The Iliad opens up with an argument between Agamemnon and Achilles.
Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Akhilleus’ anger, doomed and ruinous, and crowded brave souls into the undergloom, leaving so many dead men-carrion for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.
Begin it when the two men first contending broke with one another-
The Lord Marshal Agamemnon, Atreus’ son, and Prince Akhilleus. (Fitzgerald, 5)
Achilles’ pride has been wounded because Agamemnon has taken his bride, Briseis, to soothe his own wounded pride. As Agamemnon refuses to return Briseis, Achilles’ arrogance causes himself to drop out of the war and hold back his soldiers as well. Without their great hero, the Greeks start losing the war.
With Achilles’ withdrawal
Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Akhilleus’ anger, doomed and ruinous, and crowded brave souls into the undergloom, leaving so many dead men-carrion for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.
Begin it when the two men first contending broke with one another-
The Lord Marshal Agamemnon, Atreus’ son, and Prince Akhilleus. (Fitzgerald, 5)
Achilles’ pride has been wounded because Agamemnon has taken his bride, Briseis, to soothe his own wounded pride. As Agamemnon refuses to return Briseis, Achilles’ arrogance causes himself to drop out of the war and hold back his soldiers as well. Without their great hero, the Greeks start losing the war.
With Achilles’ withdrawal