Raging Achilles essays

Raging Achilles essays In the book the Iliad, an epic poem written by the famous Greek native poet, Homer, he seems to be focus on the gruesome details of the war. I see it as the Greeks version of the movie, "Saving Private Ryan" as it tells us of the makes-you-sick-to-your-stomach kind of detail of the war. However, the ultimate devastation and emotional conflicts of the actual fighting of Trojan War are not the main theme of this heroic tale. The real story centers on the rage of the hero named Achilles. Achilles, the King of the Myrmidons, shows the most rage of any of the Achaean warriors. In the beginning of the Iliad, Homer gives Achilles a coward-like shadow as Achilles chooses to retreat back to his own ships of Myrmidons. Yet, Achilles rage gets him to speak up against and even challenge Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae and commander of the Greek forces, to fight him. This leads Achilles to withdraw from the war, leaving his friends and warriors to die on the battlefield. This act shows how the rage of Achilles can blind him of the important things going on in his life. His rage will later on play a bigger role in his heroic life. Rage is the first word of the Iliad and it plays a role to the heroic deed that Achilles performs. Patroclus, a Greek warrior and dearest friend of Achilles, beg Achilles to come back and help his warriors change the tide of the war. Achilles is not very into it, until the word that Patroclus is killed by Hector, the commander of the Trojan forces. The death of Patroclus awakens the rage of Achilles once again. He wants revenge so he seeks out for Hector and avenges Patrocluss death. We see Achilles take offense to the death of Patroclus and reacts with harsh demands and attacks. The rage of Achilles is one that cannot be contain by himself or others. ...