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Achilles Sparknotes

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Book 1 of the Iliad begins with Agamemnon angrily addressing the Greek Prophet Calchas after he insists that Chriseis is returned immediately. Achilles jumps in demanding that Agamemnon give up the girl as the God’s demand and the heated argument begin. At first, Achilles is angry that Agamemnon does not appreciate the fact that he is a great warrior and is not grateful that he joined the Greek army. After the Greek raids near the city of Troy they took two beautiful enemy women prisoners as war prizes for Agamemnon and Achilles. Agamemnon’s prize was Chriseis, the daughter of the Greek Prophet Calchas, Achilles a women named Briseis. After Agamemnon refuses to give Calchas daughter back, Calchas reaches out to the Greek God Apollo to cast …show more content…

Achilles was known as the strongest and most skilled man on the battlefield. He risked his life by fighting at the front line side by side with his warriors every day. Agamemnon was the leader of the army but never put himself in harm’s way. He took credit for everything that his army accomplished and grabbed the biggest portion of the war prizes. As Achilles clearly stated, “You drunkard with a cur’s mask and the courage of a doe, you’ve never dare to take up arms and fight beside your men, or join the Achaean leaders in an ambush. You’d sooner die. You’d rather steal the prize from any Achaean in this great army who contradicts you. Devourer of your own people you are, because they are weak”. The values and priorities that the ancient Greeks most revered were Loyalty, Bravery, Glory and helping your fellow man. Achilles led his life much more in harmony with the values revered by ancient Greek society. Achilles was a fierce warrior, more skilled than any other on the battlefield. His bravery was well respected as was his loyalty to his country and the protection of his warriors. Achilles tried to achieve glory in every fashion of his life. Achilles quest for glory caused him to lose control of his emotions regularly and would act out with anger when he could not achieve what he wanted to

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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.

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First among the strong women of Odysseus is Athena, the Goddess of wisdom and war. The Odyssey begins with a discussion between Zeus and Athena. At this point, Odysseus is being held as a love slave by Calypso. His ship has been destroyed and all his men are dead. Athena then convinced Zeus to command Kalypso to let Odysseus go.

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However, Priam sought hospitality and mercy rather than revenge. Hospitality is also important because of its link with honor and glory, another common theme in the Iliad. By combining the theme of honor into situations that also relate to hospitality, characters can make concrete points and develop the story. Achilles, when being to rejoin the army by Phoenix in book nine, is hospitable, however, he is also concerned with his honor as Agamemnon had just dishonored him. The combination of these two themes allow Achilles to make the point that he will be hospitable to his friends and fellow soldiers but due to the slight on his honor he will not be able to forgive Agamemnon.

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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

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However, in the end Agamemnon took Achilles’ girl, Briseis, which really hurt Achilles in the end. These warriors took a lot of pride in the things or people that they

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The only thing on his mind is killing Hector. Achilles is so angry at Hector that he constantly thinks about killing him and getting revenge. His anger takes over his body and nothing can stop him from getting to Hector, not even the gods. Achilles gets to Hector and desecrated his body. Achilles does not give Hector a proper burial instead he parades Hectors body on the back of his chariot.

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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.

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Billionaire Oprah Winfrey is most recognized hosting a worldwide popular talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show that was televised between 1986 and 2011, which aired for 25 seasons with a net worth of $3 billion. None the less she was also a publisher, producer, humanitarian and an actress. Media giant Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954, in the rustic town of Kosciusko, Mississippi. Winfrey moved to Baltimore In 1976, where she hosted a hit television chat show, People Are Talking. Later, Chicago TV station recruited to host her won show The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986.

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Pride and glory were worth dying for. This is demonstrated through Homer’s book, the Iliad. One of the character that shows this is Achilles

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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.

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In the epic poem, the Iliad written by Homer, several characters taking part in the warfare between the Achaeans and the Trojans are portrayed as embodying the heroic code of courage, physical strength, leadership, arete of value of honour, and the acceptance of fate. The heroic code is illustrated by the actions of the Trojan prince, Hector and the Achaeans strongest warrior, Achilles. Both of these characters display the Greek’s image of a hero, and can also let the reader discern what the society admires, looks up to and aspires to in its heroes. There are also characters who fail to be heroic, such as the Trojan “vivid and beautiful” prince, Paris. These characters in the Iliad illustrate the qualities that Ancient Greek society values.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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