The effects of disparities between a hero and a superior power in a tale are evident in Homer’s “The Iliad” with a particular interest in Achilles and Agamemnon. In the poem, while Achilles is a powerful warrior, Agamemnon is his king and has power over the army and all the Achaeans. For that reason, the most important conflict is between Achilles and Agamemnon because; when the warrior refuses to fight, the Trojans begin to win and in a desperate move, Patroclus joins the battle disguised as Achilles but he dies, and Achilles rejoins the ranks to avenge his friend.
Accordingly, Homer’s work commences with the words “Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage” and sufficiently proves the relevance of the warrior’s participation in the Trojan War (1.1). The root of the feud emerged after Agamemnon’s demand to have the maiden Briseis, who was Achilles’ war prize, as compensation for having to return Chryseis to her father and the god Apollo’s priest Chryses. Expectedly, the king’s actions spiked Achilles’ anger and in turn, warranted his withdrawal from the ongoing battle with the words “He cheated me, Wronged me, Never again” (9.386).
Finally, it is necessary to note that the conflict also leads to the participation of the immortals in the war. For instance, the goddess Athena warns Achilles against fighting Agamemnon for Briseis and later Zeus helps the Trojans in their defense against the invading Achaeans. For that reason, the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon was the most notable feud in the poem because Patroclus' death made the warrior take a personal interest in the Trojan War and involve the immortal beings of Greece.
Work Cited
Homer. "The Iliad." The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Ed. Sarah Lawall, Lee Patterson, Patricia Meyer Spacks, William G. Thalmann, and Heather James. 8th. Vol. I. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. 107-205. Print.
Scott, John A. "Paris and Hector in Tradition and in Homer." Classical Philology 8.2 (1913): 160-171. JSTOR. Web. 23 January 2016. <http://www.jstor.org>.
