Achilles comes into the Iliad a glorious and prideful hero, demanding due respect and prizes for the acts of glory and talent he displays on the battlefield at Troy. This can be seen in Book One when he quarrels with Agamemnon. During a siege on a Trojan ally, the Achaeans capture two beautiful women as war prizes. One of them, named Briseis, is given to Achilles, and one is given to Agamemnon. The reader finds out that the young woman given to Agamemnon is the priest of Apollo's daughter. When the priest of Apollo requests that Agamemnon return his daughter, Agamemnon refuses, and Apollo sends a plague down on the Greeks as punishment. Finally, Agamemnon relents and returns the daughter but now, being bereft of prize, takes Achilles's maiden for his own. This act of insult causes Achilles's pride and selfish desire for honor to be spotlighted. He is furious and, in his anger, refuses to fight for the Achaeans, turning his back on the troops who were comforted and encouraged by his protection and leadership in battle.
Achilles only returns to the fighting when his comrade Patroklos is killed by the Trojan warrior Hektor. Once again, the reader sees Achilles's main qualities of outrage, pride, and anger as he fights again only for his own glory and taste for revenge. He not only kills Hektor, but also defiles his body and drags his corpse behind his chariot. This disrespectful action shows the raw fury of the hero and his inability to think of others, particularly Hektor's grieving family who watch as their noble son is dragged in the dust.
Achilles's change in character occurs largely because of a visit he receives from King Priam. Priam goes to Achilles, bringing gifts that he hopes will win Achilles over and make Achilles return the body of his beloved son. Priam, who has every reason to attack Achilles in fury over the disgraces Achilles inflicted on his son's corpse, instead bends to Achilles and kisses his hands. Priam's intense love for his fallen son and his respectful response to his son's murderer confuse Achilles and yet fill him with a growing sense of admiration for a king who is so unlike the spiteful and prideful Agamemnon. Priam even reminds Achilles of his own father, Peleus, whom he left behind to fight for his own glory. The two men eat and, in their conversations and shared grief, develop a mutual awe and respect for the other. As a result of seeing Priam's humility, respect, and grief, Achilles gives Hektor's body back and also agrees to a truce until Hektor's body has been properly mourned according to Trojan customs and traditions. It seems the horrors of war he sees through the grieving Priam and the death of his own friend Patroklos have allowed Achilles to share in the grief of mortal men and, as a result, he becomes more compassionate towards humans as a whole. He learns the consequences of his own anger and pride and becomes a more sympathetic hero as a result.
Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors, starts out arrogant and proud. He becomes enraged when his female war loot, Briseis, is taken by Agamemnon to replace a slave he is compelled to return to her father. As a result of losing Briseis, Achilles sulks in his tent and refuses to do battle. He even prays for the Trojans to do well in battle against the Greeks.
This phase of childish behavior ends when Patroclus, his best friend, is killed in battle while wearing Achilles' armor. Enraged, Achilles fights, killing the Trojan leader Hector. He then dishonors the corpse by dragging it around and around Troy at the back of his chariot.
So far, Achilles has shown himself to be proud, childish, angry, and vindictive. However, he starts to show some maturity when he acquiesces to pleas from the Trojans that Hector be allowed a proper burial
After the burial, Achilles becomes the faithful Greek warrior he once was, getting over the loss of Briseis. Achilles behaves more responsibly as time goes on: in a nutshell, he begins to mature.
Throughout Homer's Iliad, Achilles is represented as the greatest warrior of the Greeks. Although this portrait is consistent, his character changes and matures over the course of the poem. At the start, he is portrayed as proud and even arrogant, concerned with his honor. He displays a sense of entitlement and a certain degree of selfishness. He is willing to let the Greeks lose battles just to prove that he is indispensable. He is not a team player.
After the death of Patroclus, he is distraught with grief and lets his emotions cause him to desecrate a corpse, an impious act. His entry into the battle is motivated by his own emotions rather than loyalty to his comrades, even though Patroclus has set for him an example of proper behavior. It is only after his conversation with Priam that Achilles demonstrates empathy and understanding of others and evolves into a responsible adult who will be capable of self-sacrifice.
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