A Warrior's Fate Essay

Chase Nenner
12 December 2017
Classical Mythology
A Warrior’s Destiny: The Concept of Fate in Greek and Roman Epic Poetry

The ancient Greek myths that we think of today when we think of Greek mythology are a fundamental part of modern literature as we know it, as it is the foundation of many of the things we know of that are involved in the art of telling a story. Roman poetry is also considered as fundamental, due to its inspiration by and similarity to Greek literature. That is why both Homer’s Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid are so well-renowned as must-read classics: they both bring many new aspects of literature to the table, even considering that the Aeneid is an attempt to imitate Homer’s work and writing style. Something significant that
In both poems the main characters are driven through their actions towards a known fate that is changeable but still unavoidable: Achilleus has a choice - live a long life of peace but little honor or live a short, valiant life of war and a legacy of greatness, and Aeneas is destined to found Rome with the caveat that his actions leading up to this event are not predetermined and therefore anything can happen to him on his journey. Although in theory Aeneas’s fate would allow him more freedom in bringing it to fruition, he tends to be more controlled and mindful of his mission in his actions, acting as an instrument of sorts for his fate and occasionally foregoing normal considerations in order to carry it out as well as he can. Achilleus on the other hand, shows far less devotion to his
In the story, we see this almost immediately. When the Iliad begins, the reader is thrust into the tenth year of the ongoing Trojan War. We are introduced to a priest, Chryses, and shown his plea to the Achaian king Agamemnon to return his daughter, who the king is keeping against her will as a female companion. Many words are exchanged but the king refuses and threatens Chryses with death if he returns. At this point, the priest prays to his god Apollo to unleash a barrage of arrows upon the Achaians until Agamemnon reconsiders, and the king agrees to do so under one condition - that he can have Achilleus’s wife Briseis as his own. In anger, Achilleus abandons the fight and retires to his ships, where he discusses the matter with his mother, Thetis, and begs her to ask Zeus to help the Trojans and make Agamemnon realize how much he relies on him. She reluctantly agrees but tells him that after this he is destined for a short life, but he still continues his desire. Achilleus wants nothing more than to mend his damaged pride and prove that Agamemnon needs him, even at the expense of a long life. In the end, after murdering and brutalizing the Trojan warrior Hektor, he makes temporary amends with the