FREE ESSAY ON ILIAD

ILIAD

Achilles' Anger and Unreconciliation: Reassessing the Concepts of Mortality and Honor
The subject of Homer's epic poem, the Iliad, is very clearly stated--it is "the rage of
Peleus' son Achilles." The reader remains continually aware of the extent of Achilles'
rage, yet is never told the reason why Achilles remains angry and unreconciled. There is
no definitive answer to this question. Achilles is not a static character. He is
constantly changing; thus the question of why he remains angry solicits different answers
at various stages throughout the poem. To find an answer, the reader must carefully
examine Achilles' ever-changing dilemma involving the concepts of mortality and honor. At
its simplest, Achilles' dilemma is that if he goes to war, he will die. But he will die
with glory. 
Achilles' true nature is that of a warrior. The son of Peleus must fight. When he
denounces Agamemnon and the Achaeans, he does not go home. His ship is last in line, near
Troy. Subconsciously, he has already made the choice of accepting a short life filled
with glory. Subconsciously, he wants to go back to war. He needs to. 
However, he also needs to insure his possession of glory and honor. But what kind of
glory, what kind of honor? He already possesses the honor of the gods. He says, "my honor
lies in the great decree of Zeus…" (IX.741.p.272). By book IX, material wealth is
no longer what Achilles wants. He spurns Agamemnon's offers. The typical mortal concepts
of heroism no longer concern him; his ideals differ from those of his peers. Phoenix's
Meleager is no example to him. However, at this point Achilles still does not know what
he wants. Pride and stubbornness still supplement his rage, but now his anger appears to
be a manifestation of his fear and confusion—"Stop confusing my fixed resolve with
this…" (IX.745-746.p.272). Achilles knows that he wants honor and glory, but in
what form?
What Achilles does know, and what he must deal with, is the fact that his life will be
short if he chooses to have honor and glory. Thus, the choices he makes concerning his
honor are crucial. At this point his life is riding on the decision he makes. It is
inevitable that Achilles will choose door #2--to go to war, live a short life, and have
much glory. For it would go against every fiber of his being, his true nature, were he to
choose to live a long life devoid of glory and honor.
Achilles is waiting to go to war, but he must have the right reasons and inspiration. At
the end of book IX, after the embassy has conveyed Agamemnon's offers, Achilles still
remains angry and unreconciled. Agamemnon's offers of wealth and material possessions are
not the incentives to inspire Achilles to fight. First of all, these prizes offered are
already rightfully his; secondly, taking these gifts would be accepting that Agamemnon is
greater than he; and finally, Achilles is struggling over his mortality--material gifts,
although honorable and highly glorifying in the Homeric world, are not important to
Achilles anymore, for he is attempting to determine whether to live or die.
The spoils of war offered to Achilles by Agamemnon rightfully belong to him. They have
always belonged to him. It is Achilles' toil and exhaustion, his relentless dedication as
a warrior, that has gone into fighting for this cause, not his own, to earn these prizes
that are now offered to him, these prizes that he never before was allowed to keep,
"Twelve cities of men I've stormed and sacked form shipboard, eleven I claim by land, on
the fertile earth of troy. And from all I dragged off piles of splendid plunder, hauled
it away and always gave the lot to Agamemnon…" (IX.398-401.p.262). 
These spoils of war serve to rekindle the fire of Achilles' rage, for they are a reminder
of his humiliation, of the honor Agamemnon so publicly stripped from him, when he took
away Briseis. These offerings constitute such a blatant insult, that they can solicit
only one possible reaction from Achilles, that of anger. These reminders of a fight for a
cause not his own cannot possibly inspire Achilles to rejoin the war. Furthermore, what
appeal could the possibility of accepting these spoils of war have for Achilles, when
accepting them means running the risk of having Agamemnon take them away again. In
Achilles' mind, these spoils of war cannot possibly be permanent. The pain and
humiliation of having Briseis taken away cannot be forgotten so easily. Surely, these
fleeting rewards, these selfish bribes, cannot constitute glory and honor.
Achilles' anger grows at the thought of accepting Agamemnon's offerings, for if he were
to accept these gifts, he would be submitting to Agamemnon, accepting that Agamemnon is
greater than he is. Agamemnon wants Achilles to submit to him, but for Achilles, there is
no honor in resignation to a lesser man: "'What a worthless, burnt-out coward I'd be
called if I would submit to you and all your orders…'"(I.343-344.p.87). And
Agamemnon is indeed the lesser man, by Homeric criteria. His divine lineage is not even
comparable to that of Achilles. Honor and glory are contingent upon respect. Achilles has
no respect for Agamemnon, and cannot earn respect himself, by complying with the wishes
of a lesser man. Achilles refuses to be patronized. Agamemnon literally attempts to do
this, for he offers his daughter's hand in marriage, which Achilles so defiantly refuses.
Glory is rewarded to the greatest man. Achilles cannot allow Agamemnon to be heralded as
the greatest; he cannot allow his glory to be taken away and given to another man. 
Finally, Achilles' feelings of anger culminate in feelings of unreconciliation, as he
struggles over his mortality, for although material gifts are honorable and highly
glorifying in the Homeric world, they are not important to Achilles anymore. He says, "I
say no wealth is worth my life…" (IX.488.p.265). At this point, Achilles' ideas of
heroism, honor, and glory differ completely from those of his peers. Material wealth
cannot possibly constitute true honor and glory, especially in a life so short. Achilles
is aware of the fact, that if he were to accept these offerings as his glory and
incentive for rejoining the war, then his glory would be as short lived as his life, for
he knows he will not live long enough to enjoy these spoils of war. Achilles is
attempting to determine what does constitute true honor and glory. At this point, he does
not know. He is waiting, suspended in a state of immobile anticipation. Before he makes
his final decision about whether or not to rejoin the war, he must discover what form of
glory and honor is truly worth dying for. Achilles has already amassed material wealth,
and he knows that this obviously does not constitute glory, for at this point, he feels
devoid of honor. Achilles' rejection of these material gifts offered by Agamemnon is much
more than stubbornness or pride. At such a young age, he must decide whether to live or
die. In order to make this decision Achilles must completely reassess his values, all the
ideals he has ever known. He must reject the heroic values and standards of the very
society that created a hero out of him. He must reject that which he has always known,
ultimately resulting in the rejection of humanity. 
Achilles remains angry and unreconciled at the end of book IX because he is not offered
the right incentives and inspiration to rejoin the war. However, this remains only the
primary level of his greater dilemma. He must redefine glory and honor. He is unsatisfied
with the current mortal conceptions of honor and glory put forth by society. He is also
forced to grapple with his mortality. He must discover what in this life is truly worth
fighting and dying for.