Hera despises the Trojans and rather than watch Achilles kill Agamemnon she decides to intervene and calm Achilles down by offering him an abundance of gifts. " break off this combat Here is my promise, and it will be kept: winnings three times as rich, in due season you shall have in requital for his arrogance." (Book I; 177-82) This scene also contrasts the difference in beliefs between Achilles and Agamemnon. Achilles respects the gods and knows that it is in his best interest to sheathe his sword and not allow his hubris to cloud his judgment. Yet Agamemnon will not allow anyone, human or divine, be better than him or tell him what to do and takes Briseis from Achilles. Shortly after this, the Achaeans go to Troy to call a duel between Paris and Menelaus to end the war. Venus watching this knows she has a vested interest in…
The Iliad is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege, and it describes many distinctive characters, include Achilles, known as the “Greek first Warrior", treacherous cunning Agamemnon, beautiful Helen, and the first warrior of Troy, Hector. Moreover, Achilles and Hector are most important roles in the poem that we need to analyze them deeply.…
This week the mortals have been involved in yet another war, one they call the Trojan War because the opposing sides are the city of Troy and the Greeks. Troy had managed to hide behind its high and protective walls for a long while, but eventually the Greeks broke through by sending a small force in the guise of a large wooden horse that they hid inside, then from there allowed the rest of their army entry and took down Troy. It has been confirmed that divine interference was the base cause of this war, although names will not be said in order to…
Throughout Book 1 of the Iliad, written by Homer, interpersonal tensions become apparent and, consequently, have broad ramifications. The clearest tension between two characters is most obviously that of Chryses and Agamemnon. Agamemnon, who has stolen Chryses’ daughter as a war prize, refuses to accept Chryses’ ransom for the return of his daughter. Agamemnon is practically insulted by Chryses’ request as Agamemnon sees Cryseis as his rightfully earned prize. Therefore, giving Chryses his daughter would be a stab at Agamemnon’s honor and glory. However, this personal argument greatly affects all the soldiers under Agamemnon’s rule. As a form of justice, Chryses prays to Apollo avenge his loss on the army. As a result of the argument between…
As the bloodshed seemed to be at a stale mate between the two domineering powerhouses, the Greek kings Odysseus and Ithaca had thought of an idea that could possibly win the battle. They said “build a big wooden horse on wheels”. They explained that it would be used to hide Greek soldiers and infiltrate the city of Troy without being noticed. And just that happened. The Greeks offered them the horse as a sign of surrender and also a gift to the goddess Athena. They accepted the gift and, as planned, brought it in their city. Because of the horse’s massive size, the Trojans had to take down a whole city wall to bring it in leaving them open to attack. After the whole town celebrated the victory over Greece, they went to sleep and that is when they attacked. The soldiers filled out the horse and began their raid. They killed the guards and signaled in the rest of the Greeks to come in through the gapping whole where the wall was torn down. They had soon won the battle that roared in Troy. They murdered all the men and the women and children were sent to Greece to be slaves. Greece won the battle by lying to the Trojans, proving a positive result from it. The outcome was their victory against their rival and it not only did well to Odysseus and Ithaca but also the entire Greek…
Since Agamemnon refused to return the daughter of a priest of Apollo, Agamemnon agrees to release Helen only if Achilles gives him his prize of honor. This is when Achilles found it unfair and withdraws from the battle including all his soldiers. Achilles then asks the gods to grant him revenge. Agamemnon the had attacked because a dream had encouraged him to. Paris flees the battle with the help of a divinity and Menelaus rages on with his brother demanding the release of Helen.…
Hector and Achilles; the proud leaders of the Greeks and the Trojans dominate the battle field throughout The Iliad. Hector wins people's hearts, he is brave, strong, he cares for his family, he protects his people, and he leads his soldiers into battle! Achilles, on the other hand, is a cry baby, he stays in a corner when Agamemnon steals his slave girl and causes countless deaths on the Greek side. How can one argue that Achilles is a better leader when he acts so childish? To provide a base to my argument I will bring in some examples: Caesar: he conquered much of Gaul and Alexander the Great: he defeated the mighty Persian Empire. What do each of these leaders have in common? They won. A good leader will win, because at the end, winning is all that matters.…
