rage and fury to get him to give up and retreat back to the army he left. Even though Achilles felt rage and sorrow, he keeps to his word. He wants to obey Athena’s orders of to not fight back. Although he is sad, he will not let Agamemnon’s threat get to his
A large source of Achilles anger started with his fight with Agamemnon. Apollo put a plague on the Achaean soldiers that was killing them off. The only way to stop this from killing them all was to give back a priest’s daughter who had been captured. This girl “belonged” to Agamemnon and he didn’t want to give her up unless he got Achilles girl in return. This would disgrace Achilles honor but he could not let any more soldiers be killed so, he reluctantly let her go. But in return for giving up his girl he withdrew from the battle. Much of Achilles anger is a result of this occasion but the death of Patroklos later overrode his previous anger to Agamemnon.
First off, Achilles talks about how sad he is about the death of Patroclus. Achilles groaned and answered, 'Mother, Olympian Zeus has indeed vouchsafed me the fulfillment of my prayer, but what pleasure is it to me, seeing that my dear comrade Patroclus has fallen—he whom I valued more than all others, and loved as dearly as my own life?
The first reason Achilles is an epic hero is because he embodied the characteristics of the ideal Greek citizen at the time Homer wrote; he is in a position of power and regards honor highly. “O my mother! I was born to die young, it is true, but honour I was to have from Zeus, Olympian, thunderer on high! And now he has not given me one little bit! Yes, my lord king Agamemnon has insulted me! He has taken my prize and keeps it, he has robbed me myself” (page 17), Achilles cried to his mother. Agamemnon stole Achilles’ prize, Briseis, so Achilles is begging his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, to help him regain his honor. In Greece, honor was crucial and by taking Achilles’ prize, Agamemnon has stripped him not only of his hard-won prize but of his honor as well. Such a double loss would have been catastrophic for a Greek citizen. Classicist Ian Johnston highlights the significance of his loss, suggesting that “the greatest harm that can occur to a particular warrior is shame, the community’s public recognition that he has let the group down or failed to live up to its shared rules.”Being shamed, in this case, by Agamemnon, would cause the Achaeans to lose respect for Achilles, and as one of their leaders, this would be a tragedy for him. Achilles’ desire to regain his honor sho...
Homer makes it clear that Achilles is a man mainly driven by his hunger for glory. Achilles has all the traits of a superhuman from his strength to his incredible ability to fight on the battlefield. Even with these great abilities, it is hard for many readers to perceive him as a hero because of the way he acts. Homer takes this brief time period out of this whole ten-year war just to demonstrate how Achilles cannot control himself when he goes into a rage. In todays world Achilles would not last long as a soldier in any army because he would be court marshaled for insubordination. Achilles ye...