The Iliad begins as a priest of Apollo comes to the Achaean camp to plead for his daughter’s freedom from King Agamemnon. King Agamemnon refuses the man’s ransom, and in sorrow the priest, Chryses, prays to Apollo for revenge against the stubborn king. Apollo grants his wish and for nine days Apollo’s plague devastates the camp. On the tenth day, Calchas tells the king what is required to ease the god’s anger. King Agamemnon agrees to give Chryseis back to her father, but he will take Achilles’ prize, a woman named Briseis, as compensation for his loss. Infuriated, Achilles refuses to fight in Agamemnon’s army any longer. He begs his mother, Thetis, to ensure Zeus will make ruin of the Achaean forces. Zeus sends the king a misleading dream
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Achilles is on good terms with most of the gods, and they tend to rule in his favor throughout this book. The Iliad revolves around Achilles’ resentment for Agamemnon. His fatal flaw is his sense of pride, which as shown in the Iliad, has caused many to die. Achilles is a selfish and brutal man, just like Agamemnon, and it’s said that people who are as similar as these two tend to be at odds.
Agamemnon- Agamemnon is the egotistical leader of the Achaean troops. His lack of consideration for others is what created the conflict with Achilles in the beginning of the story. He is also a considerably cunning character in this story. Agamemnon is a king who can lead his people in battle, even though he’s incredibly self-centered and asserts his place as king at every available opportunity. Agamemnon is the one to apologize to Achilles when the tide of war turns against them in hopes of Achilles coming to their …show more content…
If he had just come to terms with his emotions instead of directing them towards other targets, he would have saved so many people. One thing done in a momentary feeling of rage can be remembered for a lifetime, and Achilles probably remembered how Patroclus died for him for the rest of his life.
War isn’t a beautiful thing to celebrate. When a character dies in this story, the author gives a little personal information about the person, like how he has a wife waiting back home or how his brother will miss him. This enhances the fact that it’s a person that’s dying, not just some bald guy with a spear. These people lead their own lives and fight other battles an enemy on the field could never understand. Friends and family die in war, and people come back home a completely different person. War is most definitely not something beautiful to celebrate.
People fight to protect what they love. Hector fights to protect his wife from a life of slavery; Menelaus fights for his love, Helen. Achilles goes to battle because Patroclus, a close friend, has died. Even though friends are a different love than lovers, it’s still
Achilles is on good terms with most of the gods, and they tend to rule in his favor throughout this book. The Iliad revolves around Achilles’ resentment for Agamemnon. His fatal flaw is his sense of pride, which as shown in the Iliad, has caused many to die. Achilles is a selfish and brutal man, just like Agamemnon, and it’s said that people who are as similar as these two tend to be at odds.
Agamemnon- Agamemnon is the egotistical leader of the Achaean troops. His lack of consideration for others is what created the conflict with Achilles in the beginning of the story. He is also a considerably cunning character in this story. Agamemnon is a king who can lead his people in battle, even though he’s incredibly self-centered and asserts his place as king at every available opportunity. Agamemnon is the one to apologize to Achilles when the tide of war turns against them in hopes of Achilles coming to their …show more content…
If he had just come to terms with his emotions instead of directing them towards other targets, he would have saved so many people. One thing done in a momentary feeling of rage can be remembered for a lifetime, and Achilles probably remembered how Patroclus died for him for the rest of his life.
War isn’t a beautiful thing to celebrate. When a character dies in this story, the author gives a little personal information about the person, like how he has a wife waiting back home or how his brother will miss him. This enhances the fact that it’s a person that’s dying, not just some bald guy with a spear. These people lead their own lives and fight other battles an enemy on the field could never understand. Friends and family die in war, and people come back home a completely different person. War is most definitely not something beautiful to celebrate.
People fight to protect what they love. Hector fights to protect his wife from a life of slavery; Menelaus fights for his love, Helen. Achilles goes to battle because Patroclus, a close friend, has died. Even though friends are a different love than lovers, it’s still