The Complex Character of Achilles

'" Achilles was preoccupied with and even timorous of the disgrace that he would feel in the eyes of others were he to fail to live up to the command of excellence. Under this code said Martin (44), "failure and wrongdoing produced public shame."

Achilles is introduced early in the Iliad as a man brisk to anger and quick to feel that he has been demeaned or disrespected (Fowler, 7). For Achilles, participation in the Hellenic siege of Troy is mandatory non so frequently because of any loyalty to the classic cause or the Greek leader, Agamemnon, but rather Achilles' own ambition and his belief that a failure to participate in this military adventure lead diminish his reputation as the most excellent of Greek warriors. Pride motivates him to join the fight and pride simultaneously causes him to absorb from the fight. As Achilles says with respect to his involvement, "I came not warring hither for any ill the Trojans had done me. I have no quarrel with them (Homer, 11)."

Achilles even contemplates killing Agamemnon when the king requires him to give up the beautiful young Briseis. He is stopped from doing so exactly by the intervention of the goddess Athena who tells him that if he desists in his longing to kill Agamemnon, he "shall hereafter receive gifts three clock a

s splendid by reason of this present insult (Homer, 12)." The withdrawal of Achilles from the fray creates a situation in which the Greeks lead lose many important warriors as they attempt to defeat Troy. As for Achilles, he followed the goddesses' orders, withdrew to his ships, and " suckled his anger. He went not to the honorable assembly and sallied forth not to fight, but gnawed at his own heart, pining for battle and the war cry (Homer, 18).

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Martin (132) notes that for the Homeric Greek, pride often became hubris, a ostracize quality which leads an individual to place his needs and interests above those of the group. This is on the nose what occurred in the case of Achilles who sat out the vast absolute majority of the Trojan War while his comrades fought and died. Achilles' pride and anger is much(prenominal) that his mistreatment of the corpse of Hector disgraces him before the gods and sets in motion the events that will lead to his death. This best of the Greeks therefore embodies the extreme characteristics of a sublime people (Fowler, 157). Nevertheless, Achilles feels justified not only in his sign withdrawal because of his treatment at the hands of Agamemnon, but excessively justified in his later actions.

Works Cited

Fowler, Barbara H. The Hellenistic Aesthetic. Madison, WI:

Homer. The Iliad. Roslyn, NY: Walter J. Black, 1952.

Achilles does stick with in besting Hector on the field of battle, so impressing Agamemnon that Briseis is returned t
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