The Decision of Achilles

Peleion Achilles, the strongest and bravest of all the Achaian warriors. He is very famous for his invulnerability in battle and feared for his innumerable kills. No man can slay him while he is in the heat of battle. He is like a raging bull unleashed in front of a crowd of people. But even though he is a brave and noble warrior, he is stubborn and sometimes merciless. When he is angered by a friend or an ally, he doesn’t express all his anger towards that person but instead keeps it in his heart and grieves over it for days, even months. This was evident during his quarrel between King Agamemnon. When King Agamemnon took Briseis from him, he did not put up a fight but instead grieved over his sorrows. Unfortunately, because of this quarrel, he refused to help the Achaians fight the Trojans who were already defeating them in the war.

 Achilles is a stubborn person because as long as he doesn’t want to do it, no man or bribes could ever convince him to do it. This was evident in book 9 when Odysseus and the other princes went to the camp of Achilles to convince him to forgive King Agamemnon and to join the battle once again. Even though Odysseus and the others were his close friends, Achilles did not yield to their request. Even to Phoinix, his second father, he did not yield. He said that he was deceived by King Agamemnon too many times and he can’t forgive him. He is merciless not only to his enemies but also to his friends and people. When Phonix told him that if he would not fight, all his close friends and the Achaian army would be slayed by the enemy especially by Prince Hector. But even to this, Achilles did not yield and instead planned to sail back home and take Phoinix and all the Myrmidons back with him.

 One thing I could say about the decision of Achilles to not help the Achaians is that it is not proper for a King like him. A King should be merciful even to his own friends and people. When his friends and people are endangered, he must try to help them even if he is angry with them for this is what a King should do. A king should not be so stubborn for even the gods of olympos who are sometimes very stubborn can be moved by offerings and sacrifices. Achilles based his decisions on his feelings and not for the good of all which is a wrong thing to do for a king. Even though I say his decisions are not appropriate, I could not blame him. Maybe he was angered and deceived by King Agamemnon so much that he could not find it in his heart to help him or to accept his offerings of forgiveness. Even though he is a king, he is still a human being that cannot help to put his feelings first rather than anything.