Achilles Use Of Redemption In The Iliad

The Iliad is not only a story of epic battles and armies, but also of the redemption of a man ruled by wrath. Achilles, whose wrath is the driving force of the whole story, experiences redemptive changes in the following ways .Firstly by being able to experience empathy, secondly by being willing to forgive those who his wrath was kindled against ,and finally by being able to release the sinister emotions that ruled his life. Achilles does not experience a total redemption in a biblical sense but instead experiences partial redemption of his character. The Iliad is a story of a more humanistic redemption that does not fully grasp what true redemption is. The first way Achilles experience partial redemption is by being able to experience

Achilles throughout most of the story was unwilling to release his anger and forgive. He was unwilling to forgive agemnmon ,who stole his greatest prize. He was unwilling to forgive Hektor who stole his closest friends life away. Achilles once wronged could not let go of any anger even if granted all of his desires as seen when promised to have his prize returned and also after slaying Hektor. Achilles never was willing to forgive beacause of the way he viewed others. He viewed everyone else as his inferior and in his mind one does not have to forgive those inferior to him. When a inferior being angers a superior being such as himself they must be punished for what they have done. To Achilles he was committing no evil by not forgiving others he was just living by the rules his worldview set out . But that all changed when Priam began to speak to him. Achilles after hearing what Priam had to say saw the faults in his worldview. He finally released that he was no greater than any other man and that he would meet the same fate as every other mortal. In this confrontation Achilles learns to forgive, He forgives Hektor for the pain he caused and allows Priam to take the body of his beloved son. Achilles takes his second step on the path of redemption by learning to

Wrath and rage ruled Achilles, he did no actions outside of rage. Achilles wrath filled all of decisions like that of sitting out of the war due to his feud with agemenmon. It also was the driving force for his treatment of the body of hektor. Achilles' two emotional states seemed to be of hate and wrath or of self pity. His constant state of wrath showed how truly immature Achilles really was, he was not like a god like he and others often viewed himself, he was more like a child. The plea of Priam acted as a catalyst for emotional and spiritual growth allowing Achilles to escape his emotional deadness. Achilles after Priam's begging shows that he can release his rage by letting Hektors body be retured to it's proper place in troy. Achilles due to priam came out a man with more emotional maturity. Achilles though not a perfect man after his meeting with Priam matured greatly and completed his journey of partial redemption . Though he may have completed his huministic redemption he was still far from true biblical redemption. Achilles experienced his final step on his journey through learning to let go of sinister