The conflict began because Agamemnon was unwilling to give up his treasure, Chryseis, and believed that he should be “owed another prize” so he “wouldn't be the only Argive left without a gift” (Homer, Iliad 1. 126-127). Tensions began to rise between Achilles and Agamemnon as each of the powerful men voiced their opinions about the fairness of Agamemnon's demands. Eventually, the argument got to a breaking point when Achilles decided to “return home now to Phthia…” because he didn't “fancy staying here unvalued, to pile up riches, treasures just for you [Agamemnon]” (Homer, Iliad 1. 185-188). Achilles attempted to deliver revenge on the king for his disrespectful behavior by refusing to fight for him. His refusal to fight reinforces the importance of combat in Greek society and how not choosing to fight is seen as a big deal. Pride wounded by Achilles’ act of defiance, Agamemnon lashed out one last time by claiming to “take your [Achilles’] prize, fair-cheeked Briseis” (Homer, Iliad 1. 200-201). By wounding man’s pride, the need to get revenge was established through the dialogue exchanged between the two rival…
In Homer’s book The Iliad, Homer tells the story of the Trojan War with Achilles, the best Greek warrior. However, Achilles does not like Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, because he took Briseis (Briseis was a woman that Achilles had received as a war prize). This is the reason why Achilles was raged at Agamemnon. In a rage, Achilles wants to kill all of the Trojans, especially Hector, the best Trojan warrior. Patroclus, Achilles’ best friend goes out to the battle field as Achilles (wearing his armor), trying to kill Hector but instead Hector kills Patroclus thinking he has killed Achilles. When Achilles finds out about this, he is very mad and goes out to kill Hector himself. When he kills Hector, he is very arrogant about it. Only after this happens does Achilles get Briseis back from Agamemnon.…
The Iliad is an epic tale of war and hero's within the Greek way of life. A…
In Book 1 we witness the wrath of Achilles towards Agamemnon. As 9 years of warfare precede the opening of The Iliad we can only assume (at this point) that the grudge between Achilles and Agamemnon has a long history. We do learn that Achilles considers Agamemnon, “Son of Atreus, most lordly, greediest for gain of all men” (Lattimore 2011 1:120). Achilles believes Agamemnon fights merely for power and riches and that he has no compassion for the countless lives lost or those left behind to mourn. We also learn that Achilles fights for personal glory of which he has obtained as he is much loved by the Achaeans. But Achilles is also fighting for the shared purpose and this shows that whilst Achilles has his own personal objectives he also has a heart. Achilles “cares about the whole army, not only himself and his Myrmidons; he is known for his medical knowledge; he respects the dead; he ransoms or sells prisoners rather than killing them. We certainly know that he is brave and unsparing of his own efforts on behalf of the…
The characters portrayed in the Iliad are culturally similar to the people living in the United States today, but they are also different from us in several ways.…
1. Achilles does not agree to end his grudge with Agamemnon at the request of Patroclus as the great warrior views what Agamemnon has done – snatching his prize right from his grasp, the beautiful and clever princess Briseis – as an insult to his pride and honour. The fact that, according to the epic, Agamemnon did so in front of the rest of the Achaean army, only adds to Achilles’ humiliation.…
war through the death of Hector and Achilles. Someone may say that war is the enemy of…
He may not be a warrior sort of hero, but there is more than one type of hero in the world. Paris cared not for honoring his country by winning battles against fierce opponents. He was concerned with righteousness, honesty and being trustworthy. Paris seemed to be guided by his conscience. Most importantly though, was his passion; for after all, the Trojan War really broke out over a passion between him and Helen. Paris seemed to believe that everyone was good, that no one would cheat or lie in war. Paris was also naïve to a certain degree. Partway through the war, Paris is taken back by the gist of it all; that many men were dying because he and his love could not stand to be separated. That such a beautiful thing like love could start so terrible a war. It was an ugly end to a lovely beginning. Paris tries to admirably end the war right then by challenging Menelaus to send out his best warrior so that they can fight one-on-one. He didn't think about what would happen if he lost, he just tried to do what he thought was right. That's the way it always was with Paris. He did what he wanted and tried to bring honor to his family and country while he did it. If that didn't happen, it wasn't the end of the world, but he tried his best. Paris tried to justify his actions in the war, by telling himself that he is just protecting his family. That same justification led him to kill Achilles, the…