The Song of Achilles is a novel written by an American novelist Madeline Miller. The story takes places during the ancient time in Greece. In the novel the war does change peopls’s behaviour , personality and their feelings due to the traumas of battle , being way from from home , losing the people you love and fear of dying. The war change is explained through three characters Achilles , Patroclus and Hector.
The war changed Achilles behaviour.Achilles is a halfgod who everyone looks up to as a hero due to that war is important to Achilles because Achilles doesn’t want to fade into obscurity as the greatest warrior he has a reputation to live up to and fight to prove himself worthy of such a prestigious title. But it all changes due to the
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Patroclus joins the war because of Achilles. “I will never leave him. It will be this, always, for as long as he will let me.” (14:53 Miller). This quote shows the reason why he joins the war because he wants to be there for Achilles because Achilles is important and he doesn’t want him to die alone. But it all changes when Achilles refuses to join the war. Patroclus starts taking more responsibilities and becomes a center figure for the soldiers.He becomes their healer and realizes how important war is for them too. “I will be alright. I won’t go near them. Automedon will be with me, and the rest of the Myrmidons”. (pg-324 Miller). And lastly Patroclus takes the risk to pretend he is Achilles by wearing Achilles armour in the battle so the Trojans would be fooled into thinking Achilles is back into the battlefield and it would help turn the tide battle against the Trojan war. “Then do something else.Send the Myrimidons at least . Send me in your place. Put me in your armor , and I will lead the Myrmidons. They will think it is you”. (pg-324 Miller). Overall the war does change Patroclus. In the beginning he was just there for Achilles then he started beingmore responsible and independent towards the soldiers and taking the risk to fight for his country and the
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).
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.
The subject of Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, is very clearly stated--it is “the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles.” The reader remains continually aware of the extent of Achilles’ rage, yet is never told the reason why Achilles remains angry and unreconciled. There is no definitive answer to this question. Achilles is not a static character. He is constantly changing; thus the question of why he remains angry solicits different answers at various stages throughout the poem. To find an answer, the reader must carefully examine Achilles’ ever-changing dilemma involving the concepts of mortality and honor. At its simplest, Achilles’ dilemma is that if he goes to war, he will die. But he will die with glory.
And let me strap on my shoulders that armor of yours. That the zealous Trojans take me for you and quickly Withdraw from the fight." Because Achilles refused to help the Achaeans battle the Trojans, a discontented Patroclus took the matter into his own hands by requesting activation into battle disguised as Achilles in the hope of sending the Trojans. into a full retreat from the sight of him. It is apparent that Patroclus was willing to fight, although the odds were greatly against him.
When making an adaptation there are several questions one has to answer, “What has to be changed so a modern audience can “relate” to a story like The Iliad?” and “Do we as the media creators try to tackle the epic story that is The Iliad or instead focus on one of the background stories?” This is what Madeline Miller the author of The Song of Achilles chose to do, she focused on the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. Miller approaches the story from the sidelines by using Patroclus, Achilles companion and in Miller’s adaptation, lover. Despite deities and fate, despite prophecies and strategies, Miller focuses her novel on a human relationship and although this adaptation has an audience with different expectations and values it
While Achilles watches hundreds of other Greeks fall in battle, he strictly prohibits Patroclus from fighting. As his resolve against fighting grows stronger, he sees his fellow Greeks struggling, but refuses to aid as he stubbornly elevates his demand for respect over human lives. When he sends Patroclus to his impending doom he passionately proclaims “Oh would to god - father Zeus, Athena, and lord Apollo - not one of all of these Trojans could flee his death, no Argive either, but we could stride from the slaughter so we could bring Troy’s hallowed crowns of towers toppling down around us - you and I alone!” (Iliad 16.116-119). Achilles cares not for the war and doesn’t feel compelled to fight for Greece, but would fight for his own glory, and even share it with Patroclus. This in itself shows a different side of Achilles, perhaps hinting that Patroclus serves as a person who is capable of humbling him to some extent. Patroclus appears to serve a role as a sort of outlet for Achilles, someone he can confide in. Their close relationship only makes Patroclus’s death more important in Achilles’s recognition of his own
Achilles agreed that Patrokolos should wear his armor into battle, this decision along with the fact Achilles was no longer fighting, ultimately caused Patrokolos’ death. When Patrokolos died at the hands of Hektor, two things happened. First, being distraught over his friend’s death, Achilles feels responsible/ Guilt ensues but is channeled to more anger. Hektor, the slayer of Patrokolos now becomes the target of Achilles rage. Achilles is ready to fight, but more accurately ready for revenge. Achilles said, “I will not live nor go about among mankind unless Hektor fall by my spear, and thus pay me for having slain Patrokolos son of Menoetius,” (The Iliad, Chapter 18, Lines 89-91). When Achilles decided to fight, the fate of Hektor was already decided. Also, because he decided to fight, many more Trojans died. His fury with all of Troy was unleashed. Achilles killed and killed. The carnage was
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.
In Homer’s Iliad, the reader can see there are many situations that show Achilles has symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, known as PTSD. The Iliad is a story of the Trojan War, which was started by Agamemnon of Mycenae to attack Troy. Agamemnon was forced to give up a girl that he had taken in a raid, and then takes Briseis from Achilles as a trade for the girl. Then, Achilles becomes angry and wants to kill Agamemnon, but removes himself from the war. In The Iliad, Achilles emerges as the victim of war, as well as its brutal perpetrator through his violence and the events preceding it. Achilles experiences a combination of events which typically trigger PTSD, including betrayal, witnessing the deaths of comrades, and surviving the
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...
Achilles is introduced into The Iliad getting into a debacle with the leader of the Greek army, Agamemnon, during the last year of the Trojan War. Achilles starts a quarrel with Agamemnon because he has demanded possession of Achilles’ woman, Briseis, in consolation for having to give up his woman, Chryseis, so that the gods will end their plague upon the Greek soldiers. Achilles does all he can to get his loved one back, but he knows that nothing will waver Agamemnon’s decision. This is when Achil...
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.
...h Agamemnon and wishes that ‘strife could die from the lives of gods and men’… Not to avenge Patroclus by killing Hector would be a renunciation of all that he stands for and has lived by”. Even though “sorrow fell on Achilles like a cloud” (216), he went back out to the battlefield and killed Hector. It took a great deal of bravery for Achilles to face the man who killed his best friend but Achilles, being the hero that he was, got back into battle and killed him because he couldn’t let Patroclus’ death go unavenged.
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...
In the Greek society, Achilles has the role of the aggressive soldier. From the very first lines of the epic, we are introduced to Achilles’ murderous rage: