Anger in The Iliad and Genies Essay

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

The first book of the Iliad begins with the beginning of Achilles’ rage, the rage that will eventually cause his own people so much grief and is also the force for Homer’s version of the story of the Trojan War. Whereas the taking of Helen is the focus of the larger, traditional story, the feud between Agamemnon and the hero Achilles over a kidnapped girl defines the Iliad. Both feature a conflict over a woman, Helen and Chryses’ daughter, and a need for resolution as well as a breach of social contract: Paris steals the wife of Agamemnon, ruining the bonds of the guest relationship, while Agamemnon denies Chryse his right to ransom and invokes the wrath of the gods in the form of a plague. In both cases, however, it becomes clear that the conflict will not be resolved quickly, but will continue through the very heart of the story. By “singing of Achilles’ rage” from the first line, the narrator is clearly showing the audience that this Trojan war is not the war of Hector or Paris or Helen, but of the proud Achilles and his hero-sized enemy.

In Genesis the word of God leads humanity in the direction of self preservation, urging them to procreate, to ”Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 9:1), and to minimize hostility and violence among people. As Freud asserted, “Besides the instinct to preserve living substance and join it into ever larger units, there must exist another, contrary instinct seeking to dissolve those units and bring them back to their primeval, inorganic state” (Freud 77). Genesis exemplifies the struggle between the two opposing human instincts, with God acting as a moderator between them. Forms of justice are put into place in an attempt to control these drives, one example being the proclamation that “Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed” (Genesis 9:6). The ethics and laws that develop throughout Genesis seek to “prevent the crudest excesses of brutal violence” but are unable to control “the more cautious and refined manifestations of human aggressiveness” (Freud 70). Since they cannot be completely eradicated, the scriptures instead play into the more negative aspects of human nature, especially narcissism, and manipulate them into a force for conservation rather than annihilation.

Homer’s epic, The Iliad, highlights the influence and jurisdiction that beauty provides. The prizes and glory a man accumulates from war measure his power, while beauty measures a woman’s power. Since conquering a woman is the ultimate prize to a man, her beauty represents ultimate power. Though the beauty of mortal women has the power to turn men against each other, mortal women have no influence over this power and are instead objectified by men. Immortal women, however, have authority over their beauty and are able to control men with their power. Helen, on the other hand, though mortal, has the beauty of a goddess. Yet, Helen is bound by her fate to Paris, making her power obsolete. By presenting Helen’s hopeless power and supplying the reader with insight on her suffering through her thoughts, Helen is portrayed as a tragic hero.

The Iliad begins with the clash between Achilles and Agamemnon. Agamemnon has little, if any, respect for the gods. This is displayed by his irreverent

Suffering seems to be one of the under toning themes of the Iliad. Everyone undergoes the effects of war and battle. The women stand and watch helplessly as their loved ones fight, and live knowing they may never come back. The role of what a ‘man’ or ‘women’ is or should be also causes suffering because of the decisions they must take on. The warriors understand that whichever decision they make to continue in battle or desert, their honor and integrity is at stake and that dilemma causes suffering Although, each person I mention seems to somewhat understand what fate lies ahead of them or of their loved ones, they realize the suffering they will have to eventually go through.

Portions of modern society believe fate to be concrete and unchanging. However, in ancient times, it was believed to be influenced and guided by the actions of the gods. Similarly, in The Iliad by Homer, the actions of the gods influence the life, death, and fate of each and every individual. Gods such as Zeus, Athena and Apollo take great influence in human affairs in The Iliad. These actions cause life, death, sorrow, and triumph to befall various individuals of the story. Achilles’ fate results, solely, from these actions the gods undertake. In particular, the gods influence on Achilles’ fate shows when the gods keep Achilles from killing Agamemnon, staying out of the war, and holding onto his rage.

