Transformation Of Achilles In The Iliad

Demigod to Mere Mortal: The Transformation of Achilles

The mighty Achilles transforms dramatically through the duration of Homer’s epic, first we as readers perceive him as the cold-blooded warrior of the Achaean forces and then later we start to see his human side. The moment that Achilles placed his own father in Priam’s position, he could finally have compassion, see without bias and suffer with Priam. The story of the transformation of Achilles is very much the story of the transformation of his anger throughout the epic, which is very much encapsulates the story of The Iliad. Only once his anger was extinguished, could he be regarded as humanized to a degree.

In Book 1 we see the rage of Achilles being sparked when his honor was slighted by Agamemnon who demanded to get Briseis back as his prize, which was originally given to Achilles. Achilles is so distraught by what Agamemnon has done, that he refuses to partake in the war. His rage has made him blind to the needs of

. .the swift runner Achilles. Now he no longer haunted the meeting grounds where men win glory, now he no longer went to war. . .” (The Iliad by Homer, Book I, 581-584).

Here in the early stages of the poem Achilles can be described by his actions as being proud and selfish, he places what has happened to him above the entire Achaean force. He is not acting with compassion; he does not feel sympathetic towards the many Greek lives that are lost each day that he does not march toward the battlefield. His ability to identify with the loved ones of those that are lost in the army is not there.

Achilles rejects Agamemnon’s plea to return to the war effort, despite the luring of the myriad of prizes and rewards that Agamemnon is willing to give to him. With the Greek forces suffering major losses, neither Odysseus, Great Ajax or Phoenix can persuade the fierce warrior. Achilles argues in defense of his decision not to accept Agamemnon’s