Is Achilles selfish or self-preserving? He can be both from different points of views. In one way he is shown not wanting to go to war because he is upset about Agamemnon taking a woman from Achilles and since that happened he is being a jerk and not want to fight for him. On another side, he is shown doing that right thing a giving Agamemnon what he deserves, losing the war and/or dying in the process. Though one person might things that he has one side more than the other, another person says the opposite. Achilles is definitely throwing a "hissy fit" about losing Breseis, his captive from taking a city. Then he cries and asks his mother to make Zeus do bad things to Agamemnon. Zeus agrees and says to straight for the wall with all your might, in which he does and gets people killed. Achilles was absolutely being selfish the whole thing and then won't go to fight for honor. Phoenix, Ajax, and Odysseus go with the word of Agamemnon about what he can receive if he comes and fight, which two of the things were the 7 most beautiful ladies in Troy except for Helen and one of Agamemnon's own daughter, which are both huge payments. He would've became a king of some cities and super rich. …show more content…
He was wronged by Agamemnon by taking his biggest plundered from when he sacked the city, Breseis. Agamemnon shouldn't take what isn't his, that wasn't the right thing to do in that situation. Agamemnon was being selfish in the plundering of a city and took what Achilles got. More to boot, none of this stuff would've happened if Agamemnon would've accepted the Oracle of Apollo's offer. So all this came by Agamemnon. If that would've happened to me and they took all of my stuff, I would've not helped them like what Achilles is doing. It wasn't the right thing to do in the first place and if Agamemnon would not have been a jerk, he could have had Troy already and won the war. It is self preservation at its
Misopeliades tell the men that he thinks it’s a bad idea for Achilles to go and fight in war because he never does anything right. Misopeliades feels Achilles will only make things worse than what they are already. Misopeliades thinks he is only thinking of going to the war because he wants to be seen as respected by his people. The whole war wouldn’t be as bad if Achilles didn’t become so enraged over such a little situation.
Achilles seemed proud of what he had done. He did not
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.
Patroclus tries to persuade Achilles by telling him to “at least send him out, let him lead a troop of Myrmidons” so that he can “light the way for their army” (Homer 16.43-44). Patroclus expresses that he loves the Greeks too much to just sit around at the camp. He feels very emotional for his friend, so he wants to take his place and fight this war for him. Patroclus still has a mindset that “If the Trojans think” he is Achilles then “they’ll back off and give the Greeks some breathing space” (Homer 16.44-46). Patroclus believes his cleverness can outdo the Trojans in battle.
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.
He remained headstrong, stubborn and selfish in his actions, even warranting rebuke from the men on certain occasions. This is seen in the very first conflict that is witnessed on the pages of The Iliad. Agamemnon is faced with the request to give up his war prize, and immediately and indignantly decides against all the council of the army in order to keep his prize of a woman (28). With this decision, he sought his own desires selfishly and disconnected himself from the men he was meant to lead. Granted, he possessed a strong will, a thing very necessary for good leadership.
Although the word “hero” has transcended time, the definition has not. When modern-day humans go into reading about Greek heroes, expecting them to resemble our current ones, they are unpleasantly surprised to find selfish people who sometimes indiscriminately murder in the name of honor. In comparison, we value the firefighter that puts their life on the line to save others, the person standing up to the bully with pacifism rather than fists, and those that learn to forgive and forget instead of spending their entire lives seeking revenge on those that have wronged them. Thus, Achilles would not be considered a modern-day hero like he was in ancient Greece, because whilst they valued glory, brutal strength, and revenge, today we value selflessness,
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.
Homer’s The Iliad proves that Hector and Achilles have vast differences but, their few similarities are some of what we see a lot throughout the epic poem. Both Achilles and Hector have their certain strengths and weaknesses, which are noticeable countless times throughout the conflicts that come up in the Iliad. These two characters have distinct differences in their approaches to fitting the noble form to which they both attempt to achieve. Nevertheless, regardless of their differences and the fact that their armies are rivals and are brought to each other with execration in battle, they also have numerous identical traits which reasonably show the comparison between the two men, Hector and Achilles.
(R 23-35). The Greeks hearing Achilles return, gain strength, will and perseverance to carry on the war. The responsibility that Achilles takes plays massive role, affecting the men 's actions throughout the
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.
The Iliad is a riveting tale of violence and rage amongst heartbreak and tragedy, where a range of emotions are evoked through various events and decisions made by the characters throughout. Some of these characters act on impulse, while others think over with others and themselves to find the best course of action and do what they feel would be the best, be it for their families or their people, or for themselves alone. Through such feelings, certain events play out that either work out to the favor of the characters, or the exact opposite. Characters like Achilles and Agamemnon act on their anger, often going beyond what would be deemed reasonable and even affecting the events following. Achilles’ anger was triggered by Agamemnon’s arrogance
In grief Achilles wants to fight Hector for what he did. Hector has two choices, either to fight Achilles or hide behind the walls of Troy. Hector exclainms doubtedly “What shall I do? If I retreat behind these walls, … And now that I have ruined them all by my rashness, I am ashamed to face the men and women of Troy, or some base fellows may say-Hector thought too much of his own strength, and ruined us all!”
They fight over the two girls. Later Achilles threatens to quit the war since he has nothing against the Trojans. He says that he only fights because Agemenom tells him too. King Agamemnon answered: Indeed, sir all that you say is fair and right. But this man wishes to be above all to rule everyone, to be King over everyone to order everyone-
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.