Justice Is Not Rigid And Unchanging Like So Many People

In the Greek society, Achilles has the role of the aggressive soldier. From the very first lines of the epic, we are introduced to Achilles’ murderous rage:

Achilles’ pride is the usual trigger and fuel for his rage. In Book 1 of the Iliad, during the strategy meeting on how to deal with Apollo’s curse on the Greek camp, Achilles’ honor is threatened by Agamemnon. This insult to the prideful warrior almost leads to Achilles physically lashing out against his commander. It takes a god coming down from Mt. Olympus to quell his fury and to put his mind right. Not long after, Agamemnon follows through with his boast to take Achilles’ prize and delivers on the dishonor he had threaten Achilles with. This assault on Achilles’ pride causes him to withdraw from the war effort, to spite Agamemnon and his arrogance. His rage against Agamemnon is fueled by his wounded pride, keeping Achilles out of combat until after Book 18, where a new event ignites a terrifying fury within Achilles’ heart.

The first line of the Iliad describes a human emotion that leads to doom and destruction in Homer's poetic tale of the Trojan War. Achilles' rage is a major catalyst in the action in the Iliad. It is his rage that makes him both withdraw from and, later, rejoin the war with a fury. Why is Achilles enraged? Is his rage ignited solely by his human adversaries or do the gods destine him to the experience? Achilles' rage has many facets. His rage is a personal choice and, at times, is created by the gods.

He expresses no fear during battles. Throughout the Iliad, Achilles ignores the norms of the society primarily because he sees himself as a greater figure than one who has to follow a set of rules. Throughout the poem, Achilles shows how much of a savage he is through his gruesome actions. While fighting Hector, after brutally beating him up, Hector begs Achilles to return his body for a proper burial, a respected act after a battle. “Do not allow the dogs to mutilate my body By the Greek ships”, requested Hector (Homer,433). Achilles responds feeling no remorse, “I wish my stomach would let me cut off your flesh in strips and eat it raw for what you 've done to me. In this passage of the Iliad, Homer illustrates how gruesome Achilles really was. Achilles lets his anger drive his actions, seeking redemption, and he offers no respect to any of his enemies.

“Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses.” (The Iliad, Page 77) Apollo had sent a plague upon the Greek camp causing may greeks to die, trying to help Chryses get his daughter back. Calchas offered to help fight the plague. Though he fears Agamemnon’s vengeance, Calchas reveals the plague as a vengeful and strategic move by Chryses and Apollo. Agamemnon flies into a rage and says that he will return Chryseis only if Achilles gives him Briseis.

Aristotle’s definition of anger acts as a profitable insight into the Greek’s perspective on its sources and symptoms. In his definition he clearly states that true anger must be felt towards a certain being, and accompanying such anger is a desire for revenge. Furthermore, he expands his definition with respect to Achilles’ menis, affirming that Achilles’ anger stems from Agamemnon’s insolence, ergo Achilles resumes a personal vendetta against him.

“Remind him of that, now, go and sit beside hime, grasp his knees... see how mad he was to disgrace Achilles, the best of the Achaean” (1, 484-490). This pacifies Achilles’ rage briefly while he goes back to the ships and refuses to help the struggling Achaeans on the battlefield because Agamemnon hurt his pride. Another instance that highlights Achilles flaw of anger is when the great Trojan warrior, Hector, kills Achilles close comrade Patroclus. Achilles bursts from his sulking attitude out of the Achaean ships in a rage of passionate fury that even his pride cannot overcome. “My dear comrade’s dead... Hector’s battered down by my spear and gasps away his life, the blood-price for Patroclus, Menotius’ gallant son he’s killed and stripped” (18, 94-109). This signifies Achilles’ zenith of anger and represents the turning point in the epic, along with the transition into his dramatic reversal as a character.

This paper argues that Socrates makes a plausible case for justice. Socrates raised two main questions in the first two books of Plato’s Republic, what is justice? And why should we act justly? Thrasymachus and Glaucon both have different and more negative views of justice than Socrates. Throughout books one and two, Socrates, Glaucon and Thrasymachus go back and forth discussing the definition and application of justice in society. He starts his discussions with Glaucon and Thrasymachus by stating simply, “What is justice?”

