Anger In The Iliad

According to The Iliad, the experiential truth of anger is what Achilles struggles with due to the fact that he feels he is being dishonored. The study of Ancient Anger states “The failure of the embassy demonstrates that Achilles is so locked into his blind self-absorption and anger that even the most powerful considerations of rational self-interest, of social prestige, and of the professed love of his friends are not capable of swaying him.” (Susanna Braund and Glenn W. Most., p.66). He struggles with two losses, which are dealing with being dishonored when Agamemnon takes away his prize Briseis, and then his friend Patroklos is killed in battle by Hector. The anger he has from losing Briseis causes him to feel cheated and allows for his personal feelings to get in the way so he withdrawals from battle. He does not realize that he has allowed his personal feelings to get in the way and how this may cause great consequences for the Greek army. After Achilles withdrawals from the battle, he sends his friend Patroklos into battle to deal with the conflict. Patroklos ends up getting killed by Hector and this sends Achilles back into battle but only for him to fight for his own reasons for revenge, which is to kill Hector for killing his friend Patroklos.