The Illiad Book 1 - Essay Example

The Iliad Book The primary concern of the or poet relates to construction of the theme that forms the universal and fundamental method of communicating the writer’s intent or knowledge. The central theme outlined in the Iliad is rage. Rage is the irrepressible ferocious anger expressed by individuals who offend others within a societal setting. In Iliad Achilles, Agamemnon, Chryses, and Apollo show expressions of resentment based on their attitudes. Many Greek soldiers, for instance, died because of Achilles bitterness towards Agamemnon.

Rage between Achilles and Agamemnon emerged from pride as expressed in Book 1. Agamemnon, who was the commander of the Achaean army, had attacked Troy in the tenth and final year. During the war, Agamemnon captured two Trojan beautiful maidens called Briseis and Chryseis. Agamemnon distributed the two women and other possessions among the Greek soldiers. Agamemnon as the leader of the army valued Chryseis and aimed at using her to amuse his army after the victory while Achilles took Briseis. Chryseis was actually the daughter of Chryses, the priest of Apollo.

Chryses after realizing the capture of his daughter offers Agamemnon a mammoth payment in exchange of her only daughter. The pride of Agamemnon as an Army commander compels him to decline the priests request. Chryses gets furious and prayers dearly to Apollo the god for help and divine intervention. Apollo responds to Chryses request by sending a death plague into the Greek army camp (Johnston 10). The disease caused suffering of the Greeks soldiers and later caused their death. At the end of the suffering, Achilles quest for truth of army suffering and death enables a powerful seer reveals the source of the plague.

Calchas, the seer, explains that Chryses caused the plague because of vengeance to her detained daughter. Agamemnon gets angry with Chryses and commands that he will only release Chryseis after Achilles compensates him with Briseis, who was the latter’s’ prized possession from the war.Achilles who was a respected hero, brave soldier, and commander of Myrmidons army gets humiliated and becomes furious. He threatens to abandon the Greeks soldiers in Troy to fight for the selfish Agamemnon. Agamemnon promises to invade Achilles camp and take Briseis for personal honor a thought that provokes Achilles, who raises his sword ready to kill the army commander.

However, before he strikes Agamemnon, goddess Athena intervenes and calms him after command form Hera (Johnston 210). Agamemnon affirms that he will take Briseis in spite of Achilles’ fury. He insists that the later could return home. He narrates his hatred for Achilles and his divinely inspired military prowess. Agamemnon later took Briseis. Zeus and Athena later convince Achilles to help them fight Trojans after he had quit fighting for Agamemnon. Achilles later joins the Greeks army in the battlefield.

They finally defeated the Trojans and took over Troy.Rage as addressed in the above incidences resulted into serious loss of many Greek army soldiers following the plague. It divided the Greeks army and the Achilles resulting into mistrust among the army commanders. Though the Greek army won in the later scenes, rage would have led to their defeat if it were not for the heavenly intervention of the Athena, the goddess.Work CitedJohnston, Ian. Homer Iliad: The Quarrel by the Ships. Richer Resources Publications, 2010. Web. September 8, 2014.

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