Achilles_in_the_Iliad

Achilles is classic literatures' greatest character ever engraved on paper. Achilles, son of Peleus, the King of Myrmidons, and Thetis, a sea nymph, comes to Troy as part of a Greek force led by King Agamemnon. Unlike most protagonists, Achilles does not develop significantly over the course of the epic. A translator of The Iliad, Richard Lattimore, said that the story of The Iliad is not about Troy, but about Achilles. He also goes on to say though, that it is not just Achilles, but the Achaians and the Trojans also. As the story unravels, Achilles wrath for Agamemnon intensifies, but only after the death of Patroclus does he redirect his rage towards Hector. Achilles' bloodlust, wrath, and pride continue to consume him. As a result, he mercilessly mauls his opponents and does not relent in this brutality until the last book when King Priam begs for the return of his son's desecrated corpse. Achilles embodies the characteristics of the epic hero particularly in his apparent lack of character and control and lust for fame. Proud and headstrong, Achilles takes offense easily and reacts with blistering indignation when perceived that his honor has been insulted. In the beginning of Book One, after Agamemnon wrongly accuses Achilles of cheating him of his prize, Chryseis, Achilles retorts at Agamemnon reminding him of all the honors and loyalty he has earned while he shamelessly earns his pillage through his lust for greed. "O wrapped in shamelessness, with your mind forever on profit, how shall any one of the Achaians readily obey you either to go on a journey or to fight men strongly in battle' I for my part did not come here for the sake of the Trojan spearmen to fight against them, since to me they have done nothing…. but when the time comes to distribute the booty yours is far the greater reward, and I with some small thing yet dear to me go back to my ships when I am weary with fighting. Now I am 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.” (1.149-171) Achilles cannot control his rage, which at some point in the epic poisons him, and as a result, he decides to stop fighting for Agamemnon all together. Achilles’ decision not to fight is looked as by most as the cause of Patroclus’ death. Achilles rage comes out the most at this point in the epic. This is so mostly because he agreed to give his armor to Patroclus to use as a decoy. He becomes so enraged that he does not even eat. At first he wants to go to battle immediately, but Odysseus convinced him to stay and let the soldiers eat and rest. Achilles is aided by the gods at this point because they fill his stomach with ambrosia to give him energy for battle. To Achilles’ delight, they go out to battle and he gets to fight the valiant Hektor. He cannot get to Hektor without going through most of the Trojan army first though. The Trojans are on the bad side of this battle because there is no way the any mortal is going to get in Achilles’ way. He just starts plowing through the Trojan lines taking out soldier after soldier. He kills so many Trojans that the dead bodies clog up the river and angers Xanthos. Achilles’ rage gets in the way of his common sense and he irritates Xanthos even more, up to the point of challenging him. Xanthos then sweeps Achilles away and nearly drowns him in the process. After many small victories for Achilles, and some close calls, he finally reaches Hektor. This scene in the epic is very important in portraying Achilles’ rage. He chases after Hektor around the city until Hektor is betrayed by the gods and turns around to charge Achilles. The gods decided that it was time for Hektor’s fate to take place. Achilles, in his rage, kills Hektor and then ties Hektor’s body to the back of his chariot. Much to the readers’ surprise, Achilles then drags Hektor’s body around Troy for nine days for revenge on Petroclus’ death. With the persuasion of the gods, Achilles finally holds the body of Hektor for ransom. With Hermes’ help, Priam reaches Achilles’ tent to beg for the body of Hektor. This is the one time in the epic that the pity of Achilles is shown. Priam convinces Achilles to hand over Hektor’s body by making him think about how his father is going to feel when Achilles is dead and his father does not have his body. Priam says, “Achilleus like the gods, remember your father, one who is of years like mine, and on the door-sill of sorrowful old age. And they who dwell nearby encompass him and afflict him, nor is there any to defend him against the wrath, the destruction. Yet surely he, when he hears of you and that you are still living, is gladdened within his heart and all his days he is hopeful that he will see his beloved son come home from the Troad. But for me, my destiny was evil. I have had the noblest of sons in Troy, but I say not one of them is left to me.” (24. 486-494) The compassion between the two does not last long as they agree that they are still enemies and will resume fighting in the morning. To Achilles, pride and honor were very important. It was his fate to die an honorable death. Pride is the reason that Achilles chose not to fight for Agamemnon. If Achilles did not care about pride, he most likely would have kept fighting against the Trojans, instead of stopping and not fighting for half of the epic. Now, if Achilles was smart and did not let his pride get the best of him, he would have used the anger and rage towards Agamemnon to his advantage. He could have been fighting with such power as when he was going after Hektor because of Patroclus’ death. He also used his pride to try and make honorable moments for himself. He said if the Trojans had the Achaians backed up to the ships he would come back in and fight. If he had done this, he probably would have been the hero of the Achaian camp once again. The epic would have turned out much different than it did had Achilles not cared about pride and honor. So, Achilles is one of the most researched and studied character in all of ancient literature. He is an important person to The Iliad and the epic would not be anything without him. His rage, pride, and hunger for honor influenced him for the better at some points and for the worse at others. His desecration of Hektor’s body was the result of Achilles lust for revenge on Patroclus’ death and would have never happened if he did not have so much rage bottled up inside him. Without a doubt, Homer’s epic of The Iliad would have been incredibly boring and pointless if it wasn’t for swift-footed Achilles.