The Metamorphosis of Achilles in Homer’s The Iliad

1172 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The character of achilles in the iliad

The Metamorphosis of Achilles in Homer’s The Iliad

Dr. Frost’s comments: With his clear explanation, illustrative quotes, and logical organization, the student easily proves his thesis, recapped and affirmed very well in the final paragraph.

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.

The first book of The Iliad, appropriately titled the “Rage of Achilles,” sets the scene for the remainder of the epic. Agamemnon seizes Achilles’ prize, the beautiful Briseis, to sooth his own wounded pride. Even though Achilles is correct to suggest that Agamemnon return Chryseis, the swift runner’s brash manner leaves Agamemnon feeling slighted. In return, Achilles vows that he will not fight in the Trojan War any longer. Once Briseis is seized, Achilles goes to the beach to cry to his mother. This is reminiscent of how a small child would act when denied something he wants. It seems that Homer is trying to compare Achilles’ actions in the early books to that of a child.

Achilles implores his mother to go to Zeus and ask the god to crush the Greeks until they give Achilles the honors he ...

... middle of paper ...

...les has been throughout the epic. His actions show that he has finally seen to the heart of his fury and found it pointless and destructive. He is ready to fulfill his duty to the Greeks, yet is willing to treat his enemies with respect and courtesy because they are humans as well.

In conclusion, the progression of Achilles’ character in The Iliad can easily be viewed as an analogy for the progression of a child to an adult. From the spiteful rage in the beginning to the compassionate respect in the end of the epic, Achilles’ development mirrors that of a stereotypical human from childhood to maturity. The concepts that seem important to him in the beginning, his honor and glory, slowly become supplanted by more reasonable and mature ideals of duty, respect and compassion.

Work Cited

Homer: Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2003.

Show More
Related

  • Differences in Heroes in The Iliad

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    Achilles is half-divine because he is the son of the goddess Thetis and a mortal, Peleus. He is by far the greatest warrior in the Trojan war and is considered to be “worth an entire army” (p.134). The very sight of him throws fear into the hearts of, otherwise courageous warriors. A true man of war, Agamemnon calls him, “ the most violent man alive” (p 107). With his fierce nature and taste for war also comes his prideful ways. When this delicate pride is damaged by the public disgracing Agamemnon brings upon him by taking his war prize, he selfishly decides to withdraw from battle. Achilles goes to his divine mother for the malicious reason of asking

    Read More

  • Inferno In The Iliad: Warfare An Intoxication Inferno

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    He portraits Achilles as a mystical hero, a brave militant, with honorable qualities. To many this will be a great characteristic of a noble man, but his anger and pride becomes his downfault. Home starts the poem with, “Goddess, sing me the anger, of Achilles, Peleus’ son, that fatal anger that brought countless sorrows on the Greeks, and sent many valiant souls of warriors down to Hades, leaving their bodies as spoil for dogs and carrion birds: for thus was the will of Zeus brought to fulfilment. Sing of it from the moment when Agamemnon, Atreus’ son, that king of men, parted in wrath from noble Achilles (Homer Bk1).” An anger that took the life of many soldiers because of Achilles selfishness. Glen W. Most, explains that, “Homer does indeed tell of Achilles’ wrath – but he recounts not only, first, his wrath against Agamemnon, “which laid countless woes upon the Achaeans,” but also, second, his wrath against Hector after Hector has slain Patroclus (Most 50).” These examples of anger have not chance throughout generations. Anger, violence and war has always been a common felling, that it is a part of all men and these feelings can be seen from the poem of Home to World War 1 and from dictators planning war against another country to bullies harassing a childhood

    Read More

  • Vitamin C By Linus Pauling

    2191 Words  | 5 Pages

    In today’s culture, being tan coincides with what is believed to be beautiful. As a result, it is no surprise that in the United States of America, an estimated 922,000 people are currently living with some level of melanoma. Even though the news media and doctors warn people about the risks of too much sun exposure and give information as to how to prevent contracting skin cancer, people are still disregarding this important information and going into the sun for extended periods of time unprotected.

    Read More

  • Atticus Prejudice

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird captures the essence of racism and prejudice through the people of Maycomb as they witness the trial of Tom Robinson unfold. The county of Maycomb is the backdrop for characters who are dishonest to themselves and others about the racism that exists in the community. By way of the townspeople, Lee presents a variety of characters: some are just, while others treat their neighbors as equals Many others are uneducated, financially poor, misinformed in the status quo, and/or discriminative. In contract to the townspeople, Atticus represents “the just” among the locals as much as he represents wisdom, which breathes change. Atticus’s positions as a father, lawyer, and member of the community reveal his integrity in all roles he inhabits.

    Read More

  • Achilles' Honor in Homer's Iliad

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.

    Read More

  • Moral Chaos in Harper Lee's Maycomb

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    Johnson, Claudia Durst. “The Law of the Land Is Not the Same as Moral Law.” The Secret

    Read More

  • Iliad

    1317 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Bilingual Education

    577 Words  | 2 Pages

    The issue of bilingual education is a much debated topic in this country and especially in this state. The Spanish-speaking populace has grown tremendously in these past decades, much of which has immigrated with Spanish as their only language. This has left the public school system with an interesting problem; how to successfully transition Spanish speaking students into an English environment. Public school systems have generally adopted one of two approaches to this problem. One is to allow students several years to develop their English with lessons taught in both languages. The other is a total immersion program where students are thrust into English-only lessons with little time develop their second language. Both approaches have ardent followers with valid arguments for each approach.

    Read More

  • Bilingual Education

    2757 Words  | 6 Pages

    Bilingual education has been a politicized topic of debate for years. There are many whom support bilingual education being incorporated into students’ curriculums while others are adamant that it should not be a part of the classroom. Those that are opponents of bilingual education seem to fear the idea of students being exposed to a second language or becoming proficient in two languages. Bilingual education has many dimensions and definitions, which can cause some confusion, but the benefits of its inclusion into student’s curriculum are irrefutable.

    Read More

  • Achilles’ Courage in the Iliad

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Homer’s The Iliad, Achilles is often referred to as a very courageous Greek hero but a further look into the epic will reveal a man that is more arrogant than courageous. It was truly his arrogance that made his name famous and not his courage. Achilles was a narcissistic, self-serving man who was not concerned with his fellow country man. His actions of courage can easily be revealed as selfishness instead of what most people believe.

    Read More

  • The Struggle For Identity

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    The narrator ends up working at a Paint Factory called Liberty Paints. This company makes the white paint. There is a long process where the white depends heavily on black, both in mixing the paint and the workforce of the factory. During his first day, he is injured due to an explosion. He then receives shock therapy. There are certain wires that are attached to him like "strings" of the marionette that makes the narrator dances whenever he is shocked. The do...

    Read More

  • Achilles: a Tragic Hero

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Achilles: The Tragic Hero

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Bilingual Education: Improving One’s Life

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even though bilingual education is expensive, costing 800 million dollars in 2011, it has raised test scores, increased the amount of money earned and increased the chances of getting a job and maintained the United States’ varied cultures (Peek). These 800 million dollars only represent 0.0002 percent of the education budget. People may not want to learn English with the fear of losing his or her culture, but bilingual education helps these people learn English and integrate into the United States (Bilingual Education). People say that bilingual education exa...

    Read More

  • Theatre as a Platform for Addressing Current Issues in Society: A Number, by Caryl Churchill

    2720 Words  | 6 Pages

    A mere mention of the term theatre acts as a relief to many people. It is in this place that a m...

    Read More

More about The Metamorphosis of Achilles in Homer’s The Iliad

Open Document