It is clear that the justice system we are familiar with in current day differs greatly to the justice system used during The Odyssey. Justice is a concept based on morals, laws, ethics, rationality and fairness. Although not our version of justice the philosophy of an ‘eye for an eye’ coincides with that era’s style of justice. By the actions of the god Zeus and the hero Odysseus we learn that during this time the great gods and powerful rulers decided what was right and wrong then what punishment is suited for the infringement. The theme of justice throughout the epic poem, The Odyssey, written by Homer depicts vengeance and revenge as ultimately being just.

In book one of the Iliad, Homer debunks Achilles rage as both dishonorable and duplicitous. Achilles may demonstrate great courage and strength, but he is severely deficient in the other qualities of an epic hero: temperance, magnanimity, and a sense of loyalty. His rage masked all these essential attributes. Though he is known as the most skilled and strong warrior, that doesn’t make up for the fact that Achilles acts upon his emotions, not his mind. Think of Achilles as a pot of water on a stove; calm and still until interrupted. Agamemnon is the heater and what causes Achilles to boil. In attempt to restore his honor, Achilles “raged on... day after day he ground his heart out, waiting there, yearning…” (1.581, 585-586). Agamemnon refuses

“If you want peace, work for justice.” – Pope Paul VI. The Oresteia trilogy, which contains the plays Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Furies, uses justice as its dominant theme. Aeschylus wrote these plays sometime after the end of the Persian wars, around 449 BC, when the star of Athens was on its superiority. It was the commencement of a new era, marked by the establishment of a new social and political order built on democracy and the rule of law. The rule of law designed the institutionalization of justice. Justice was not a personal responsibility to be handed out according to the rule of family dispute of blood for blood anymore. It was now a state responsibility representing the community as a whole that the law was set down. It was an advancement in the direction of realizing a more peaceful and orderly existence. Though, this institutionalization of justice was also an advancement in the

Alexandre Dumas once said, “Vengeance is the pleasure of the Gods.” Greek mythology has been told for thousands and thousands of years. They impart lessons, join people together, and relates to anyone that reads it. These myths give a glance of how they used to think and what they thought was important. It has also influenced the stories we see today. The different elements of action and drama in these tales is why they are cherished throughout generations. In Greek Mythology, examples of vengeance can be seen in “The Golden Fleece”, “Perseus”, and “The Wanderings of Odysseus” to explain how anyone can act upon vengeance, even our heroes.

The concept of justice is manifested through the three plays of Aeschylus' Oresteia. The old tradition of justice, the private blood feud, caused an ungoverned succession of violent acts that spiralled uncontrollably. Aegisthus, Clytemnestra's lover, is introduced in Agamemnon; he desires vengeance for the plot contrived by Agamemnon's father (Ag: 1605-1611).1 Neither Agamemnon nor Aegisthus took part in this "plot" and yet as the chorus explains (Ag: 755-6)

In the opening line of the poem, The Iliad, we meet the mighty warrior Achilles. He is not introduced to us by his headship title as Prince of Phthia nor son of the sea goddess, Thetis, but rather by his temperament, rage. We first bear witness to this assessment of his wrath in the first stanza as it depicts the characteristics of a murderer who relentlessly inflicts pain and leaves lifeless corpses to decay.

But on the other hand, Homer wants to show that the abscence of anger can lead to good actions and help to make right decisions. It is well presented when after the reconciliation Achilles becomes more then just a warrior hero. His wrath consists of two waves. First, is his withdrawal from the battle because of the conflict with Agamemnon ends when he finally accepts his offer and reaches agreement about Briseis. Second Achilles' wave of anger is about the death of Patroklos, which ends when he returns the body of a dead Hector to Priam. In both examples the wrath of Achilles alianated him from others. In the firt case he was alienated from his warriors. And from everybody in the second case. In each case, his reconciliation helps him to get back to the society. If