Achilles Back Into Battle example essay topic

The Iliad Achilles: Achilles is recognized by Greeks and Trojans as the greatest warrior of their time, and his mere presence on a battlefield could striker fear into his enemies. He is a character driven by intense anger and revenge throughout the story. His tragic flaw would in fact be his non-ability to control his emotions, which usually led him into trouble. One prime example of this would be when Agamemnon insulted him. After this happened he became so angry and bitter that he refused to help the Greek cause in the war. He would eventually change his mind with the death of Patroclos, which really touched Achilles and filled him with grief.

This event would propel Achilles back into battle. After receiving new armor from the god's, Achilles enters the battlefield disposing of his enemies relentlessly until he found the most hated Hector. He disposed of Hector quickly and abused his body as revenge for the death Patroclos. Achilles is a tragic hero who's excess anger and hunger for revenge consumed his whole being.

Hector: The leader of the Trojans, who was actually not an evil person. He was extremely loyal to his city and people. He was kind to everyone in his family, especially his mother and wife. The only person he really scolded was his brother, Paris when he was not out on the battlefield.

During the battle with the Greeks, Hector displayed no real superior skills, and the great Achilles easily defeated him. The only thing he really did was wrong was abusing the body of Patroclos because that would make Achilles so wild with rage, and intent on getting revenge that his fate was doomed to death. Agamemnon: He was the King of Argos and the leader of the total Greek force. In book 1, we see what Agamemnon's main purpose in the epic is.

He is in the story to drive Achilles into his first cycle of wrath. He does by arguing with him over the release of Briseis a female that Achilles had kept from an earlier raid on the Trojan forces. Agamemnon demands that she be released, and this infuriates Achilles who refuses to give her up, and threatens to leave the war if he has to do so. Since both characters are so prideful and stubborn they argue, and Agamemnon tells Achilles that the Greeks do not need his services anymore, and that he can return to Phthia if he so desires. In my opinion Agamemnon did what most leaders would do, he drove his best person crazy and made filled him with rage, much as a coach would do to his star athlete. It may not seem right, but many times it gets them to perform better.

Question #1: A prime example of Hubris would be the King of Argos, Agamemnon. In book 1, we see that he is the powerful leader of the Greek army and that he thinks very highly of himself. When his best warrior, Achilles returns from a raid on Lyrnessus, he brings back with him two prized females, Briseis and Chryseis. The priest of Apollo Chryses is Chryseis' father and he asks for his daughter back from Agamemnon who refuses because he is selfish. Apollo punishes him for his acts with a 9-day plague.

After the plague, the Greeks consult the seer, Calchas to see why they have angered Apollo. When Calchas reveals the reasons, Agamemnon becomes upset and only agrees to give up Chryseis if she can be replaced, and he requests Briseis, the prize of the Achilles. Agamemnon is an extremely greedy king who thinks he can always get what he wants. Question #2: It is hard to say that Achilles ultimately emerges as a sympathetic character because of his intense rage that we see throughout the epic.

In my opinion yes, Achilles is a sympathetic character; this is something that we see mostly at the conclusion of the epic. Throughout the story, we see Achilles become increasingly bitter, first with Agamemnon because of the stealing of Briseis, and then because Agamemnon told him that his services were not needed. Everything changes however when Patroclos is killed my Hector. Achilles becomes so enraged that he joins the Greek effort despite his previous problems with Agamemnon. Achilles wants revenge for Patroclos and will stop at nothing to get revenge on Hector.

It is hard to get mad at Achilles for wanting revenge when his good friend has been slain. They are many people who would become bitter and hell bent on revenge if their friend died. Yes, it makes him look hardened and extremely mean, but he is seeking the revenge because he is so deeply hurt by the death of Patroclos. Towards the conclusion, Achilles ultimately defeats Hector soundly and abuses the body, dragging it back on the back of his chariot. Eventually the gods tell Achilles that they are not satisfied with the abuse of the body and that he should give it back to Priam, the King of Troy and the father of Hector. When Priam comes to pick up the body, Achilles weeps.

This is when the reader realizes that even though Achilles may seem almost inhuman, deep down inside he still has emotions. He explains to Priam how men are a mixture of good and evil. Therefore, I would say yes Achilles may have been perceived as being just revenge-oriented person, but in the end, we get to see that he has genuine feelings and was really scarred by the events in his life. Question 3: I do not believe that Hector could qualify as the Hero of the Iliad. Heroes in the general sense are great warriors or leaders, and most of the time they do not lose. Yes, Hector has a good relation with the gods, but he is not gifted on the battlefield and the Trojans ultimately lose the war due to his poor skills as a leader.

I would say that Hector is more of a sympathetic character than a hero. Throughout the epic, I continually felt bad for him, as he tried to do what he thought was right, but struggled. In my mind, Hector is nowhere close to qualifying as the hero for the Iliad. Summaries: Book 1 Book 1 in the Iliad briefly introduces some of the main characters in the epic. Most notably Achilles, the main character and Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces.

Homer begins by telling the reader that we are in the 10th year of the Trojan War, why Achilles has abandoned the Greek war effort against Troy. He tells of an earlier raid on the city of Lyrnessus, and how two women were taken captive as part of the spoils. One of the women was Chryseis, the daughter of Chryses, the priest of Apollo. In short, Apollo invokes a plague on the Greeks and Agamemnon realizes that he must give up Chryses, but in doing so, he demands that he have Achilles prize, Briseis. This would enrage Achilles who already was at odds with Agamemnon, so he leaves the war effort to return to his home in Phthia. Book 6: In book 6, the battle is extremely intense and the Greeks are succeeding in defeating Troy.

Both leaders are encouraging their groups, but Hector can feel a bit of urgency. The Trojans are eventually pushed further back into retreat and Hector begins to realize that his fate is pretty much sealed, yet he still prepares to offer up some sacrifices to the gods with the aid of his wife and his mother. Hector is angered at his brother Paris for joining the war effort and chastises him for it. Eventually at the end of the chapter, they both go back to war, despite Hectors wife plea for him to stay and be with her and their son. Book 22: Achilles ventures into Troy looking for revenge on Hector, for the slaying of Patroclos. Priam and his wife He cube are trying to dissuade their son Hector from fighting Achilles because they have already lost enough sons already, but their attempts were futile, because Hector's fate was already sealed, and he felt that he had to fight Achilles.

Hector eventually is disposed of quickly by Achilles, and his body is completely and totally abused and disgraced by Achilles who ultimately drags him out of Troy on the back of his chariot.