Agamemnon Sacrifice

963 Words4 Pages

During the time of chaos of the Trojan War, there were many good and bad. Among these many characters and their actions are the reputations as either a hero, a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or abilities to lead their peers into victory, or a villain. On the other hand, they can also be seen as a villain, someone whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot. The King of Mycenae, Agamemnon, can best be described as a hero. He was a great warrior as well as a great and worthy leader of the men in the Greek army in the Trojan War of Homer’s Iliad (“Agamemnon”). He is particularly known for agreeing to help his brother, Menelaus, the king of Sparta, retrieve his wife, Helen back (Hunter). When …show more content…

So, when Helen ran away with Paris, all of Helen's previous suitors and Agamemnon, declared war on Troy. (Cartwright).
Agamemnon can only be considered a hero by his portrayal of a vital virtue of all heroes: sacrifice. Sacrifice is a unique and heroic quality which makes a hero’s deeds much more noble. The person should be able to cast away any personal comforts whenever it's needed and give up anything at anytime. Agamemnon sacrifices many personal items during the war, including his own daughter. When he and Menelaus gathered their allies to set sail to Troy, the winds were not cooperating and as a result, the mission was deemed unsuccessful. Once the Greeks received a consultation from a prophet, it was decided that Agamemnon had offended the goddess. He was to sacrifice something near and dear to his heart as an apology to …show more content…

A great hero was someone who lived a heroic life, someone who did big things to suit their name. Agamemnon was the King of Mycenae and leader of the Greek army in the Trojan War of Homer’s Iliad. He was a character that was larger than life. Before the Trojan War, he finished cementing the alliance between the Greek city states which earned him the title of the royal sacker of cities (Cartwright). Throughout time, he destroyed many cities, so all in all his acts may not always be good or nice but in the end they are always big acts that resulted into big changes. In the Odyssey, he was the leader of the entire Greek army and fought valiantly. He was one of the best commanders and fighters during the war. As a leader and hero, he is expected to make big decisions and actions in order to lead his army to success. His many actions that may have seemed bad shouldn't be taken as a negative dropsonde. Every hero is required to make decisions that help make them stronger, whether it be something that hurts others, their decisions are usually working towards a bigger