"Sing, goddess, the anger of Achilleus, the son of Peleus, and his devastation, which inflicted a thousand sufferings on the Achaeans... and the will of Zeus has been fulfilled since the time when he first stood there in the division of conflict, the son of Atreus, the lord of men and the brilliant Achilleus. Say No to Plagiarism Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay So begins Homer's Iliad, a tale, on some levels, of the son's wrath. of Peleus, Achilleus. This anger, divine anger, of Achilleus is at the center of the epic, an element which advances the action From the first lines of the poem, we can already distinguish that the emphasis placed by Homer was. on human emotions, the consequences of Achilleus' anger, provoked by the conflict between himself and Atreus' son, Agamemnon It is only towards the very end of the Iliad that the anger finally dissolves. and that a necessary transformation takes place to bring about a comfortable (although not completely comfortable) closure to an otherwise difficult story. To take a closer look at this transformation, we will focus on the first and last books of the Iliad, Book One and Book Twenty-Four, in the hope that the similarities and, more importantly, the differences will tell a lot. on the transformation of the hero Achilleus. . First, the similarities are striking, even at the most basic level. In both books, a desperate supplication takes place to beg for the return of the supplicant's child. In the first book, Chryses, bearing gifts and friendly wishes ("may the gods grant you...the plunder of the city of Priam and a fair return thereafter" (1. 18-19)) to implore Agamemnon to return his daughter to him: “...may you return my own daughter to me and take the ransom, thus giving honor to the son of Zeus who strikes from afar, Apollo. (1. 20-21) In the last book, a grieving Priam, again bearing gifts, falls at the feet of Achilles, begging for the return of the body of his son Hector: "There remained one who guarded my city and my people, the one you killed a few days ago while he was fighting in defense of his country, Hektor; for whose love I now come on the ships of the Achaeans to take it back from you, and I bring you countless gifts. (24. 499-502) Another similarity is the recurring motif of the holiday, usually to celebrate reconciliation. In the first book, after returning Chryseis to her father, the Achaeans make a sacrifice to Apollo and Apollo stops the plague he had inflicted on them. Then the men feast on the meat of the sacrifice. In book twenty-four, Achilleus invites Priam to a feast after they reach an agreement, after Achilleus agrees to return Hektor's body to Troy. The role of the gods in the two books is also comparable. Divine intervention is necessary in both books to restrain the effects of Achilles' great wrath. In the first book, Athenaeus came down to dissuade Achilleus from killing Agamemnon: “I have come down to restrain your anger – but you will obey me” (1. 207). In book twenty-four, Achilleus mistreats Hektor's body and drags him away. the tomb of Patroclus, and only the intervention of Apollo prevents the corpse from being damaged: "... kept the body from all ugliness and hid it all under the golden aegis, so that it would not be torn when Achilles would drag him "(24. 19-21) In the first book, the goddess Thetis begs Zeus to help her unfortunate son, while in book twenty-four, Zeus asks Thetis to speak to her son." see that Achilleus receives gifts from Priam and returns them to him.” Hektor's body. (24. 75-76) OneA dispute or grudge between the gods is common in both books. In the first book, Hera is furious with Zeus for deciding to help the Trojans punish Agamemnon. Book twenty-four tells the cause of the Trojan War, the story of how Paris offered the golden apple to Aphrodite, instead of Hera or Athena, infuriating the latter two goddesses. Helen was then taken from Menelaus as a prize for Paris. The last similarity mentioned raises a question regarding the glory/pettiness of war. Throughout the book, noble characters are those who are valiant in battle, while cowards (like Paris) receive no respect. Although Homer seems to glorify war, books one and twenty-four hint at the pettiness of it all. In book one, Achilles' anger results in unspeakable suffering for the Achaeans, and in book twenty-four, Homer mentions the seemingly minor conflict (the kidnapping of Helen) that incites the Trojan War, which causes bloodshed and the eventual fall of Troy. In the first book, we learn the origin of Achilles' anger. Agamemnon, wondering whether he should return Chryseis to his father, asks for compensation for his loss: “What do you want? Keep your own prize and make me sit here without one? (1. 133-134) Agamemnon takes Briseis, Achilleus' prize, thus depriving Achilleus of his honor and sparking their bitter conflict. Both camps stubbornly defend their pride. Achilleus withdraws from the battle on his ships and promises to suffer the Achaians: "...one day the desire of Achilleus will come to the sons of the Achaians, all of them. Then, however struck to the heart you may be, you will be able to do nothing , when they fall in numbers before Hektor, the slaughterer, and die And then you will eat your heart with pain, because you have not honored the best of the Achaeans (1. 240-244) The decision of Achilles. essentially detaches him from humanity, as his unwavering pride and rage make him able to stand by, doing nothing, while his friends die in agony. The Trojans nearly defeat the Achaeans in book eight, and. Agamemnon tries to persuade Achilleus to return to battle, offering riches in exchange for Achilleus' loyalty, but he is still too proud to apologize. Achilles, despite all the pleas of his friends, refuses to return, remembering. the injustice he suffered: "... my heart still swells with anger, when I remember the shame he inflicted on me before the Argives, the son of Atreus, as if I were a disgraced wanderer. (9. 645-648), insulted even more by the fact that Agamemnon sent delegates to plead, instead of presenting himself: "... he would no longer dare, as bold as a dog, dare look me in the face. I will not join him in any advice or in any action” (9. 372-374) It is only after the death of Patroklos that Achilleus returns to battle, his rage multiplied by the. Achilleus' attack on the Trojans is inhumane and needlessly brutal, just as his treatment of Hektor's corpse after Hektor's defeat finally transcends his anger in book twenty-four. He kneels before Achilleus and begs him to think of his own father Peleus and how happy he will be when he learns that his son is alive. But Achilleus remembers that he is destined never to return to Phthia, and surrenders. realizes that Peleus will suffer the same anguish that Priam suffers for the loss of a son, and is moved to tears: "There was no generation of strong sons born to him. in his great house he had but one premature child, and I give him no care as he grows old, for far from the land of my fathers I sit here in Troy and bring only sorrow to you and.