ipl-logo

Achilles Rage In The Iliad Essay

509 Words3 Pages

In Book Nine of The Iliad, the focus is of the story is on the character of Achilles, the desperation the Achaeans suffer in their need for this great warrior as well as his refusal to return into the fighting to assist his comrades, due to his rage with Agamemnon. In particular, one of the most important scenes of Book Nine is from approximately line 443 through line 473, in which Achilles bluntly refuses the gifts offered to him by Agamemnon in recompense for stealing away Achilles’ war-prize Briseis. This passage demonstrates the depth of the rage of Achilles as well as his sense of pride, as he chooses to remain absent from the fighting, even in the Achaeans’ moment of sheer desperation, due to his deep hatred for Agamemnon. As …show more content…

It is so deeply rooted that it encompasses Achilles, becoming a characteristic of this great warrior, influencing his actions and chooses throughout the story, such as leaving the fighting and considering the idea to return to Pythia. The depth of Achilles rage and hatred is demonstrated through in his response to Agamemnon, concerning the gifts he offered as compensation for his wrongs, saying that “not if his gifts outnumbered all the grains of sand and dust in the earth, no not even then could Agamemnon bring my fighting spirit round” (9.470-472). The true rage of Achilles is extremely important to the entire story of The Iliad, as from Book One through Book Nine Achilles allows this rage to control his actions, causing him to Achilles remains absent from the fighting as well as causing him to pray to Zeus that Trojans may receive the upper hand in the fighting so that the Greeks may suffer for Agamemnon’s actions. Therefore, this profound rage is an extremely important aspect of The Iliad, as it ultimately effects not only Achilles actions but also course of the

Show More
Related

  • Asking For Achilles Favor In The Iliad

    689 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hephaestus is asked to create for Achilles a shield, a helmet, a set of greaves, and a corselet. In a display of ruthless pragmatism, Thetis seeks aid from the smith god, redeems a deserved favor, and secures the necessary goods for Achilles. Thetis is placed in a difficult position, and she finds herself in need of a friend’s aid. By comparison, the situation Achilles is facing is most upsetting. Achilles is afflicted with a supreme case of hubris, and this is the reason for his refusal to participate in the battle.

    Read More

  • How Does Achilles Show Heroism

    178 Words  | 1 Pages

    In their quarrel over the war prize women Chryseis and Briseis, BLANK humiliates and infuriates Achilles, yet Achilles, in an act of heroism, decides that he will not duel with BLANK. When Achilles draws out his sword to take on BLANK, Athena shows up to calm him down, and finally, “Achilles relaxed his huge fist on the silver hilt and pushed the massive sword back in its scabbard” (Homer 12). Achilles displays heroism because, similar to other heroes, he demonstrates ethical behaviors that are worthy of respect. Achilles demonstrates self-control since he thinks before he acts and controls his emotions in a time of difficulty. He knows that he could kill BLANK if they fought, but he shows the resolve to solve the problem another way.

    Read More

  • Evolution Of Heroism In Beowulf

    745 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is set in 300b.c Troy and focuses on the conflict between the Trojans and the Greeks. One of the main characters in The Iliad is Achilles. Achilles is a very controversial figure. The only reason he decides to help Agamenom is for his own personal glory and fame. In modern day society we would never see Achilles as a hero but here is where the societal differences come in play.

    Read More

  • Achilles Loss Of Patroclus To Achilles

    420 Words  | 2 Pages

    Achilles, before this moment, could have been considered sympathetic in many of his battles. Although he brutally killed many a Trojan, he was usually willing to take people for ransom. Although his rage at Agamemnon has faded, with the death of Patroclus, any mercy or compassion Achilles once had is now gone, destroyed by grief and rage. His denial of Lykaon's pleas for mercy can be considered one of the Iliad's most frightening passages.

    Read More

  • Achilles Changes In The Iliad

    491 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Iliad is primarily about how the war is affected because of Achilles anger. Achilles character does not precisely change but grows from what it was at the beginning of the fifty-one days. A characteristic that stays constant throughout the fifty-one days is, Achilles lets his emotion drive him into making blind a reckless decisions. A characteristic that develops throughout the book is Achilles sense of consequence(book 15-390 18).

    Read More

  • Essay On Achilles In The Iliad

    1051 Words  | 5 Pages

    Agamemnon’s taking of Briseis enrages Achilles and spurs him to remove himself from the war, leading to a massive death toll in the Achaean forces. In stealing Briseis from Achilles, he is not only robbing of him of a material prize, but also a symbol of honor, his geras, in Greek culture. In retaliation, Achilles removes himself from the war and prays to his mother, Thetis, that she will ask Zeus to damage the Achaean forces. Achilles’ only goal is that “even mighty Atrides can see how mad he was to disgrace Achilles” (1.488-490). Despite having no true grievance against the Achaean army as a whole, Achilles’ rage blinds him from the potential harm that may befall his troops.

