A Rhetorical Analysis Of An Epic Hero

In book three of Iliad, “illustrious king” (9.126) and his Achaean armies fight the Trojans to stop wife stealing but despites that he still dishonors and takes Achilles prize, Breseis. Agamemnon in the Iliad can be seen as the mortal Aphrodite. In book three of Iliad, Helen disobeyed Aphrodite and she responds with rage and so does “lord of men” (9.112) in book one. Agamemnon feels that Achilles disobeyed him, so he answers with wrath just to show “how much greater [he] [is] than [him]…. for hoping to rival [him] strength for strength” (1.219-221). His statement makes Achilles furious with rage. “Why, why in the world if not for Helen with her loose and lustrous hair? Are they the only men alive who love their wives, those sons of Atreus? Never!” (9.411-414). Achilles expresses his feeling on how contradicting the whole Trojan war is and that is he going to involve himself, it will be for Bresies only. Bresies is who he loves not

During that entire time, Achilles’ justification for wallowing in self-pity is that he has been “dishonored”. This argument becomes null and void when Agamemnon offers lavish compensation for the affront. In addition to returning Briseis, Agamemnon offers Achilles seven unfired tripods, ten gold bars, twenty burnished cauldrons, a dozen horses, seven beautiful women from Lesbos, twenty Trojan women, his daughters’ hand in marriage along with a rich dowry, and the ownership of seven populous cities. Any reasonable person would have taken the offer but not prideful, bitter Achilles. Instead he continues on with the same old rhetoric and refuses to fight. As if standing idly by while his countrymen were being killed was not enough, Achilles has his mother call in a favor to Zeus asking him to help the Trojans so that even more Greeks would die during his absence. Not only did he abandon his comrades, he actually prayed for them to die because his pride had been hurt.

Thus, Agamemnon requests another prize. Achilles responds to Agamemnon's request, “Whatever we dragged from towns we plundered, all's been portioned out. . . . We Achaeans will pay you back, three, four times over, if Zeus will grant us the gift, somehow, someday, to raze Troy's massive ramparts to the ground” (146-153). Again, strong-willed Agamemnon refused to give up Chryseis without taking one of the other soldiers women, specifically Achilles' woman, Briseis, “if our generous Argives will give me a prize, a match for my desires, equal to what I've lost . . . But if they give me nothing I will take a prize myself-your own” (159-163). This fustrates Achilles and he threatens to withdraw from the battle and return

In ancient Rome and ancient Greece, myths were an oral tradition of storytelling that served to answer two primary purposes. The first role was to create stories that responded to unanswerable questions such as “Why is there thunder?” and the second function of myths, about gods, goddesses, monsters, and heroes, was to give structure to their society and culture in psychological manifestations. In addition, the gods and prophecies served as a reminder to the characters that they don’t ultimately have any control over their lives. This epic poem by Homer is not just a simple story of an argument between Achilles and Agamemnon or the well-known story of the war but also has a psychological theme incorporating anger, especially Achilles’ as

Achilles is also angry at having to fight another man's battle. The Trojan War is being fought because Paris stole Helen, Agamemnon's sister-in-law. In his argument with Agamemnon, Achilles points out "It wasn't Trojan spearmen who brought me here to fight. The Trojans never did me damage, not in the least" (107). Achilles' rage heightens in the argument and he declares "No, you colossal, shameless--we all followed you, to please you, to fight for you, to win your honor back from the Trojans---Menelaus and you, you dog-face!" (108). Achilles is also angry because even though he and many other soldiers are there risking their lives for Agamemnon and Menelaus, Agamemnon is sly enough to avoid personal injury. Achilles says to Agamemnon, "Never once did you arm with the troops and go to battle or risk an ambush packed with Achaea's picked men--you lack the courage, you can see death

Often when reading literature, the reader can’t help but think that no character could have such qualities as they are portrayed in the story. A classic example of this are the epic heroes that help facilitate the history of important cultures. The epic is a long piece of poetry describing a hero’s journey to a better self and complete a mission. These heroes are often extremely brave and smart, which can leave the audience doubting any historical accuracy and believability in the character. These characters face nightmares in real life and live to tell the tale. Epic heroes are, after all, the explanation of a culture’s ideal warrior or citizen. However, these heroes also suffer from a tragic flaw, usually hubris or extreme pride in one’s self. It is a legitimate question to wonder how a hero can be so incredibily successful with such a large flaw. This question leads many people to assume that luck has a lot to do with the success of the epic hero. Luck can be construed as the universe’s way of helping things along. Especially with the early polytheistic cultures, divine intervention was a large theme, and this can serve as the backbone of luck for the epic hero. Odysseus from the Odyssey is a prime example as Athena is a constant aid to him in his long journey home. Odysseus truly thrives from divine luck more than his own personal intelligence or bravery.

