Briseis

Achilles is most powerful warrior in The Iliad, proud and stubborn, he takes offense easily and reacts with an intense anger when he feels that his honor has been insulted. Achilles’ gets angry with Agamemnon for taking his war prize, the maiden Briseis. Arjuna is the central figure of the Gita. He is Krishna 's follower, and asks for the deity for help when he has to fight his own family in order to take command of a kingdom that is rightfully his brother. At first, Arjuna is weak of heart,…

The Iliad In the epic, The Iliad, in Descendants of Troy, by Sergio La Porta, Agamemnon, the King of the Greeks, and Priam, King of Troy, embark on an embassy with the intent to change Achilles’ mind, all while the Trojan War is taking place. Agamemnon’s goal was to convince the demi-god, Achilles, to continue fighting alongside the Greeks; Priam was only looking to recover the corpse of his son and Troy’s best warrior, Hector. Achilles, prideful as he is, had reasons to reject both kings, but…

Violence in all its forms (A discussion of three different types of violence in the Iliad Book 1) “All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do,” –Leo Tolstoy. This quote discusses violence and fighting and how people force others to fight the battles we ourselves don’t want to fight. In the Iliad Book 1, translated by Robert Fagles, there are several accounts of fighting and violence. Here, the Trojans and…

Rage, the most destructive and insatiable form of anger, is the very first word of the Iliad. From the beginning to nearly the end, the plot is driven by the rage of a variety of characters, but one stands far apart from the others. The focus of this paper will be primarily on the greatest rage of them all, Achilles’. His wrath, the embodiment of his rage, is said to be, “Black and murderous,” (1:2), from the very first page. While other men and even the Gods also have rage, Achilles’ inability…

usually fight alongside his comrades, Agamemnon does the job of rallying. Moreover, after the fight with Enkidu, Gilgamesh makes Enkidu his brother and stops forcing sex on women. Agamemnon, on the other hand, would steal Achilles’s prize, beauty Briseis, away from him, and the action was carried out by his comrade, not himself. Lastly, Gilgamesh develops as a king after the arrivals Enkidu. After acquiring “The Old Men Are Young Again”, Gilgamesh states “I will give it to the old men to eat”,…

Books I-III The story of the Iliad starts 9 years into the Trojan War. The reason the Achaeans and Greeks were battling it out like schoolboys was over a girl, Helen of troy, formerly the bride of Menelaus, who had run away with the prince of troy, Paris, who was granted the love of the most beautiful woman at the time by Aphrodite, the goddess of love, on the condition the he declared her the paramount goddess. He did, and thus he was awarded the love of Helen. Menelaus declares war on the…

of other Achaians and if Agamemnon has no war prize, he has no honor. In order for Agamemnon to have honor again he will have to steal someone else 's war prize. The only war prize Agamemnon thinks is valuable enough for him is Achilleus’ prize, Briseis, whom he takes. Achilleus then announces that he is “returning to Phthia, since it is much better / to go home again with my curved ships, and I am minded no longer / to stay here dishonored and pile up your wealth and your luxury”(1.165-167).…

As a child, kids are taught by adults to think before they act. Although they are taught this, they are not expected to get this concept until they are in their teenage years. Unfortunately, some people fail this expectation. Achilles in The Iliad by homer, translated by Stanley Lombardo, is an example of this occurrence. Achilles possesses many qualities; such as strength, persistence, ambition, and compassion. He is even referred to as godlike many times throughout the epic. All these…

out their emotions. Homer portrayed the gods as manipulative individuals that caused and prevented things from happening in order to satisfy themselves. In the First Book Achilles argues with Agamemnon which ultimately results in Agamemnon taking Briseis and disregarding Achilles worth. This infuriates Achilles until he nearly is about to kill Agamemnon with his sword, but the goddess Hera sends Athena to stop him as she is a symbol of reason that controls Achilles anger. “These thoughts were…

Human history has been shaped by the rise and fall of different leaders throughout the course of time. Both strength and cowardice, charisma and introversion, from these leaders has left an indelible mark on society, which begs the question, what constitutes a good leader? Throughout the ages, opinions on the value of different leaders have varied. While the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, emphasized positive moral change, Niccolo Machiavelli prioritized notoriety in a leader. The value of a…