Fate Of Achilles In The Iliad

About Achilles:

In Homer’s ‘The Iliad’ Achilles was a hero and warrior who fought for Agamemnon’s army in the trojan war. He was the son of another greek hero, Peleus and the nereid, Thetis. In Homer’s Ancient Greek society they believed that no one could escape their fate, the only exception of this is that Achilles is given a choice of two fates , to live a long but dull life or a life filled with kleos (glory) and timé (honour), but a brief life. Achille’s parents were aware of this, therefore when the Trojan war started Thetis was worried that Achilles would go fight for the Greeks, resulting in his death. This is because being the best warrior and living up to his areté (personal excellence), tied in with the fate that included his sudden death. To
This insults Achilles timé as Agamemnon has taken his prize that was gifted to him. In Homer’s society other people’s good opinions and gifts gave that hero timé (honour), by taking Achilles prize (Briseis), Achilles sees this as his timé being taken away, hurting his pride. “I take it hard when someone in power uses his authority to rob his equal and strip him of his honour.” This shows how hurt Achilles is, as in Homer’s society, timé was a very important Homeric value and it angers him that Agamemnon has used his authority and power over him to take his timé (honour). Achilles swears to never fight or take orders from Agamemnon again. After doing this he is so outraged by Agamemnon's leadership, that he asks his mother to go to Zeus and make the Greeks start losing. By acting this way Achilles shows qualities such as selfishness and betrayal that are not typical in a ‘hero’. However in Homers society acting or doing bad things doesn’t make you any less of a hero. Achilles actions are supposed to reflect Agamemnon’s poor leadership which ties in with his areté(personal