Although Achilles was quite outraged at this, he gave a respectful response, stating that he would drop out of the war because Agamemnon had dishonored him. Later, the Trojans killed Patroclus, Achilles’ dearest and most trusted friend. Achilles was overcome with grief, but realized how stubborn and selfish he was being by dropping out of the war. He decided that he had to join the war once again to honor Patroclus. He told his mother, “Enough. Let bygones be bygones. Done is done. Despite my anguish I will beat it down, the fury mounting inside me, down by force. But now I’ll go and meet that murderer head-on, that Hector who destroyed the dearest life I know.” It is clear that he knew that in those ancient times, a real hero avenged the death of a dear friend, and would sacrifice his own life to save the dead body and give it a proper burial.

The Iliad, Odyssey, and Epic of Gilgamesh all demonstrate the transformational process of their respective epic heroes in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. Epic heroes such as Achilles, Odysseus, and Gilgamesh all possessed superior qualities that separate them from other individuals. Although their incredible abilities may support the societal perception of strong leadership, their weaknesses cause these characters to hold virtues that may go against the cultural expectations of what a strong leader should be. Furthermore, they all shared similar experiences in terms of undergoing a difficult situation and changing their approach in an effort for redemption. This paper will be examining the virtues of these epic heroes and the relationship between their heroism experiences as well as how that connects to the cultural expectations of what strong leadership is all about.

The ease with which he could dispatch his enemy seemed to give Achilles pleasure, not the wealth and power which came with ruling his small kingdom. His war-brides would have undoubtedly given him the pleasurable attention he needed, but unfortunately even this luxury was denied him. The circumstances surrounding Chryseis and Briseis (two war-brides captured in an attack on a town allied with Troy) led to the unsteady relationship between Achilles and Agamemnon. When Agamemnon took Achilles' war-bride Briseis for himself, Achilles withdrew himself from battle. The result of Achilles' withdrawal was that Patroclus went into battle posing as Achilles in order to bolster the spirit of the Achaean army. This unfortunately led the death of Patroclus. This only helped to

1. Achilles does not agree to end his grudge with Agamemnon at the request of Patroclus as the great warrior views what Agamemnon has done – snatching his prize right from his grasp, the beautiful and clever princess Briseis – as an insult to his pride and honour. The fact that, according to the epic, Agamemnon did so in front of the rest of the Achaean army, only adds to Achilles’ humiliation.

Throughout the centuries epics, legends, myths and oral lore have reflected the ideal hero of the time in which the story was written. Few of these have survived until today to show us the societal beliefs of the ancient civilizations. In The Iliad, the main characters trusted divine intervention to lead them through life and hardships. The heroes used intelligence in order to deceive others and their pride and glory were of significant importance to them in order to distinguish the status of the soldiers.

We tend to think of Greek mythology as irrelevant in today’s society. On the contrary, Greek mythology has just been hiding in plain sight. It’s everywhere in our society, appearing in our films and businesses. Everywhere one can look, there is bound to be a Greek mythology influence present. In fact, Greek mythology can mainly be seen in politics. Many politicians allude to Greek mythology but many also make the same decisions as the characters from these myths.

A Godly Amount of Divine Interventions Throughout Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid, gods and goddesses, both Greek and Roman, have a direct influence on mortal events and fate, but most importantly with the main characters. The Aeneid and the Iliad are alike in the way the gods intervene in mortal affairs, but both epics present Zeus or Jupiter with different ideas of justice and fate of men; Zeus is more empathetic to the plight of man, while Jupiter is only concerned with ensuring the prophecy of man is fulfilled.

Agamemnon, lord of men, showed great leadership in book 2, page 112, “I and Achilles…ah if the two of us could ever think as one, troy could delay her day of death no longer, not one moment.” He strives glory and leadership by putting down Troy and he is optimistic that the Greeks can repress Troy with Achilles help. Agamemnon seems to take prestige more in himself than the Greek army. Not great desire for someone who is pivotal in the war. He also shows pride in the Epic through the numerous duties and quarrels. Pride is an problem in Homer’s Iliad as seen in endless feuds. Agamemnon being a leader said,, “ Father Zeus!..... then I myself will fight it out for the ransom, I’ll battle here to the end of our long war.” Pride slightly reflects vanquishing an enemy. God expects us not to destroy one another, but during battle, several argue that slaying people is their outcome. This way their name will be dwelled on for all eternity. In book one Chryseis and Briseis are kidnapped and are staged hostage by Agamemnon Achilles. Agamemnon refuses to give her up. He said it was equitable that Achilles gets his own prize while he sits there empty handed. When Agamemnon's pride gets handed away , he wants it restored. Women are prized way more than men. Having a woman like Chrysis be taken away from you, will cause rage because women are greatly valued.

When a Greek hero comes to mind, the average person thinks of a perfect being with divine capabilities. A hero is also depicted as a warrior who defies all odds and claims victorious in the end. When Greek literature is read, one may find that to be very untrue. Throughout Greek literature, fascinating stories are written depicting many heroes fighting glorious battles and traveling across the known world. Just like the Greek Gods and Goddesses, the heroes have many flaws that often position themselves for death. Despite their capabilities, fate claims the last laugh. Heros are meant to fight and die and nothing can stop this demise. In this paper, examples of how heroes kneel to fate and how the Gods honor fate in Homer’s story of the Iliad and the Odyssey will be compared and analysed.