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Achilles' character in the iliad
Achilles character in the iliad
Achilles' character in the iliad
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Achilles During the Trojan war, was the Greek hero Achilles more selfish, or more self-preserving? There is much evidence supporting both claims, but only one is more prevalent. There is three examples of how Achilles was more selfish then self-preserving, these are, when Achilles quit the Trojan War because of Agamemnon selfishness, when Achilles was not willing to be persuaded by Odysseus, how he came only to win honor and glory, and how he went into battle to slay hector. The Iliad is first presented as Achilles and Agamemnon arguing, for Agamemnon was being selfish himself, relentlessly denying Achilles his spoils for what he earns. This in turn made Achilles very mad, and in an act of selfishness, asked his mother to convince Zeus to
The more unpleasant aspects of Achilles' character are brought home to us shortly after we first encounter him in The Iliad, when he quarrels with Agamemnon over the possession of a concubine. Before the assembled Greek leaders, Achilles complains that he never gets his fair share of the prizes, that the Achaians do not give him sufficient honor, and that he is weary of fighting the Trojans, "since to me they have done nothing" (Lattimore, 1967:63). When Agamemnon decides to teach him a lesson and take his concubine Briseis from him, Achilles has a fit of temper and warns all the Greeks that they will be sorry they did not cater to his whims: "And then y...
The Odyssey, written by Homer, details the dismal voyage home of a Greek Hero, Odysseus; returning from the Trojan War. Plagued by bad luck; the gods hindered Odysseus’ return to Ithaca and in return, he was away from his homeland for twenty years. Odysseus was considered a Modern Greek hero. He was thoughtful, resourceful and respectful of the gods. If we compare Odysseus to Achilles, another Greek hero, most of their traits are similar, they shared in their sense of duty, courage and bravery. However, Achilles was more impulsive than Odysseus and did not contemplate the consequences of his actions. He was solely motivated by his need for vengeance. Even though Achilles had extraordinary strength and a close relationship with the gods, he still seemed less than heroic. He possessed all the abilities to be a great warrior and was portrayed as the greatest warrior in the Greek army yet his flaws constantly hindered his capability to act with decency and honour. He could not control his pride or rage which ultimately affected his actions. An example of this is when Achilles prayed to the gods that the Trojans would slaughter the Greeks because of the indecency shown to him by King Agamemnon. Part of him desired to live a long, easy life, but he knew that his personal fate forced him to choose between living a long life and his name forgotten after a few generations; or a short life, lived with honour and glory. Ultimately, Achilles was willing to sacrifice his life so that his name would be rememb...
Achilles would be considered one of the latter; he is a proud and headstrong person who had to fight for everything he received. In The Iliad of Homer, one sees that Achilles initially achieved his first honor on the battle field. His prowess and ferocity in personal combat gives him the appearance of invincibility or i.e. super human, or god like abilities. He is also very short tempered, and takes offense very easily. He would respond with blistering indignation, especially when he thinks that his honor is being insulted.
Achilles’ true nature is that of a warrior. The son of Peleus must fight. When he denounces Agamemnon and the Achaeans, he does not go home. His ship is last in line, near Troy. Subconsciously, he has already made the choice of accepting a short life filled with glory. Subconsciously, he wants to go back to war. He needs to. However, he also needs to insure his possession of glory and honor. But what kind of glory, what kind of honor? He already possesses the honor of the gods. He says, “my honor lies in the great decree of Zeus…” (IX.741.p.272). By book IX, material wealth is no longer what Achilles wants. He spurns Agamemnon’s offers. The typical mortal concepts of heroism no longer concern him; his ideals differ from those of his peers. Phoenix’s Meleager is no example to him. However, at this point Achilles still does not know what he wants. Pride and stubbornness still supplement his rage, but now his anger appears to be a manifestation of his fear and confusion—“Stop confusing my fixed resolve with this…” (IX.745-746.p.272). Achilles knows that he wants honor and glory, but in what form?
