ipl-logo

Achilles Decision Making In The Iliad Essay

1382 Words6 Pages

Achilles and his ‘feelings’ Has there ever been an instance where the only options to choose between were bad and worse? People are confronted with many such choices in their daily lives, and simply have to make a decision. It may not be the most moral decision, in retrospect, but in the moment, all one can do is follow their gut. In The Iliad, Achilles is faced with some rough situations that require rapid, instinctual choices. Throughout this paper, how Achilles makes decisions and how those decisions affect the community will be examined. Achilles' decision making is affected by the fact that he is both hero and renowned warrior, mortal and immortal. Throughout the work, Achilles is shown to be godlike in manner and physicality, imbued with ‘supernatural’ physical strength. Like all warriors, he seeks immortality. Heroes are “...rescued from mortality... [and become] godlike in status and immortal in the …show more content…

While discussing his reasons for not returning to war or forgiving Agamemnon, Achilles delves into the nature of their world and war itself. With his probing question,“‘Why must we battle Trojans…?’”, Achilles is directly questioning the bedrock of their view of reality (Fagles, 9.409). Achilles thinks that there’s no real need to fight the Trojans. He has no personal stake in the war other than gaining timé, and even that holds no sway over him at this point. Fighting to preserve Menelaus’ honor is ridiculous and unnecessary in his eyes — the war is a sham. Here, Achilles is questioning more than the war — he is questioning their society itself, and rejecting their beliefs. In the Homeric world, things are what seem, and war is the foundation of peace and community (Parry). War is necessary to maintain balance and honor in these communities. Without war, there would be no warriors to protect the people, no leaders to guide them, no structure to create

Show More
Related
792 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
151 Words | 1 Pages

James Galetti Professor Russell Western Heritage 1 05 October 2016 Is Achilles’ rage justified? In the Iliad, the character of Achilles has numerous character flaws that cause him to have blinded judgement towards his actions as well as shutting out everyone around within the epic poem. Achilles’ rage keeps him from being the hero that we were supposed to see him as.

Read More
672 Words | 3 Pages

In Homer’s The Iliad, each stage of Achilles’ journey, especially the road back and the return with the elixir, is vital to

Read More
192 Words | 1 Pages

Achilles’ actions on the battlefield or lack thereof portrays the hero’s absence of honor. Selfishly withdrawing himself from battle, Achilles allows his anger towards the king of the Argives to develop: “But Achilles abode at his ships nursed his anger. He went not to the honourable assembly, and sailed not forth to fight, but gnawed at his own heart”(10). Fighting the Trojans and leading the Myrmidons to sack Troy would have been the honorable thing to do, but instead Achilles lets his pride take over his actions and sulks in his ship in spite of Agamemnon. After Agamemnon offers Achilles many gifts as an apology when he sends an embassy to Achilles, Achilles responds,”[Y]ou have spoken much to my liking, but my blood boils when I think it

Read More
1168 Words | 5 Pages

Although some may disagree, pride is the major driving emotion in such characters as Achilles and Agamemnon in The Iliad. Pride causes Agamemnon to lose almost his entire army in the interest of keeping Briseis as his prize. When Agamemnon complains about having to return his prize, Chryseis, Achilles scolds him for being so self-concerned. Achilles' annoyance slowly converts to rage, and the hero threatens to leave the war. Agamemnon retorts, "Go home with your ships and comrades, lord it over/

Read More
509 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
637 Words | 3 Pages

His honor is best evidenced by his refusal to forsake his comrades on the battlefield, even when he had an opportunity to escape. For instance, he refuses Patroclus’s pact agreement: “Run away by all means if your heart drives you, I will not entreat you to stay for my sake”. This refusal to abandon his friend Patroclus, despite the impending danger, illustrates Achilles' unwavering commitment to honor and loyalty. An analysis of this quote reveals Achilles' prioritization of duty over personal safety, emphasizing his adherence to his principles even in the face of great risk. On the other hand, Macbeth’s concept of honor is driven by excessive ambition and declining moral rules.

Read More
741 Words | 3 Pages

Achilles is superior to many others because, he serves as the Greek army 's best warrior. The Trojans are frightened by the strength that Achilles puts forth, that even his war gear makes them want to run away from him in terror. He shows his strength, as he is capable to conquer the power of Hector and defeat him. Achilles is invincible, unlike Hector, as shown when Homer states, “Achilles’ invincible arms-”(20.569) Achilles has a reputation as a power warrior, as shown throughout The Iliad. The face of death doesn’t stop his courage from shining through.

Read More
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
1051 Words | 5 Pages

In Homer’s The Iliad, epic hero Achilles serves as an example of how rage, when unchecked, leads to disastrous repercussions. Achilles, though nearly superhuman in his physical abilities, struggles repeatedly to contain his anger. Throughout The Iliad, as Achilles’ fury compounds, the consequences of his actions become catastrophic, eventually leading to the death of his best friend, Patroclus. Although Achilles ultimately chooses to avenge Patroclus’ death and achieve his own kleos, or honor, his rage-driven actions lead to the death of many Achaean soldiers, and change the course of his fate.

Read More
1381 Words | 6 Pages

If I stay here and fight before the city of Troy, there will be no home- coming for me but my fame shall never die; if I go home to my native land, there will be no great fame for me, but I shall live long and not die an early death.” (Homer 110) This shows that he is selfishness and fearful at the same time of losing and dying in the war. In the very beginning of the Iliad, King Agamemnon and Achilles have an argument for a couple of different reasons. After, the Achians won a battle against a city that was allied with the Trojans each of them received a prize consisted of a young woman from the war.

Read More
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
1785 Words | 8 Pages

(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

Read More
1395 Words | 6 Pages

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!”

Read More
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 Decision Making In The Iliad Essay

Related Topics

Open Document