Agamemnon Vs. Achilles

The two Greek heroes Agamemnon and Achilles are both defined by their social recognition and how they perform in a battle against their greatest enemies. They have nothing to do with social justice but are both defined by their excellence. These Greek fighters are involved in an ongoing conflict that affects their battle against the Trojans throughout the Iliad. This source of conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles, much like the war between the Greeks and the Trojans, revolves around a woman. Areté, the Greek term for excellence, is very important in describing these two characters. They are both stripped away from their honour which typically to them is one of the worst things that could happen to them. When Agamemnon is asked to give up his war prize, Chrysies, he was against it but had to do it anyway which ultimately made him feel disrespected and stripped of his honour. Because he was publically shamed like that in
He is the leader and above everyone else, and because of that he expresses his actions through arrogance. When he has to give up Chrysies for the sake of his people he feels humiliated and dishonoured. This begins the conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles. To get his honour back, he decides to steal the war prize of Achilles. The reason behind that decision is because out of all the other Greek soldiers, Achilles is the only one that stood up to him and told him to just give up his woman. Not only that but he picked on him because Achilles is one of the greatest soldiers and Agamemnon wanted him to know that he is above him. When Agamemnon got asked by one of his men to just give up Chrysies he felt even more dishonoured because it was him that was going to lose the woman and not another soldier. Agamemnon believed that he had the right to claim Brisies simply because he was the Achaean leader and he wanted to feel