The Character Achilles in Homers The Iliad Essay -- Iliad essays

The Character Achilles in Homers The IliadThe first book of The Iliad, appropriately titled the Rage of Achilles, sets the scene for the divergence of the epic (selu.edu/Academics/Depts/WritingCenter/The_Growth_of_Achilles.htm). This rage is invoked by pride, a theme of pivotal enormousness for the Greeks. Pride is the source of the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon in Book 1. The sequent that provoked Achilles rage took place in the tenth and final year of the Achaean attack on Troy. The king is angered by what he sees as a challenge to his authority. He is furious at Calchas for indicting Agamemnon as the cause of the plague. Rather than graciously admit his mistake, the king becomes monstrous and demands pay for what should not have been his in the first place. He knows what he moldiness do for the sake of the army, but he demands recognition of his privileged term as king (gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/iliad/summ1.htm).Agamemnon seizes Achilles prize, the beautif ul Briseis, to sooth his own wounded pride (selu.edu/Academics/Depts/WritingCenter/The_Growth_of_Achilles.htm). Achilles, in turn, demands recognition of his status as the greatest warrior among the Achaeans. The loss of Briseis is not mortifying because he has any kind of romantic attachment to her. It is humiliating because she was a prize given to Achilles by Agamemnon for valor(gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/iliad/summ1.htm). When Agamemnon takes her away as is technically his right to do, although it clearly violates rules of respect and honorable conduct he dishonors Achilles horribly and devalues Achilles contributions as a warrior (Approaches of Teaching Homers Iliad, p37). Even though Achilles is correct to sugges... ... 51 copyright (c) 2003 Fagles, Robert The Iliad Penguin Classics June 2001 Rouse, W.H. D. Homer The Iliad The Story of Achilles published by the New York the Statesn library New York and TorontoFirst Published 1938Lawall, Sarah The Norton Anthology Wo rld Masterpieces Seventh Edition the great unwashed 1W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. Copyright 1984Myrsiades, Kostas Approaches to Teaching Homers Iliad and Odyssey The Modern Language Association of America New YorkFourth Printing 1993http//www.selu.edu/Academics/Depts/WritingCenter/The_Growth_of_Achilles.htmhttp//classics.allinfoabout.com/articles/homer.htmhttp//www.thinkquest.org/library/site_sum.html?tname=23057&url=23057/iliad4.htlhttp//astro.temple.edu/rguay/iliad3.pdfwww.gutenberg.net/1/0/7/1/10716/10716-h/10716-h.htmlwww.uweb.ucsb.edu/bmaatuk/achilles.html