Analysis of Achilles in Iliad - Essay Example

? [Supervisor’s Achilles in Iliad Achilles is the legendary hero, the main character in ‘The lliad’ and is the spirit of the classic written by Homer. The lliad is more about Achilles, than it is about the supremacy, hideousness and destruction of Troy. It depicts the transformation of Achilles from youth to maturity, and changes in his personality from a brutal and fierce combatant to an aloof but cordial and sociable person by the end of the poem. Achilles is a multifaceted and comprehensive fighter, who occasionally refuses to acknowledge or follow the social patterns of behavior or the social order of the general public because he recognizes the logical errors and shortcomings in the restricted and paradoxical heroic code. He is the greatest combatant and fighter among the Achaeans. He is invincible because his mother, who is a goddess, dipped him in the River Styx when he was a baby. His only weak spot is his heel, which is vulnerable to any weapon (Pope). Achilles possesses a powerful awareness of communal responsibility, which initially is obvious in his apprehension for the chaos and disarray in the Achaean camp. A lethal disease is killing the soldiers, and Achilles is determined to find out why this is happening. The king, Agamemnon is doing nothing for the soldiers, so Achilles is determined to do something to help the soldiers. He orders the entire army to convene, which is against the order of the set of rules because the king is the only person authorized to assemble the army. Achilles determination to bring order in the Achaean camp is only successful to a degree, because he discovers the reason for the plague is the king himself who is responsible for the death of hundreds of soldiers. Apollo eventually ends the plague, and Achilles pulls out his troops from the Achaean army, even after which, order does not return to the Achaeans (Pope). Although, both Achilles and Agamemnon share a common responsibility for the plague, Achilles shows ill-temper and is quarrelsome which diminishes the little bit of goodwill that does exist. Achilles is very angry that Agamemnon takes all the best war prices, although he does not fight on the battlefield to earn these prizes. In his anger, he tries to kill the king, but is prevented from doing so by the Goddess Athena (Pope). Achilles is justified in leaving the Achaean army because the king demanded and took the maiden Briseis, who is Achilles’ war prize. Achilles feels that this is an insult to him personally and can be compared to the kidnapping of Helen. He feels himself to be in the same situation as Menelos, and he thinks he is within his right as was the war against the Trojans. Although, Agamemnon tries to placate Achilles by returning Briseis along with other gifts, Achilles is still angry which shows that one of his major character flaws is his extreme and unnecessary pride. Achilles believes that the gifts offered by the king do not compensate for the offense that he has suffered, added to the fact that the kind had previously taken back given gifts, and he could do so again. Therefore, Achilles believes that the king is not sincere about his promise of more gifts. The relationship with the gods is unusual in the context because his mother was a goddess and his father a mere mortal. It is also unusual river god attempts to drown Achilles for his hatred of all Trojans and the desecration of their corpses’ by denying them burial rites as he did to Hector. It is important to note that that the River god is the only god that wants to punish him, but later the other gods also regards Achilles in the same manner as the river god because of his excesses against the Trojans. The River god wants to deny Achilles the rites of Greek burial and tries to smoother him in a deluge of mud. The Greek warriors regard Achilles as the most important combatant against the Trojans, and his sulking affects them as they depend upon him to lead them to achieve victory. When Achilles is sulking or in a bad mood, and stays in his tent, the Trojans dominate the war because without Achilles to lead them, they do not venture beyond the wall that they have built for protection for themselves and their beached ships. Achilles realizes that the heroic code according to which he lives is not enough. He feels that fighting only for glory is not enough because death in inevitable. The idea of a home and family and individualism are also important for the society and for a valiant warrior. These realizations only come to him after the death of his friend Patroklos, who is killed by Hector. Achilles now understands the meaning of loosing someone whom he loves. He also realizes his mortality and his shortcomings as he failed to protect his friend. He realized that he must take revenge for his friend’ death and that just sitting by his ships he is nothing more than a burden upon the earth. Regrettably, Achilles does not see that the Achaean’s feel his abandonment as much as he feels the loss of his friend. The lliad was the first epic poem to have been written in Europe, which is recognized as part of the Western world. The entire epic revolves around Achilles as an individual. The epic is about his moods, about his prowess as the greatest combatant of his time and he is credited with winning the war for Greek. He is the problem character because he is a difficult person to get along with. He is aware of his skills as a fighter, and because he perceives his demand and usefulness for the king, he is unreasonable at times. Achilles behavior cannot be condoned in any way by any reader because his entire attitude reeks of arrogance. He knows that he is the best fighter that the Greeks have, and this makes him proud and even more arrogant. His breaking of protocol does not do the Greek army any good, and only serves to alienate the king. His rejection of the king’s gifts and peace offer also are not appealing because it makes a bad situation worse. His attitude is of a person who does not care for others because he perceives himself to be a superior human being due to the fact that his mother was a goddess. His invincibility further adds to his arrogance because he knows that he cannot be defeated in combat. Achilles repels human sympathy because of the way that he desecrates the corpses of the Trojans. After killing Hector, he does not give his body to his father, Priam to perform burial rites but ties it to his chariot and drags it around outside the walls of Troy. By any measure, this is an inhuman act which adds to the sorrow of Priam and the Trojans. He feels no remorse for his actions, and thinks he is justified in doing what he is doing because the Trojans killed his friend. Achilles does not consider that this is war and that he and the Greeks have killed many Trojans. He is blinded by grief for his friend and is devoid of any human consideration or norms. His arrogance, his sulking and the brutality with which he kills the enemy and disrespects their dead bodies all repel human sympathy for Achilles (Pope). He regains sympathy when he starts to feel the desire for love and family. The feeling that there is more to life than just being a warrior and doing heroic deeds gains and maintains the sympathy of the reader. His behavior towards Hector is inhuman, but as a father Priam goes to see Achilles, not as a king but as a petitioner who wants the body of his son to be returned so that he can carry out the last rites. When Priam pleads with Achilles for Hector’s body , Achilles sees Priam as his own father, and in Priam’s mourning, he feels the emotions that his own father would have is he were in Priam’s position. Achilles realizes the courage that Priam has shown by coming to the enemy camp and kissing Achilles hand. Both of them mourn together, Priam for his son, and Achilles for his father’s anguish if he had to mourn his death. With their mutual mourning, Achilles anger turns to agony, and Priam’s distress turns to forgiveness. This forms a special bond between them, because both men realize the extent of the other’s suffering. Through this mutual mourning, both Priam and Achilles enter into the godly environment of human compassion and understanding. Achilles now understands the world that he lives in as a mortal and one perceives a different Achilles, who understands the need for loving his fellow men and being loved by them. Priam on the other hand recognizes the wrong that his son Hector by kidnapping a married Greek woman, which led to this war and the destruction and killing that it wrought. What Hector did was wrong, but this does not mean that Priam is evil because he accepted Helen into his house. Both Achilles and Priam see the error of their ways and turn into better men (Pope). Work Cited Pope, Alexander. Poetry Foundation. 2013. 12 March 2013 . Read More