Self-Preservation Of Achilles In The Iliad

Achilles was a Greek warrior in the Trojan war. He was a self-preserving person and it showed through his actions, temper, and pride. Achilles did not care about anyone else but himself. Achilles' actions can be seen in many different ways, but some can definitely prove that he is self-preserving. In Book Sixteen of the Iliad, line 2, Patroclus is upset because the war is not going well for the Greeks, so he cries to Achilles for comfort, but all he does is tell to grow up and stop crying (Homer). Patroclus was always his best friend, but he still manages to only care about himself. Book Sixteen in the Iliad, line 166 shows that instead of being in the war, Achilles is standing on the sides cheering them on to kill each other (Homer). Achilles could have used his mighty power to help save people, but he only cared about how he survived. The actions of Achilles were not the selfless kind.

Before the war Agamemnon and he had an argument as shown Book Two of the Iliad, line 377. It said "For I and Achilles fought together for a girl's sake in words' violent encounter" (Homer). Agamemnon was going to give him Briseus back, but Achilles knew that it was exactly like what happened between Helen, Paris, and Menelaus, so they fought for many days. During the fight with Agamemnon he said to him, "O wrapped in shamelessness, with your mind forever on profit, how shall any one of the Achaians readily obey you either to go on a journey or to fight men strongly in battle?"(Homer) It can be seen in Book One of the Iliad, line 49. Achilles is saying that with Agamemnon's focus on the prize for himself that no one will want to follow him. Sometimes Achilles does not hold his tongue like he