The Rage Of Achilles Analysis

Improved Essays
Roughly three thousand years ago on the Eastern Aegean Coast a blind poet by the name of Homer created the Iliad. At its core is a lengthy account of the rage of Achilles that reflects Homer’s ancient audiences’ values. Troy is a modern day adaptation of Homer’s work written by David Benioff. Like the great entertainer before him, Benioff was faced with crafting a story to suit the qualities of his audience. To discuss the similarities and differences throughout the two works, one must consider the differences in audience that the authors are reconciling with. Discrepancies in the plot and theme reflect the different cultures of Homer and Benioff 's audience, demonstrating cultural inconsistencies and opposing expectations of societies separated by three millennia
The first contrast between Homer and Benioff’s rendition is found in the modern tendency to tie up loose ends. Troy is a two and a half hour film, and the Illiad is only one poem of the Greek oral poetry tradition. In oral poetry there are no spoilers. Greeks know about the rage of Achilles, the death of Hektor and the fall of Troy before they enjoy a bard’s song. Because of this, Homer is able to begin his epic in “medias reis”, while Benioff is confined by exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. The Trojan War has been raging for more than a
…show more content…
Divine intervention was barely mentioned in Troy. In the beginning of the movie, when Achilles finds his immortal mother in a tidal pool collecting shells, she foretells of his fate: “If you stay in Larissa, you will find peace…if you go to Troy you will be remembered, but you will die.” This is foreshadowing in its purest form for us modern viewers, but Achilles fate was known far and wide by the time an individual in Homer’s time got a chance to listen to a Bard sing of Achilles’ rage. Thetis sets up the plot for us, and then takes a back

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Despite being a poem written about a lengthy war and its devastating effects, Homer’s Iliad offers more than just tales of blood and gore. If read carefully, the Iliad can give insight to a number of matters besides the obvious ones, including the rhetorical elements of speeches given throughout the course of the poem. Three of these speeches, which are delivered by a council of war heroes, can be evaluated to gauge the effectiveness of the oratory strategies that were being utilized throughout the poem. Each of the heroes applies some form of logos, ethos or pathos in their speeches in hopes that their emotional, ethical, and logical appeals would be enough to curtail Achilles’ anger and bring him back to battle. They were wrong, however,…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the epic poem, the Iliad written by Homer, several characters taking part in the warfare between the Achaeans and the Trojans are portrayed as embodying the heroic code of courage, physical strength, leadership, arete of value of honour, and the acceptance of fate. The heroic code is illustrated by the actions of the Trojan prince, Hector and the Achaeans strongest warrior, Achilles. Both of these characters display the Greek’s image of a hero, and can also let the reader discern what the society admires, looks up to and aspires to in its heroes. There are also characters who fail to be heroic, such as the Trojan “vivid and beautiful” prince, Paris. These characters in the Iliad illustrate the qualities that Ancient Greek society values.…