The Iliad: Book I, is about the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon in the beginning of the Trojan War. It shows how vigorous Achilles’ rage was and that he is no one to mess with. The book states “Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed”. This shows his fury in just a few words. Achilles was a Greek hero who was the son of a Goddess named Thetis. He was an incredible solder; brave, violent and godlike. However, Agamemnon was the commander of the Achaean Army. He was greedy, aggressive and selfish. He was described as “the most grasping man alive”. He absolutely hated Achilles. I feel that he was jealous of how respected Achilles was among the ranks in the army because of his superior skills in the field of battle. Agamemnon claimed Chryseis as his prize, after sacking a Trojan town. Chryseis was a daughter of a Priest of Apollo, Chryses. He offered an enormous ransom to get his daughter back. At first Agamemnon didn’t want it but the people round him persuaded him that it would be best to let her go so they could be released from the plague that Apollo put on them. Agamemnon then poised to Achilles that he is going to steal Achilles prize, Briseis. This is when Achilles’ rage shows at its best. He nearly draws his sword to kill Agamemnon but he is stopped by the goddess, Athena.

Because gods and goddesses have a great deal of power, we tend to think of them as having the ability to destroy all of humanity. We do not, as modern readers, imagine Jove, the king of all gods, or Juno, the goddess of love and marriage, to have human emotions because they are supposed to resemble perfection. In Homer’s Iliad, emotions from divine characters, such as Achilles, moves the story from what ancient readers thought of as an epic to what modern readers perceive as a romantic-tragedy. In other words, a character’s emotion has enough weight to alter a story’s plot.

The Iliad opens in the predicament of the Greeks who have somehow incurred the wrath of the gods. It is here that Agamemnon, supreme commander of the Grecian army, demand that Achilles give up his “prize” (Briseis) to replace his own “prize” (Chrysies) which he has to give up to appease the gods. Agamemnon has to

The first book of the Hebrew bible, Genesis, tells the story of how an all powerful God created the Earth and all who inhabit it. The story is quite familiar even to those who do not belong to regions that utilize the hebrew bible. However, the story quickly becomes unfamiliar once the story is analyzed from a philosophical standpoint. A great example is Eve, people know her as the one who “disobeyed” God and is the first to sin. But, why is Eve often interpreted as the evil one? Why is she criticized for being the

The destiny in Gilgamesh and The Iliad stories are believed to be a power that controls what happens in the future. The story of Gilgamesh and the Iliad destinies are moderately the same in significance of the conflicts and the ways of life both of the stories focused on a significant deaths. The Iliad and Gilgamesh is a remarkable reminder of the way life is in the present, but also how it is a little different. Both stories are similar in goals and destinies and how it affect the main characters. Most people believes that destiny or fate is pre-set and it is changed only by decisions we make that may be selfish and vindicated. Hopefully by the end of the essay the readers will get a better understand of stories similarities and differences.

Homer’s epic The Iliad, is a great tale of war and glory. It takes place during the last year of the ten year Greek-Trojan war. The Greeks have been fighting with the Trojans for quite some time, and just when peace seemed like a possibility, the youngest prince of Troy, Paris, acts out selfishly and steals the beautiful wife of Menelaus, Helen. This instigates the fighting again. Throughout The Iliad, Homer tells of two heroes, both similar, but also very different in their character; the great and powerful Greek, Achilles, and the strong, loving father, Prince Hector of Troy. In Homer’s The Iliad, Hector and Achilles differ as heroes in regards to pride, duty, and family love, the latter being self-centered and prideful, while the

The Homeric simile is a trademark of the epic poem. It describes an extended simile, which continues for lines on end, and the extended simile’s vehicle often describes multiple characteristics of its tenor (Cite Sharon Hamilton!). Homer uses the Homeric simile throughout The Iliad to describe the Trojan or Achaean people and/or army as a group. Yet, the Homeric simile also applies to an individual many times throughout the text, specifically, The Iliad’s protagonist: Achilles. Achilles is a complex and dynamic character. Despite his almost superhuman strength defining his identity, he rejects the heroic code, and his fated downfall in The Iliad’s Book 24 ultimately defines him. The Homeric simile symbolizes Achilles’ strength in battle,

The Iliad opens with the Achaeans approaching the Trojan shore. Speaking to Agamemnon from across the water is a priest of Apollo. He is asking the “lord of men” to return his daughter Chryseis. When Agamemnon refuses, the priest prays to Apollo and asks him to exchange his tears for arrows. Agamemnon’s disrespect for the priest results in massacre for the Achaean’s at the hands of Apollo. He takes his bow and rains plague down on their troops, killing them in droves, “Over against the ships he dropped to a knee, let fly a shaft and a terrifying clash rang out from the great silver bow […] launching a piercing shaft at the men themselves” (Book 1. ll,55-58). This clearly shows a great example of