    Read More

  • Extreme Pride And Hubris In The Iliad

    394 Words  | 2 Pages

    Achilles is maddened and appeals to his goddess mother saying, “If I am to die soon, shouldn’t I have what I want?” Feeling only sorrow for her son, Thetis requests Zeus to cause to Greeks to lose until Achilles fights again. Slowly the Greeks are pushed back farther and Agamemnon pleads with Achilles, offering Briseis back. Achilles declines due to his pride and the Trojans come close to burn the Greek ships. Even when a ship was burning, Achilles refused to fight and instead sends out Patroclus.

    Read More

  • Achilles Speech In The Iliad

    977 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the Iliad, Achilles is responding to Odysseus’s speech attempting to convince him to return to the war. Achilles’ main argument against returning is his incalculable rage against Agamemnon for “the prize of honor / The warlord Agamemnon gave me / And in his insulting arrogance took back” which is not only an insult to Achilles’ status, but also to his honor as a warrior (Il. 9.378-379). In addition to focusing on the main argument of Achilles’ speech, it is worth noting the contradictions present within his speech as well.

    Read More

  • Fate In The Iliad Research Paper

    777 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the Iliad, Achilles is constantly concerned with his glory and how he will be remembered by his fellow Greeks. He even goes as far as to temporarily leave the Greek army, when his glory and honor is threatened by a fellow Greek. At first, Achilles, having a powerful and vigorous personality, believes that he is in charge of his own fate. When the dying Hektor warned Achilles of his oncoming death, Achilles responded by saying, “Die: and I will take my death at whatever time” (Homer, Book XXII, 268). His arrogance blinds him from recognizing that his fate uncontrollable.

    Read More

  • Achilles, A Hero In The Trojan War

    978 Words  | 4 Pages

    So as a desperate attempt to save his army, Agamemnon asked Achilles to come back and fight alongside the Greeks. He denied the request because he knew that his life was greater than the wondrous gifts Agamemnon offered. In result, the Greeks were losing the battle, backed up against their ships, and even the Myrmidons, legendary group of skilled and fearless soldiers, felt defeated (March 8). As an effort of giving the Greeks inspiration, Patroclus, Achilles’ best friend, begged Achilles to allow him to borrow his distinctive armor and impersonate him, to slowly drive back the Trojans (“Achilles”). Remaining in sorrow, he didn’t want the Greeks to lose so Achilles let Patroclus give them a little hope of a possible victory.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Honor In The Iliad

    1396 Words  | 6 Pages

    Achilles is seen to be full of wrath in the beginning of the book. This wrath is not caused only because Agamemnon takes his prize of war. He is angry at the system which allows Agamemnon to play around with other people’s honors and the system which allows him to decide who gets how much honor. In other words, Achilles does not like the idea that someone else can decide what happens to his honor, despite him deserving most of the honor in relation to how much he contributes in war. As the story proceeds, Achilles seems to contradict himself a lot, and the concept of honor helps us understand this better.

    Read More

  • Achilles Vs Hector Research Paper

    485 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this text, Achilles reminds Agamemnon that he, like the other Greeks, sailed to Troy to defeat the Trojans and stand united for their cause. On the other hand, Hector will “… stand up bravely, always to fight

    Read More

  • How Does Homer Use Ethos In The Iliad

    1141 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many writers use several diverse ways to persuade readers to believe them. Some writers may use facts and arguments, tell a story, or provide other ideas to try to persuade their reader into listening and believing them. Homer uses three types of persuasive rhetoric in his book the Iliad. Homer uses logos which is the art of logic, pathos which is about emotion and feeling, and ethos which is about credibility in the Iliad to persuade us to believe in the story.

    Read More

  • Greek Anthropomorphism

    884 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Iliad, which is set in the tenth year of the war, tells of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, who was the finest Greek warrior, and the consequent deaths in battle of Achilles' beloved comrade Patroclus and Priam's eldest son, Hector. After Hector's death the Trojans were joined by two exotic allies, Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, and Memnon, king of the Ethiopians and son of the dawn-goddess Eos. Achilles killed both of these, but Paris then managed to kill Achilles with an arrow in the heel. Achilles' heel was the only part of his body which was not invulnerable to damage by human weaponry. Before they could take Troy, the Greeks had to steal from the citadel the wooden image of Pallas Athena .

    Read More

  • The Characteristics Of Achilles: The Hero Of Iliad

    1512 Words  | 7 Pages

    Iliad is recognized as one of the most famous ancient monuments of literature. The full understanding of this epic poem is hardly possible without thorough analysis of its main characters. Among all the episodes of the Trojan War, Homer chooses the moment of Achilles’ wrath and thus creates a poem in which he becomes the central figure. From the Ancient Greeks’ point of view, Achilles represents the ideal of manliness and pure heroism, for he is brave and fights for heroics, not profits. Today, one can agree with this interpretation, yet Achilles is probably the most controversial character because he combines various personality traits and acts in accordance with his ambiguous nature.

    Read More

More about Achilles Rage In The Iliad Essay

Open Document