This was shown when Agamemnon wronged Achilles. He did this by taking Achilles' wife, Breseis, when his was taken from him. This all began when the Achaean army took over a town and Agamemnon and Achilles took two women , Chryseis and Breseis, to be their wives. Chryseis' father received help from Apollo in getting his daughter back, and Agamemnon was left without a wife. As a result of this, he takes Breseis even though he was forbidden to do this by Achilles. Because of this, Achilles took a shot to his pride and sent a plague upon the whole Achaean army. This shows another act of his selfishness, not as his wife was taken from him, but as he set danger upon the whole Achaean army who have been fighting with him for nine years. This is selfish of Achilles as he betrays his army for his own personal
At the beginning of the epic, the falling out, Achilles is not concerned for the fate of the Greeks, but for himself and his grudge with Agamemnon, "My honors never equal yours, whenever we sack some wealthy Trojan stronghold-my arms bear the brunt of the raw, savage fighting, true, but when it comes to dividing up the plunder the lion's share is yours, and back I go (Iliad I, 193.) ." This shows a very narrow-minded, selfish Achilles and this is, indeed what we are supposed to think of him at the beginning of the epic. He is self-possessed and worried about personal possessions.
Achilles personality has not much to recommend him other than his fighting capabilities. He is headstrong, ignorant, selfish, and conceited. In the story his emotions take charge. Wrath, rage, greed, vanity, pride, honor and loyalty are his allies. Achilles lives for fighting and being known to everyone he only takes into consideration his own needs and wants. Vanity flatters him and his envy and wrath paves the way to ultimately causing his own death, of course this doesn’t happen until after he sees what his foolish actions have caused him and he suffers greatly. At the end before his death, there seems to be a come- around for Achilles, his character shifts slightly after seeing the effects he has caused. However, his change in character is short
In light of Aristotle’s quote, “the man who is incapable of working in common, or who in his self-sufficiency has no need for others, is no part of a community, and is like a beast or a god,” correlates to Achilles in essence of him wanting no part of his heritage as a god, and fighting with comrades and the Trojans. With this in mind, we can see why Achilles had a tremendous amount of strength and rage within himself.
Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors, is portrayed as a hero in some ways but, on the other hand, performs some controversial acts in the Iliad. Throughout the entire Trojan war, Achilles spent most of his time pouting in his tent after Agamemnon kidnapped his prized maiden, Chryseis.
Although, honor is most important to Achilles we are shown that pride is a fault in his life as well. Achilles holds out and does not enter to the battle with Agagmemnon, this decision leads to many lives lost and almost the loss of the Greeks. From this you can learn that how you are viewed toward someone else is not what is important. What’s important is how you see yourself, especially, in Achilles situation, when lives are at stake.
From the first pages of Homer’s The Iliad, Achilles is portrayed as vengeful, proud, and petty. As the book progresses, the image of Achilles as a spiteful child is sharpened dramatically. Towards the end of the epic; however, Achilles begins to exhibit qualities that are considered heroic even in today’s society. Once his loyal and trusted friend Patroclus dies, Achilles undergoes a drastic change in character. When he confronts the true horror of death, Achilles puts aside his immature ways to fulfill his duty to his friend, his compatriots, and his conscience. In this way, the progression of Achilles as a character is an analogy for the transition from youth to maturity.
Achilles had a desire for battle and to be victorious because of the glory that was awarded for it. The quote that was put into the Odyssey goes against everything Achilles stood for because he fought in hundreds of battles, not caring about living or dying but only about his recognition. This kleos that he so desired seemed like it was the only aspect of life that he coveted. He wanted to accumulate as much honor as possible so that he could be worshipped as if he was one of the gods. Achilles did have that option; he was given a prophecy and a choice between life or eternal glory. The allure of glory proves irresistible when he must avenge the death of his beloved friend Patroclus. It was this significant event that ultimately altered Achilles’ view of glory and caused him to choose the battle over life on
However, Achilles is very much an independent character and a selfish person. While Hector is a soldier, an unselfish person, and a loving family man; he cares not for just his own glory but the glory of Troy. Furthermore, the reasons behind Achilles and Hector fighting reflect their personalities: Achilles is selfish so he fights for himself, but Hector is more of a caring character and therefore he fights for Troy and his family. However, overall Achilles is the superior warrior because he slays Hector in just a few moves, and his achievements are exceptional compared to Hector’s.
Originally, Achilles chooses to fight in the war and have a short life filled with glory. He has no regard for life in general, and is violent, killing as many
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...