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Remoon Bekhit Final Draft 10/17/2016 Achilles as Trouble Hero Iliad is the most epic story of the classical literature written by the Homer. The story is basically a mix of Greek and other dialectics. It should be noted that among all the heroes of the Greek mythology especially who fought in the 10 years of the Trojan War, none of the protagonist has been close enough to the greatness of the Achilles. He was a bold and courageous warrior who showed no mercy to the enemy, yet showed intense skills in the battlefield.…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Using intertext, Catullus refers to Homer’s The Iliad using descriptors such as ‘free from fear’, ‘swift’ and valiant’ to create the expectation that Achilles will be depicted as a glorious hero. However this is undermined by violent imagery which emphasises visual elements such as blood, death and fire. In traditional Roman literary descriptions of warfare, extending pity or clemency towards the defeated was seen as virtuous, but this is subverted by Achilles’ ruthless actions (Hope, V.M. 2007). This subversion of traditional expectations is continued through a simile where he is likened to a reaper cutting down Trojans without mercy.…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Homer’s Iliad, it is debateable whether or not Achilles is responsible for his own fate, linked to his level of free choice. Achilles’ fate in the Iliad ends up with him killing Hector and then later dying young with glory as opposed to a long, inconspicuous life. Upon examining Achilles’ choices in the Iliad, it is evident that Achilles play a significant role in deciding his own fate, even if he is not aware of it. This can be shown by looking at one of the major choices Achilles makes, choosing not to fight the Trojans, but also staying Troy.…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    More than three thousand years after its composition, Homer’s Odyssey is still celebrated for having captured two of the innumerable stories and poems that were passed on from generation to generation very much in the same way that amber petrifies a bug, preserving an ephemeral memory, a decision which could not have been any more fortunate in such a pivotal time as when those stories had already began to fade away into obscurity as something of the far, distant past. Homer beggins by assuming an in medias res. form of narrative, in which, ten years after the Trojan embroilment, in which many of the Achaens return to their home to find that most everything has remained the same as just when they had left off, but in the case of Agamemnon and…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Homer’s epic, The Iliad, the ninth year of the ten-year Trojan War is recounted. The war begins with the abduction of Agamemnon’s sister, Helen (Sacks). Once nine years have passed, the Agamemnon and Achilles are beginning to get very frustrated. They argue with each other over war-prize women (Homer 1). Consequently, their bickering leads to the deaths of many Greek soldiers (Thompson).…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Wynona Ryan The Odyssey The Odyssey, an epic poem written by the blind poet Homer, is the story of the resourceful Odysseus, king of Ithaca. The Odyssey tells the tale of Odysseus’ years of hardship in trying to return home to his wife and son after victory over the Trojan war, with the interference of gods and goddesses. The epic poem was then adapted into a film, also named The Odyssey, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky in 1997. This essay is the discussion of the differences and similarities between the epic poem and epic film.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Homer wrote The Iliad as a means to demonstrate what happened during the final year of the Trojan War. In the poem, Homer presents Achilles in several distinctive ways, causing the reader’s feelings to shift back and forth. How does Homer really want readers to feel about Achilles? There are several mixed feelings about Achilles and how readers should feel about the character. In the beginning of the poem readers may feel sympathetic toward Achilles after his argument with King Agamemnon, but those feelings may change when reading how Achilles unleashes his rage during battle against the Trojan soldiers and fights a river god.…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Role Of Honor In The Iliad

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Instead, Homer uses the platform of the famous struggle to show the pointlessness of fighting, especially with gain for the individual at the forefront of one’s mind. Achilles’ focus on glory and honor, even while surrounded by complete devastation and death, contrasted with Patroclus’ voice of reason outlines Homer’s distinction between honor and victory. By pointedly comparing major aspects of the Trojan War to the trivial, prolonged power struggle between Achilles and Agamemnon, Homer crafts The Iliad as an argument against the exaltation of war, honor, and the fight for…

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Zeus expresses his love for Hector when he tells his wife “Hector was a prime favourite with the gods more than any man in Troy… for he never failed in his friendly offerings”, but only because of those offering do the gods love him (283). Based on the fact that Achilles “always [has] some god to protect him”, signifies he gives reference to the gods (238). In the end the decisions Zeus and the gods make, to glorify or…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He should fear our wrath, good as he may be, / For he defiles the dumb earth in his rage “ (Iliad book XXIV, 188, 57-59). By Apollo speaking up about Achilles ignorance it caused Zeus to pay attention to it in which he sent Hermes to help King Priam get to the Greek ships in order to get his son back. Above all Achilles mostly affected King Priam by disturbing Hector's dead body. It would appear that Achilles could do nothing worse until he refuses to give the body of Hector back to his father King Priam.…

    • 1780 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Achilles A Hero Essay

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Although Achilles made the right decision, it was for the wrong reasons. Instead of acting mature when Agamemnon insulted him and helping the Greeks defeat the Trojans without excessive bloodshed, he selfishly elected to stay in his tent, just to spite Agamemnon. Thus causing scores of his fellow countrymen, who have done Achilles no injustice, to be decimated by Hector’s sword. He had the ability to save countless lives on both sides of the war, but rather than use his prowess on the field of combat, he used it to fuel his ego. He was so obsessed with his honor he let men from the army he was supposed to be leading.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The destruction and intimidation of Achilles is noted several times in the Iliad, even Iris tells Achilles that " Just go to the trench and let the Trojans see you. One look will be enough. The Trojans will back off out of fear of you" (Homer 247). Achilles had put the fear of the gods in the Trojan soldiers, so much that they would run just at the sight of him. This Sword slinging killing machine goes on a rampage of death and carnage after the news of Patroclus 's death, killing almost everyman in the Trojan army.…

    • 1770 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Literature plays an essential role in enhancing our knowledge about a civilization’s core values and cultural beliefs. Myths, written works, and oral stories are all different forms of literature. Two central themes in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, provide us with many insights to ancient Greece as a civilization. Throughout The Iliad, the glorious pursuit of war preeminently serves as a driving force behind the whole poem. The poem’s heavy emphasis on pride, honor, and bravery illustrates that these ideal characteristics are also highly valued by the Greeks.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays