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Is Achilles Selfish Or Self-Preservation?

539 Words3 Pages

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

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