Achilles

The character of Achilles is first introduced in book one of The Iliad, which some people consider to be the “Wrath or Rage of Achilles.” Homer used the particular scene where Agamemnon collects Achilles’ prize, Chryses’ daughter, to develope this particular character’s heroic framework. In rage, Achilles accuses Agamemnon of being excessively prideful, like a multitude of the Achaean warriors. With enough adios to give the prize back, he proceeds to call out to his mother in disarray, like a small child running to one’s mother when he or she does not get their way. Through his mother, Thetis’ prophecy to Zeus about Achilles, the audience is made aware that he will either live a short, glorious life or a long, lusterless life. The question

He proclaims, “If I stay here and fight, I’ll never return home, / But my glory will be undying forever./ If I return home to my dear fatherland/ My glory is lost but but my life will be long,/ And death that ends all will not catch me soon.” Achilles had been warned for the grief that would inevitably come, being forced to choose between life and glory, just like Thetis had once prophesized. The disparity between thoughts and actions eventually lead him to choosing life over glory, presenting the first moment of benevolence portrayed by Achilles. In the books to follow, Zeus’ decisions to kill Patroklos, Achilles’ one true friend, rattles Achilles to the core and sets his mindset into perpetual motion in order to seek vengeance for the death of his friend. Both events shifted his mindset away from his selfish actions, now giving him a sense of duty. Homer included these significant events in order to reveal the portrayal of both sides each character holds within, each being two dimensional rather than

He is commanded by the gods to release Hector’s body to Priam, Hector’s father. The vast anger he once held for Hector, simply vanished. Achilles no longer sees the point in being angry with Hector, just like the anger he once held against Agamemnon. He treats the king with great respect when handing over his son’s body. He questions the cause of all of the jury he had carried for so long and wonders why he even allowed the rage to come out. The other reasons for fighting in the war suddenly were made clear, those he seemed to push aside once before while he was fixated on the lack of honor he had received and Agamemnon’s faults he was once so eager to bring to the surface. The character of Achilles began as a selfish and intensely prideful individual but slowly developed into a compassionate and courageous warrior. He spent a large majority of the epic either sulking around or resorting back to violent tendencies; however, one might justify his actions in the past with the transformation revealed in the final book. One might also link his actions in the past to a way a child or adolescent might act when things do not go the way they wanted them to, yet the Achilles at the end of the epic is a much more mature representation of the evolution of youth into genuine adults. It can be inferred that Achilles’ character changed for the better, sadly at the expense of a great